‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘He was quite normal.’
‘Not out of breath from running or anything else strange you might not have thought about at the time?’
Cat considered the question. There was the incident with the gorse bush. The scratches along the edge of his jaw. For a moment she wondered whether to mention it then decided notto. She’d leave Luke to explain when he was interviewed. She didn’t trust these two. She knew they were capable of pouncing on anything, however innocent, and twisting it to their own advantage.
‘Anything, Miss Trevelyan?’ Cousins eyed her curiously, as if he’d picked up on her hesitancy.
‘No, nothing I can think of.’
‘Well, thank you very much for coming in. And we’ll need a DNA sample before you leave.’
‘DNA?’ She frowned. ‘Does that mean—’
‘We’re conducting a murder investigation. Yes, Miss Trevelyan, it does,’ came Philips’ calm reply.
Cat nodded, pushed back her chair and left the room.
In the corridor outside the Boscastle Suite she found Nathan waiting to go in.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked, smoothing a concerned hand over her shoulder.
‘I’m fine.’ She managed a smile. ‘Glad it’s over though. Those two are totally …’ she was going to say intimidating but cut her sentence short as Cousins appeared in the doorway and gestured for Nathan to join them.
‘It’s okay, I know Mike.’ Nathan raised his hand in recognition. ‘His father project managed the bedroom extension for the hotel a few years back. They often drop into the hotel bar for a drink.’
Well, all this was news to Cat but unfortunately it didn’t make her feel any easier about the situation. Both men still unnerved her.
‘Gotta go,’ he said, giving her arm a light squeeze as he eased past. ‘If you’re still around when they’ve finished with me maybe we could get together for a late breakfast? I assume you’ve not eaten yet?’
‘No, I haven’t and, yes, that would be good,’ Cat agreed. Watching him disappear into the interview room her thoughts strayed to Luke, wondering whether Gareth had been able to locate him.
Twenty minutes later Nathan finished his interview with Phillips and Collins and returned to his office. During their conversation they had requested the CCTV discs for the hotel grounds and car park as part of their investigation, arranging to collect them when they had finished for the day. Selecting a USB stick from his top drawer, Nathan made his way to the small security room. There was one particular camera he knew might yield some interesting information and he’d have enough time to make a copy for himself before the police interviews ended and Phillips arrived to collect the discs.
Chapter Eighteen
Luke stared at the wall, and the large frameless aerial shot of Boscastle village. Arriving a little under fifteen minutes ago, he’d been keen to find Cat. Unfortunately, reception had informed him she was upstairs in the family’s suite having breakfast with her brother. He would have to wait until later.
As he’d driven from the garage to the hotel, his mind had been doing somersaults. He was innocent. All he had to do was tell them the truth. But it wasn’t quite as simple as that, was it? The truth was wrapped around all sorts of other complex issues; ones which indicated some form of association with Marika. If not handled properly he could easily see himself taking the hit for this.
He was jolted back to the present as the door opposite opened and a short dark-haired man in a pale green shirt and brown trousers emerged. ‘Luke Carrack?’ he asked. Luke nodded, got to his feet and went to join him. ‘DS Cousins,’ the man introduced himself. ‘This way, please.’
Luke followed him into the small meeting room where a thin fair-haired man in his early forties was seated at a table. He looked up as Luke arrived, introduced himself as DI Phillips and asked him to take a seat. As Luke eased himself into the chair, DS Cousins joined his boss on the other side of the table. He wasn’t sure he liked the look of either of them; the sergeant dark eyed and olive skinned; the pale eyed inspector gaunt and otherworldly. He took a few calming breaths. As Gareth had said, this was purely a preliminary interview to gather information. Phillips led the interview, while Cousins made notes.
And now, twenty minutes later, his head spun from the questions constantly fired at him. His story had beenstraightforward, or so he thought. Yes, he knew Marika, he confirmed. He told them about their first meeting outside the small supermarket in the village.
‘Jordan had finished with her, but she seemed to think she could get him back. She thought my family connection meant I’d have some influence; that I could help her but,’ he shrugged, ‘there was nothing I could do. We’re not close.’
‘So what did you tell her?’
‘Nothing she wanted to hear. But the truth is when Jordan finishes with someone that’s it; he never goes back.’
‘But it seems he made an exception with Chantelle Mason,’ Cousins argued.
‘Yes, I had heard rumours they were seeing each other again.’
Phillips leant back in his seat. ‘So what did you say to her?’
‘I told her I understood how upset she was but he wasn’t someone who was going to settle down soon. He liked his freedom and the friends he gets around with. I advised her to go out and enjoy herself, find someone else.’
