‘Here we go,’ he said.
Langton pressed the intercom bell and they waited.
‘Yes?’ It was a sleepy-voiced Daniels.
‘Police.’
The buzzer clicked to open the front door and the three of them proceeded through it.
After a moment, Daniels opened the door to his flat.
‘Good morning, Mr Daniels,’ said Langton. ‘I have here a warrant for your arrest.’
Daniels took a half step back. Lewis moved forward and held the door wide open. Langton held up the warrant.
‘I am arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Melissa Stephens. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
Daniels looked in astonishment at each of them. Anna remembered Barolli’s advice, ‘Look at his eyes,’ but the suspect’s eyes seemed like dark, unfathomable pools.
Daniels walked into his dining room. They followed him.
Anna’s gaze didn’t waver; she was keeping her entire focus on his face.
‘Is this a joke?’ he said.
For a moment, she saw the glimmer of fear in the eyes, as his tongue flicked out to wet his lips. By the time he caught her glance, the fear had gone.
‘Anna,’ he said softly. ‘What is all this?’
‘Please read the warrant, Mr Daniels. We are taking you to Queen’s Park police station.’
Daniels gestured helplessly at Anna. He addressed Langton evenly. ‘I want to call my lawyer.’
‘You may do so at the station, sir.’
As Daniels held his hand out for the warrant, he took another step back, almost tripping over a Persian rug. He read the document with an audacious calmness, then slowly glanced over it once more before handing it back. ‘Well, it seems in order, but you’re making a terrible mistake.’ He shrugged. ‘I’d better get dressed.’ Lewis accompanied him.
When they had gone, Langton murmured to Anna, ‘Cool bastard, isn’t he?’
After a short time, they returned. Daniels was checking his coat sleeve, flicking a small piece of lint from the cuff. Then, flanked by the two men, he headed out of the house, Anna following behind. As the rear passenger door was opened, he gave Anna a slow, appraising look. Langton gestured peremptorily for him to get inside, while Lewis walked round to the opposite door.
‘You’ll be going in the patrol car,’ Langton instructed Anna quietly, before taking his place in the front seat. He gave the nod to the driver.
Anna watched the car move off quickly, then seated herself in the back of the patrol car next to the uniformed officer. They, too, pulled out quickly to follow in convoy behind Langton.
‘They’re bringing him in,’ said Moira, hurrying into the incident room.
Jean stood up nervously. ‘Which interview room?’
‘Number two’s been made ready.’
Jean rushed to the window to see them entering the station below. Barolli, desperate to have a look as well, restrained himself, busying himself at his desk.
Anna entered the incident room. They crowded around as she took off her coat.
‘Any trouble?’ asked Barolli.
‘Nope. Apparently he didn’t say a word on the way here. Now he’s calling his brief.’
‘What happened when you arrested him?’
‘He asked if it was a joke.’
They turned quickly as Lewis entered the incident room. He cautioned: ‘It’s going to be half an hour or more until his brief gets here, so he’s been taken down to the cells to wait.’
Langton stood outside the cell door while the duty sergeant asked Daniels to remove all items from his pockets. When he was asked to take off his shoes, he sat on the bunk bed, still silent and carefully unthreaded his shoelaces. Then came the request for his tie, which he rolled round his fist and placed beside the shoelaces.
‘Trouser belt,’ Langton said softly.
Daniels unbuckled his belt, snaked it through its loops and tossed it onto the bed.
‘Once your brief arrives, you’ll be taken up to the interview room. Until then, you will remain in the cell.’
Daniels watched as the duty sergeant noted everything down on his clipboard. Then he folded his coat neatly and passed it over.
‘Can you sign for them please, Mr Daniels?’
‘By all means.’ Daniels did a fast, flourishing signature.
‘And his cufflinks,’ Langton ordered.
Daniels sighed and returned to the bed. He stretched out his arm and tugged at his wrists to unclip a pair of gold twists which he then held out to the sergeant in the palm of his hand. After they had been added to the list, a uniformed officer outside the cell took the belongings away. Now the sergeant put on a pair of rubber gloves.
‘Could you open your mouth, please?’
Langton joined them at this point. Daniels tilted his head back and the sergeant looked into his mouth.
‘Lift your tongue.’
The sergeant ran his hands through Daniels’s hair, felt behind his ears and told him to drop his trousers. Langton walked out, discreetly closing the door slightly, as the last section of the body search was completed.
‘All clear,’ the sergeant said, pulling off his rubber gloves.
Langton glanced over at Daniels, who still stared at the wall ahead of him. While he had not reacted to the indignity of the body search, Langton saw that the muscle at the side of his jaw was working overtime.
When Langton entered the incident room, all eyes turned to him. He quickly summarized the situation in the cell.
‘He’s not a happy man, but he’s not giving an inch.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Right, let’s have a summary in my office.’
It was already coming up to eight. Anna doubted that they would go for the interrogation before noon.
Radcliff did not get to the station until a quarter to nine. He apologized, explaining it was due to heavy traffic. In Langton’s office he was made familiar with the charges. At first, he showed no reaction to the development.
He looked over the warrant, then, apparently satisfied, placed it back on Langton’s desk. ‘On my previous visit, you had nothing but circumstantial evidence against my client. Am I to presume you now have incriminating evidence?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you are charging him with the murder of — erm …’ He couldn’t remember her name.
‘Melissa Stephens.’
‘Right.’
‘We will also be questioning him with regard to a further ten victims.’
‘Ten?’ Radcliff spluttered.
He unzipped his briefcase and took out his fountain pen from his breast pocket. He noted the time on a small Gucci notepad. ‘You are holding him here at Queen’s Park?’
‘Yes.’
‘In discussing these allegations with my client, I will require some indication of the reason why you feel it is necessary to detain him.’
Langton flipped open one of the row of files he had on his desk.
It was a very different Radcliff who followed the custody officer down the stone steps into the holding cells.
Daniels was lying, eyes closed, on the bed.
‘Sorry not to have got here sooner,’ said Radcliff, somewhat subdued. ‘Held up in traffic and I’ve been with DCI Langton.’
Daniels eased his legs down from the bed and yawned.
