Adrian could tell she was still thinking about Caitlin’s dead body. He was glad he hadn’t seen it himself but sorry that he couldn’t have been there to support Imogen. She had always fiercely identified with the victims in their cases, especially young and vulnerable females. He wondered if she was remembering close calls in her own life; even since he had known her she had had more than her fair share of them.

‘I’ll see what I can dig up about him while you’re out. And I’ll let the DCI know what’s going on,’ Gary said.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Imogen and Adrian knocked on the door to Finn Blackwell’s room in the halls of residence. The security officer had shown them inside and left them standing there, having gone back to his night watch. Adrian knocked again. The corridor was silent, and the lighting was dim, enough to light the way, but actually the semi-darkness felt quite imposing. There was the sound of various types of music coming from behind the many doors; it was a strange atmosphere. Adrian had expected it to be buzzing.

The door opened and Finn stood in front of them eating a bowl of cereal.

Finn was wearing pyjamas, he had music playing in the background and there were books pulled out across his bed.

‘Can I help you?’

‘Finn Blackwell?’ Adrian asked, knowing the answer because they had met before, although there didn’t even seem to be a remote spark of recognition on Finn’s face.

‘Yes. What is it?’

Imogen held up her warrant card and Finn leaned forwards, squinting to read the words.

‘We need to ask you a few questions. Would you mind coming to the station with us?’

‘What is this about?’

‘I think it’s better if we speak down at the station,’ Imogen said.

‘I’m not even dressed.’

‘We can wait.’

At the station, they put Finn in an interrogation room and left him there for a few moments, watching him on the security cam to see how he was dealing with the situation. Finn was different to the last time Adrian had met him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was like he was less confident or cocky in some way. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system when they met the last time, but this boy didn’t seem like trouble at all.

‘Do you think he was the person who attacked you?’ Imogen asked.

‘He doesn’t seem the type, does he?’

‘No, he doesn’t. Actually, seems quite nice. Quite sweet.’

The door opened and DCI Kapoor walked in. She crossed her arms and looked at the monitor.

‘We thought you went home?’ Imogen said.

‘Well, I came back. Would be nice to have a suspect name to take into my meeting tomorrow. Caitlin Watts’ death, aside from being a tragedy, is very bad optics for us,’ DCI Kapoor said. ‘Which one is this?’

‘This is Finn Blackwell. We haven’t questioned him yet, we’re just watching him for a little bit, to see what he does. He seems quite distraught.’