Dan checked his watch. DC Hunter had been keeping him waiting for too long.
He’d found her number from when Peter was still locked up at the police station. At the time they’d exchanged numbers so that he could be available for the next interview as soon as they were ready for him.
When he had called her he’d mentioned Bill’s name so that she knew why he was ringing. She’d told him to come to the station, but ever since then he’d been left in the reception area, pacing before the glossy crime-prevention posters.
The door opened. It wasn’t DC Hunter but Murdoch, a scowl on her face.
‘What’s going on, Dan?’
‘Where’s DC Hunter?’
‘You’ve got me.’
‘I’m just discovering things I haven’t been told.’
‘Bill Maude?’
‘You know it is. I told your DC that, but I’m suspecting there’s more to this if you’ve been sent to speak to me.’
She was silent for a few seconds before saying, ‘Come through.’
He followed her into the long corridor that ran behind the reception, towards the squad rooms and canteen, a labyrinth of corridors built in the days before architects decided that natural light was a good thing. Yellowing strip lights illuminated the station and the doorframes were all dark wood, making everywhere look old and jaded.
Murdoch turned and put her hands on her hips. ‘I didn’t want this conversation in public, because I don’t know who’s going to walk in.’
‘I don’t keep secrets if they help my client.’
‘Nothing helps your client. His blood is on her shoe. He won’t put forward a defence.’
‘I know, that’s what the trial is all about, but let’s pretend for a moment you’re wrong. Bill Maude came to see you with his theories about a serial killer along the canals. What did you do about it?’
‘Come on, Dan, do you really think there’s anything in what he’s saying? He was talking about a hundred deaths over twenty years. It’s the desperate plea of a grieving father who can’t accept his son was taken by an accident. How did you find out about him?’
‘Bill was lurking around the court and I didn’t know whether he was a threat. He seemed too interested in me, watching me. I asked Jayne, my investigator, to find out who he was. She was successful, so here I am.’
‘You’re not telling me you believe him?’
‘I’m investigating it. Did you?’
‘Seriously?’
‘Deadly.’
Murdoch sighed. ‘None of it seemed relevant. The man is obsessed. Surely you saw that?’
‘Why didn’t you disclose this though?’
‘You think it’s disclosable? If he has any credibility, it’s as an informant, and we never disclose those details. We don’t list every wild claim we hear.’
‘When did he get in touch with you?’
‘After we charged Peter Box. He thought it might be part of a series, kept calling the squad. I sent Hunter to warn him off.’
‘And see whether there was anything in it?’
‘A little bit of that, but she wasn’t convinced. Said he was just some grieving old guy.’
Dan smiled. ‘That’s fine. It’s the answer I wanted.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Nothing.’ He went to the door. ‘Can you let me out?’
Murdoch pressed a black fob against a metal plate on the wall. The door buzzed. Dan opened it, but before he could let it close Murdoch held it.
‘Tell me what you mean?’
‘I’ll see you in court tomorrow.’
‘You can’t do this, Dan.’
‘Tomorrow,’ and with that he headed out of the station, knowing that Murdoch was watching him all the way.
The answers he’d been given were exactly what he expected, but if there was anything to what Bill Maude was saying, he’d just fired the first shot.