‘Maybe we should ask for a key?’ Juliet said, as the estate gates slid open.
‘Dunlow would love that.’
We’d waited in a lay-by until he left in his sleek BMW. We’d seen the influence he had over Leo. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume Dunlow would exert the same control over his older son.
The wheels crunched on the gravel drive. The windows of Karl’s cottage were dark. He must have let us in remotely again.
The forest dripped with moisture, fat drops of rain falling on the windscreen at irregular intervals. The gun used to kill Melanie could be hidden somewhere in the fading greenery surrounding us. The rain last night could have washed away vital DNA and mangled any prints. What a perfect solution for one of the men pinned to the wall in our office.
The manor came into view, the brickwork soaked to a darker shade of beige. As we climbed out of the car, the gravel made a dull squelch. I pulled my collar up against the gusting wind and Juliet’s hair danced around her face as we walked to the house. She lifted the door knocker.
‘You up for taking the lead in here?’
I nodded, keeping a frown off my face. I considered myself in charge unless we decided otherwise. Juliet had said this was my case. But then, maybe her question had nothing to do with that. People responded better to one or the other of us. I wasn’t exactly sure who Terence would more readily open up to.
Juliet lifted the knocker again and I moved from foot to foot. The man walking down the staircase, his auburn hair tangled, looked much less put together than when we’d met him in the forest.
‘Hello? The detectives, right?’ Terence said as he opened the door, revealing eyes crusted with sleep and a face crisscrossed with indentations. His T-shirt was faded by too many washes, his checked trousers baggy around his long legs.
‘Detective Sergeant Gabe Martin and Detective Inspector Juliet Stern,’ I filled in the blanks. ‘Can we come in for a chat?’
Terence held the door wide. Our shoes left puddles on the hardwood floor as he led us through to a kitchen at the back of the manor. The view was no different here, long lawns giving way to tall trees. Terence gestured at some stools but Juliet and I remained standing on one side of a marble kitchen island.
‘Dad’s not here.’ Terence rummaged in a top cupboard. ‘Leo’s at school as well. Drink?’
‘Nothing for us,’ I said.
Juliet watched Terence’s back with narrowed eyes, her hands curled on the clean worktop. I pulled out my notepad.
‘Suit yourself.’ Terence pushed a pod into a silver coffee maker and it started up with a smooth purr. He slotted a cup into the front.
‘We have a few questions for you,’ I said.
‘For me?’ His face creased in posh boy confusion. We might think we wanted to talk to him, but we must have made a mistake. He wasn’t the kind of man who got in serious trouble with the law.
The stream of coffee ended with a gurgle. He grabbed the cup before coming to stand across the island from us, his movements unhurried.
‘What do you need to ask me?’ He took a sip of his drink.
‘We know you weren’t at a wedding on the night Melanie Pirt was murdered,’ I said.
Juliet pulled her hands back. She might have assumed I would pad out the reason we’d come. That would have been my usual tack, but there was something about Terence that made me want to ruffle his sleek feathers. He was too untouchable, too protected by his wealth and good looks from the gritty realities of life.
‘Shit.’ He set down his drink with too much force. Coffee spilled over the side and formed a brown pond around the cup. Terence didn’t seem to notice. He rubbed his hands over his face, then pressed his palms into his cheeks. His mouth formed a momentary pout before he dropped his hands to the counter.
‘It’s not what you think.’
‘What is it then?’ I asked.
‘I was away, but not at the wedding.’ Terence puffed air out of the side of his mouth. ‘I was with a friend.’
‘Who?’ I jotted down a note.
Terence stared at my pencil. ‘Do I have to tell you?’
‘We can’t trust your alibi unless we have someone else to back it up,’ Juliet stated.
‘Christ.’ Terence looked over at one of the long windows. ‘His name’s Benedict Hogan. He’s an old school friend. I went to his house on the morning of the 8th and I didn’t leave until I came home on the 10th.’
‘What were you doing with Mr Hogan?’ I asked.
‘I’d rather not say.’ Terence rubbed at his hair. ‘It’s not illegal or anything, just I’d rather not tell you. But I was there, Benny will confirm that.’
‘Why did you tell us you were at a wedding?’ I rapped my pencil on my pad. Terence was in theory swapping one alibi for another, but that didn’t change the fact that suspects in this case had a bad habit of lying to us.
‘I didn’t actually tell you that.’ Terence shrugged. ‘That’s what my dad told you.’
‘Why did you lie to him?’ I asked.
‘Because that’s what I do.’ Terence stared at me, his lips pulled down. He looked a million miles from the untouchable, smarmy posho I’d assumed he was through and through. ‘My dad loves Leo and me, but it’s on his terms. We do things his way, or we’re out on our ear.’
‘And your dad wouldn’t like you staying with a friend?’
‘No, he wouldn’t.’
Teddy noticed the puddle around his cup. He grabbed some kitchen roll and mopped up the mess. I tapped my pencil. No matter how legal whatever Terence was up to with Mr Hogan was, it was something his father would disapprove of, something Terence didn’t want him to find out about. That didn’t narrow the field much. Dunlow didn’t seem the type to discriminate over what brought him displeasure.
‘Did you know Melanie Pirt?’ I asked, leaving Terence’s activities with Mr Hogan for now.
Terence shook his head, locks of hair falling across his lined forehead. ‘I’d not heard of her until all of this happened.’
‘Why should we believe you?’ Juliet spread her hands flat on the island. ‘You lied to your father about where you were and let us believe that lie. Why should we trust your next alibi, especially since you won’t tell us what you were up to?’
‘I wasn’t up to anything.’ Terence scrunched the coffee-stained paper in his hand. ‘I never lied, not really, and I’ve told you the truth now. I wasn’t here, and I had nothing to do with what happened. You’re wasting your time questioning me.’ He threw the kitchen roll down onto the island. ‘You shouldn’t be talking to me or Leo or Dad. You should be arresting Karl.’
‘Why would we arrest Karl?’ I asked, my eyebrows lowering.
Terence looked between us, some of his swagger returning. He stood straighter, puffing out his chest.
‘You don’t know?’ He shook his head. ‘He has guns in that squalid little cottage.’
I glanced at Juliet. That was a good reason for Karl to avoid letting us into his home. We’d head down to see him next, regardless of my qualms about disturbing his peace.
Triumph flooded Terence’s face. ‘Bet he didn’t tell you about those, did he? Any more questions for me?’
‘Not for now,’ I said, my smile tight.
Terence rounded the island and led us to the front door, his steps light. He watched us walk to the car.
‘Don’t believe a thing that idiot tells you about me,’ he shouted.