I’m sorry to have to tell you that.’
After several long drags, Terri finally broke the silence. ‘How do you know?’ she croaked.
Not,
‘And traces of female DNA. The lab’s working them up now. The semen is his, obviously. The other … well, it should help when we find out who she is.’ Terri nodded dumbly, tears welling up in her eyes
‘And the girl was quite young, according to the landlord. Maybe underage,’ added Grant.
‘It must be upsetting to discover what kind of man your stepfather was,’ said Hudson.
Terri bowed her head and now began to sob. Hudson felt guilty. He remembered how his own teenage daughter regressed when the adopted habits of adulthood bit too deep.
‘This must be difficult,’ said Grant, moving to sit next to the girl to offer some comfort.
Hudson quietly pulled out the CCTV image from the car park and placed it on the table in front of Terri. She barely glanced at it but the violence of her sobbing increased, and her head sought refuge and bobbed up and down in Grant’s arms.
Eventually a measure of calm returned and Terri was able to blow her nose and wipe her eyes. ‘I loved him,’ she said simply.
‘I believe you,’ answered Hudson, resisting the urge to be judgemental. ‘Tell us what happened at the weekend.’
Terri found such a simple question difficult, embarrassed to be discussing the sex life she had hidden from the world. ‘We … were together, you know, Saturday night. We were awake … most of the night.’ She glanced up at the two detectives to see if they’d cracked her simple code. Their expressions were unaltered. ‘Tone plays rugby … played rugby … and he wanted to go for a run. It was really early. Five o’clock.’
‘You didn’t go with him?’
‘God no! He was only going to be an hour, he said. I saw him walk to the seafront and turn towards the old pier and I never saw him again.’
Her lip began to wobble so Hudson piled in with the next question to keep her mind busy. ‘Did you see anyone else on the road?’
‘No one.’
‘Any cars pull away at the same time?’
‘Not that I noticed.’
Hudson nodded. ‘Go on.’
‘I went back to bed and woke up at about nine and Tone wasn’t back. I didn’t think anything of it. I showered and went out to get a coffee, thinking he’d be back when I got back, but he wasn’t. By half eleven I was frantic. I went for a walk along the front but I couldn’t see anything. I thought maybe he’d had an accident and was in hospital. So I packed up his stuff and took it to the car park, threw it all in the boot. I hung onto his wallet. I was going to drive the car but thought it might be better to leave it for Tone. The only problem was if I wanted to leave the car keys I couldn’t lock up. So I threw them in the boot. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Unless someone randomly tried the door, most people would assume it was locked. Then I came home.’
‘Was your mother here when you got back?’ asked Grant.
Terri nodded.
‘How long had your affair been going on?’ asked Hudson.
Terri bit her lip, recognising the relevance of the question. ‘Not long,’ she replied.
It was an obvious lie but Hudson decided there was little to gain by challenging it. The victim wasn’t pressing charges, the criminal was dead.
‘I loved him,’ she repeated in the softest whisper.
‘This is very important, Terri,’ said Grant. ‘Who else knew you were going to be at that hotel?’
Terri stared off into space to think. She shook her head. ‘Apart from the guy at the hotel, no one.’
‘Mr Sowerby?’
‘Mr Sowerby, yes.’
‘Would Tony have told anyone?’
‘I don’t think so. Why?’ She answered her own question immediately. ‘You think someone planned this. You think someone was waiting near the hotel, to kill him.’
‘It seems likely. Does your mother know about the affair?’ asked Hudson.
She looked down. When she looked up she had more moisture in her eyes. She blinked it away and shook her head. ‘As far as you know.’
‘As far as I know,’ she echoed into her lap. She lifted her head suddenly. ‘You’re not suggesting …?’
‘Hell hath no fury like a woman losing her husband to her daughter,’ observed Hudson with more cruelty than he’d intended.
‘Forget it,’ spat Terri. ‘My mother couldn’t hurt a fly.’
‘What about your father?’
‘My father?’
‘Your
Terri seemed momentarily nonplussed by the question. ‘He … I don’t know. I mean, of course not. Besides, he lives in Derbyshire.’
‘That’s not what we call an alibi, Miss Brook.’
‘Do you know if your father ever visited your stepfather at his place of work?’ asked Grant, as casually as possible.
Terri looked at her as if she’d been slapped. ‘I’m not sure.’ She bowed her head and cried some more.
Grant looked at her notebook. ‘Would it surprise you to hear that a couple of years ago your father, Damen Brook, Detective Inspector Damen Brook of Derby CID, paid a visit to Tony at Hall Gordon Public Relations? This is according to Mr Gordon, the company director. During his visit he assaulted your stepfather and threatened to have him arrested for molesting his daughter. Apparently he went to great pains to humiliate your stepfather in front of his colleagues. It caused a huge stink at the firm.’
‘And your mother had to go in to assure the directors that all the allegations were groundless. Do you still say your mother knew nothing of your relationship?’ Hudson and Grant waited.
‘But she didn’t believe it,’ croaked Terri eventually, unable to look at them.
‘Well, I’m afraid she’ll have to believe it now.’
Terri looked up at them in alarm. ‘You’re not going to tell her?’
Hudson stood and motioned at Grant to follow suit. ‘Of course we’re not going to tell her, Terri. But do you honestly think this thing can stay under wraps?’
‘I think what Chief Inspector Hudson means is that sooner or later she’s going to find out.’ Grant patted Terri on the arm and made to leave. ‘And, all things considered, Terri, it would be better coming from you.’ Grant followed Hudson out but turned back at the door. ‘If it’s any consolation, according to Sowerby, you were one of many.’
Laura Grant kicked open the door, holding two coffees. Hudson, phone cradled under his chin, saw it was her and removed the hand that was holding the cigarette from behind his back.
‘Any luck, guv?’
Hudson made to answer then returned his attention to the receiver. ‘Hello. Derby HQ? This is DCI Joshua Hudson from Sussex CID. Who am I speaking to? Sergeant Hendrickson, I wonder if you can help me. I’m going to be in Derbyshire on leave this weekend and I was wondering about looking up an old colleague, name of DI Damen Brook … well, no, I wouldn’t really say he was a friend. Like I said, he used to be a colleague, only I wouldn’t like him to find out I’d been in the neighbourhood and not looked him up. So I was wondering what shift he was on over the weekend so I could drop in … oh really? Next Monday. What a shame. Do you know where? Well, yes, he always was a bit like that, now you mention it.’ Hudson listened to the monologue at the other end of the line. Finally he was able to get a word in. ‘Well, thanks very much for your help, Sergeant.’
‘There’s one enemy DI Brook’s made,’ said Hudson, putting the phone down. A sombre expression invaded his features. He turned to Grant and took his coffee from her, taking a noisy draught. ‘Bad news.’
‘He’s got an alibi?’
