The Fourth Friend (DI Jackman & DS Evans #3)(52)

Marie brushed sugar off her trousers. ‘I’m so sorry you lost your friend, Carter. He sounds like a really great guy.’

‘He is — uh, he was. One of the best. I miss him. I miss them all.’

Marie felt tears forming and changed the subject. ‘So what do we make of Suzanne?’

Carter slurped his coffee. ‘That my initial impression was bloody right. Tom Holland was a fucking goofball to marry the tart. He must have had shit for brains.’

Marie burst out laughing, and after a moment, Carter joined in.





CHAPTER NINETEEN

‘I don’t know who he was! How many times do I have to tell you?’ Danny Hurley raged.

Jackman looked on impassively.

Jackman had studied sociology at university, and he hadn’t forgotten what he’d learned. He listened, of course, but he also watched. Body language and mannerisms spoke as loudly as words. Sometimes they positively shouted.

‘So, you were paid to follow and abduct the very girl you were obsessed with. Can you see how that looks to us, Danny?’ He turned to Gary Pritchard. ‘Wouldn’t you say it’s just a little bit far-fetched, Constable?’

Gary nodded sagely. ‘Oh dear yes, sir. Quite a stretch of the imagination.’

Danny punched a fist into his cupped hand. ‘No! You’ve got it all wrong! Why won’t you listen?’

‘We are listening, Danny, but what we are hearing doesn’t make too much sense.’

‘I was paid to do a few things. Send her flowers, chocolates and stuff like that.’

‘But you don’t know who the person was?’

‘I never met him.’

‘Him? You know it was a man? How?’

Danny stammered. ‘Well, I don’t, but a woman wouldn’t be doing that, would she?’

‘How did you get paid?’

‘Cash and instructions arrived with a parcel delivery service.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding! No one sends money with a man with a van!’ Gary exclaimed. ‘What company was it?’

Danny stared at the scratches on the table and mumbled, ‘I dunno. It was an unmarked car.’

Jackman shook his head. ‘Better and better. So, where are these “instructions?”’

‘I burnt them. It was part of the deal.’

Jackman leaned forward. ‘Why not start telling us the truth, Danny? You really liked the girl, didn’t you? And you wanted her. We’ve seen the pictures on your wall, Danny. You didn’t take them for someone else, did you? They were just for you.’

Danny’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

In the ensuing silence, Jackman decided to try a different tack. ‘Okay, Danny. Let’s say I believe you. I don’t, but let’s assume I do. Did you know Leah before Mr Anonymous contacted you?’

‘I’d never seen her before.’

‘Right, so he sent you money and you started . . . what? Putting cards through her door? Something like that?’

Danny nodded. ‘Cards, yes. And notes, then roses.’

‘So they weren’t really from you, but from another guy who fancied her?’

Danny didn’t seem happy with this idea. ‘It wasn’t like that.’

‘How do you know? It sounds like it to me. Someone giving you money to spend on an attractive young woman? I’d say they definitely wanted something from her.’ He shot a knowing glance to Gary. ‘What I don’t get is why, if you had the hots for someone, you would take them flowers and love tokens from another man?’

Gary rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘Well, I certainly wouldn’t.’

Jackman could almost hear Danny grinding his teeth.

‘Help us out here, Danny. We are struggling.’

‘It’s about revenge! Alright! It was payback time! Then I saw Leah and, well . . .’

He threw up his hands, and then his voice fell to a whisper. ‘I’d only ever heard of love at first sight. They didn’t care about her, they never did. It wasn’t about her at all, just revenge. But for me, it was a dream.’ He slumped forward and put his head in his hands. ‘A dream.’

Jackman nodded towards the door and he and Gary stood up. ‘Interview suspended at fourteen hundred hours. DI Jackman and PC Gary Pritchard are leaving the room.’

Outside, Jackman beckoned Gary into an empty room and closed the door.

‘We need to get Leah out of uni and back under close observation. Do you agree?’

Gary nodded. ‘Someone is after the super, aren’t they?’

‘I’m sure of it. Danny Hurley is infatuated with Leah, that’s a fact. But I reckon he was telling the truth about a retribution thing.’

‘Me too.’

‘I’m going to see if there is anything in his statement that could point us to the villain who is behind this. You speak to your sergeant and get Leah taken to a place of safety. Danny might have cocked up, but she’s still in danger.’

Gary turned to leave. ‘Let’s hope that Danny’s bungled mission and his arrest have scared the bastard off.’

‘Let’s hope so, but in the meantime, belt and braces.’

‘I’m on it, sir!’

‘And for heaven’s sake, hurry! Whoever paid him is still out there.’