‘You just wanted to get into the mood, right?’
His shoulder raised. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Gary, your father’s on his way here. If you need to get a lawyer, you should tell me now and I can speak to him, and he—’
‘I don’t need a lawyer.’
‘I don’t think you realise how serious this is. An acquaintance of yours is dead. Three of your classmates are in the adjacent rooms here giving us chapter and verse on your relationship with Carly.’
Gary shook his head again. ‘Well, Ashley doesn’t know what she’s talking about.’
‘Okay, so you think she’s grassing on you?’
‘There’s nothing to grass about. Nothing. Ashley is a liar.’
‘Okay, but we really need to get your side of things. Then we can validate it, and get to the truth. That would be good, wouldn’t it?’ Vicky gave him a smile, an encouraging one. ‘I mean, it could just be nothing. You could’ve just got spooked by the cops at the party.’
‘Right.’
‘I mean, we’ve heard that Carly’s your girlfriend. But hearsay can be wrong.’
Gary was shaking his head hard now.
‘Come on, it’s okay. We just need the truth. That’s it.’
‘I didn’t kill her.’
‘But you saw her tonight?’
‘No.’
‘Okay, so when did you last see her?’
‘I haven’t seen her in days. Weeks, maybe. Seriously.’
‘Was this on a date?’
‘A date?’ His laugh barked out and rattled around the room, jerked Vicky so much that she had to sit back. ‘No, I saw her at school. That’s it. Didn’t even speak to her.’
‘So you’re not her boyfriend?’
‘Whatever you’ve heard about me, it’s all bullshit.’
‘What might we have heard?’
‘Whatever, it’s just bullshit.’
Karen leaned forward now. ‘That’s what guilty people say.’
Gary looked right at her. ‘What?’
‘Guilty people deny. They don’t speak to us. Just sit there, acting calm. You’re not talking. Makes me think you killed her.’
He looked at her with anger and menace, like he could kill. ‘You have no idea.’
‘So enlighten us, Gary. Being honest will take a load off.’
‘You should be careful who you’re talking to.’
Karen sat there, arms folded, a coy grin on her lips. ‘Okay.’
‘I’m going to be a big shot.’
‘Uh huh. And why’s that?’
‘I work at Indignity.’
‘And what are they when they’re at home?’
‘You have no idea.’ Gary grinned. ‘They’re a video games company, up on the Kingsway. I test games for them.’
‘You sit and play games? That’s not a job.’
‘No, it is.’ Gary ran his tongue over his lips. ‘It’s called Quality Assurance. We make sure the games don’t break. It’s really important work.’
‘And they pay you to do it?’
‘A lot. And I’m really good at it. I’m going to get a job there instead of going to uni. I spoke to the boss about it at the Christmas party last night. So believe me when I say I’m going places.’
‘Your father know about this?’
‘He’s happy for me. It’s a good job. One with prospects.’
Vicky saw something in him. Not just a drunk kid. Maybe the deadening of emotions was the after-effect of trauma. Or maybe he wasn’t traumatised, just a dead-eyed psychopath. ‘My brother plays some of these games. One where you’re running around a big city, shooting people and setting cars on fire.’
Gary rolled his eyes. ‘Right.’
‘You know it?’
Gary smiled. ‘Babe, I test it.’
‘Shame to ruin your glorious future by murdering your girlfriend, isn’t it?’
‘She’s—’ Gary huffed out a huge sigh. ‘Forget about it.’
‘We can’t just forget about it.’ Karen leaned forward again. ‘Carly’s body is downstairs, going through a post-mortem. Literally means “after death”. She’s dead, Gary. Somebody murdered her. Was that you?’
The door opened and DC Considine popped his head in. ‘Sarge?’
Vicky patted Karen on the arm. ‘Back in a sec.’ She went out into the corridor.
Considine was standing with a middle-aged man. Short, stocky, bald. Cardigan and dress trousers. ‘Sarge, this is Mike Wilkie.’
Vicky fixed a hard stare at him. ‘You’re Gary’s father?’
‘I am.’ Mike was twitching his fingers, rubbing them off his palms. He had the same sharp cheekbones as his son, but his face below that was a softened wobble. ‘What’s he alleged to have done?’
Technical terms… Hopefully he wasn’t a lawyer. ‘We’re interviewing him in relation to a murder.’
Mike ran a hand over his head. ‘A murder? Crapping hell. Why him?’
‘Well, we gather that he’s Carly Johnston’s boyfriend.’
‘That’s complete nonsense!’
Vicky stared at him until he looked at her. ‘Even so, I need it from him. And I need it backed up by someone else.’
‘Why isn’t his word good enough for you?’
‘Because we’ve got a witness on record stating that he was her boyfriend. And it wouldn’t be the first time a teenager hid something from a parent.’
Mike nodded slowly. ‘No, I suppose not. What’s he saying?’
‘That’s the trouble, sir. Your son isn’t speaking much. Talking about his job at a video games company.’
‘Right, well. Listen, I’m not surprised.’ Mike rubbed his forehead. ‘Do you mind if I try and get through to him?’
‘You’re more than welcome.’ Vicky nodded at Considine, then led Mike into the room.
Gary glanced over, then he looked away, eyes shut. Tears streamed down his sharp cheeks.
Mike sat next to his son, holding him tight. ‘Hey, Gaz, it’s going to be okay.’
Gary let himself be hugged. The arrogant quality assurance tester of violent video games was replaced by a lost child, looking barely even his sixteen years. ‘Dad…’ He buried his face in his father’s chest.
Mike held him like that for a few seconds, mumbling soothing tones, but it didn’t sound like words or a message. They shared the same long nose, the same cheekbones giving rise to the same sad look. ‘Son, you need to tell them the truth, okay?’
Gary looked into his dad’s eyes, then nodded, then rubbed away his tears. He slumped forward, elbows on the table, resting his forehead on his hands, his greasy hair dangling free. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Let’s start where we asked you twenty minutes ago. You and Carly.’
‘There’s no me and Carly.’
‘Okay. But was there?’
‘Well, maybe. Kind of.’ Gary sighed. ‘I don’t know.’
‘But you were involved?’
‘Maybe. We kissed at
