‘But surely that amounts to the same thing.’
There was a lengthy pause while Trevor and Logan locked eyes, and Swann glanced back and forth between the two of them.
It was Logan who broke the silence. ‘You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned anything which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
Long before the detective got to the end of the caution, the increasingly familiar marching band in Trevor’s chest had been joined by the group of Japanese taiko drummers he’d seen at the festival. ‘Am I… under arrest?’
‘Not yet,’ said Logan. ‘But I think you should be aware of your rights before we go any further – before you start to incriminate yourself.’
‘You are kidding, aren’t you? I mean, how can I incriminate myself when there hasn’t even been a crime?’
‘So you say.’ Logan picked up the folder. ‘Unfortunately for you, though, there appear to be one or two grey areas about this case, so I’ll ask you again. Where were you when your wife went missing?’
‘Look, I went through all this at the time,’ said Trevor and pointed at the folder. ‘It’s all in there, isn’t it?’
He thought he spotted another exchange of looks between the two detectives but had no idea whether this had any significance.
‘We’d like to hear it again if it’s all the same to you,’ said Logan.
Trevor’s mind leapt back to the caution and particularly the bit about not having to say anything. But there was also the part about harming his defence. ‘They don’t even know when she disappeared, so how can I say—’
‘They?’
‘The police. The hotel. Anybody.’
‘Okay, so where were you during the four days she was away in Birmingham?’
‘At home and at work.’
‘Any witnesses?’
‘You mean do I have an alibi?’
‘That’s the one,’ said Logan with a sardonic grin.
‘At work, yes. At home, no,’ said Trevor. ‘And don’t you think I’d have made damn sure I did have an alibi if I was planning to murder my wife?’
‘Might not have been planned. Might have been a… crime of passion.’
Trevor threw his head back. ‘Oh for—’
‘Heat of the moment and all that. You know the sort of thing. You find out she’s having an affair, the red mist comes up, and bang… So was she having an affair?’
‘Imelda?’ Trevor wondered if the guy was being deliberately offensive to try and trap him into saying something he’d regret.
‘Well she was quite an attractive woman,’ said Logan, pulling out the wedding photograph from the file and waving it in front of him.
‘Yeah yeah, that’s right. I found out she was screwing my best friend… and… and… and the entire string section of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra – women included.’
‘I really don’t think sarcasm is going to help your case one little bit, Trevor… D’you mind if I call you Trevor, by the way?’
Trevor responded with a snort and folded his arms across his chest. He’d been married to Imelda for four and a half years, and never once in all that time had it occurred to him that there might be someone else. Not that she hadn’t had plenty of opportunity. All those business trips away, and then of course there was the non-existent company she was supposed to have worked for. But that had only come out after she’d disappeared, and—
‘So what was his name?’ said Logan.
‘Who?’
‘This best friend of yours. The one she was having an affair with.’
Oh for goodness’ sake. This was getting more absurd by the minute, and he was beginning to feel light-headed again from lack of food. He darted a glance from side to side and then behind him before looking back at Logan. ‘Sorry, I was just checking for the hidden camera. I mean, this has got to be Trigger Happy TV or something, right?’
Logan was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. Whatever words he was about to utter before the interruption, they now came out as ‘Damn it’ and then, rather louder, ‘Come.’
The door opened, and a uniformed female officer came into the room.
‘I am trying to conduct an interview here, you know,’ said Logan.
‘Sorry, sir. There’s an urgent message for you.’
‘Oh? Who from?’
The officer hesitated, her eyes drifting towards Trevor, who had turned in his seat to face her. ‘Er… I think it might be better if I told you in er… private, sir.’