Two hours later, Caroline watched as Dexter sat on the chair in her office, across the desk from her. He looked disconsolate.
‘Boss, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.’
‘I can well imagine you are,’ Caroline replied. ‘What on earth were you thinking?’
Dexter shrugged. ‘I clearly wasn’t. I dunno. I was just looking at the shirt, and he only went to make a phone call. I don’t think I even registered you’d gone somewhere different. I took my eye off the ball. I don’t have an excuse. I know it’s all on me. I completely understand if you want to drop me from the case or take it on yourself.’
Caroline sighed. ‘You know we don’t have enough bodies as it is. We can’t afford to lose you. And in case you hadn’t remembered, I’m meant to be on holiday. The last thing I want is to risk my marriage because you got hypnotised by a bloody football shirt.’
Dexter gave a sigh of relief. ‘Do we have any news on reinforcements?’ he asked.
‘It’s happening. We might struggle for CID, but we’ve got uniform going through the CCTV. With a month’s worth of footage, there’s plenty to keep them going. Even if we are missing half of it.’
Dexter’s head dropped. ‘I really am sorry, boss.’
‘I know. But there’s not much we can do now, other than work with what we’ve got. And, as it happens, you might have inadvertently given us something.’
‘Oh?’
‘We managed to put some pressure on the technician to find out what happened to the missing zone. We mentioned we’d have our IT forensics people on it, and that we’d find out exactly how the footage got lost. We cut him a plea bargain, and he confirmed that the zone covering the production area had been working fine, but that Fletcher specifically asked him over the phone to disable it and delete the archive footage.’
‘Jesus Christ. Fletcher knows there was something on it. That’s perverting the course of justice.’
‘I’m well aware of that. He’s already been brought in for a formal interview.’
‘What’s he playing at? It’s got to be him, hasn’t it? He’s our man. He’s guaranteed a prison sentence for deleting the footage as it is. You don’t risk that unless you think it’ll get you off something bigger.’
Caroline murmured her agreement. ‘Potentially. Or he might be covering for someone else. Not everyone realises the extent of the law, or what traces are left when things are deleted. He might have panicked and not thought about it. And even if he did, we don’t know for certain he was weighing one prison sentence up against another. Maybe the alternative was far worse than that.’
‘I guess. He seemed pretty petrified of losing his business.’
‘Exactly. People do daft things. We see it all the time.’
‘Or he could’ve been blackmailed by someone.’
Caroline nodded. ‘It’s a line we’ll run with in the interview. We’ll give him the option as an out.’
Among many techniques and strategies used in police interviews, this was one that was often successful. In a situation where a suspect was flat-out denying their involvement, or where the police knew something had happened but needed the suspect’s co-operation, providing them with an off-ramp tended to yield positive results. Too many suspects boxed themselves into dead-ends or felt cornered by the police’s line of questioning, in which case they tended to simply shut down. Suggesting that perhaps it was possible they’d been coerced, or made to act against their will, provided a hugely attractive avenue for the suspect. Psychologically speaking, pretty much everyone felt more comfortable with the truth. But when that came up against the threat of a loss of liberty or admitting guilt, a metaphorical wall went up. By giving the suspect a chance to — at least mostly — explain the truth but still avoid direct responsibility, things started to move very quickly. And even if they were purely using it as an opportunity to shift the blame onto someone else, that could be swiftly disproven as part of what followed.
‘In fact,’ Caroline continued, ‘I think we should put our heads together and plan our strategy for Fletcher’s interview.’
‘Me?’ Dexter asked, seeming genuinely surprised to be involved.
‘Yes, you. I want you in there with me.’
‘Wow. Okay. Thanks. I half-expected to be sent home, if I’m honest.’
Caroline let out a small laugh. ‘Like I said, Dex, we can’t afford to lose anyone right now. You’re a brilliant detective and a good interviewer. Anyway, we already know Fletcher sees you as a bit of a patsy. We can use that to our advantage.’
Dexter looked at Caroline and forced a smile.