‘Hi again, Clare. What can I do for you?’

‘Jackie, I need a car gone over. Black Range Rover, registered to Eamon Ferry. I interviewed him at your station the other day.’

‘Yeah, I remember. Looking for anything special?’

‘Gunshot residue. Particularly in the boot.’

‘This about your murder last week?’

‘Yeah. I think the weapon might have been stored in the boot of the car for a short time.’

‘Leave it with me.’

‘Thanks, Jackie.’

Chapter 50

‘How do you want to play it?’ Tony asked.

‘Doug Gerrard?’ Clare shook her head. ‘No idea. Ideally I’d like to have a statement from Luke before interviewing Gerrard but he’s not been released from hospital yet.’ She checked her watch. ‘I can’t really hold it up any longer.’

‘Want me in?’

She opened her mouth to say she’d be fine but then she thought about Doug Gerrard, so confident, so sure of himself. Maybe the presence of a DCI would rattle him. ‘Why not.’

As they entered the room, Doug’s solicitor began talking. ‘My client is a busy man, officers. I gather you have interviewed him twice already so I’m struggling to see why you’ve insisted on him being brought eighty miles for a third interview.’

Clare ignored the question and introduced herself and Tony. She thought there was a slight reaction on Doug’s face at the mention of Tony’s rank but she ignored this and started the tape. She cautioned him and began. ‘Mr Gerrard, I would like to ask you again about your involvement in the murder of Russell Fox.’

Doug adjusted his position and crossed one leg over the other. ‘Nothing to tell. I was as shocked as anyone.’

She’d been expecting this. ‘Perhaps you could tell us how you came to engage Mark Mooney as security guard for the week?’

He began examining his fingernails. ‘Someone gave me his number.’

‘One of your friends said if they booked your property, Lamond Lodge, you’d throw in a security guard free.’

‘Yeah, so?’

‘So you already knew about Mr Mooney? You were aware of him?’

‘Like I say, someone passed on his name.’

She decided to change tack. ‘Mr Gerrard, are you a moneylender?’

He laughed. ‘Me? Where would I get money to lend? It’s hard enough trying to keep my pubs afloat, never mind shell out to other folk.’

‘Do you deny lending money to Mark Mooney?’

He frowned. ‘The security guard? Of course I do.’

‘Do you currently have possession of Mark Mooney’s SIA Licence and Driving Licence?’

There was just the hint of a smirk on his face. ‘Now why would I want these? I have my own licences, you know?’

Clare balled her fists under the table, but she managed to keep control of her face. ‘Had you met Mr Mooney before engaging him as a security guard?’

‘Nope.’