Emma flicks through a tattered magazine and Tony makes some notes on a sheet of paper while they sit in the wood-panelled reception area waiting for John Knapton to get back from the police station, where the lawyer has been pressing for Alex’s release. After Detective Sergeant Barker left the house, Emma had called him to fill him in on what had happened and, although he had told her not to get her hopes up, she had been reassured by his confident manner.
They had all driven up to London in Emma’s tiny Polo and, as soon as they arrived at her flat, Zoe suggested that she run out to do a bit of shopping so she could make them a sandwich before they went to the meeting. She also offered to drive them to Knapton’s office in the West End. Emma has rarely seen this side of her sister and is very touched by the effort Zoe is making to be considerate. Nothing like a crisis to bring people together, she thinks.
Knapton doesn’t keep them waiting long.
‘Tony, Emma. Come through, come through,’ he says, not even pausing to shake their hands or properly introduce himself.
They follow him into his office, which is also wood-panelled with one entire wall given over to bookshelves and another taken up with a huge window overlooking Wigmore Street. Knapton sits down with his back to the window and gestures to the two dark-red leather chairs in front of the desk.
‘Sit, sit, please,’ he says.
Knapton is small and neat and very different from the clichéd version of a lawyer she had imagined when she spoke to him on the phone earlier. Looking at his alarmingly pink bow tie, she has a terrible urge to laugh and dares not look at Tony. Instead, she smiles inwardly because she knows exactly what Alex’s reaction would have been.
‘I’ve seen Alex and he’s doing alright under the circumstances. He’s immensely grateful for the help you are giving him, Tony. He wants me to tell you that, although he made a terrible, terrible mistake in going to meet Nicola Scott, he had absolutely nothing to do with her death. He’s not worried for himself, but is clearly very concerned about how this is affecting you, Emma.’
‘A bit late for that, I would have thought,’ Tony mutters.
‘Yes, well, I’m just passing on the message. Now that’s done, let’s get down to business. I think I’ve explained to you that if the police want to hold Alex for more than twenty-four hours they can ask the Chief Superintendent to approve an additional twelve hours. After that, they will need a magistrate’s authority to keep him locked up any longer. I think they will take the easy option and go for the extra twelve hours, which takes us until tomorrow morning, when, in all likelihood, they will release him on police bail pending further enquiries.’
‘So, you mean they won’t charge him,’ Emma says.
‘At the moment, they don’t have enough evidence to charge him or I’m pretty sure they would have done it. Everything he has told them has been verified and the results from the searches won’t come through for a few days. They won’t achieve anything by holding him.’
‘What could come up from the searches?’ Emma asks.
‘That’s the million-dollar question. He has already admitted to being in the house on Thursday evening, but they are looking for forensic evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he was present when Nicola Scott was killed. We’re talking about blood splatters, things like that.’
‘They won’t find anything – he didn’t kill her,’ Emma says fiercely.