‘The blistering. It’s hard work digging a grave, no doubt.’

Heath held his hands up. ‘This is from trying to escape. To get away from him,’ he said, pointing towards the door and the cells beyond.

To press home the point, Mitch held the piece of cloth up against the larger evidence bag containing Heath’s shirt. The ripped pocket matched exactly.

‘How would he get your shirt, Mr Barwell?’

‘He could have torn it off when I was unconscious. I don’t remember when I lost it.’

‘And why would he do that?’

‘To pin the blame on me.’

‘Really, Mr Barwell? It seems like a lot of effort to go to for someone he was intending to kill anyway, don’t you think?’

Heath was lost for an answer, so Mitch continued, ‘And now that the ball is rolling you can be sure we’ll gather more evidence. Someone will have seen you pick up the other people on the list.’

Heath’s voice turned adamant. ‘I hadn’t seen that list until you showed me. I dunno anything about the graves other than I saw them. And I dunno anything about the killings other than I was going to be one.’

Mitch pounced. ‘How do you know there was more than one killing?’

He was taking a risk with this line of questioning but Chandler could see that Heath was on the ropes. ‘My client doesn’t—’ Heath’s lawyer broke in.

Heath interrupted. ‘Gabriel said I was going to be number fifty-five.’

‘How did you kill them?’

Heath shook his head. ‘I didn’t!’

‘Come on, Mr Barwell.’

The lawyer tried to intervene again. ‘My client says that he didn’t. You’re trying to pressure him into—’

‘I’m the victim here,’ Heath yelled. ‘I don’t know how they died. And if you’re so smart, get Gabriel to tell you!’

There was a sneering quality to the last comment that seemed to knock Mitch off stride. He went quiet for a moment, pacing the room before turning to face Heath, his hands on the table glaring down at his main suspect. ‘We need the truth, Mr Barwell.’

Heath remained obstinate. ‘I’m giving you the truth. You can’t pin it on me.’

Heath’s lawyer finally managed to interrupt his client. ‘I think that’s enough for today,’ he said crisply.

‘Just one last question,’ said Mitch, standing up from the table. ‘How did it feel to strangle them to death?’

Mitch didn’t wait for an answer, but stormed out of the room, leaving Flo to officially end the interview. Chandler met him outside. His ex-colleague tried to maintain the aura of calm but he looked flustered with the heat, the burden of finding proof.

‘I’ll grind it out of him,’ Mitch scowled, loosening the tie from his neck.

He looked at Chandler. ‘Has Mr Johnson been released yet?’