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‘I doubt that,’ Jennie answers, quicker than she should. ‘I mean, he didn’t give any indication of that.’
‘Sometimes they don’t,’ says Zuri. She shakes her head. ‘Whatever it is, he looked wired.’
‘Yeah.’
Elliott has always been highly logical and structured in the way he does things. He’s not an impulsive guy. For him just to turn up at the station and wait for Jennie is completely out of character.
What’s going on with him?
The lift doors open on the second floor and they head towards the open-plan desks.
‘Anyway, how did you know who he was back in reception?’ asks Zuri. ‘The way he spoke to you, he seemed to be very … familiar.’
Stay cool.
Jennie shrugs, trying to act normal. ‘I recognised him from school. Weirdly, he looks pretty much the same as he did back then.’
‘Right.’ Zuri looks away.
At her desk, Jennie grabs Elliott’s statement from the original misper case file and her notebook. She hunts around for the silver fountain pen she likes to use, but can’t find it anywhere. Looking over the desk divider, she asks Zuri, ‘Do you have a pen I can borrow?’
‘Sure,’ says Zuri, passing her a biro. ‘Keep it.’
‘Thanks.’ As she takes the pen from Zuri, their eyes meet. Jennie wonders whether it’s just her imagination or if her DS has a hint of doubt in her gaze.
Interview room two is Jennie’s least favourite. It’s smaller than the others and, being an internal room, has no natural light. Even the white walls, light wood-effect laminate table and pale wood-effect vinyl flooring can’t brighten up the space enough to make it feel less like a dungeon.
They take their seats, Jennie and Zuri on one side of the table, Elliott on the other. In the unforgiving strip lighting, Elliott looks even worse than he had downstairs. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair seems greyer and unkempt.
Jennie sets the audio recorder going and parrots the usual start-of-interview preamble before asking, ‘What is it that you want to tell us?’
Elliott takes a deep breath. ‘Okay. So on the day Hannah went missing I was in the darkroom, the school basement, developing some of my photographs. I’d been there most of the afternoon and stayed on into the evening. I was almost done when Hannah rushed in.’
‘What time was this?’ asks Zuri, looking up from the notes she’s taking.
‘Erm. Later on in the evening sometime, I’m not exactly sure when.’ He looks at Jennie. ‘I always lost track of time when I was in the darkroom.’
‘And you were alone?’ asks Zuri.
‘Yes,’ replies Elliott. ‘There was a supply delivery in the afternoon, around four o’clock I think, but after that I didn’t see anyone.’
Jennie nods. ‘What happened after Hannah arrived?’
‘Yeah, so she was in a real state. She’d been crying, her mascara was all down her cheeks, and really shaky. I was trying to find out what had happened when the darkroom door flew open and her dad stormed in yelling …’ Elliott presses his hands together, clasping and unclasping his fingers.
‘Go on,’ says Jennie.
‘I hate any kind of arguing and I didn’t really know Mr Jennings at all. It was awkward. I felt really uncomfortable.’ Elliott stops speaking and looks down at the table, seemingly conflicted.
‘What happened next?’ asks Zuri, gently. ‘Anything you can tell us, no matter how small or inconsequential you think it is, could help us find your friend’s killer.’
Elliott keeps looking at the table. His voice is softer, more vulnerable-sounding now. ‘I left them both there. I … there was so much shouting. Mr Jennings was telling Hannah she had to go home and she was screaming that she hated him. I just … it was too much.’ He looks up at Jennie. ‘I didn’t want to be caught in the middle of their family argument, I had enough of that with my own parents, so I made an excuse and I left. I doubt they even noticed I’d gone.’
Jennie stares at him, shocked. There’s nothing about this in the original case file, and he’d never told her or the others that he’d seen Hannah that night. ‘Did you mention this to the police at the time?’
‘No.’ Elliott blows out hard and runs a hand through his hair. ‘I didn’t think it was relevant and, if I’m honest, I was pretty scared of Mr Jennings. Especially that night. He was so riled up …’
‘In your statement,’ says Jennie, scanning the one-page statement Elliott had given after Hannah had gone missing. ‘You said you’d been in the darkroom from mid-afternoon until after dark. Is that correct?’
