‘No,’ Rachel said. ‘But it is a crime to pervert the course of justice, which is what you’re doing if you lie to us during a murder investigation.’

‘How am I lying?’ Simon looked so ridiculously outraged at the suggestion, Rachel knew they’d done the right thing bringing him in for this interview.

‘The last time we spoke,’ she said, ‘you told us that Nick’s money sometimes caused issues between you.’

‘So?’

‘But you didn’t mention that your brother had given you substantial amounts of money over the last year.’

‘I didn’t think it was important.’

‘It’s our job to decide what’s important or not,’ Rachel said.

Simon opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the solicitor put his hand on Simon’s arm.

‘Detectives, could you give me a few minutes with my client, please?’

‘Five minutes.’ Rachel switched the tape off and stood up.

‘What do you think?’ she asked Ade once they were both outside.

‘He doesn’t seem to have any clue his brother’s finances were a mess,’ Ade said. ‘I’m starting to wonder if anyone knew how much trouble Nick was in.’

‘We’ve got an appointment with his business partner tomorrow,’ Rachel said. ‘Maybe she’ll be able to tell us what was going on with Nick’s money.’

While she was speaking, Rachel took her phone out to check for new messages. Seeing the voicemail symbol on her screen, she stepped aside from Ade and dialled the service.

One new message.

‘Jake Harris here. I need to speak to you urgently. I’d be grateful if you could call me back as soon as possible. Thanks.’

Rachel scrolled back through her call log, found Jake’s number and phoned him back.

‘This is DI Lewis,’ she said, when he answered. ‘You called earlier?’

‘I want to make a complaint,’ Jake said. His words merged together slightly and Rachel guessed he’d had a few drinks.

‘A complaint about what?’ she said.

‘The tabloid press. They have done nothing but harass and harangue my client ever since we announced the news about his new TV series. If they continue like this, there’s a real chance the TV company will pull out. Which would be a disaster for his career.’

Rachel held the phone away from her ear and looked at it, as if she might see something that would explain this bizarre phone call.

‘Hello?’ Jake shouted. ‘Are you still there?’

‘Indeed I am,’ Rachel said, putting the phone back to her ear. ‘But I’m afraid I can’t help you, Mr Harris. Besides, I seem to recall you were more than happy to use the press yourself earlier this week.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Adam Murray on Good Morning Britain?’

‘That was different. No one deserves to be treated this way. These journalists are nothing better than vermin and you need to do something to stop them.’