‘Do you recall any of these women living at that address?’
‘No, I don’t remember any of them. I have just said: I was only a small child.’
‘Thank you. Could you tell me where you were on the night of seventh February this year?’
Daniels closed his eyes, sighing.
‘When?’
‘Saturday, seventh February; between the hours of eleven o’clock that evening and two o’clock the next morning.’
‘Probably in bed. I was filming all of February; in fact, I was on location in Cornwall. I can check this for you, but I am certain that’s where I was.’
‘In Cornwall?’
‘Yes. There’s a new version of Jamaica Inn being filmed.’
‘I’d appreciate it if you could verify if you were in Cornwall on that date.’
Daniels told them that his agent would supply the exact schedule. He was shaking his head in bewilderment as he turned to Radcliff, saying, ‘I don’t believe this, Edward; it’s inconceivable.’
The lawyer patted his arm reassuringly.
Lastly, Langton laid the photograph of Melissa Stephens on top of the others.
‘Do you know this girl?’
Daniels chewed his lip.
‘No. No, I don’t think so. What’s her name?’
‘Melissa Stephens.’
Daniels looked closely at the photograph.
‘No, I don’t. Is she an actress or something?’
‘She was a student.’
Langton packed up the photographs and carefully replaced them.
‘Would you be prepared to have an odontologist make a cast of your teeth?’
‘What?’ Daniels leaned back in his chair, incredulous.
‘This is getting to be rather silly now,’ Radcliff said, tapping the table with his fountain pen. ‘You have brought my client in. You have not arrested him. He has answered all your questions. I suggest we call this a day. Unless there is something else?’
Langton explained firmly that if they were to eliminate him completely from their enquiries, they would need to take an impression of Daniels’s teeth. When Radcliff demanded a further explanation, Daniels touched his arm, demurring. ‘No, wait, Edward. If they want me to do a test, I’ll do it. I am sure they must have a good reason for bringing me in, so I might as well give them every assistance possible. If I do whatever they want now, my time will not be wasted again.’
‘Very well.’ Radcliff looked at Langton. ‘Do you need anything else?’
Fifteen minutes later Daniels was allowed to leave with his solicitor. He stopped in the open doorway and looked back to Langton sadly.
‘Lilian Duffy was a sick woman. I have tried my hardest to forget my early childhood. If I hadn’t been fostered by an exceptionally kind couple?’
‘Mr and Mrs Ellis?’ Langton volunteered.
‘Yes!’ He gave a mocking glance. ‘You have done your homework on me!’
‘Previously to that, you were cared for by Ellen Morgan.’ As Daniels showed a flicker of emotion at her name, Langton continued: ‘We talked to her.’
The suspect lowered his voice. ‘Well then, you know how much my life improved after I was taken from Lilian Duffy. I have endeavoured to put my wretched past behind me. I didn’t think I would be so affected by what has been brought back to me this afternoon. However, the most important thing to me now is that my past continues to be kept out of the press.’
‘There is no reason why it shouldn’t,’ Langton replied.
‘Thank you; I would appreciate it. I am due to start a film in the United States and any bad press, especially of the type this awful case would encourage, could damage the granting of my visa at a time when my career is really taking off over there.’
Edward Radcliff murmured it was time to leave and with a brief glance at Anna, their so-called prime suspect walked out.
Langton removed his jacket and loosened his tie. Anna stood at the door, watching him for clues about how he thought it went.
‘They agreed to visit the dental department at the lab, first thing in the morning,’ she offered.
‘It will be a waste of time.’ His tone was sullen.
‘Why?’
‘His teeth are capped.’ He took out a cigarette. ‘They’re very good ones. I noticed the difference as soon as I saw him.’ He tapped his own teeth.
‘Maybe we should find out when he had them done?’ she ventured.
‘Maybe.’ There was a pause. ‘Meanwhile, check out his alibi. Filming in Cornwall?’
‘Will do,’ she said, approaching the desk. ‘Did you notice how he refers to Lilian either by her full name, or just as “she”? He’s unable to say the word “mother”.’
‘Yeah,’ Langton said wearily, in the process of lighting one cigarette from the butt of the last one.
‘I thought the speech at the end was contrived as well.’
‘He’s a fucking actor,’ he muttered. ‘Probably got it off one of his films.’
‘Should we let Michael Parks have access to the video tape? See what he can come up with?’
‘Yeah,’ he muttered again.
‘Are you coming? Everyone’s waiting in the incident room for an update?’
‘Anna, get the fuck out of here, will you?’ he filmed. ‘Just leave me alone for a few minutes.’ She stared at him. ‘Go on, get out! For Christ’s sake!’
Anna left, slamming the door behind her. This was getting to be an infectious habit, she thought grimly.
Half an hour later, the entire team had been assembled. Langton appeared, looking tired and unshaven. His mood seemed dark.
‘Right. We had him in. He was questioned and released. The dental match won’t do us much good; he’s had his teeth capped recently.’
Anna put up her hand.
‘YES!’ He glared at her.
‘Dentists have to make sets of the old teeth before doing implants and capping them. We could get in touch with his?’
‘Yes, good. Do that. Thank you, Travis.’
Langton took a deep breath. ‘We need more evidence. The truth is, we have nothing on him. So tomorrow, we start from scratch.’ He indicated the photos of the dead victims. ‘We turn over every single one of these cases until we find something. If we don’t, we’re well and truly fucked. The Gold Group is coming in to hear about the Daniels interview.’
He looked around at his team’s waiting, expectant faces.
‘The reality of the situation is, we didn’t get enough. That said — ‘ Langton paused to shove his hands into his pockets ? ‘even if the team gets cut by half, which is on the cards, I am not prepared to let this go back on the case files. I am going to fight like hell to maintain this incident room. Because I truly believe that Anthony Duffy, aka Alan Daniels, is our killer.’
There was a low murmur round the incident room.
He gave a rueful, boyish smile. ‘All we need is the evidence to prove it, so let’s get cracking in the morning. For now, we all need a bloody drink. Let’s adjourn to the pub. First round is on me.’
The tension of the day was finally taking its toll on Anna. She felt exhausted and was packing up in preparation for home rather than the pub when she looked up to find Jean standing beside her.
‘What was he like?’ Jean whispered conspiratorially.
Anna smiled. ‘Well, he certainly is good-looking. Lives in a fantastic house, beautiful furniture. He’s charming and he’s in great shape.’ She frowned, trying to put her finger on what was wrong.
