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

that the two men I hate most in the world were connected by that date.’

‘Did Dunkley know about this second attempt to blackmail you?’ Weston asked.

‘How do I know? If he’d been listening to me on the phone, he might have done. You’ll have to ask him.’

‘So, the call came through when you were in the car. Did Dunkley drive you all the way to Market Harborough on that Friday?’

‘He took me to the station and I caught the train as it’s quicker at that time of day.’

‘Is Dunkley still in love with you?’

‘Again, you’ll have to ask him.’

‘How did you feel when you found out Donald Witherspoon was dead?’ Birdie asked.

‘I’d lost my money, and even though I’d told him there was no more, I still worried that he might disclose the film. That’s the trouble with blackmail. It continues. It never stops. I was glad when he died.’ She paused. ‘I’ve changed my mind about not having my solicitor present. I’m not answering any more questions without her.’

It surprised Seb that she hadn’t decided to ask for her solicitor sooner, considering the direction the interview had taken.

‘We have finished with our questioning for now. You can go, but we’ll be interviewing you again, at which time you’re welcome to call in your solicitor to be with you,’ Weston said.

Seb waited until Andrea Wood had been escorted from the interview room and then went into the corridor to meet Weston and Birdie.

‘I think she was involved,’ he said.

‘I was thinking the opposite,’ Weston said. ‘What’s your reasoning?’

‘Do you really think that Donald would’ve given in so easily after she told him she didn’t have the money? He was a desperate man. He’d extorted what he could out of his brother Edgar and his friend Tony Yates. He genuinely knew they couldn’t pay him more. I can’t see him not being more persuasive with Andrea.’

‘That’s for us to sort out. You’re no longer part of the investigation,’ Weston said.

‘But—’

‘We’ll bring her back in for questioning after we’ve reinterviewed Dunkley. Your work here is done.’

Chapter 43

21 May

The phone was ringing on Birdie’s desk when she walked into the office and she ran over and picked it up.

‘DC Bird.’

‘It’s Tim,’ the guy from forensics said. ‘I’ve downloaded what’s on the phone you gave me.’

‘Great. Can you send over the call log straight away as we’re about to interview the suspect. I need from before Christmas until the last entries, which should be the day he died.’

‘Sending it now.’

She ended the call and within a minute her email pinged and she opened it up. She scrutinised the list of calls, of which there were hundreds, wishing that she had Seb’s super memory. That gave her an idea. She pressed speed dial on her mobile for Seb.

‘Clifford.’

‘It’s me. I’m in a hurry but hoped you could help. I need all the phone numbers we have for Andrea. I’m assuming they were in Donald’s files.’

‘No problem,’ he said, and then proceeded to rattle off three numbers: mobile, studio, and home in Market Harborough. ‘I take it you now have the records from Donald’s phone.’

‘I’ve got the call log for the last few months.’ The phone on her desk rang again. ‘Gotta go, the other phone’s ringing. Thanks so much for your help. I’ll fill you in on everything soon.’ She ended the call and answered the other call. ‘DC Bird.’

‘Dunkley’s solicitor has finally arrived, it seems she was caught up with another case and wasn’t expecting to be called back. They’re in interview room two,’ the sergeant on the front desk said.

‘Thanks, we’ll be down in a minute.’

She printed off the call log, stuck it in a folder, and went to collect Sergeant Weston. She tapped on his open door. ‘Dunkley’s solicitor is here, she’s with him in one of the interview rooms.’

He stood up, took his jacket from the back of his chair, shrugged it on and headed out of the office, with her following. ‘Remember, our main objective is to find out whether Andrea Wood was involved, or whether she really was ignorant of what he’d done.’

When they entered the room Birdie immediately recognised the duty solicitor next to Dunkley, as she was often at the station. The expression on her face was one of complete disinterest.

After they sat down, Birdie started the recording equipment.

‘Interview on 21 May, those present Detective Sergeant Weston, Detective Constable Bird and …’ Sarge nodded at the two opposite him. ‘Please state your names.’

‘Gillian Griffin, solicitor for the accused.’

‘Aaron Dunkley.’

‘Mr Dunkley, there are a few things we’d like to explore, following your previous interview,’ Sarge said.

‘You’ll be wasting your time, he muttered, I’m not saying anything else.’ Dunkley folded his arms and looked away.

‘We interviewed Andrea Wood earlier and she had a lot to say.’

Dunkley sat up straight in his chair and glared at them. ‘Why? I've already told you it's nothing to do with her.’

‘She told us all about the blackmail. Do you know what Witherspoon was blackmailing her over?’ Sarge asked.

‘I don't know and don't care.’

‘How do you know she was being blackmailed?’

‘I’ve already told you that I overheard a conversation she was having with Witherspoon. She'd already given him some money and he’d come back for more. That’s all I needed to know. My job was to protect her and that’s what I did.’

Birdie gave Sarge a little nudge, to indicate that she wanted to ask some questions, and he nodded.

‘Let’s go back to when you overheard the conversation between Andrea Wood and Donald Witherspoon,’ She leant forward and pressed her hands on the folder in front of her on the table. ‘What date was this exactly?’

‘Um …’ He glanced upwards and to the side. ‘It was on a Monday morning when I was driving Andrea to the studio.’

‘Could you be more specific. What month?’ she pushed.

‘March.’

‘Hmm, late March,’ Birdie said, opening her folder and taking a look at the records in front of her. ‘If it was a Monday it would be the