Cottesloe took over the running. ‘See, the thing is, our dead body is Chinese or thereabouts. Maybe there was a Chinese man sitting in your car just before two a.m., before going out for a splash.’

‘An involuntary splash from which he never returned,’ Wickens added.

‘You cannot think, surely—’

‘We don’t think, we follow the evidence.’ Wickens grinned. ‘We’d like you to hand over your car keys, so we can see if there’s any trace of Chinese. And while we’re at it, we want to swab your gob too. Might get the DNA of some of your recipes, eh?’

Chapter Nine

Detective Chief Inspector Craig Gillard sat in the meeting room with PCs Wickens and Cottesloe to go over the witness evidence they had collected. ‘So you’ve found a surprising number of people about along the edge of the river in the small hours, but what in the end was it that they were witness to?’

‘Not sure what you’re driving at, sir,’ Wickens said.

‘Okay, a lot of people seem to be aware of a large splash. But there’s nothing here to say what that was. It surely is quite possible that it was nothing whatever to do with the body we have found, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose so,’ Cottesloe said, eyeing Wickens.

‘I mean it’s entirely conceivable,’ Gillard said, ‘that the body was slipped into the river more quietly at another place, a few hours earlier or later. The splash may simply be irrelevant, and a distraction that wastes time and resources.’

The two uniformed officers said nothing, but Gillard could see an insolent set to their jaws. They clearly didn’t appreciate having their assumptions unpicked.

‘I’m not saying that you are wrong, but I don’t want you to close off your minds to other possibilities.’

‘We’ve only been going where the evidence is leading,’ Cottesloe said.

‘Speaking of which, did the divers find anything, sir?’ Wickens added.

‘Nothing of interest so far. They’ve still got another day.’ Gillard looked down at the statements again. ‘I see that you have dug up quite a few criminal records and were particularly interested in Anton St Jeanne. He had a few minor skirmishes with the police in his teens. A bit of drug possession, but nothing for over a decade.’

‘There were three people seen in his car by a witness,’ Cottesloe said. ‘He claims there was only him and his girlfriend. I still think we need to get to the bottom of that.’

‘The guy on the houseboat has a few convictions and his girlfriend had a police caution a couple of times, all cannabis possession,’ Wickens added.