Web of Lies by Sally Rigby (best book club books of all time .txt) 📕

hadn’t sedated her and instead put a bullet in her head? He shuddered at the thought.

‘He’s on his way. Be warned, he—’ The door opened, and she clamped her mouth shut, pulling a face which only Seb could see.

‘Clifford,’ he said nodding, and sitting beside Birdie. ‘Is one of those for me?’ he asked, looking directly at the cups on the table.

‘Sorry, Sarge, I could only manage two. But help yourself to a biscuit.’ She slid the packet towards him.

He ignored the biscuits and stared at Clifford. ‘You have some explaining to do. Why wasn’t this handed over to us as soon as you suspected foul play?’

Seb had no idea what Birdie had already told him, so he had to be careful. If he kept his eyes on her, she might give something away. He didn’t want to land her in trouble, and not just because Twiggy had threatened him the other day.

‘It was mentioned to you at the time of my attack, but you insisted it was a mugging, if I recall correctly.’

Birdie grimaced. That hadn’t come out exactly as he’d planned.

‘That was a mistake,’ the sergeant admitted. ‘But once you knew about the blackmail, you should’ve come to see me and explained.’ He turned to Birdie. ‘You should’ve insisted that’s what he did.’

‘It’s what I had planned to do, but first I needed to connect the dots. It wasn’t until I saw the tattoo on Dunkley’s hand two days ago that I realised he was one of my attackers. That was the only clue I had to his identity. I wanted to make sure all the evidence stacked up in case they slipped through the net. You know what barristers are like, they’ll get people off on the most ridiculous technicality.’

Sergeant Weston nodded. ‘You can say that again.’

‘I want to make it clear that DC Bird had nothing to do with any decisions made during this investigation,’ Seb continued. ‘Once we’d confirmed with the manager of the Foxton Locks pub that Dunkley had been with Witherspoon on the day he died, I intended to share with you everything I had. Birdie wanted us to go straight to the station after I thought we were being followed, but one they disappeared it seemed I’d been mistaken. I didn’t expect them to turn up at the house. But it did mean I was able to record our conversation and we have a confession from Dunkley.’

The sergeant clenched his jaw. ‘You were bloody lucky not to have been killed. What would you have done if they’d been armed?’

‘Luckily for me they weren’t.’

‘But it still could’ve turned out very different.’

‘Actually, Seb had it all under control by the time we got there, Sarge, as you saw for yourself,’ Birdie said.

‘That doesn’t make it right. And you,’ he jabbed his finger in Birdie’s direction. ‘Should’ve known better than to engage in this investigation at all.’

‘What else was I to do? You wouldn’t listen to me about the mugging. I knew something wasn’t right. If I hadn’t helped Seb, then this murder could’ve gone undetected and—’

‘I think your sergeant understands,’ Seb said.

‘See what I have to put up with? If I had any hair, I’d be tearing it out by now. I swear I’ve aged twenty years since you joined CID.’

There was a twinkle in his eye.

‘What are your next steps?’ Seb asked Sergeant Weston.

‘Dunkley and his accomplice have been charged and, as we speak, officers are going to the TV studio to bring Andrea Wood in for questioning. Do you believe she was involved?’

‘It’s unlikely, for several reasons. First, she didn’t want to talk to me about the blackmail while Dunkley could hear, even though she’d known him for many years. Second, if you listen to the recording of my discussion with Dunkley before you arrived to arrest him, he specifically denied she had anything to do with it. He also had no idea of what Witherspoon was blackmailing her over. Any chance I can observe the interview with her?’

‘In what capacity?’ Weston asked.

‘Interest. To close my investigation and be able to report back to my cousin, Donald Witherspoon’s wife, who was the person who asked me to look into his death.’

Weston frowned. ‘You’re now a private investigator?’

‘No. Although in the spirit of openness, my cousin did offer to pay me, but I declined. Her situation is dire enough after what Donald had done, without me adding to it.’

He was about to say more, then realised he’d be doing Sarah a disservice by airing her dirty laundry in public, to quote one of his mother’s favourite sayings.

‘I don’t see why not, so yes, I will allow you to observe.’

Chapter 42

21 May

Seb sat on a stool in the observation area and leant forward, resting his arms on the bench. He stared into a room that was very similar to the one he’d been sitting in only a few hours ago. Andrea Wood was seated at the table with her hands in her lap, her face drawn and pinched. She stared ahead into space, looking nothing like the vivacious woman he’d interviewed a while ago.

Did she know why she’d been brought in for questioning? Had she any idea of what Dunkley had done on her behalf?

The door opened and Birdie, followed by DS Weston, walked in. He was holding a thick Manila folder which he placed on the table in front of him as they both sat opposite Wood. Standard procedure in investigations, to make the person being interviewed believe the police had lots of information on them. He’d done it himself, many times.

Weston pressed the button on the recording equipment which was mounted on the wall.

‘Interview on Friday, 21 May. Those present: DC Bird, DS Weston, and … please state your full name for the recording.’ He nodded at Wood.

‘Andrea Wood. Will someone please tell me why I’m here? And why I was escorted out of the studio immediately after my programme had aired, not even being given time to take off my