‘It’s not as if I can leak confidential information to the defence, is it?’ Carol wondered whether she was laying it on too thick, but Sergeant Fowler looked relieved at the thought.

‘So can you fetch Dr Hill for us? The sooner we get started, the quicker we’ll be done and the happier DCI Fielding will be in the morning,’ Scott said in the kind of tone it was hard to argue against.

Fowler hauled himself to his feet and emerged from behind the counter. ‘You can use the interview room at the end of the cell corridor. Follow me, ladies.’

He set off past the steel doors. Scott turned to Carol and winked. ‘Overture and beginners,’ she said under her breath. ‘Let’s do it, Carol.’

No turning back. She’d spent months literally working Tony Hill out of her system. And now she was about to discover whether she’d succeeded.

49

Tony had taken off his jacket and folded it under him to make the bed a more comfortable seat. Though it left a lot to be desired, at least he could sit cross-legged with his back to the wall in a relatively relaxed posture, eyes closed and hands loose in his lap. He didn’t know whether he could sleep sitting up, but he was absolutely certain he couldn’t do it lying down on that pallet. Still, buoyed up by his realisation of how his DNA had ended up on Nadia Wilkowa’s jacket, he could finally chill a little.

The window in his cell door opened with a sharp metallic clang, startling him with a jolt. It clanged shut again before he had composed himself enough to work out what was happening. Then the door opened and the sergeant who had checked him into the cell stood in the doorway, hands on hips to make himself look bigger, eyebrows lowered to add to his threat level. All textbook stuff. ‘Wakey wakey, Hill. Your lawyer’s here for a conference.’

He understood the words but they made no sense. ‘I’ve got a lawyer?’

‘Don’t you bloody start. I’ve had enough from her end. If you didn’t have a lawyer, she wouldn’t be in the interview room asking me to produce you, would she?’