Ferreira was trying to keep the frustration out of her voice, trying to hold a steady pace to her questions but she was failing.
‘Did you see anything to suggest that Patrick left the house on Saturday night?’ she asked.
‘No, I’m sorry.’
‘Did he mention Dr Ainsworth to you?’
‘No.’
‘He didn’t express an intention to go and speak to him?’
‘Only that one time after the break-in,’ she said shakily.
Zigic was looking at Ms Hussein now, his hands clasped tightly on the tabletop, a bare thrum of annoyance coming off him. She’d suggested Nadia had vital information, used it to ensure her client was treated more gently, tried to leverage a recommendation of leniency out of them.
Nadia did have useful information but there was no way Ms Hussein could know the significance of Ainsworth stealing a hairbrush. And as it stood Nadia wouldn’t need their goodwill to help her avoid a prosecution because she appeared to know absolutely nothing about Sutherland’s movements on the night of the murder.
Had Nadia changed her story overnight? Ferreira wondered. Come up with this sleeping pill excuse so she could claim ignorance of Patrick’s behaviour and sidestep being an accessory after the fact?
‘How did you feel when you heard Dr Ainsworth had been murdered?’ Zigic asked, voice stony.
‘I was very sad,’ she said. ‘He was a good man.’
‘Did it occur to you that Patrick might have been responsible?
She blinked, her eyes shining. ‘He promised me he wouldn’t go there. If he promised me then why would he go?’
‘Patrick expressed an intention to scare Dr Ainsworth off.’ Zigic’s shoulders squared angrily. ‘Then, on the night of the murder he drugs you and packs you off to bed. You’re an intelligent young woman, Nadia, that must have struck you as a suspicious chain of events.’
‘Nadia has explained the situation to the best of her capability and recollection,’ Ms Hussein said in a warning tone. ‘I’m sorry she couldn’t give you what you need but the fact remains that she has cooperated fully and you have absolutely no reason to keep her in custody any longer.’
‘Interview suspended 12:14 p.m.,’ Zigic said, then pointed at Ms Hussein. ‘Outside, please.’
They went into the corridor, Zigic moving in that slightly stiff way Ferreira knew meant he was fuming and trying to hide it.
‘You have nothing to charge her with,’ Ms Hussein said the second the door was closed. ‘You may as well release her now and I can try and get her into a decent hostel while we still have some of the day left.’
‘Nadia’s hiding something,’ Zigic said as if he hadn’t heard her. ‘Yesterday you implied that she had information about Ainsworth’s murder.’
‘No, you assumed I implied that,’ she countered. ‘I simply assured you that Nadia would cooperate to the best of her ability, which she has done.’ She patted the bun at the nape of her neck. ‘And I’d say she has given you pertinent information. Does Patrick Sutherland have an alibi now? No, he does not. Has Nadia’s sighting of Ainsworth breaking into the house given Sutherland a motive for murder? Why, yes it has.’
‘We’re going to need to talk to Nadia again,’ Ferreira said. ‘Things are moving very fast right now and there’s a good chance she can help us still.’
‘Which she can do from a hostel.’
‘She’s staying here,’ Zigic said, in a tone that killed further debate. ‘We’ll call you when you’re needed, Ms Hussein.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
‘She’s good,’ Zigic said bitterly. ‘I’ll give her that.’
‘Are you regretting calling her?’ Ferreira asked.
‘Yes!’ He shook his head immediately. ‘No, I suppose not. She’s just doing her best for the girl. I can’t blame her for that.’
They were standing at the board, nothing new on it since they’d gone into the interview room but Nadia had given them something at least. Not what they wanted, a firm statement against Patrick Sutherland, but it was a start.
‘So, I was right about Ainsworth going for a DNA sample,’ Ferreira said, sounding slightly smug about it but he guessed she deserved to feel that way. She turned to him, an urgent look on her face. ‘Do you think the hairbrush is still at Ainsworth’s house?’
‘Was it in with the stuff from forensics?’ he asked.
‘No, but why would they take a hairbrush they will have thought belonged to Ainsworth? They already had his DNA.’ She called over to Murray. ‘Colleen, are you busy?’
‘It’s nothing that won’t wait.’ She spun away from her desk. ‘You want me to go and see if I can find this hairbrush, then?’
‘If you could.’
Murray grabbed her bag and her keys. ‘Do you know what it looks like?’
‘Bristles, handle,’ Ferreira suggested.
Murray pulled a face of fake amusement. ‘I’ll go down and ask Ms Baidoo for a description, will I?’
‘That’s probably a good idea,’ Zigic said.
‘And I’m guessing it won’t just be in the bathroom?’
‘Check his office,’ Ferreira said. ‘He seemed to like keeping stuff in box files and since he was clearly trying to build some kind of case against Sutherland my guess is he’ll have separated it out somewhere.’
‘Got it.’ Murray traced a salute at her and left the office.
‘You think that’s what he was doing?’ Zigic asked, dropping into Murray’s vacated seat. ‘Trying to gather enough evidence to go after Sutherland?’
‘Why else would he want to prove it?’ Ferreira was writing on the board now, adding what they’d got from Nadia. ‘Sutherland cost him his job on a trumped-up assault charge; it makes total sense that Ainsworth was looking to get his own back on him. Find the evidence that Sutherland was grooming and exploiting inmates, get the DNA match for Dorcus’s baby, then he takes it to Hammond and he has to sack Sutherland.’
‘Not come to us?’
‘I don’t think this was about getting Sutherland banged up,’ she said, tapping the marker pen against her knuckles. ‘Ainsworth had his reputation shredded, I think he wanted to do the same to Sutherland.’
Zigic considered it, idly picking a couple of jelly babies from the open jar
