I follow up on the school picture, guv?’ ventured Rimmer.
‘No. Forget it.’ Hudson inclined his head. Crouch and Rimmer took the hint, stood up and left.
After a suitable pause spent watching Hudson pace the room, Grant returned her attention to the computer, keying in her ID when prompted. While she waited for recognition she looked up.
‘Guv?’
‘It’s all wrong, Laura.’
‘What is?’
‘We’ve got two halves of a crime that don’t fit together. This girl Terri…’
‘Are we bringing her in?’
Hudson turned to her. ‘Tell me why we should.’
‘We have it from Sowerby and the CCTV. She cleared out the room she and Tony were staying in. Guilty conscience right there.’
‘She’s having an affair with her stepfather, maybe since she was fifteen. Anything else?’
‘There isn’t anything else, guv. That’s why we should bring her in.’
Hudson paused, seeking the right words. His face cleared when he found them. ‘Did she kill her stepfather?’
Now it was Grant’s turn to think. ‘Poisoning is a woman’s crime,’ she said. Hudson waited. ‘There may be a motive we don’t know about,’ she ploughed on. ‘She may have found out there were other girls.’ Hudson said nothing. ‘Okay, guv. Honestly, I can’t see her as the killer.’
‘Why not?’
‘She’d need sophisticated medical or pharmaceutical knowledge for a start.’
Hudson smiled at her. ‘As opposed to English and Media Studies.’
‘But she’s a bright girl, guv. She may have made the effort. There’s always the internet.’
‘It’s just the way Harvey-Ellis was killed, Laura. It was so cold and…’
‘And professional?’ Grant ventured.
‘Exactly. I’ve seen a lot of domestics, I’m sure you have. And I saw Terri and her mother. They were in pieces. If either of them had killed Tony, it would have been a crime of passion. If someone had shot him six times in bed, I’d be looking at them. If someone had taken a baseball bat to him while he slept, I’d be looking at them. If someone had chopped off his knackers…’
‘All right, guv, I get it.’
‘And if Terri had done any of those things I could accept that in the heat of the moment she might get her prints all over the evidence and her mugshot on camera. But someone managed to get the better of Harvey-Ellis while he was pumped up with adrenaline – a fit rugby-playing forty-three-year-old. Someone was waiting for him. And when they got the chance there was no hesitation. This was planned and executed by somebody far more ruthless than a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl.’
‘So what now?’ asked Grant, breaking off to answer a prompt from the computer. She hit the return key, typed in the words ‘scopolamine’ and ‘morphine’ from her notebook and returned her attention to Hudson.
‘We speak to her to sign off on the details, but we treat her as a witness. Maybe she saw something; maybe she knows who might have wanted Tony dead. Unlikely, I know. Also, if we’re treating the murder as professional then first we go to his profession…’
‘Oh Jesus!’ exclaimed Grant, staring intently at the monitor.
‘What?’
Grant flipped the monitor round. ‘The MO, guv. It’s The Reaper.’
Laura Grant drove up the shady, tree-lined drive to a large whitewashed house. She parked outside what looked like the main entrance and killed the engine.
Chief Inspector Hudson got out of the passenger seat, coolly taking in the surroundings. Mature trees, outbuildings, manicured paths leading off in all directions. There was an old-fashioned Victorian greenhouse to the rear of the property and he could see a large conservatory on the back of the house.
Grant, being half Hudson’s age and never in touch with a time when houses could be bought for a few hundred pounds, was unmoved by such a show of wealth. She glanced over at Hudson, who seemed to be minutely shaking his head.
‘Christ!’ he said. ‘No wonder this country’s in the shit when people who produce nothing but hot air can afford a house like this. Public relations, my arse. Did you know, when my mum and dad got married, they bought a terraced house in Balham for £800?’
Grant smiled. ‘Yes, guv. I did know that.’
Hudson finally broke away from his surveillance and caught her eye. Then, with an exaggerated cockney accent, he added, ‘In my day…’
Grant nodded towards the entrance as Terri Brook walked towards them. She looked stunning, though her eyes still betrayed the telltale residue of tears. She appeared much older than her seventeen years, dressed in figure-hugging black trousers and a ribbed polo neck. Her make-up was discreet, her mid-length brown hair lightly tinted and swept back and delicate pieces of gold adorned her ears.
‘Hello, you found it then?’
Hudson nodded. ‘Eventually. It’s not often we get out to Falmer.’
‘Really? What about the university?’
‘Not so many murders and armed robberies on campus these days, miss.’
‘Yes, sorry. Stolen bikes and soft drugs not your thing, I suppose. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your names?’
‘I’m DCI Hudson, Miss Harvey-Ellis, this is DS Grant. Nice place you’ve got here.’
‘It keeps the rain off. And I’m Theresa Brook, okay, but I prefer Terri.’
‘Brook. Of course,’ said Hudson, exchanging a glance with Grant.
Terri escorted them through the entrance portico into an enormous modern kitchen and through into an even bigger conservatory, furnished with sturdy cream sofas. She gestured for them to sit, then at a coffee pot and poured for both officers when they nodded.
‘Where’s your mother, Miss Brook?’ asked Grant.
She looked a little sheepish and raised melancholy eyes to Hudson. ‘Call me Terri. I’m afraid I owe you an apology, Chief Inspector. Mum’s asleep. She’s still not up to it. She’s been sedated. I’m sorry. Perhaps if you came back later…’
Hudson paused for a few moments, then smiled in sympathy. ‘Please don’t apologise, Terri. We quite understand.’ Grant raised an eyebrow at her superior. He wasn’t usually so understanding when suspects tried to mess him around.
A pause from Terri. Then, ‘I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted journey.’
‘Terri, do you think I could have a glass of water?’ asked Hudson.
‘Of course.’ She left to fetch the water after a brief pause.
‘Guv?’ said Grant once Terri was out of earshot.
‘I think we should take a run at Terri while she’s on her own.’
‘She’s only seventeen; she should have a parent with her.’
‘How much less awkward would it be without her mother present? Christ, we’re talking about an affair between Terri and her mum’s husband.’
‘I know but I’d feel a lot…’
Terri returned with a glass of water and handed it to Hudson, who took a token sip before placing it on the table.
‘Terri. Perhaps you can help us with