Sasha rolled her chair closer to the desk in anticipation, clashing knees with Lolly. A few moments later on the screen, Jenkins was caught in the glare of headlights. The nose of a car appeared at the edge of the CCTV image as the vehicle pulled up in front of him. The headlights died. Then Davey stepped off the pavement and walked just out of shot to speak with whoever was in the car. A couple of minutes later, he walked back into the restaurant, caught once again in the glare of the reversing headlights.

‘Run it back a smidgen,’ said Sasha and Lolly rewound the footage.

‘No, that’s too much.’ Sasha twirled her finger frantically in front of the screen. ‘I said a smidgen.’

‘I don’t know what a smidgen is.’

‘It’s a tiny bit,’ said Ajay.

When they finally got the right segment – Jenkins walking back into the restaurant – Sasha brought her fingers down hard on the space bar, pausing the image.

‘There.’ She pressed the screen to indicate Jenkins slipping something cylindrical into his pocket. ‘What’s that?

‘It looks like a lot of rolled-up money.’

‘What’s that all about?’ asked Lolly.

Sasha turned to Ajay behind her to ask him to get Jenkins back into an interview room, but he was already walking away.

‘On it,’ he said, with a wave over his shoulder.

21

‘Bethany Weston?’ Sasha flashed her warrant card on the doorstep. ‘I’m Detective Inspector Sasha Dawson, Essex Police, and this is my colleague, Detective Constable Lolly Chambers.’

The woman blinked. ‘Is this about Jez?’

Seeing Bethany’s husband standing on the first-floor landing, Sasha smiled gently. ‘Actually, we’re here to speak to you.’

Checking up and down the street to see if any of the neighbours had seen the police officers, Bethany stepped back from the entrance of her Clifftown home, motioning for them to step quickly inside. She wore a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress – Sasha clocked how expensive it was – with tall heels, and a full mask of make-up.

‘Me and Jez are just on the way out,’ she said, flustered.

‘We won’t keep you long.’

‘You have a lovely house.’ Lolly gazed around the large reception. ‘And lots of lovely things.’

‘Thank you,’ said Bethany with an unfriendly smile, and looked over her shoulder in irritation. ‘I’d get my housekeeper to take your coats, but I don’t know where she is right now.’

‘What’s this about?’ Jez Weston came down the stairs. ‘Why do you want to speak to my wife?’

‘Is there somewhere private we can speak?’ Sasha asked Bethany.

‘No,’ Bethany said tersely. ‘Jez might as well hear whatever you have to say. Come into the library.’

‘Wow,’ said Lolly, walking into the room, with its bookcases full of leather-bound books. ‘I’ve never seen so many books in my life. How many of these have you read?’

Bethany ignored the question. ‘Please, sit.’