Chapter 88

"Can you put me on speaker, Shawna?" Ally asked, sounding weary.

"Sure, hang on." She pressed the button and put the handset down. "How's that?"

"I can still hear you. Am I coming through?"

"Loud and clear," Shawna confirmed. "I'm here with Hope and Yvonne and two policemen."

"Good afternoon. I'm DCI Mitchell, and I have DS McNair with me."

"I'm Ally Montgomery, the girls' solicitor. What can we do for you?" Ally asked, the weariness gone from her voice.

"Not a great deal. I just wanted to ask the ladies where they were yesterday evening."

"That's it?"

"That and whether Mr Bowers was with them."

"Very well. Could you give me a moment to talk with them?"

"My colleague and I shall wait outside," he assured them and stepped to the door where Yvonne let them out.

"Well?" Ally asked, after a moment.

"We were all here," Shawna said. "Marcus and I walked back from ju-jitsu when it finished, and it's only a ten minute walk."

"You didn't stop for a drink? Take a shower or anything?"

"They showered back here," Yvonne said with an expression somewhere between a scowl and a smile. "They weren't quiet."

"I see." Ally managed not to laugh, though it was obviously a struggle.

"We all sat down to watch 'Have I Got News For You' at ten-thirty, so we were all here."

"OK. Yvonne, Hope, where were you both while they were out?"

"We were here at home," Hope explained. "Studying."

"OK. Let him back in. Tell him that and nothing more."

"Right," Shawna confirmed, nodding to Yvonne who opened the door again.

"So, ladies?" DCI Mitchell asked as he came back in.

"I was here all evening from about eight o'clock until I went to bed at midnight," Yvonne said.

"And you're Miss Salter, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you, Miss?"

"I'm Hope Nakata," Hope said as he looked at her. "You probably could have worked that out, couldn't you? Um ... I was here from about ten to five. Marcus brought me home from our lecture and I didn't leave until this morning."

"I see. Miss Lewis?" He turned to look at Shawna.

"I was here from about half past five until quarter past seven when I left with Marcus to go the Sports Complex."

"This is Marcus Bowers?"

"That's right. We have a ju-jitsu lesson every week from half seven to half nine."

"I see," he jotted some notes. "And then?"

"Then we walked home. We were probably home by ten. Definitely by half past ten, because we'd had a shower and we watched a TV show that started at half ten."

"I see. Can anyone confirm that?"

"What? That we watched TV?"

"That you walked home by that time?"

"Well, just Marcus, really. I mean, we dropped Lorraine off on the way, but that was probably finished by twenty to ten."

"So no-one saw you from then until you arrived here, some time around ten?"

"I don't know that it was exactly ten. Marcus will be able to tell you the time better."

"I see. And you stayed in the rest of the night?"

"Yes."

"I see. And at what time did Mr. Bowers head home?"

"He lives here," Yvonne pointed out.

"And the three of you live here, too?"

"Are their living arrangements really relevant?" Ally's voice came through the phone, making the three girls jump, slightly.

"My apologies." DCI Mitchell said, flipping his notebook closed. "I'd ask you all to keep yourselves available should we have any further questions."

"Sure," Shawna said, shuffling forward and trying to urge him towards the door.

"If there's nothing else?" Yvonne opened the door, and the policeman took his cue and left, gesturing for the policewoman to accompany him.

"They're gone, Ally. What do you make of it?" Hope asked.

"I don't know. Please girls, I know it's ... Tell me that you've told me the truth."

"Absolutely," Shawna confirmed. "Look, we're going to head out. We've got to find Marcus."

"When you do, tell him to call me straight away," Ally said. "Then get him to go to the police station, if he's not there already."

"You think they'll have arrested him?"

"I don't know. They may have taken him for questioning."

"He's got to be high on their list of suspects, doesn't he?" Yvonne suggested.

"I should think so," Ally confirmed.

"You're free to go, Mr. Bowers."

Marcus looked up from the blank wall with some surprise.

"You've ... that's it? Where was I last night?"

"Your story ties up with everyone else's. You don't match the description of the suspect. Not even close. Don't go too far, but, for now, you're free to go."

"Oh. Um ... thanks."

If he had taken the time to think about it, Marcus would have been worried that he knew his way out of the police station from the interview room. All he was focussed on, though, having been locked away for nearly six hours, was getting out and getting home.

Outside the main door he stepped off the path and leant up against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes against the orange streetlights and taking a few deep breaths to calm himself. He knew that Hope and Shawna would be worried and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.

"Don't bother, Marcus. We're here," Shawna called out, hurrying across the car park.