Janet nearly choked. She forced the mouthful of soup down. ‘No, why?’
Gill shrugged. ‘Seems a bit off.’
Oh, hell. ‘Maybe he’s sickening for something,’ Janet said. ‘I’d not noticed, seems fine to me.’
Gill stared at her, a tad too long, and Janet’s stomach turned over, her nerves jangled. ‘What?’ she said.
‘Rachel,’ Gill said, with a bob of her head, ‘I think she’s gonna work out fine.’
‘Yeah.’ Janet breathed again. ‘You know how to pick ’em.’
‘So I’ll not send her back?’
‘Not on my account.’ Janet smiled and struggled to drink a little more of her soup.
‘Can I take you back to the statement you made earlier today when you denied being in the Collyhurst area at all on Monday the thirteenth,’ Rachel began. ‘That is what you said?’
‘Because it’s true,’ he said coldly. Janet made notes, his answers would be on video and tape as well, but the paper gave her a chance to make observations too, flag up anything they might want to revisit.
‘You are the registered keeper of a Nissan Micra…’ Rachel quoted the registration number.
‘That’s right.’
‘And you are the sole driver?’
‘Yes.’
Rachel set a document down on the table. ‘I am now showing the suspect exhibit number BD4. This is a map drawn up using data from our automatic number-plate recognition system. The crosses here show places where your vehicle was captured on Monday’ – Rachel pointed to the document – ‘the times are printed alongside each location.’
He became very still.
Janet hoped Rachel would wait, use the silence to exert pressure and force a response. But Rachel went on: ‘Explain that to me?’
‘I may have been mistaken.’ Raleigh looked at his solicitor, who wasn’t giving anything away.
‘Are you now saying you were in Collyhurst?’
‘Apparently,’ he said crisply.
‘Yes or no is fine,’ Rachel said. A little jibe that she didn’t need to make, that Janet wouldn’t have bothered with because it slightly weakened her position, indicated that he was getting to her.
‘Yes, then,’ he said.
‘What were you doing in Collyhurst?’ Rachel asked him.
‘I can’t remember,’ he said.
Good, starting to fudge, knowing they were getting dangerously close.
‘Visiting a client, perhaps?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Visiting Lisa Finn at Fairland Avenue. Am I correct?’
He swallowed.
Rachel placed a second document down on the table. ‘I am now showing the suspect exhibit number TC2. This is a transcript of the text sent from your phone to Lisa Finn’s phone that morning. Please will you read it out to me,’ Rachel said.
A look of hatred flashed over his face and Janet tensed. It was not unknown for suspects to lash out during an interview. And who knew how Rachel would deal with physical violence. If her chase after the taxi driver was any guide, she’d probably break the guy’s nose, which would not play well with CPS. But then Janet saw Raleigh close his eyes, calming himself before reading the message, his tone wooden. ‘“See you at two babe.”’
‘And the last letter?’ Rachel said.
‘An x.’
‘A kiss,’ Rachel said.
‘Yes,’ he replied, between his teeth.
‘I’ll ask you again: did you visit Lisa Finn at Fairland Avenue that afternoon as arranged?’
He didn’t speak. His eyes were hard, full of loathing. Keep it steady, Janet willed Rachel.
‘No,’ he said quietly.
‘No?’ Rachel repeated. ‘Would you like to reconsider that answer?’ He stared at her hard, defiant, then Janet saw his gaze falter. He was weakening, she was sure. As the evidence built, he was being forced into a dead end with no way out.
‘Can you explain to me how your DNA ended up in Lisa’s bedroom?’
Raleigh flinched, eyes blinking shut. Then he gave a shallow laugh. ‘All right…’ He raised his hands briefly, let them drop. ‘I was there. We had sex. That’s all. And she was perfectly fine when I left.’
That’s all? Just abusing my position of trust, fucking the clients. Janet noted his admission.
‘You had sex with Lisa on the Monday afternoon?’
‘I just told you that.’ Arsey again.
‘What time did you arrive and leave?’
‘I got there about two and left around half past two, to go to the town hall.’
‘While you were at the flat, please describe to me which rooms you went in,’ Rachel said.
‘The bedroom and bathroom.’
‘Nowhere else?’
‘No.’
He wasn’t scared, Janet thought. He was angry that he had been caught out, but he didn’t appear to be frightened of what else they might have on him. Was that because he had no more to reveal, or because his personality type made him overly arrogant?
‘On Monday, did Lisa resist you? Try to stop you?’
‘No, she wanted me there. She likes me,’ he said.
‘Lisa was expecting to have sex with you?’
‘That’s why I was there.’ Sneering, puffed up with his own inflated self-worth.
‘This had happened before?’
‘Yes.’
‘How many times?’ Rachel said.
‘Eight, maybe ten.’
‘When did you first have sex with Lisa?’
‘I can’t remember.’ Something else he didn’t want to admit to? Why?
‘But you had been seeing her for sex on a regular basis for some months?’
‘She was seventeen,’ he said, as if that made it all right.
‘And she was your client,’ Rachel said.
Tricky ground, Janet thought, ethics. Best left to the lawyers. Morally repugnant, but Rachel’s job was to tease out the facts and figures, and only that.
Raleigh didn’t even have the grace to look ashamed. Said nothing.
‘When you left, where was Lisa?’
‘In bed.’
‘What was she wearing?’
‘A robe thing.’
‘While you were there, did Lisa go into the living room or kitchen?’
‘No.’
‘Lisa was found dead shortly after your visit. What can you tell me about that?’
‘Nothing. I told you: we had sex, I left and she was fine.’
‘Did Lisa take drugs in your presence?’
‘No, I think she had some before I arrived.’
‘What made you think that?’ Rachel said.
‘She was high, uninhibited.’ He gave a slight smile, made Janet want to vomit.
‘Did you attack Lisa Finn?’
‘No. I’ve told you I didn’t. Why would I?’
‘Perhaps she argued with you, got aggressive – she had a history of such behaviour,’ Rachel said.
‘No, we were fine. We went to bed, then I left.’
‘What did you do with the condom?’
He moved his head back in surprise. ‘I flushed it down the toilet.’
Rachel put a photo on the table. ‘I am now showing the suspect exhibit number TP3. This is an item of jewellery that belonged to Lisa. Do you recognize it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was she wearing it on Monday?’
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Did you take it off her?’
‘No.’ He frowned, apparently not understanding why he was being asked about the cross and chain.
‘Did Sean Broughton know you and Lisa were having a sexual relationship?’
‘No, nobody knew.’
‘Why was that?’
He stared at Rachel, his eyes flat. ‘Because I’d lose my job.’
‘Lisa lost her life,’ Rachel retorted.
Nooo, thought Janet.
The solicitor complained as Raleigh said hotly, ‘That has nothing to do with me.’
Rachel sat back. ‘Let’s go over everything you’ve told me in greater detail.’
He sighed bitterly and moved in his chair.
‘Starting with when you first met Lisa.’
Another hour and Janet could see that he was finding it hard to maintain the veneer of civility, but even so his account had remained unwavering. Rachel finally declared they would take a break and Pete stopped the recording. Rachel went outside to smoke and Janet joined her there.