Chapter 29

Dawn felt like a criminal. She was sat in the back of the police car being driven through the streets of Newcastle to the station on Forth Banks. As she looked out of the window at the people heading for the shops or to work, wrapped up against the elements, she couldn't help thinking they were all looking up at the sight of a brightly coloured police car, glimpsing the person in the back and thinking she was guilty of something. She suddenly felt incredibly nervous.

Once in the station, she was taken straight into an interview room. She'd asked if her mother could sit in with her but that wasn't allowed, apparently. She felt like she should have known that, working in the legal profession. Being denied access to her own mum made Dawn feel even more like she'd done something wrong.

Twenty minutes later, the door opened, and DI Terry Braithwaite entered with a female colleague. He looked even thinner than when Dawn first saw him last year, older, too. His hair was flecked with more grey, and he had two-day stubble, which, Dawn admitted, looked sexy on him. His face looked lived in, but there was no getting away from those ice-blue eyes. Piercing. Electric. Hypnotic.

He introduced himself, then his partner as DS Kyra Willis. She was at least a decade younger than him, a good few inches shorter, but not much thinner, despite her being slight. Her shiny brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail that looked almost painful. Her face wasn't creased or lined. There were no marks, blemishes or scars. It was a perfectly smooth caramel colour. Dawn hated her on sight. At only twenty-two, she was already using anti-wrinkle cream and a serum to help fade the dark circles beneath her eyes.

‘Ms Shepherd,' Terry began. ‘You're not under arrest. You're free to go at any time. However, this interview will be recorded for investigative purposes. Do you understand?'

‘Yes,' she said, her voice quivering slightly.

‘First of all, I'd like to say I'm truly sorry about your father's death,' he said earnestly. ‘We will do everything in our power to make sure whoever did this is caught.'

Dawn gave a weak smile.

‘Now, when was the last time you saw your father?'

‘New Year's Eve,' she said, without having to think. ‘I went over there at lunchtime to have a coffee and a chat.'

‘Did he have any plans for New Year?' Kyra said. Her accent wasn't local, and Dawn couldn't place it.

‘No. He was staying in.'

‘Was that unusual?' Kyra asked, making a note in her pad.

‘Well, seeing as I'd only known him for about ten months, and he'd been in prison for twenty years before that, I doubt he usually did very much on New Year's Eve,' Dawn replied, an edge to her voice.

‘Sorry,' Kyra said quietly.

‘How did he seem on New Year's Eve?' Terry asked.

‘Same as always. Relaxed.'

‘There was nothing worrying him?'

‘No.'

‘No money or health problems?'

‘Not that I'm aware of.'

‘Had he received any animosity from his neighbours?'

‘Well, they didn't know who he was when he first moved in, so he'd receive smiles and the odd hello then. But it wasn't long before the rumours started. When news got out, the smiles stopped, and people kept a wide berth. Some even crossed the road when they saw him.'

‘How did that make him feel?' Kyra asked.

‘Like a leper. He'd expected it, though. He tried to make out it didn't bother him, but I could see it did,' Dawn said, playing with her fingers.

‘Was he considering moving out of Newcastle?' Terry asked.

Dawn looked up. She could see in his eyes he wasn't asking this question as a detective, but as someone close to Stephanie White and her family.

‘Why should he? He was born and raised here. His father's here. I'm here,' she said, with defiance.

‘When you first found out who your father was, how did it make you feel?' Kyra asked.

‘Is that relevant to how he died?'

‘I'm just trying to understand your relationship with him.'

‘We had a good relationship. It wasn't easy discovering the father I didn't know I had was a convicted murderer, but the more I looked into it, the more I researched, the more I understood that he did not mean to kill Stephanie White,' she said, looking at Terry for his reaction when she mentioned Stephanie's name.

‘Do you honestly believe that?' Terry asked.

‘Yes. I do. Because it's the truth. Look, why are you questioning me like this? You should be out there trying to find out who killed him. Or don't you give a toss because he's a murderer who killed the daughter of one of your own?'

‘We take every single case incredibly seriously, Ms Shepherd,' Terry said, a heaviness to his tone. ‘I don't care what your father did in the past, but I will find out who killed him and make sure they answer for their crime to the full extent of the law.'

‘But you do care. I can see it in your eyes,' Dawn said. ‘When I mentioned Stephanie just now, you flinched. It was only slightly, but I still saw it. Are you really the right person to be leading this investigation?' she asked, leaning forward on the stained and scratched table.

‘Ms Shepherd, I am a professional. I've been a police officer since I was twenty years old. I am more than capable of leaving my emotions at the door and doing the job to the best of my ability.' His fists were clenched, there was a vein throbbing in his neck and his leg was jiggling involuntarily under the table.

Dawn maintained eye contact. She allowed the silence to envelop them both. Kyra Willis might as well not have been in the room.

‘So, what if the killer turns out to be Stephanie's father, former Detective Inspector Harry White? What if he went around to Dominic's house and killed him for what he'd done to Stephanie all those years ago? Would you arrest him?'

Terry swallowed hard. ‘Yes. I would.' His reply lacked conviction.

‘Really? The man is your father's best friend. He's a career template for you. You'd handcuff him, lead him to the car with everyone watching, caution him, interview him, inform the CPS to prosecute, and watch while he was handed a life sentence, a sentence which he wouldn't serve because, at his age, he'd most likely die in prison.'

Dawn could see Terry's nostrils flaring as he breathed deeply in and out. His lips were pursed, his blinking had increased. In the silence of the room, she thought she could even hear his heart pounding in his chest.

‘Ms Shepherd, I understand you're upset, but we're deviating from our line of questioning,' Kyra said, clearing her throat. ‘Could you tell us where you were from yesterday evening onwards?'

Dawn still kept her eyes locked on Terry. It was a while before she turned away. ‘Yes. I was in bed for most of the day. I'm afraid I celebrated a little too hard on New Year's Eve. A good friend of mine had got engaged just after midnight.'

‘Where was this celebration?'

‘In their flat. We live in the same building.'

‘What time did you get back home?'

‘It was very early in the morning. Maybe three, four o'clock?'

‘Did you go home with anyone?'

‘No.'

‘So, from four o'clock on the morning of the first of January until later that day, nobody can corroborate your story.'

‘Actually, from four o'clock in the morning until early this morning, nobody can corroborate my story. I didn't see anyone. I spoke to my mum on the phone in the evening, but I was on my own until I left the flat this morning.'

‘So, you have no alibi for the time of your father's death?'

‘It would appear not.'

Dawn was told she could leave. There was no reason for her to stay, but they'd be in touch if they had more questions, Kyra told her, as she was led out of the police station with her mother in tow.

Terry watched from the door of the interview room. He waited until she was out of sight before he stormed off and took the stairs two at a time.

He was seething as he strode down the corridor. He entered the open-plan CID office, barging his way through the maze of desks, before throwing open his office door and chucking his notebook across the room.

He looked to see if Kyra was behind him. She was, but she'd had to run to keep up with him.

‘What was that all about? Asking if I'd let the killer go if it turned out to be DI White who killed him?'

‘She's upset. Her father has just been murdered, and she knows your history with the case,' Kyra said, moving a pile of paperwork from a chair and sitting down. ‘Everybody in this station knows about Harry White and what he went through. Even I do, and I wasn't even living in Newcastle when his daughter was killed. It's as much a part of this city's history as coal mining. When I got my posting here, Stephanie White was the first name that came to mind. It's understandable that Dawn Shepherd is questioning how the investigation into Stephanie's killer, her father, is going to be run.'

Terry was by the window, looking out over the bright, but freezing cold, morning. His breathing had slowed. He was beginning to calm down.

‘Maybe I'm not the right man for this case,' he said, not turning back. ‘I think about Stephanie a lot, more so this past year. We were best mates. Her parents are like a second family to me. I don't think I can be objective in this.'

Kyra shrugged. ‘Then go and see the Super and ask to be reassigned.'

‘There's nobody else. DI Hillary is doing that undercover drugs case. DCI Markham has got cases coming out of his ears, and DI Sheffield is still on long-term sick leave.'

‘Okay. Then here's what you do,' she said, a forcefulness to her voice. ‘You strike while the iron's hot. The interview with Dawn this morning was a train wreck, but what you need to do – what we need to do – is show them how professional we are. Interview everyone with a possible motive. Wait for forensic results and see where we are. If we identify a suspect, whoever it is, we arrest them. Look, I'm not as close to this as you are, I'll arrest whoever it is, if it comes to it. I've no qualms about that.'

Terry turned from the window for the first time and looked at his DS.

‘You'll need balls of steel for this case.'

‘Not being equipped with actual balls, I ordered mine from Amazon, and I ensured they were made of the strongest stuff available,' she said, with a smile.

A hint of a smile spread across Terry's face. His cold eyes began to sparkle.

‘I've got a dark feeling about this case. I feel like we're going to unearth something that should be left buried.'

‘Maybe. But I'm prepared to do the digging, if it gets us to the truth. Are you?'

He took a deep breath. ‘Yes,' he said, without conviction.

‘Good. Then let's get started. Who are we going after next?'

He thought momentarily. ‘Dominic's father.'