‘Piss off, Winkler.’

‘If you insist.’ He walked off, that smirk on his face again. Patrick took deep breaths.

Finally, the adults – a social worker called Janice Swift for Alice, and a youth worker named Colin James for Larry – were present and ready. So was Patrick. He gave Carmella the nod and they headed to interview room two first.

Alice sat slumped in her chair, her shoulders drooping. She looked exhausted but wore the same sullen, defiant expression as last time. She smelled bad, her hair was a mess and without her make-up she looked like a child. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her but stronger than his pity was his need to do the job. To find out what had happened to her half-sister.

After checking the video camera was recording, Patrick said, ‘Alice. I expect you’d like to get home, have a hot shower.’

She grunted.

‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

He had an A4 file on his desk and he made a show of opening it and looking over his notes. There was a photo of Frankie on top and he left the file open so Alice could see it, right in front of her. He saw her glance at the picture and swallow.

‘Alice, last time I interviewed you, you told us there was no one else present on the night of June ninth, the night you babysat Frankie. Are you still sticking with that story?’

She nodded.

He stared at her, not speaking. One of the techniques he commonly used was to leave long silences. Most people hate silence in conversations; they rush to fill them. But Alice remained mute.

‘We’ve got a witness who saw your boyfriend, Larry Gould, in the vicinity of your house on the night in question. As you know, we’re also talking to Larry today. Do you think he’s going to tell the same story as you?’

‘Come on, Alice,’ Carmella coaxed. ‘Answer the question.’

She shuffled in her seat. ‘Yeah, he will. Because it’s the truth.’

Patrick sighed. ‘Come on, Alice. Pull the other one. We understand why you don’t want to tell us the truth about him being there.’

A flicker of fear in her eyes.

‘But do you understand the seriousness of lying to the police? I expect you’ve heard of perverting the cause of justice?’

‘Larry didn’t do anything,’ Alice insisted. ‘How many times do I have to tell you?’

Carmella asked, ‘How do you know he didn’t do anything if he wasn’t with you?’

‘What are you doing, trying to confuse her?’ Janice Swift said, leaning forward.

Patrick chipped in. ‘To be honest, it’s us who are confused, Alice. We don’t understand why you’re lying to us. Unless, of course, you have something to hide.’