“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? After she’d finished . . . you know . . . I wanted to see where she went. I didn’t do anything. Please. You have to believe me. I wouldn’t have hurt Hayley. Not for anything.”
“Were you in love with her?”
“I don’t know about love,” Kinsey said, “but I fancied her something rotten.”
At least that sounded honest, Banks thought. “Did Hayley know that?”
“It was pretty obvious.”
“What was her reaction?”
“Said we were friends. She blew hot and cold, did Hayley.”
“What was your reaction?”
“What do you mean?”
“She rejected you. How did you react?”
“It wasn’t like that!”
“Do you mean she accepted your advances? I’m confused.”
“I didn’t make any advances.”
“So how did she know you were interested?”
“We talked, like, we got on, you know, had stuff in common, bands and things, went to the pictures a couple of times. And there’s like an electricity between people, you know, you can feel it.”
“Did Hayley feel it, too?” Banks asked.
“I don’t suppose she did. At least she wouldn’t admit it. Hayley could be very distant. You never really knew where you stood with F R I E N D O F T H E D E V I L
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her. Like I said, hot and cold. She liked to be a part of the crowd, the party girl.”
“Center of attention?”
“Well, it wasn’t difficult for her. She was fit and she knew it. I mean, sometimes she got a bit rowdy, but it was just harmless fun. Sometimes I thought it was her way of, you know, keeping away any one particular person, being part of the group so you never really had to get close to someone, you could keep them at arm’s length. You’d get into a conversation with her, and then she’d say something, and before you knew it everyone would be involved and she was laughing at someone else’s joke. You couldn’t have her to yourself for very long.”
“That must have been very frustrating,” Banks said.
“You’re telling me.”
“So where did it lead?”
“Well, it didn’t lead anywhere, really. I didn’t sleep with her or anything. Just snogging and stuff. Sometimes I got the impression recently that she . . . no, it doesn’t matter.”
“It might, Stuart,” said Banks. “Let me be the judge.”
Kinsey paused and chewed on his fingernail. “Can I have a cup of tea or something?” he asked. “I’m thirsty.”
“Of course.” Not wanting to interrupt the rhythm of the interview, Banks signaled to Winsome, who got up and asked the constable outside the door to rustle up some tea.
“Won’t be long,” Banks said to Kinsey. “Now, Stuart, you were going to tell me about that impression you had.”
“Well, you know, it was just a sort of vague idea, like.”
“Even so . . .”
“Sometimes I thought maybe she’d got a bloke.”
“When did this start?”
“Couple of months ago. Around then.”
“Any idea who this bloke was? One of the others in the group?”
“No. Someone she was keeping secret.” He leaned forward on the table. “You see, that’s what I meant when I said I was in The Maze because I wanted to see where she went. I was going to follow her, find out who the mystery bloke was.”
“But you didn’t see her?”
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P E T E R R O B I N S O N
“No. I thought she must have already gone. I mean, it was a good five minutes or so after we left her that I went in. It doesn’t take that long to . . . you know.”
“Right,” said Banks. Hayley had been sick, he remembered Dr.
Burns telling him, which would have kept her there longer. “Did you see or hear anything while you were in there?”
“I . . . I thought I heard a door bang shut and a sort of . . . not a scream, but a muff led sort of cry. You don’t
