‘So it could have been this one?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Did you notice anything particular about where you were?’

‘Leo saw the boathouse and said we should look around, but Denny said we had to stick to the house. Me and Leo were to wait outside. Ken went in with Denny.’

‘For the purposes of the tape, can you identify Denny Tapps as the man who was arrested with you this afternoon? For the purposes of the tape, I’m showing the suspect a photograph of Denny Tapps.’

‘Yeah.’

‘What happened next?’

‘Me and Leo went to the boathouse and it was unlocked. Leo said the kit was worth thousands, so we started loading it into the van.’

‘That must have taken some time.’

The man looked up to the ceiling, then covered his face with his hands.

‘We heard a shot.’

‘What type of shot?’

‘A gunshot.’

‘From where?’

‘Inside the house. Denny came out and said he needed help, and Leo went inside. They were in there ages and came out with something wrapped in sheets.’

‘And I’m guessing you knew it wasn’t a teddy bear?’

The man shook his head.

‘Yes or no, for the purposes of the tape.’

‘No, I didn’t think it was a teddy bear. Denny said he’d been told to take it away from the house; he said he was going to row it over to the other side of the lake.’

‘So we’ve established that whatever was in the sheets wasn’t a teddy bear. Is it likely that it was the body of George Murphy, who had just been fatally shot inside the house?’

The man nodded.

‘For the tape.’

‘Yes.’

‘Then what?’

‘Denny took Ken with him and they were gone ages. We had plenty of time to load the dinghy on the trailer and get it hooked up to the van.’

‘Did you at any point challenge what you had seen or heard?’

The man hung his head. ‘No.’

‘From start to finish, how long were you at Allerdale House?’

‘Three hours maybe.’

‘Did anyone else go into the house?’

‘Leo went in for a piss.’

‘When Denny and Ken got back from rowing across the lake, did they have the sheets?’

The man thought about this. ‘Erm, they had a black bag. I guess they could have been in there.’ That would explain why nothing had been found at the scene.

‘What happened then?’

‘We drove back to London.’

‘What did Denny do with the black bag?’

The man thought again. ‘I fell asleep. It’s a long way up there, man. We stopped at a petrol station and I remember him stuffing the bag in a bin.’

‘Do you know which petrol station?’

‘No.’

‘Are you absolutely sure? Was it on a motorway?’

‘Nah, I can’t remember.’

‘Bullshit,’ said Matt as the train sped north.

Chapter 47