“Fifteen unanswered calls. Your friend’s little sister. It’s odd, that’s all.”

“I don’t see why.”

“Did she tell you anything about her association with the Pakistanis?” Gerry asked.

“No. For Christ’s sake, I’ve told you, she agreed with us!”

“Us?”

“Me and Albert. I don’t understand this. Mimsy was always making disparaging remarks about Pakis. She even got in trouble for it at school.”

“But you didn’t talk about her odd behavior with Albert last Tuesday night, didn’t get him all het up?”

“No. I told you. We watched DVDs and fell asleep.”

“What about the fingerprint?” Annie said.

“What fingerprint?”

“We found Albert’s fingerprints in Jim Nuttall’s van, as you’d expect. But why did we also find yours? The same van that Albert Moffat drove on a casual basis, the one that was parked in the lane at the back of your building on the night in question.”

“No comment.”

“You’ve already been told you don’t have to say anything,” Annie reminded him, “so it’s well within your rights to say ‘no comment,’ but as I’m sure Ms. Malton will tell you, that bit about later relying on something in court is a deal breaker. Should this case go to court, and I have to tell you the CPS think we have a good case, then you will almost certainly be asked this question, among others, and your ‘no comment’ from today’s interview will be noted at the time. But we do have the fingerprint. Think about it, Paul.”

Warner looked disconcerted and turned to Jessie Malton, who whispered a few words in his ear. He clearly didn’t like what he had heard. “All right,” he said. “It’s a simple-enough explanation. I’ve been with Albert a few times on road trips.”

“Including Sheffield, the day of Mimosa Moffat’s murder?”

“That’s right.”

“And the person who took delivery there will vouch for you?”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I mean, I got Albert to drop me off in the city center so I could do a bit of shopping, so he wouldn’t have seen me.”

“What did you buy?”

“This and that.”

“Got the receipts?”

“I threw them away.”

“Pity,” said Annie. “Did you use a credit or debit card?”

“I paid cash.”

“Right,” said Annie. “Why did you head to the local recycling plant with a bin bag full of clothes and a pair of shoes as soon as you got home from your last interview here?”

“I’d been meaning to take them for ages. I don’t know why I did it then, particularly. I just wanted something to do.”

“Why not take them to a charity shop? They were in perfectly good condition.”

“Never thought.”

“Are you sure you weren’t feeling anxious about what they might reveal?”

“I wouldn’t say I was anxious. I just felt like it. OK?”