‘You’re very quiet,’ Easton said. He was driving. Dani was watching the world blur by.
‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’ she said.
‘You think he killed her?’
‘I really hope not.’
‘You think this is all connected to what we found in the accounts too? To Terry and Annie’s murders?’
Dani didn’t answer immediately. Did she think that? That Hugo had killed not just Elle – because of an affair? – but Terry and Annie Eccles too? The motive for Elle would be clear, but what motive for killing the Eccles parents, unless pure revenge against Terry if he really was having an affair with Elle? But then none of that seemed to relate at all to the mess in the company accounts. Surely that was relevant too?
Dani’s head hurt from trying to figure it all out.
‘What if he won’t let us in?’ Easton asked.
‘We’ll get inside one way or another.’
Thankfully he didn’t ask what she meant by that. She wasn’t sure herself.
‘What if he’s not there?’ Easton asked.
Dani took her gaze from the outside and glared at him. He seemed to understand the look. ‘Sorry.’
She picked up her phone. Dialled Mutambe. Before they’d rushed from the office, she’d already set her colleague up to pull as much further CCTV from the night Elle had disappeared as she could, to see if they could trace the movements of Hugo’s car. But she’d just had another thought too.
‘I think we should organise some basic surveillance on Will Eccles.’
‘Sure. I can make that happen.’
With what they’d been told by Henry about Will and Elle having an affair, plus the argument she’d seen between Will and Hugo on the CCTV, finding Will was now more important than ever. Ever since he’d turned up outside her house, it had been apparent that Will knew far more about what was happening around his family than anyone else.
But was it just finding him, or protecting him, that they needed to do?
They arrived outside the gates to Bridlington Terrace. Easton opened his window. Dani stared through the wrought-iron bars to the grounds beyond.
‘His car’s there,’ Dani said.
Easton pressed on the intercom. They waited. No answer.
‘He could have gone for a walk,’ Easton said.
Dani gave him another glare. Easton sighed and pressed the intercom again. No answer. He pressed again.
‘As soon as he knows it’s us here he’ll be straight onto Daddy,’ Dani said.
‘Then what do you suggest?’
‘What do you want?’ came a groggy drawl through the speaker. Definitely Hugo, though it sounded like he had marbles in his mouth.
‘Delivery for you,’ Easton said before turning to Dani and shrugging.
‘Delivering what?’
‘How should I know. A box. For Hugo Werner.’
There was a click from the speaker – Hugo ending the conversation? Then the gates slowly swung open.
Easton and Dani looked at one another. Was he expecting her to say something? Would that element of deceit come back to bite them? Not that she hadn’t been thinking of a similar ruse to get inside if necessary.
Easton drove on through.
‘My biggest worry is not getting the chance to talk to him before Peter or the lawyer turns up,’ Dani said.
‘Agreed.’
‘He doesn’t know you. If he comes down the stairs and recognises me—’
‘I know, I know. He’ll be on the phone before we can stop him. So what do we do?’
‘Let me out here. I’ll walk around, out of sight towards the entrance. Park as close as you can to the door. Pretend to rummage in your boot while I sneak up. If he opens the door… bingo.’
Easton raised an eyebrow. ‘Can we not just ask him nicely to speak to us?’
‘We will.’
Dani opened her door to force Easton’s hand. The car came to a stop and she jumped out then quickly moved off to the side. Easton moved off again then parked up, on double yellows all of three yards from the entrance door. Dani continued to move at pace. As Easton got out of the car he smiled and waved towards the building. So Hugo was there, though Dani couldn’t see him because of the angle.
She scuttled across to the building as Easton opened up the boot to his car and stuck his head inside. Dani pulled up against the wall of the block then edged closer to the still closed door. She was several steps from it when she heard a click. Then it opened.
Dani dashed forwards as Hugo Werner emerged. He clocked Dani and went to step back inside. Dani stuck her foot into the closing gap between door and frame just in time.
‘Hugo!’
He stopped halfway across the atrium. Turned to face her. Bloodshot eyes wide, with thick bags underneath. His skin was blotchy and pale. His baggy clothes made his figure look gaunt and bony rather than slim and athletic.
He looked ill. He looked scared.
‘What do you want?’ he slurred.
He was drunk. High too?
‘Just to talk,’ Dani said, trying to appear and sound calm.
Hugo glared from Dani to Easton, who was now standing over her shoulder.
‘This is DS Easton,’ Dani said. ‘Please, Hugo, why don’t we go inside? It’d be better for all of us.’
‘We told you last time—’
Dani held her hands up in resignation. ‘Call your lawyer if you need to. Or your dad. But think about the endgame here, Hugo. Help us. We’ll help you.’
Dani could see the torment in his eyes. This young man was troubled. Better for her to play to that than to antagonise him.
Dani heard a car engine behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see a Mercedes pulling into a spot just past Easton’s car. Not anyone that she recognised, but when Dani turned back to Hugo he looked even more uncomfortable, embarrassed.
‘Come on, let’s do this upstairs,’ Dani said. ‘It’s best for all of us.’
Hugo said nothing. Then he nodded.
Dani and Easton moved inside. They followed Hugo to the lift. Dani kept her eyes on his hands the whole time. Not just in case he had his phone and was trying to summon help, but in case he had any kind of weapon on him too. It wasn’t an unthinkable scenario.
They travelled up to the top floor in silence. Hugo led them out, opened his front door and carried on walking. Dani followed him step for step. She looked to Easton for the briefest beat and mouthed, Take a look around.
She wanted to make sure they really were alone.
Hugo led her through to the living space where he slumped on the sofa. Dirty glasses, cups, crockery lay here and there. Empty bottles of wine and spirits were clustered in a pile on the kitchen counter. This man was alone and on a downwards spiral. Dani almost felt sorry for him. She was more wary, though.
‘You looked troubled, Hugo,’ Dani said.
He didn’t meet her eye. Just stared at the floor in front of him.
‘I just want you to talk to me.’
‘About what?’
‘About whatever it is that’s making you like this. What’s happening to you, Hugo? What are you trying to achieve? You want to drink yourself to death?’
Now he glared at her. There was a certain fire in the look which hadn’t been there so far which made Dani all the more nervous.
Easton came back into the room, he nodded to Dani. Hugo was alone.
‘Can we sit down?’ Dani asked. She wanted Hugo as relaxed as possible. Having two detectives hanging over him was unlikely to do that.
‘Knock yourselves out,’ Hugo said. ‘Help yourselves to a drink if you want. Order a fucking pizza or whatever.’
Dani ignored that comment. She and Easton took the sofa opposite Hugo.
‘Tell us what happened to Elle,’ Dani said.
Hugo held her eye, held his tongue.
‘Hugo, don’t make his harder on yourself. You need to think very clearly about what happens next. If something bad happened to her, if you had anything to do with what happened to Terry and Annie Eccles, now is the time to tell us.’
‘Terry Eccles?’ Hugo said, practically spitting the name. ‘Fuck him, and fuck his wife too. Fuck their whole family, in fact.’
Easton shuffled slightly next to Dani, as though readying himself for a confrontation. There was certainly something unsettling about Hugo’s mood.
‘Elle was having an affair,’ Easton said.
Hugo was looking at the floor again.
‘Is that right?’ Dani said. ‘She was sleeping with someone else?’
No answer.
‘Did you love her?’ Dani asked. ‘I imagine that really hurt you, to know she was with someone else.’
No answer.
‘So who was it?’ Easton asked. ‘Who was she sleeping with? Terry? Will? Both of them? Is that why you killed Terry and his wife?’
Hugo looked over to Easton. His eyes narrow, his face twisted with hate. But still he was silent.
‘Hugo, talk to us,’ Dani said. ‘We’re worried about Elle. Where is she?’
‘I would have done anything for her. I would have given her everything I ever could.’
‘She hurt you,’ Dani said. ‘She hurt you in the worst possible way.’
Hugo was mute once again. His whole body quivered. He was mad. He was sad. He was lost. In his state he was about as dangerous as a person could be.
‘What happened to Elle?’ Dani said. ‘We’ve got video of you two leaving here. Third of March. The middle of the night. You came back that night. She didn’t. She hasn’t been seen since. Where did you go?’
He shook his head. His eyes were welling.
‘Please just tell us.’
‘I didn’t… I didn’t want to hurt her.’
He almost broke down with that sentence. Dani balled her fists. Dug her nails into her palms. Both in anticipation but also in anger. What had he done?
‘Where is she?’ Dani asked.
Hugo didn’t say anything. He was so close to opening up. But he also looked about ready to explode.
‘You killed her,’ Easton said. ‘Then what? A few days later you went over to Sutton and killed Terry and Annie Eccles too? Why? Because he’d been sleeping with her?’
Hugo didn’t say anything to that.
‘You killed her,’ Easton said again. ‘We all know it. You don’t even have to say the words. We just want to know where she is. You say you loved her. That you’d do anything for her. Tell us where she is. She deserves it. Her family deserves it.’
‘No,’ Hugo said through gritted teeth. ‘She got exactly what she deserved already. And so did Terry fucking Eccles.’
Dani had sensed it coming. Still, she was too slow to react when Hugo leaped up from the sofa. Well, not quite up, but across. He dove forwards, over the coffee table, heading straight for Easton.
Easton rose up from his position but in doing so only moved closer to Hugo who barrelled into him and the two of them crashed to the floor in a frantic grapple.
Dani jumped up from her seat. Reached into her pocket for her phone. The two men groaned and roared. Fists, elbows flew.
Then Hugo pulled himself free and was back on his feet. Easton went to clamber up too, but Hugo dove back onto him and they both crashed down to the coffee table, the top of which shattered into thousands of glass shards.
Dani hurriedly shouted into her phone for the back-up they needed. Hugo delivered a thunderous head-butt to Easton before pulling himself back to his feet once more. Easton writhed but remained on the floor among the glass.
Hugo, snarling, chest heaving, looked to Dani.
‘You don’t have to do this,’ she said, putting the phone down.
Hugo dashed towards her. Dani had barely any time to react. But she wouldn’t just cower and hope for the best. Instead she stood her ground. Shimmied so that Hugo couldn’t barge into her like he had with Easton. He righted himself and threw an arcing punch. Dani easily blocked it. And the next. Then she went on the attack herself. She ducked down and rushed forwards and grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, knocking the wind from him. She tried to use the moment of confusion to grab his wrist to get him into a hold. Just as she had with Trey Wallace.
She managed it.
But Hugo was a different beast from Wallace altogether. Wired on drugs and alcohol and adrenaline and hatred and primal survival instinct, he wasn’t stopping. Dani twisted his arm around but it was like he didn’t even care. She could have broken his bones there and then and it wouldn’t have stopped him. Instead, as she battled to subdue him, she took an unexpected uppercut, right under her jaw, which caused her head to jolt backwards. There was nothing she could do to stop herself stumbling back and falling to the floor.
Her head crashed off the carpet and the room blurred.
She was prone on the ground. She knew it, but she could do nothing about it. Easton was down too. Hugo could do whatever he wanted.
No. Fight. She had to fight.
‘Aaron!’ Dani screamed, as though the strength of the shout would cause a wave of clarity to rush through her mind.
Not quite. But it helped her focus a little bit better at least. She blinked a couple of times to reset her vision. She expected Hugo to be right there.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
A bang. A clunk. The front door.
‘Aaron, he’s gone. Come on!’