The interviews had been set up in a couple of the residential trailers and this one was incredibly plush and comfortable. It also had Tardis-like qualities. From the outside, it looked the size of two police cells max, but inside, it felt almost palatial. Wood-panelled cupboards adorned one wall, with a space for an enormous LCD television. Even a circus caravan could manage better technology than we did, it seemed. At one end, was a kitchen larger and with more bench space than my old one and a damned sight more modern. Running away with the circus might not be such a hardship after all, I thought. I poked my head through the door to look at the sleeping quarters and they were just as roomy. It must have been a family living here as there were a number of children’s toys scattered about. In the background I could hear a washing machine in the last throes of the spin cycle. It all had an unexpected level of luxury, although I imagined wet days with children cramped in here would soon take the gloss off.

Despite my fascination for the interviewee’s facial decorations I had to suppress a yawn. Bennett’s insistence on my presence had proven to be a backhanded gift. This was the fifth person through this morning and I was already struggling to keep up the concentration levels. I recalled Terry Bennett’s comment that they had fifty-odd staff and cringed. It was going to be a long few days. I fervently hoped we’d be able to eliminate the majority very quickly, just to keep me sane. A bit selfish, I know, especially as I’d been whinging mightily about being left out all the time. DI Johns was getting the last laugh. It was beginning to feel more like a punishment to be here than not.

Roll on lunchtime.

19

Twenty-four down, God knows how many to go. My hand was cramped into a permanent claw. Oh, how I wished we could just record the damned things. After a day of hard-out questioning, we were none the wiser, although we did have three confessions to possession of pot, one illegal overstayer and, unusually, one confession to unlawful connection with an animal. Ugh. The animal-rights lobby would have a field day if that one got out.

The interviews weren’t proceeding as quickly as we’d have liked. Many were drawn out by the language barrier and the need for interpreters. Over half of the company were overseas acts from places such as Mongolia and South America. It was vital that people understood fully what they were being questioned about, or else misinformation would confuse the case and their lawyers could jump on it as a technical out. I suspected it was a degree of confusion that had led to the rather distasteful confession involving the miniature pony.