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‘I drove her home, she got out and I drove home.’
‘You didn’t get out of the car and see her to her door?’
‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t even really watch her go inside. I just left. Then I parked up at home and walked to The Imperial.’
‘Were you alone?’
‘Yes. I was a bit pissed off because I was supposed to have my son stay over last night, but he made other plans.’
‘So, no one can corroborate your story?’
‘Sorry, no.’
‘OK. Let’s talk about you for a moment,’ Sneddon said with a heavy sigh, clearly not enjoying this any more than Adrian.
‘I thought that was what we were doing.’
‘Are you in a relationship?’ Sneddon asked.
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but no.’
‘I heard your last relationship ended rather traumatically. Is that correct?’
‘Do they ever end well?’ Adrian said, trying to make light of it.
‘Have you sought any counselling for what happened? It’s hard losing someone to an act of violence.’
‘I’m dealing with it just fine,’ Adrian lied.
‘Have you ever dated anyone in the station?’
‘I had a casual relationship with Duty Sergeant Denise Ferguson, but that ended a long time ago. I haven’t had a relationship at all since Lucy died.’
‘Anyone else?’
‘Why does this matter?’
‘Just answer the question.’
Adrian thought about Imogen for a moment. Should he mention it? It wasn’t a relationship, it wasn’t even sexual, but somehow it was important. Far too important to talk about here.
‘I went out with PC Tessa Burgess briefly and a couple other officers who have since transferred out.’
‘Does briefly mean a one-night stand?’
‘Yes. But there wasn’t any drink involved or anything. It was a consensual situation and it was before she worked in this division.’
‘We’ll speak to her, but for now, you can see yourself out.’
Adrian left the interrogation room feeling worse than he had done before he went in. Everything he had said made him sound like a complete scumbag.
Imogen was waiting outside. He struggled to even look at her at the moment. It was taking all of his energy not to just throw himself in front of a bus right now.
Chapter Eleven (#ulink_1713441e-48ef-5f38-87ce-6d1e01f5e185)
Imogen had tried to explain her feelings about Caitlin Watts to DCC Sneddon without making her sound like a psychotic vampire. It didn’t sit well with her at all, not believing the victim. She felt like she was betraying every rape victim that had ever walked through the door. Imogen tried to imagine what she would feel had she not met Caitlin beforehand and immediately distrusted her. Did that distrust automatically mean she was lying now? For all she knew maybe she was all of those things that Imogen thought about her beforehand. That didn’t exclude her from being attacked, that didn’t mean she would never tell the truth ever again. Sometimes people lie, sometimes they tell the truth. If it were any other man, she might even have given Caitlin Watts the benefit of the doubt. But this was Adrian.
‘You and Detective Miles have worked together for some time now,’ DCC Sneddon pressed.
‘Yes.’
‘Have you ever noticed a particularly sexist or negative attitude towards women at all?’
‘For being women? No.’
‘He’s had some relationships within the station. Did you know about them?’
‘I knew about him and Denise. I don’t tell him everyone I sleep with either though, to be fair.’
‘Denise Ferguson? Did she say anything to you about the relationship?’
‘No. I know she wasn’t happy when it ended though.’
‘Does DS Miles have many impromptu relationships?’
‘A few, I think. Or at least he used to. What’s that got to do with anything? Sleeping around doesn’t make him a sexual predator. Women like sex, too. Not all of us are being manipulated into it when we have a one-night stand.’ She hated the constant portrayal of women as easy to ‘trick’ into sex. As though a woman who wants to sleep around is being taken advantage of each time because she has a low self-esteem. So much stigma around women who liked sex.
‘What about you? Have you ever been intimate with DS Miles?’
‘Depends what you mean by intimate.’ She tried to laugh off his question, but he looked at her curiously, as though he knew she were hiding something. She wasn’t about to tell him about her and Adrian’s arrangement. It didn’t mean anything, and it certainly didn’t bear any relevance to this case.
‘Have you ever had sexual intercourse or taken part in any sexual acts with DS Miles?’
‘No, I haven’t.’
Not a lie, not quite the truth either.
‘Would you say your partnership is solid? Do you think he keeps secrets from you?’
‘No, I don’t think he does. I trust him implicitly.’
‘OK, thank you, Miss Grey.’
‘That’s it?’
‘That’s it for now at least. Unless we hear anything that contradicts your statement.’
‘Should I send Denise in?’
‘Thank you, yes.’ DCC Trevor Sneddon attempted a smile to comfort Imogen, but she left the room without returning it.
She walked straight outside, needing some fresh air. Within a few seconds, Adrian was standing beside her.
‘Well?’
‘Well what, Adrian? You know I can’t talk about it.’
‘Fuck that, what did you say?’
‘I said what I would have said if you were standing in the room. Don’t worry, I’m on your side.’
‘Did he ask you about us?’
‘He did.’
‘And what did you tell him?’
She felt her eyebrows involuntarily raise as he said the words. Neither of them had spoken about this, let alone outside work in the daylight.
‘That there was nothing going on between us. There’s nothing to tell,’ Imogen said.
A weight clearly lifted from him when she said that.
‘That’s what I thought. I just wanted to check with you. I didn’t tell him either.’
‘I don’t see how it would make any difference to the investigation. Apart from getting us into a whole heap of shit.’ She changed the subject. ‘Sneddon’s speaking to Denise now. I might go and watch. Why don’t you speak to Gary and see if he can find any CCTV footage around The Imperial to prove where you were. If she is lying, we can prove it, just remember that.’
‘What do you mean if?’ Adrian snapped.
‘Don’t be like that, you know what I meant.’
Adrian relaxed. ‘Thanks for having my back on this. Not everyone would.’
‘I hope if the situation were reversed you would do the same for me.’
‘You know I would. Good idea about Gary, I’ll see if he can work some of his magic. Is anyone speaking to Caitlin Watts?’
‘I think DI Walsh is back over there taking a statement. I’ll speak to you later.’
Imogen left Adrian outside. She noticed how uncomfortable she felt around him, and she couldn’t help but wonder why. Was it just that they had finally spoken about their strange sleepovers out loud? Or was it something else?
Not wanting to think about that right now, Imogen wanted to hear what Denise had to say, so she went into the adjacent room and watched the live feed.
‘How often would you say you and DS Miles had sex?’ Sneddon asked Denise.
‘Do you have to be so crude? Every few weeks.’
‘But there was no relationship?’
‘I don’t know how to answer that question. We were both single, consenting adults. Yes, we hooked up for sex. Is that wrong?’
‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you if the sex was particularly rough?’
‘It was as rough as we both wanted it to be,’ Denise huffed.
‘That’s not an answer. I’m going to need more than that,’ DCC Sneddon said.
Imogen felt wrong listening in, but she couldn’t tear herself away. Denise was obviously holding something back.
‘It was a bit rough. But only because I wanted that. Adrian wasn’t like that at first.’
‘So, you’re saying his aggressive sexual behaviour escalated?’
‘No! I’m saying I asked him to be rougher and he was. I told him what I wanted, that’s all. He didn’t do anything outside of that. He never did anything I was uncomfortable with.’
‘Did he ever hit you during sex? Did you ask him to?’
‘No. I feel like my words are getting twisted up here. Adrian’s a good guy.’
‘What about choking? Did he ever strangle you? Either with his hands or anything else?’
‘I don’t want to answer that question.’
‘I think we’re probably past that now. You have to answer the question.’
Denise took a deep breath and Imogen found herself closing her eyes, waiting for her to say what everyone now knew she was about to say.
‘I asked him to choke me, and so he did, yes.’
‘More than once?’
‘Yes, more than once.’
‘And did you ask him every time? Or did he sometimes just do it?’
Denise exhaled loudly, exasperated. ‘I didn’t ask him every time, no.’
‘Did he ever choke you until you passed out?’
‘No, never. It wasn’t like that.’
Imogen was growing more and more concerned for Adrian; Denise wasn’t doing the greatest job in the interview. Rather than alleviating any concerns they might have about Adrian, she was sure that Denise had just opened a whole other can of worms.
Imogen left the room, unable to listen to any more. Over at the bank of desks, Adrian and Gary were huddled together. She noticed people looking at Adrian and the occasional whisper from some of the newer members of staff. Adrian did have a reputation for being a bit promiscuous, and it was completely justified a couple of years ago, but even in the time that Imogen had known him he had grown up and changed. Anyone who knew him well knew he wasn’t capable of this.
‘Any luck with the CCTV?’ Imogen asked Gary as she reached the two men.
‘I’m fast, but I’m not that fast. I’m collecting the feeds and will get straight on it after I grab some dinner from the canteen, I’m starving. I’m just trying to get a clear picture of Adrian’s movements so that I know where to look before I start.’ Gary smiled nervously.
