‘And when were you going to do that?’
‘I’d been trying to broach the subject, then this came up.’
‘How bloody inconvenient,’ said Banks. ‘So what were you going to do?’
‘Well, we couldn’t have the baby, could we? Not yet. Not when things were like they were. Katie was going to have a termination.’
‘Well, she’s certainly had one now, hasn’t she?’ said Banks.
He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Annie gave him a puzzled and concerned glance. Farrow reeled as if he’d been thumped and started whimpering and chewing on his thumb. ‘That’s cruel. That’s not fair.’
‘I’ll tell you what’s not fair,’ Banks went on, ‘and that’s a married man getting a young girl pregnant then persuading her to have a termination. I’m assuming it was your idea? And that you were paying?’
‘She didn’t want the child, either!’
‘How do you know that? She obviously wanted to please you. I suppose she believed you when you said you were going to ask your wife for a divorce so you could marry her?’
Farrow slapped the table. ‘It’s true.’
‘Bollocks. It’s the oldest trick in the book. You had no intention of asking for a divorce, did you?’
Farrow hung his head.
‘How many children do you and your wife have?’ Banks went on.
‘Two.’
‘How old?’
‘Seven and five.’
‘The last thing you wanted was another, wasn’t it? You’d already been through it with two. Even if you did plan on getting a divorce and marrying Katie, which I doubt, you weren’t signing up for dirty nappies and sleepless nights, were you? But I’ll bet she wanted children, didn’t she?’
‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s none of your business. She was no angel. She knew what she was doing. What are you, pro-life or something?’
‘That takes the bloody biscuit, that does,’ said Banks, standing up. ‘If you’d seen just half of what I’ve seen these past two days... And that included your Katie, the woman you say you love, sitting propped—’
‘Alan, that’s enough!’
It was Annie. Banks was so shocked by her sharp tone and the way she was glaring at him that he stopped mid-sentence and turned to face the window, arms folded. His breath was coming in short sharp gasps, and he was certain his blood pressure had gone way over the limit. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He took a few paces and looked out over the dark market square. Car headlights reflected in the puddles among the cobblestones. He’d lost his cool, and he knew it.
After an uncomfortable silence, Annie picked up the questioning in relatively gentle tones. Banks didn’t trust himself to turn around just yet. He had not felt such anger, such revulsion for someone, in a long time. He wanted to pick Farrow up by his neck and shake him. Slowly, his heart rate returned to normal.
‘Did your wife know about the affair?’ he heard Annie ask.
‘She suspected that I was seeing someone else. I think she might have followed me once and seen us meet up.’
‘She never broached the subject with you?’
‘Rosie doesn’t work like that. She stores it all up until the dam bursts, and then there’s no stopping her.’
‘But she hadn’t reached that stage yet?’
‘No.’
‘Though you think she knew?’
‘Suspected.’
‘Boyd,’ Annie said. ‘This isn’t a personal inquisition into your morals. It’s a murder inquiry. Do you think Rosie knew enough about the affair, was angry enough about it, to harm Katie?’
‘Good God, no. She wouldn’t do anything like that. If anyone was going to suffer for it, it would have been me.’
‘OK. Where was she on Saturday?’
‘At home with the kids. Like I said, I had a business meeting. It was in Wakefield, by the way, and I can tell you the names of the clients. You can check.’
‘That might be useful,’ said Annie. ‘And we’ll need some corroboration of your wife’s whereabouts. Would anyone else have been there? Might she have taken the children shopping or to the playground? Would anyone be likely to have seen her?’
‘It’s possible. I’m sure someone would, but... oh, God...’ He buried his face in his hands. ‘You’re going to have to ask her, aren’t you? You’re going to have to tell her everything. I’ve lost Katie, and now I’m going to lose Rosie and the kids. Please can’t you—’
Banks couldn’t tolerate any more. He walked away from the window and left his office. He didn’t trust himself to stand there and listen to Farrow’s cringing self-pity. When he found himself out in the corridor, he didn’t know what to do, so he just stood at the far end looking out over the car park at the back of the station.
He didn’t know how long he’d been standing like that when he heard his office door open and shut behind him. He turned to see Annie standing there with Farrow. A few seconds later, a uniformed constable entered from the stairwell to show Farrow out.
‘What the hell was all that about?’ Annie demanded, following Banks back into his office.
‘Don’t you start, Annie.’
‘What you do you mean, “don’t you start”? What the hell did you think you were up to?’
‘I was trying to push him,’ Banks said, sitting behind his desk.
‘You mean you seriously think he had something to do with the massacre?’
‘I’m not saying that. I—’
‘You were out of bounds, Alan.’ Annie’s tone softened. ‘No matter what you think of him, Farrow is a witness and a victim, not a suspect. You had no right to treat him like that. I don’t know what it was all about, what’s going on in your mind, but you were way out of bounds. What were you thinking of?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Banks. ‘He just pushed all the wrong buttons.’
‘Oh, bugger it, come here, you daft sod.’ Banks stood up and walked over to her. She took him in her arms and gave him a firm hug then held on to his shoulders and faced him.
Banks felt himself relax a little. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘You’re right. I lost it in there. Is Farrow planning on making a formal complaint?’
‘No. He feels far too guilty for that. And I think I managed to calm him down after you’d left the office. In the end, he was more worried about what he was going to say to his wife when he gets home than about anything you might have said to him. You surprised me, though. You were cruel, Alan. I never thought of you as cruel.’
‘I suppose we can all act a little out of character at times. Forgive me?’
‘Of course.’ Annie went over to the coffee machine. ‘Want some?’
‘Please.’
‘Feeling OK now?’
‘Much better.’
Annie handed him the coffee and they sat down at the glass table again. ‘Farrow might be a creep,’ she said, ‘but he didn’t do it. Or his wife.’
‘I know that. It’s just...’
‘What?’
‘Oh, never mind.’
‘You never struck me as being the moralistic kind. I mean, he’s not the only married bloke to have an affair. I’ve been with a married man or two in my time, and you—’
‘It was once, before I came up here.’
‘I know. You did it, though, didn’t you?’
‘You’re saying people in glass houses...’
‘Or “let him who is without sin...” Pick your cliché.’
Banks laughed. ‘It’s a fair cop.’ He put his coffee cup on the table. ‘And thanks for the pep talk. I wasn’t being moralistic, really, though. I was trying to get his goat. I’m sorry, I just lost it. It won’t happen again. And now I think I’m going to go home and have an early night.’
‘Not if Ray has anything to do with it, you won’t,’ said Annie.