‘Dead?’ She heard Mark say in disbelief. ‘Do you mean . . . killed?’
‘I’m afraid so, yes.’
He turned to face Hannah, giving her a wild look. ‘How?’
‘We won’t know for sure until after the post-mortem,’ said the woman officer, speaking for the first time, ‘but mostly likely it was from head injuries – blunt-force trauma to the skull.’
Mark slumped on to the arm of the sofa, his hand over his mouth. His eyes were wide with horror.
‘When?’ Hannah asked.
‘Again, we’re waiting for the post-mortem to establish that more exactly but some time in the late afternoon. She left the hospital just after four.’
Mark moved his hands over his face and rocked forward. The woman gave him a moment then spoke again. ‘Mr Reilly, we found Ms Alleyn’s phone with her body. You left a message for her last night, at quarter to nine.’
‘Yes,’ he said, through his fingers. ‘I rang her but I didn’t get through. I wanted to tell her . . .’
‘We’ve listened to it. You seemed to be warning her, suggesting she might not want to be alone last night. Can you tell us more about that?’
He raised his head. ‘I wanted to warn her about my brother,’ he said. ‘Nick. He got out of prison yesterday. There was history between them – they used to go out, she testified against him at his trial, and he’d been in touch with her before he was released, threatening her. She’d been ringing me, to talk. I knew she was frightened and—’
‘What was he threatening?’
‘She told me he said it was “payback time”.’
‘Payback?’
‘Nick thought it was her testimony that got him convicted. He blamed her.’ Mark’s hands squeezed into fists on his knees. ‘Where was she? Who found her?’
‘Your brother was convicted of manslaughter, Mr Reilly,’ said Wells.
Manslaughter. The word hung in the air, and Hannah heard its fading echo: slaughter, slaughter, slaughter.
‘Yes,’ Mark said quietly.
‘She was found in Spitalfields,’ Wells said, ‘about ten minutes’ walk from the hospital, in the yard at the back of a pub. The landlord went out just after closing time to check the gate was padlocked. He didn’t see her first off but his dog ran out ahead of him and started barking, wouldn’t come away.’
Mark rocked forward again. Hannah felt the room start to ebb and flow around her, the carpet undulating under her feet. Dead, left behind a pub with the empty barrels and the bins.
‘We found a packet of cigarettes at the scene,’ the woman said. ‘Whether there was a struggle and he dropped them . . .’
‘Your brother’s fingerprints were on them,’ said Wells.
Mark closed his eyes. For several seconds he was silent but then he jerked upright. ‘This is my fault,’ he said. He coughed, half-choked. ‘I should have done something. I knew Hermione was worried, I knew about the threats and I . . .’ He coughed again and swiped a hand roughly across his eyes. ‘I wanted her to go away for a while, or come and stay here. I offered last night but . . .’ He looked up at the female officer. ‘Oh my God, her mother?’
‘She’s been notified.’
‘Hermione was her only child,’ he said, turning to Hannah. ‘She’s a widow – brought Herm up on her own.’
‘In your message, Mr Reilly, you said Nick had been here. It was you who saw him, Mrs Reilly, is that right?’ The detective turned to Hannah.
‘Yes. But not here at the house – it was just up the road, at the delicatessen. He was standing outside. They have flowers – he was standing looking at them.’
‘Did you talk to him?’
‘No. I saw him and ran.’
‘But you’re sure it was him?
‘Yes, sure. I’ve never met him before – Mark and I have only been married since April, Nick’s been in prison all that time – but they – he and Mark – look so similar, I actually thought it was Mark until he turned round properly. I’ve seen photographs of Nick.’ Online. ‘When he saw me, it was obvious he knew who I was, too, or guessed.’
‘Did he approach you? Did he try to say anything?’
Hannah shook her head. ‘Like I said, I ran. I thought he’d come after me, I was terrified, but . . . I’ve thought about it, why he didn’t, and all I can think was that he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. There were other people around. One of the guys who works there was wrapping up a bouquet for a customer.’
‘Why were you so terrified?’ asked the female detective.