Eric Newman’s body odor filled the small interview room. He had a rat-like face, with a thin moustache. He was still wearing the same stained jacket and around his neck he had a thick woolen scarf. He was tapping his dirty fingernails on the table.

‘I’d like to know what I’ve been brought in here for. I’ve done nothing wrong, me rent’s been paid up, and I’ve been straight now for ten years.’

‘You’re not under arrest, Mr. Newman, but you have been somewhat elusive, so we thought it best to interview you here at the station. We are just interested in your relationship with Charles Foxley,’ said Tyler.

‘Well, I wouldn’t call it a relationship. I walk his effing dogs. He’s got three of them.’

‘We are aware of that, Mr. Newman. What we need to know is when exactly was the last time you saw Mr. Foxley?’

‘That would be around about three p.m. last Monday.’

‘And where did you see him?’

‘I went to his flat. He wanted me to take his other two dogs, Stick and Jack, because his dachshund was coming into heat. I’ve told him about this before because even though the Jack Russell has lost his balls, he’ll hump anything and goes crazy.’

‘So it was unusual for you to collect the two dogs that afternoon?’

Newman scratched his nose. ‘Yeah, it was unusual. He asked if I could walk them and keep them overnight, away from the sausage.’

‘Would you say you had an argument with Mr. Foxley?’

‘I was a bit tetchy, ’cause that fuckin’ Toots gets the other dogs going apeshit. I told him I wouldn’t take her. I got a poodle and a Dalmatian I walk as well, so I was pretty firm about it. I might have raised me voice a notch when I refused to take her.’

Jane was making notes. ‘So, the following day, when you returned with Mr. Foxley’s dogs, you were met by the uniformed police officers?’

‘Yeah, I was. I rung him and he didn’t answer me. I even called his office and no one seemed to know where he was. But he owed me money for keeping the dogs overnight.’

‘The day before, when you went to get the two dogs, how did Mr. Foxley seem to you?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Was he agitated, nervous . . . ?’

‘He didn’t seem any different from normal. He gave me the dogs on their leads and the car keys, then I left.’

‘What car were the keys for, Mr. Newman?’

‘The Volvo. I couldn’t carry the dogs back and forth on the bus, could I?’

‘Was this the usual arrangement?’

‘No, it was a bit different this time. Not our usual arrangement.’

Tyler was becoming impatient. ‘Mr. Newman, could you tell me what your usual arrangement was?’