“Did you know that Mimosa and her best friend, Carol, were among a group of local underage girls who’d been groomed by a gang of Asians from the Strip? They’d been coerced, persuaded or forced into prostitution.”

“God, no! How . . . I mean . . .”

“Nobody told you?”

“Well, obviously not. I mean, you asked me about grooming last time you talked to me, said it was something you suspected, but I never thought . . . Mimsy . . . no.”

“Some people behave recklessly, especially if they get fired up with an idea. Was Albert fired up with an idea that night?”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s say you’d been talking about Mimosa and her Pakistani groomers, for example. Might Albert have got riled up? Got a bee in his bonnet? She was his sister, after all. And they were Pakistanis.”

“But that didn’t happen. We never talked about that.”

“So you say.”

“Are you saying you don’t believe me?”

“We know that Albert most certainly did know. And he mentioned it in conversation with Mimosa the day before she disappeared. They ended up on bad terms.”

“Well, that proves it, doesn’t it,” said Paul, leaning forward. “Don’t you see. They must be involved. The Pakis. They must have done it. Have you brought them in yet?”

“We’re just looking for some answers here,” said Annie. “There’s no need to get your underpants in a knot.”

“I’m not. I just don’t like being called a liar. Maybe Albert did know, like you say, but he didn’t tell me. I can’t tell you anything. This is all a shock to me. Like I said, I thought she was on our side. They must have made her do it. Is this something to do with why Mimsy got killed?”

“We think so. We’re just not sure exactly how everything ties together yet.”

“And you think Albert might have killed her?”

“We’re just checking his alibi, that’s all.”

“I’ve told you time and time again. He was at my place. We got a bit drunk, watched some DVDs between about half ten and two or three in the morning, then we fell asleep. Albert slept on the couch and he didn’t wake up until eleven the next morning.”

“But you weren’t in the same room as Albert all night?”

“Hell no. We didn’t sleep in the same room, but we were together there watching movies.” Paul folded his arms. “I’ve had enough of these insinuations and innuendos. You’re simply playing tricks on me, using semantics to try to get me to admit something.”

“Admit to what?”

“Christ. I mean, you surely can’t think that Albert killed his own sister.”

“Why not?”