‘They never stood a chance, not any of them. You should see the notes in here. I know it will all come out in time but he knew to get Danny Evans in that room with Olsen at night when he had been drinking. He knew to get Maddox when he was sitting with his wife; he thought he would be more vulnerable to someone tugging at his emotions up there. He even has a picture of a card Richard Maddox left on his wife’s grave, which hints at a story of how his wife named the dog, for Christ’s sake. The bastard ringed it like it was the key to all of this, like it was the one thing he could use to make sure he got what he wanted. Marilyn was right about him. He’s all about control. They never stood a chance – maybe we didn’t either.’

‘You still got him though.’

‘I needed Richard’s help.’

‘Not so sure he was helping you as much as helping himself.’

‘He had a knife. I didn’t see it until the last moment. Where did that come from?’ Joel said, turning back towards Marsden.

‘His sock apparently. He took it from Glenn Morris’s house. It was left there as part of framing Richard for his murder. Along with Glenn Morris’s body. Seems Richard still has the fight in him.’

‘Glenn Morris!’ Joel almost laughed. It was more shock, upset even. ‘We didn’t even know about that one.’

‘We would have though. And we would have been looking at Maddox for his murder if you hadn’t been so dogged.’ Marsden slapped the table and suddenly got to her feet. ‘You did good. Any reviews or investigations into this will only show that up, so I for one welcome it. For now it’s home time. Major Crime seem keen to do all the boring bit, evidence capture, witness statements and paperwork, so I say we leave them to it.’

‘The DCI wants full reports. I’ll find a terminal here somewhere—’

‘They can wait and I want to see them first. We need to be careful with the content. We can fill in the details later. For now, both of you need to take care of yourselves.’

‘But the DCI—’

‘Is a lower rank than me. The meeting was not the time to point that out; sometimes you have to let men like that say their bit. But he could still benefit from a reminder. Would you send him in, on your way out, please? And make sure he’s aware that it’s just him I require for now.’ Joel gathered up his things and moved to the door. ‘And could you ask him to bring me one of those teas,’ she said.

‘They’re terrible, Ma’am,’ Joel said.