‘What happened?’
Sharp leaned back in his seat and swept imaginary crumbs from the table. ‘He somehow loosened a screw from the cot in the cell, hid it in his sleeve or somewhere, and used it to slash his wrists.’
‘Oh, shit,’ she breathed.
‘His solicitor was meeting with him in a side room off to the custody suite. When they’d finished, the solicitor went to find the custody sergeant to let him know Peter could be taken back to his cell. By the time they returned, Peter had collapsed.’
‘Jesus – didn’t the solicitor think to go back to the room and wait with him?’
Sharp shook his head. ‘It seems he thought it was more important to remonstrate with the custody sergeant about how long it was taking to process other suspects – there was a fight at one of the bars in town and uniform had brought three men in. It wasn’t until those had been processed that they got around to returning to Peter. They managed to bandage him up and stem the flow by laying him down and keeping his arms elevated before the ambulance arrived, but he still needed a transfusion as soon as he got here. The scars are going to be horrendous.’
Kay picked up her coffee and forced herself to take a sip while her mind ran through all the different scenarios they would be faced with over the coming days.
The implications for the case would be extensive. There would be an immediate investigation, of course. Accusations would fly, policies and procedures would be scrutinised, and in the midst of all of it, the team would still be expected to deliver a result to convict Sophie’s killer.
‘It’s my mistake,’ said Sharp. ‘I organised the suicide watch for when he was in his cell. I should’ve insisted on him being under constant observation.’
‘You could never have foreseen this,’ said Kay. ‘No-one could. If he was that determined to commit suicide, then we’d have needed eyes in the back of our head to stop him.’
Sharp ran a hand over tired eyes. ‘Maybe.’ He reached out for the coffee, and then changed his mind.
‘You couldn’t have known he was going to react this way.’
‘Yeah,’ he sighed.
‘What happens next?’
‘I’ve spoken to Larch. We’ve got a meeting with the Chief Superintendent and the media advisor at seven o’clock tomorrow—’ He broke off and checked his watch. ‘This morning. We’ll have the usual team briefing at eight o’clock and I’ll bring you all up to speed then. Can you phone everyone first thing to make sure they get there at least twenty minutes beforehand? I don’t want any stragglers.’
‘Will do.’ Kay dug out her mobile phone and set the alarm on it for five o’clock, which would give her time to have a quick shower then phone the team and get them to spread the word amongst the administrative support staff as well. ‘Peter Evans stated he had no immediately family – is there anyone at all we can call?’
Sharp shook his head, and took a sip of his coffee before replying. ‘He says not, even when the doctor asked him.’
‘What about his solicitor?’
‘I phoned his boss before I called you to let him know their client survived. The partner of the firm who I spoke to will take on Peter’s case now. On the basis that he didn’t want to spend every waking hour in his client’s room here while he recovers, he’s agreed to us having uniform there. They’re under strict instructions not to question him about the case, and if he does attempt to converse with them, they call us immediately but provide no response to him in the interim.’
Kay pushed her coffee to one side, unable to face another sip of the burnt foul-tasting liquid.
‘When do we tell Sophie’s parents?’
‘Before any media statement – and that’ll be done early tomorrow as well, to avoid the local press catching wind of this and coming to its own conclusions.’
Kay dropped her phone back into her bag before raising her gaze to Sharp. ‘Do you think his actions are an admission of guilt?’
He yawned and stretched his arms over his head. ‘Maybe.’
‘Come on. Neither of us is going to be thinking straight at this time of night.’
‘You’re right,’ he said, and stood. ‘Let’s get out of here. I’ll see you back at the station in a few hours.’
Eighteen
Kay took one of the steaming cups of coffee from the tray Gavin held out, and inhaled the aroma.
‘Perfect timing, Gavin – thanks.’
‘No problem. Figured we’re going to need this,’ he said, and made his way over to where Barnes and Carys sat.
‘You’re not wrong there,’ she murmured.
She fought down the urge to yawn, and turned her attention to the pile of paperwork on her desk. Aside from Sophie Whittaker’s murder, she was still juggling two burglary cases and a suspected arson attack on a corner shop near Maidstone West train station.
Sophie’s murder would take precedence, but she worked her way through her voicemail messages while she prioritised what she could fit around the major investigation.
She hung up the phone and spun her seat around at the sound of voices approaching the incident room and took a sip of her drink as Sharp appeared, followed by DCI Larch.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Sharp had taken his own advice and got some sleep before arriving at the station that morning, or whether he’d spent the past few hours preparing for his early meeting with DCI Larch and the Chief Superintendent.
Either way, he wore dark circles under his eyes and she suspected he’d made use of the change of shirt and tie he kept on a hook on the back of the door to his office.
She resolved to send one of the admin staff out to get him a sandwich after the briefing, otherwise he’d be running on empty.
His murmured conversation with Larch stopped as they passed the desks, and the room fell silent.
‘Cheers, Gavin,’ he said as he took the last two coffees and passed one to Larch. He took a sip, and then put his cup down. ‘Right, we’ve had an update from the hospital, and Peter Evans is now in a stable condition and should be released within the next couple of days,’ he said. ‘We’ve met with the Chief Superintendent this morning and our media advisor, and a statement will be issued to the press at nine o’clock. In the meantime, you are all requested to refrain from giving out any information to callers regarding the matter, and to provide all journalists with the number for the press office. The reception desk officers have been ordered to do the same. Guv?’
‘Thanks, Sharp.’ Larch turned his attention to the team. ‘Obviously, a suspect attempting suicide while in custody is a worrying occurrence and a formal investigation will take place immediately. There will be an internal review as to why Peter Evans was left alone considering he was placed on suicide watch, and why he wasn’t considered a risk. We’ll be interviewing his solicitor, too.’ He glared at the team. ‘The investigation will also focus on how it happened.’
He turned to Sharp. ‘Right, I’ve got another meeting upstairs before the media briefing. I’ll leave you to it.’
Kay waited until he’d stalked from the room, the door slamming shut in his wake.
‘Never mind how it happened,’ she said, and frowned. ‘Shouldn’t we be asking why?’
‘Guilt,’ said Barnes. ‘We found out what his motive was.’
Kay bit her lip. ‘Is that it? What if he isn’t the killer? Eva Shepparton only had Sophie’s word she hadn’t told anyone else she was pregnant.’
Sharp stood, ran a hand over his close-cropped hair and uncapped a marker pen, adding a note to the whiteboard. ‘Okay, then. Who else would have cause to kill Sophie if they found out she was pregnant?’
‘Josh Hamilton, if he’s not the father,’ said Kay. ‘Considering Sophie’s purity pledge was all about her remaining chaste until they got married in a couple of years’ time.’
‘Or his parents,’ said Carys. ‘There are a few statements that mention Blake Hamilton was pretty determined to marry his son into English aristocracy – however tenuou
s the link might be.’
Sharp added the names to the board. ‘We also need to consider Sophie’s parents,’ he said, before turning back to the team. ‘Uncomfortable as it is, we know these sorts of murders are often committed by someone close to the victim.’
‘Surely if Sophie loved him, she would have told Peter she was pregnant?’ said Kay. ‘Or was she going to tell him once they’d run away?’
‘Maybe she was worried he’d change his mind about running away with her if she was pregnant?’ said Gavin.
Sharp finished updating the notes on the board. ‘All right. This morning’s tasks. Barnes – you and Debbie investigate the Whittakers. Tread carefully, but find out if she was seeing someone else – maybe it was affecting her schoolwork, or her teachers knew something her friends and family didn’t. We already know about Peter and Josh – was there anyone else involved? Carys – you and Gavin work on the background for the Hamiltons, including a greater focus on Blake’s business. We’ll regroup here at eleven o’clock.’
He drained his coffee and tossed the empty cup in the bin next to him.
‘Hunter, let’s go have a chat with Peter Evans,’ he said. ‘Phone the solicitor and have him meet us there.’
Nineteen
The duty solicitor had arrived before Sharp and Kay, and was standing outside Peter’s room with the doctor from the previous night.
The doctor looked as tired as Sharp did, and Kay wondered how long the man’s shifts were, and when he was due a break. She suspected it would be some time before the man would get some rest.
Both men turned at the sound of their footsteps.
The duty solicitor was an older man who Kay had dealt with before. Brian Sutherland was a partner in one of the bigger local legal firms and wore a dark grey suit that accentuated his snow-white hair that he wore slightly longer than most men his age. Keen blue eyes held her gaze as they shook hands, before his brow creased.
‘This isn’t good, Detectives,’ he said. ‘I hope a full investigation is underway.’
‘It is,’ said Sharp. ‘You heard the media statement earlier?’
‘Yes. Thanks for keeping my client’s name private.’
Sharp acknowledged the remark with a small shrug. ‘Standard practice.’ He turned his attention to the doctor. ‘How’s he doing?’
‘Better than I’d hoped, considering the mess he made of his wrists.’
‘Can we talk to him now?’
The doctor checked his watch. ‘I’ve got another appointment for the next half an hour, so you can talk to him until I get back. He’s still very weak, mind. If he shows any sign of tiredness, I want you to stop.’ He eyed both Sharp and Kay carefully. ‘Is that understood? He lost a lot of blood last night, and needs to rest.’
‘Understood,’ said Sharp and handed a bag to Kay before gesturing to the duty solicitor. ‘Lead the way, Mr Sutherland.’
The solicitor opened the door and held it open for Sharp, who dismissed the two new uniformed officers that had taken over the observation role for the day. Kay stood to one side to let them pass, then entered the room.
Peter Evans looked like a ghost.
As Sutherland moved closer to the bed and helped his client reach the remote control to raise the back of the bed until Peter was in a sitting position, Kay bit her lip.
She’d noticed when she’d first met Peter that his skin was pale – almost alabaster – but since losing so much blood, he was almost translucent. It was the first time she’d noticed how thin he was as well.
She caught Sharp’s gaze and realised he was as shocked as she.
If the custody team hadn’t raised the alarm when they did, the situation would have been much worse.
They certainly wouldn’t be interviewing their main suspect this morning.
She refocused, moved to one of the vacated chairs and sat before reaching into the bag Sharp had handed to her while Sutherland spoke in a low murmur with his client. Sharp hovered nearby until Sutherland glanced over his shoulder and nodded.
Sharp moved closer and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘How are you doing, Peter?’
‘I’m okay,’ he said. He held up his two bandaged wrists. ‘I guess.’
‘All right. This is what we’re going to do. We need to talk to you, but we’re still under an obligation to caution you and treat this conversation as a formal interview. DS Hunter here will operate a portable recorder, and then the interview will be copied onto CDs and stored as evidence.’
Sharp waited while she set up the equipment, then formally cautioned Evans and began his questioning.
‘What happened?’
Peter wiped angrily at his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I’m not going to prison for something I didn’t do,’ he choked. ‘I loved her. I had no idea she was pregnant, I swear.’ He sniffed and raised his eyes to Sharp. ‘And if I did, I would’ve stayed with her. I’d have done anything for Sophie.’
Sharp wandered round the foot of the bed, ignored Kay and leaned against the opposite wall. ‘Peter, you have no alibi for the night of the party. You told us you saw Sophie that morning.’ He sighed. ‘If you two were so keen to run away, why didn’t you go then? Why wait? Did she change her mind? Is that what happened? Did she change her mind, so you decided to stop her?’
‘Detective Sharp!’ The duty solicitor shot him a warning look.
‘No!’ Peter jerked upright, and then winced. He fell back onto the pillows. ‘It was Sophie’s idea. She insisted she go through with the whole ceremony. I think—’ He broke off and sniffed again. ‘I think she felt guilty that her parents had spent all that money on the marquee and the caterers and everything, and she didn’t want to let them down.’
‘What did you say to her when she told you she was going to proceed with the ceremony? Did it make you feel angry?’
Peter’s brow furrowed. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Frustrated, yes. But not angry.’
Sharp pushed himself away from the wall. ‘How did you two meet?’
A sad smile twitched at the corner of Peter’s mouth, and his gaze fell to the bandages on his wrists. He picked absently at a loose thread on the blanket. ‘I help out a local handyman,’ he said. ‘I was pretty good at carpentry at school, and I can do some basic plumbing stuff, too. There was a gutter that needed replacing at the church she and her family went to, but the only time we could do it was late on a Tuesday afternoon. By the time we were finished, it was getting dark. Some people started turning up at the church, and I remember being surprised because I didn’t know there was anything on that day.’
The smile disappeared and a frown creased his features. ‘Of course, now I know it was that creepy group her parents belonged to. Including Josh and his family.’
‘Go on,’ said Sharp.
‘I was carrying a ladder back to my van,’ said Peter, his face wistful. ‘She smiled at me, and – I don’t know. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that about someone. They all went into the church and about five minutes later – I was packing up my tools – she came out again. I think she’d told her parents she’d left something or other in the car. She gave me her phone number, and then went back inside.’
‘How long ago was this?’
‘Five months ago.’
‘Did you know then that she was going to get engaged to Josh?’
‘No.’
Sharp glanced over his shoulder to where Kay sat, and she gave him a small nod before writing a reminder for herself on a fresh page of her notebook. They would have to check the timeline of events prior to the purity pledge ceremony, to see if Duncan Saddleworth and Peter’s recollection tallied.
‘Whose idea was the purity pledge?’ said Sharp. ‘Did Sophie tell you?’
‘Hers. It was her idea.’
‘Seems strange to me, Peter, that on one hand you’re adamant Sophie loved you, but on the other she’s making plans to remain chaste until her wedding to someone else entirely.’
The young man shrugged
, but said nothing, and turned his head so he couldn’t see Sharp.
Kay turned at a knock on the door, and the doctor appeared.
Sharp glanced at his watch, then at the duty solicitor.
‘That’ll have to do for today. We’ll come back tomorrow.’
He ended the formal interview, waited while Kay packed up the recording equipment, and then led the way out the room, waiting to thank Brian Sutherland and the doctor before they left.
Kay fell into step beside him, and waited until they were next to their car before she spoke.
‘What do you think?’
‘If he’d been going out with Sophie for the past five months, and knew she was going to do this purity pledge and get engaged to Josh Hamilton, then he’s had plenty of time to plan something, hasn’t he?’ said Sharp.
‘But if Sophie loved Peter, why the charade?’ Kay watched Brian Sutherland’s car leave the hospital grounds and turn onto the main road back to Maidstone.
‘That’s something we’ll have to ask the parents,’ said Sharp. ‘I’m starting to get the impression there’s more going on here than a young woman changing her mind about a religious pledge.’
* * *
‘If Sophie loved Peter, why go through with the purity pledge and her engagement announcement?’ said Kay.
The thought had burrowed its way into her mind after interviewing Peter Evans, and troubled her constantly once she was back at the incident room and re-listening to the recording she’d made.
Barnes rummaged in the bag of sweets on the desk and pulled out a lemon sherbet.
‘Maybe she wasn’t sure about Peter. Maybe she was playing them both along until she decided which one was the best option,’ he said, and popped the sweet in his mouth.
‘And perhaps the pregnancy put paid to that idea.’ Kay leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. ‘So, we’ve got a few possibilities to consider. Peter didn’t like the idea of her being pregnant, and killed her—’
‘Which we think is unlikely, given his reaction to the news.’
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