Kay paced the corridor outside the interview rooms and tried to batten down some of her frustration.
Gavin stood next to the door leading into the observation suite with his hands in his pockets, his eyes downcast. ‘Sorry, guv. I should’ve figured out they were hiding something like that.’
‘Not your fault, Gavin. Any of them could’ve volunteered their suspicions with us about what Xander was up to at that small business club, and yet they all chose to turn a blind eye.’
‘What about Xander, guv?’ said Gavin.
Kay stopped beside him and checked her watch. ‘That solicitor of his is going to put up a fight if we try to speak to Xander again without some compelling evidence, and I’d imagine Marion Blanchett is already panicking now that we’re interviewing her staff.’
‘Do you think Damian beat up Xander, then? For bringing his entrepreneurial group into disrepute?’
‘That’s what I want to ask him.’ Kay ran a hand over tired eyes. ‘Jesus, you’d think he’d have come to us instead of taking matters into his own hands though.’
‘Not necessarily, guv – blood is thicker, and all that.’ Gavin scuffed his toe against the tiled floor.
‘All right, let’s go. I want to speak to Damian Beech again. I want to find out what he’s got to say for himself about all of this. After all, he said he was playing computer games with Xander on the night of the break-in at the vet surgery, didn’t he?’
Kay put her phone away when Gavin parked the pool car outside Damian’s house and tied back her hair as the wind tore at her jacket while she hurried to the front door.
‘Look,’ she said under her breath, pointing at the tarpaulin covering the motorbike parked on the driveway. ‘Text the registration number to Barnes, would you? He’ll know what to do with it.’
Gavin frowned, but snapped a photo and did as she instructed while she rang the bell.
Peering through the front window, she couldn’t see Damian inside but soon heard footsteps along the hallway.
When the door opened, he had a tea towel and a coffee mug in his hand.
‘Detective Hunter. What brings you here? Have you arrested whoever beat up my brother?’
‘Not yet. Can we come in?’ She stepped into the hallway before he had a chance to respond, and waited while Gavin shut the front door. ‘Shall we find somewhere to sit down and have a chat, Mr Beech? I have a few more questions I’d like to ask you.’
Damian’s eyes flicked to the living room, and then he pointed to a door at the end of the hallway with the tea towel. ‘Go through to the kitchen, I was just wiping up.’
Kay looked at the crockery and cutlery piled on the draining board as she entered the room and frowned. ‘Had people over, Mr Beech?’
‘No, just doing a spring clean.’ He placed the coffee cup in a cupboard above a microwave, then returned to the sink and picked up another before turning to her. ‘What did you want to see me about?’
‘Where were you between five and seven o’clock on Wednesday night?’ she asked.
‘Here. Watching TV.’
‘Anyone with you?’
‘I live alone, detective. I was watching the news until I heard about Xander, and then I went over to the hospital.’
‘On the motorbike?’
‘Yes. You know that. You saw me there.’
‘And how did you find out that your brother was attacked?’ Kay leaned against a worktop beside the hob and ran her fingers over the surface. It smelled of lemons.
‘Pardon?’ Damian looked from her to Gavin and back.
She raised an eyebrow in response and waited.
‘I-I got a text message,’ he said eventually.
‘From whom?’
‘The neighbour, I think. I didn’t recognise the number.’
‘Have you still got it?’
‘No, I must’ve deleted it.’ He finished drying the mug and clutched the tea towel in his hands.
‘Gav?’
‘Yes, guv?’
‘Go and check the living room, would you?’
Grateful that the detective constable didn’t question her, she watched Damian as Gavin disappeared, his footsteps audible along the hallway.
She heard a surprised grunt when he opened the door to the living room, and then his hurried footsteps returned.
‘Everything’s been packed up, guv. There are boxes everywhere, and not a single computer to be seen.’
‘Going somewhere, Mr Beech? Perhaps thinking of renting this place out for a while?’ she said, pointing to the worktops. ‘You’ve been busy cleaning in here, haven’t you? Is upstairs the same?’
‘I-I…’
‘Where are you off to?’
‘I just fancied a break.’
‘Show me your hands.’
‘What?’
Kay crossed the room in four long strides and snatched the tea towel from his grip.
Raw open sores criss-crossed the back of his knuckles, his fingers bruised.
Kay glared at him.
‘Why did you beat up your brother, Damian?’