out the bill. Unless ? would you like a brandy?’
‘No, nothing else. Thank you.’
Anna felt totally drained. She had done her best, letting information out that, in actual fact, he could have discovered from press releases. But Daniels had not slipped up or, in Michael Parks’s words, given her the ‘leakage’ she was hoping for. By the time she returned to the table, he stood waiting for her, holding her wrap. He gently placed it around her shoulders.
‘You don’t think the reason I asked you out was to pump you for information? Please, don’t think that. Because it isn’t true.’
She said softly, ‘No, I don’t. I’ve enjoyed being with you very much.’
He drew her closer. ‘You’re very special, Anna.’
As they drove away from the Ivy, Anna began to wonder about the next stage of the evening, but Daniels was ahead of her. He instructed the driver to take Miss Travis back to her flat, adding, ‘As I’m on the way, he can drop me off first, if you don’t mind?’
‘No, not at all.’
They drove in silence for a few minutes, though he sat some distance from her, his face in the shadows.
His free hand sought hers out in the darkness. ‘When I first came to the station you work at, I can’t tell you how scared I was. It brought back the time they found her body.’
‘Your mother’s?’
He sighed. ‘I was just a teenager, so they held me in the cells overnight and interrogated me for hours and hours. I had no one to turn to. And now ? I feel like it’s happening again, but this time, with even more to lose. You saw the press calling out for me. Can you imagine what they would do if it was to be made public that I was even being questioned? You have to help me. Make them understand: I am innocent. How can I still be a suspect? Why are they doing this to me?’
‘It’s just the connection, Alan.’
‘That I was brought up in a stinking brothel, with a bunch of whores? What does that mean?’ he said, angrily. ‘I wouldn’t remember a single one of them. I’ve tried my hardest to obliterate them from my mind.’ She was perplexed to see tears begin to stream down his cheeks. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, sniffing. ‘Sorry. I’m sorry, need that handkerchief of yours.’
She went to open her bag, when he shook his head. ‘No, no — I’m alright now.’
‘Alan, the reality is you are not under arrest and they have no evidence against you but circumstantial. If they had anything, you’d have been arrested by now. You have to believe me that I wouldn’t have agreed to see you this evening if I thought for one moment that you were involved.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘Do you mean that?’
‘Of course I do.’
He rested back. ‘Thank God. Because I need you, Anna. I’m going to rely on you to get me through this. Come here; rest your head on my shoulder.’ He closed his eyes.
Uneasily, she slid towards him. He wrapped his arm round her. She could smell his delicate aftershave, feel the softness of the velvet jacket against her cheek. Her heart was thudding as he tilted her face towards his and kissed her lips: a delicate, sweet kiss. He gently touched her hair. ‘You are already very special to me and I am sure, in time, we can mean a lot more to each other.’ He was tracing her cheek with his finger.
From the front seat, the driver interrupted. ‘Queen’s Gate, sir.’
‘Goodnight, Anna.’ Daniels kissed her hand as the driver opened the rear door to let him out. She watched as he walked to the front steps, turning back to wave.
She was trembling as the car drove away. When it reached her flat, she thanked the driver, insisting there was no need for him to see her to her front door. She was fumbling for her key when Langton opened the door.
‘How did it go?’ he asked.
Anna slumped on to the sofa, kicking off her shoes. The lounge was strewn with coffee cups and half-eaten cheese sandwiches. Even his newspaper was in pieces, pages left on the floor by the overflowing ashtray.
‘Did you get anything?’
‘Not much.’
‘Fuck. How come? You were out late enough.’
She shook her head, unable to speak. He could tell she was upset, but he had waited all night for some information and the evening had cost a bloody fortune in overtime.
‘What is it, Travis? Did he try it on in the car?’
She started to sob. She searched in her bag for her handkerchief and then began tipping everything out as she frantically searched.
‘Daddy’s cufflinks!’ She was distraught. “They were in the zip-up pocket.’
Langton looked at her, puzzled. With her new hairstyle standing on end and her tear-stained face, she looked about ten years old.
‘Shush, it’s OK. You’re safe now.’
He knew he shouldn’t, but he moved to sit beside her and put his arm round her. She started to sob uncontrollably against his chest.
‘Shush. Just take deep breaths and try and relax. Then go and mop yourself up and get some sleep.’
She pulled away from him. ‘Stop telling me what to do. Just leave me alone.’
Langton took a deep breath. ‘Fine, I’ll do that. But in the morning, I want a report, Travis.’
She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
‘Just tell me one thing. Is it him?’
She sniffed.
‘Is it him?’
‘I don’t know.’
He stared after her as she headed for the bedroom. ‘Well, that’s fucking terrific,’ he muttered.
Underneath the duvet which she pulled over her head, Anna cried her heart out. She was a failure. Worse, she had allowed her emotions to overrule her logic. She had found herself liking Alan Daniels; the memory of him softly kissing her lips still lingered. She was confused by her feelings for him. How was she going to face everyone in the incident room in a few hours’ time?
Chapter Fifteen
Langton listened from the sofa. He had been woken by an odd, scraping sound in the kitchen. He pulled on his trousers and opened the door. There was Anna, clad in her kimono, scribbling away in a notebook, oblivious to the sound that the stool’s legs made on the tiled floor.
She shot up from the stool in alarm. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘It’s six o’clock in the morning,’ he said lamely. ‘Sorry if I scared you. I just heard a noise.’
She drew her kimono closer, embarrassed. ‘I was just writing notes for my report. I couldn’t sleep any longer and I didn’t want to forget anything.’
‘Do you want a coffee?’
She covered her notes with her hand. ‘Yes, please. There’s some freshly made.’
‘Got a bit of a hangover?’
‘No, I have not!’ she said angrily.
‘Did you find the cufflinks?’
‘No. I’ll call the restaurant. I was thinking I may have dropped them in the car.’
Langton poured two cups of black coffee and put one down in front of her. He glanced at the notebook.
‘You want to talk about it?’
‘No. I’ll wait for the briefing.’
‘OK. By the way, Michael Parks is coming in to see how you dealt with Daniels.’
