Peter Lovesey - Diamond Dust

'Now he wants to do a deal,' she said as if to the unseen gallery. 'I keep telling you, I know sod all about the murder of this lady.'

'Was it a contract job? You could tell me that.'

'Go to hell.'

McGarvie tried different tacks, but either she was too afraid to speak, or she knew nothing. Presently he broke off the interview and came out, leaving Janie and the woman officer facing each other in silence.

He came to the observation room. 'Well?'

'She's the one with the sharp nails,' Diamond confirmed. 'What's her name?'

'Mary-Jane Forsyth, apparently. Likes to be known as Janie. Twenty-six. No previous. Calls herself a beautician.'

'And what's your take on her?'

'She's small change in the Carpenter set-up. Doesn't know much. But she's been around enough to know I won't press charges for the assault on you.'

'You're going to let her go?'

'When I'm ready.'

'If you like, I could try and get a reaction.'

'Peter, you're a glutton for punishment. Thanks, but no. I don't want you involved, and you know why.'

'Are you going back in?'

'Yes, but you don't have to stay and watch.'

'Try and stop me.'

When the tape was running again, McGarvie resumed with a fresh approach. 'Did you visit Jake while he was on remand?'

'Course I did,' Janie said.

'You're still number one in his life?'

'He's always been kind to me.'

'Have you been to see him in Horfield Prison, since the trial?'

She shook her head. 'They don't get many visitors.'

'But you're his girl. He'd like to see you more than anyone else.'

'I expect I'll get a turn. His brothers want to go first and talk about business things. Family stuff.'

'I bet they do. Did they warn you off, then?'

'Celia – that's his brother Danny's wife – said I have to be patient and they'll let me know.'

'So you know that side of the family?'

'I met them once. They came round to Jake's place for a barbecue on one of them hot days in the summer.'

'Got on all right?'

'All right.'

'Was Celia one of the crowd you were with outside the court?'

'No.'

'And Des – the other brother?'

'I don't know him.'

'What's happening about your flat?'

'It's on a lease until next month. Jake paid six months upfront.'

'Generous. What are your plans?'

'I'll have to go back to London, won't I?'

It ended on that downbeat note. McGarvie went through the motions of warning Janie to respect the law in future and told her she wasn't going to be charged this time. If he'd entertained thoughts of using her, they were dashed. It was starkly clear she wouldn't get her turn to visit Jake in prison. She was history so far as the Carpenters were concerned.

Yet she was better off than Maeve Smith.

And Stephanie Diamond.

Diamond was summoned to the ACC's office early in the afternoon. Clearly there had been discussions before he arrived. Georgina was holding court with McGarvie, Halliwell and two others of DCI level in attendance. An empty chair was positioned centrally.

He had a sense straight away that he had walked into a trap. Georgina looked uncomfortable. No one looked at ease. 'Peter,' she began, meeting his eyes in a way that could only promise conflict, 'I don't have to tell you that the investigation into your wife's murder has been running for almost a month. We've put all the resources we can into it. Curtis here has been working long hours, excessive hours, trying for the breakthrough.'

'I know,' Diamond said with caution. 'I've no complaints.'

'That's good. Unfortunately, the results are disappointing. The obvious suspects, the Carpenter brothers, have very good alibis.'

'Can't fault them,' McGarvie chimed in. 'Everything checks.'

Diamond said, 'They hired someone.'

Georgina didn't challenge the statement. 'The theory of the professional gunman? Obviously that's high on the list.'

'Top of it. Must be.'

She let that pass. 'The most likely way we'll get a line on a hitman is through informants. We're asking all the sources we know, and the Met are making soundings as well, because it's more than likely – if it happened -someone was brought in from London. But so far, nothing has come up. Meanwhile, we must explore every other possibility.'

He shrugged. Couldn't argue with that.

Georgina looked to McGarvie to pick up the baton.

'Can't ignore the stalker theory either,' McGarvie said.

'She wasn't a pop star.'

'Come on, Peter. Ordinary people get stalked. If you're unlucky enough to grab the attention of some crazy, you get stalked, whoever you are.'

'No one was stalking Steph.'

'She may not have mentioned it.'

'She'd have told me. I don't buy this at all.'

'But you'll agree as a detective it has to be given an airing?'

He leaned back in the chair. They seemed to want his endorsement. 'Air it, then.'

'All right. She worked in the charity shop. Any woman – anyone at all – who works in a shop is on display. A stalker knows where he can see her, and when. It's the kind of shop anyone can step into and browse around without being asked what he wants. Sometimes he can walk by and just look in the window. He fantasises that she'll take an interest in him. Maybe he asks a question, or buys something. She was an outgoing woman, good at her job, pleasant to the customers. He takes it as a come-on.'

'You don't have to labour it,' Diamond interrupted. 'Why does he turn nasty?'

'When this obsession is at its height, he finds out she's happily married to you. In his eyes, that's disloyalty. The love turns to hate. If he can't have her, neither will you.'

Diamond rolled his eyes upwards and let out a long sigh. McGarvie was right. It couldn't be discounted. 'Any other scenarios?'

McGarvie nodded and said, 'The mugging that goes wrong. Some drug-user desperate for cash points a gun at the first woman he sees in the park. She tells him to get lost and he pulls the trigger.'

'If someone pointed a gun at Steph and asked for money, she'd have the sense to hand it over.'

'Her bag was missing.'

'Anyone could have picked that up, including the wino who found her.'

'I know, I know.'

There was an awkward silence while McGarvie exchanged a look with Georgina. Neither seemed ready to go on. Finally Georgina cleared her throat.

'We have to explore every avenue. Do we agree on that?'

'Doesn't need saying.'

Still she hesitated over the real purpose of this meeting. 'Well, in a straightforward case of murder, there are procedures we use almost without thinking.' Another pause. 'You don't have to take this personally, Peter. The first person questioned is the spouse.'

He gripped the arms of the chair and looked at each of the embarrassed faces. Now he knew what this pantomime had been about: easing him into the frame. 'Isn't that what's going on now?'

'I'm speaking of something more formal.'

'You're serious?'

'We can't make any assumptions,' Georgina went on. 'Of course it's an imposition. You're a trusted colleague. None of us seriously believes… In short, I've asked Curtis to conduct an interview with you.'

'What do you think I'm hiding, for Christ's sake?' he demanded. 'He's been to my house, been over every room, taken things away. I've told you all I can.'

'You're one of us,' McGarvie said without any conviction at all, fingering the knot of his tie, 'and that's the problem. I can't put certain questions to you without giving offence.'

'Such as?'

'I don't propose to start here. This should be done in a structured way, in an interview room, on the record.'

'An interview room? Give me strength.'

'It may seem over-formal, but…'

'You really do have your suspicions.'

'An open mind.'