He drained his coffee and tossed the empty cup in the bin next to him.
‘Hunter, let’s go have a chat with Peter Evans,’ he said. ‘Phone the solicitor and have him meet us there.’
Nineteen
The duty solicitor had arrived before Sharp and Kay, and was standing outside Peter’s room with the doctor from the previous night.
The doctor looked as tired as Sharp did, and Kay wondered how long the man’s shifts were, and when he was due a break. She suspected it would be some time before the man would get some rest.
Both men turned at the sound of their footsteps.
The duty solicitor was an older man who Kay had dealt with before. Brian Sutherland was a partner in one of the bigger local legal firms and wore a dark grey suit that accentuated his snow-white hair that he wore slightly longer than most men his age. Keen blue eyes held her gaze as they shook hands, before his brow creased.
‘This isn’t good, Detectives,’ he said. ‘I hope a full investigation is underway.’
‘It is,’ said Sharp. ‘You heard the media statement earlier?’
‘Yes. Thanks for keeping my client’s name private.’
Sharp acknowledged the remark with a small shrug. ‘Standard practice.’ He turned his attention to the doctor. ‘How’s he doing?’
‘Better than I’d hoped, considering the mess he made of his wrists.’
‘Can we talk to him now?’
The doctor checked his watch. ‘I’ve got another appointment for the next half an hour, so you can talk to him until I get back. He’s still very weak, mind. If he shows any sign of tiredness, I want you to stop.’ He eyed both Sharp and Kay carefully. ‘Is that understood? He lost a lot of blood last night, and needs to rest.’
‘Understood,’ said Sharp and handed a bag to Kay before gesturing to the duty solicitor. ‘Lead the way, Mr Sutherland.’
The solicitor opened the door and held it open for Sharp, who dismissed the two new uniformed officers that had taken over the observation role for the day. Kay stood to one side to let them pass, then entered the room.
Peter Evans looked like a ghost.
As Sutherland moved closer to the bed and helped his client reach the remote control to raise the back of the bed until Peter was in a sitting position, Kay bit her lip.
She’d noticed when she’d first met Peter that his skin was pale – almost alabaster – but since losing so much blood, he was almost translucent. It was the first time she’d noticed how thin he was as well.
She caught Sharp’s gaze and realised he was as shocked as she.
If the custody team hadn’t raised the alarm when they did, the situation would have been much worse.
They certainly wouldn’t be interviewing their main suspect this morning.
She refocused, moved to one of the vacated chairs and sat before reaching into the bag Sharp had handed to her while Sutherland spoke in a low murmur with his client. Sharp hovered nearby until Sutherland glanced over his shoulder and nodded.
Sharp moved closer and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘How are you doing, Peter?’
‘I’m okay,’ he said. He held up his two bandaged wrists. ‘I guess.’
‘All right. This is what we’re going to do. We need to talk to you, but we’re still under an obligation to caution you and treat this conversation as a formal interview. DS Hunter here will operate a portable recorder, and then the interview will be copied onto CDs and stored as evidence.’
Sharp waited while she set up the equipment, then formally cautioned Evans and began his questioning.
‘What happened?’
Peter wiped angrily at his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I’m not going to prison for something I didn’t do,’ he choked. ‘I loved her. I had no idea she was pregnant, I swear.’ He sniffed and raised his eyes to Sharp. ‘And if I did, I would’ve stayed with her. I’d have done anything for Sophie.’
Sharp wandered round the foot of the bed, ignored Kay and leaned against the opposite wall. ‘Peter, you have no alibi for the night of the party. You told us you saw Sophie that morning.’ He sighed. ‘If you two were so keen to run away, why didn’t you go then? Why wait? Did she change her mind? Is that what happened? Did she change her mind, so you decided to stop her?’
‘Detective Sharp!’ The duty solicitor shot him a warning look.
‘No!’ Peter jerked upright, and then winced. He fell back onto the pillows. ‘It was Sophie’s idea. She insisted she go through with the whole ceremony. I think—’ He broke off and sniffed again. ‘I think she felt guilty that her parents had spent all that money on the marquee and the caterers and everything, and she didn’t want to let them down.’
‘What did you say to her when she told you she was going to proceed with the ceremony? Did it make you feel angry?’
Peter’s brow furrowed. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Frustrated, yes. But not angry.’
Sharp pushed himself away from the wall. ‘How did you two meet?’
A sad smile twitched at the corner of Peter’s mouth, and his gaze fell to the bandages on his wrists. He picked absently at a loose thread on the blanket. ‘I help out a local handyman,’ he said. ‘I was pretty good at carpentry at school, and I can do some basic plumbing stuff, too. There was a gutter that needed replacing at the church she and her family went to, but the only time we could do it was late on a Tuesday afternoon. By the time we were finished, it was getting dark. Some people started turning up at the church, and I remember being surprised because I didn’t know there was anything
