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‘The note he was holding is an admission of guilt though, surely?’ counters Zuri, referring to her notebook. ‘I had our handwriting expert take a look and they’ve confirmed that the writing on the note is a match with several other samples of Robert Marwood’s handwriting.’ She looks from Jennie to the DCI. ‘Surely it’s obvious that Marwood killed Hannah, and that’s what the note meant. It was a confession of sorts.’
Jennie frowns. That doesn’t sit right with her. ‘No. I don’t think it’s that clear-cut. Rob’s career was in tatters; we heard about that from him in his interview earlier yesterday – the malpractice claim obviously had him rattled. The note could have been referring to the patient who died under his care. My view is we need to continue our investigation until we’re totally sure. At the moment, the evidence against Rob is tenuous at best.’
‘I agree,’ says DCI Campbell. ‘You need to keep on with the investigation until you can prove without doubt that Robert Marwood, or someone else, killed Hannah Jennings. We have to be watertight on this.’
As Zuri opens her mouth to speak, the phone on the table beside the DCI rings. Answering the call, he nods as the person calling tells him something, then thanks them and hangs up. He looks at Jennie. ‘Elliott Naylor has arrived for his interview. I said you’d be right down.’
The mood is sombre. Jennie and Martin sit opposite Elliott Naylor in the small, boxy space of interview room two. Jennie watches as her old friend runs his hand through his hair, the anguish he’s feeling etched deep in the lines on his face.
‘I just can’t believe he’s gone. It was so sudden. First Hannah, now Rob.’ Elliott shakes his head, his eyes watery. ‘I never knew. He kept it all bottled up. I just wish he’d asked for help, you know?’
Jennie nods. Her tone is sympathetic. ‘Tell me what happened at the vigil last night.’
Elliott jerks his head up, surprised. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I was there,’ says Jennie, with a gentleness that she doesn’t feel. She wants to say, I was there but none of you noticed me, it was as if I didn’t exist, just as it has been since Hannah disappeared. But she doesn’t. Instead, she says, ‘I saw Simon and Rob arguing after Lottie’s speech.’
Elliott says nothing for a moment, then he sighs. ‘Yeah, they were arguing about Hannah. They always used to argue about Hannah, that’s why Rob never kept in touch with him. Last night Simon started going off on one about how we should have done more when she disappeared. Rob told him that we did all we could, but Simon wouldn’t let it go. He kept banging on and in the end, Rob couldn’t take it any more, so he left.’
It’s plausible, but to Jennie the argument between the men had looked more personal. Maybe there had been more to Rob and Hannah’s relationship than Rob had let on, and maybe Simon had always suspected that, causing a rift between them. Or maybe it was survivor’s guilt – that Hannah died and he didn’t prevent it. That, mingling with the guilt and pressure of the malpractice claim, could possibly have pushed an already highly stressed Rob to take his own life. Or perhaps, as Zuri believed, Rob had been the one who murdered Hannah.
The problem is, with Rob dead it’s going to be hard to know for sure. Jennie decides to change tack and move the questioning back to focus on Elliott. ‘When we last spoke, you made a change from the statement you gave in 1994: you told us that you’d seen Hannah on the night she disappeared, and left her in the darkroom in the basement of White Cross Academy with her father. You told us that her dad was in an angry and agitated state, and that you were afraid of him.’
‘That’s right,’ says Elliott.
‘After you’d left Hannah in the basement that night, did you make any attempt to contact her?’
‘I … no.’ Elliott’s voice sounds strained.
‘Just to confirm, you didn’t try to make contact with Hannah Jennings to check on her wellbeing at any time after leaving her alone with her father in the school darkroom?’
‘I was worried about her, but I didn’t want to intrude. So I, I didn’t call her or anything.’ Elliott hangs his head, guilt-ridden. ‘I wished afterwards that I had. I wish I hadn’t left her that night …’
Jennie narrows her gaze. Elliott was one of Hannah’s closest friends, surely if he was that worried about her he’d have called? It makes no sense. As she watches him slump forward, his head in his hands, Jennie isn’t sure what to think. He had been one of her closest friends too, but he’d moved on very quickly the summer Hannah disappeared. Now, learning he withheld information from the police back in 1994, and did not bother to check in on Hannah after leaving her in the basement with her violent and angry dad, she wonders if she really knew him at all. The Elliott she thought she’d known was kind, thoughtful and empathetic, but his actions around the time Hannah disappeared seem to paint a different picture. Surely if he was that afraid of Hannah’s dad, it would have been even more reason to tell the police what he’d seen, especially after she’d gone missing?
She shifts in her seat, fighting the nagging feeling that Elliott is keeping things from her. Something’s not right here.
Opening the file on the table in front of her, Jennie removes the copies of Elliott’s bank statements which Naomi has marked up. ‘You make a monthly payment to Simon Ackhurst of a thousand pounds.’ Jennie taps her finger against one of the payments highlighted. ‘You’ve been paying him for almost thirty years. Why?’
Elliott glances at the bank statement then looks back at Jennie. ‘I’m just helping out an old friend who’s fallen on hard times. Is that a crime?’
Jennie watches Elliott. His tone is friendly enough, but his body language has changed – he’s sitting up straight now, his spine is rigid, and his arms are crossed. ‘Not a crime, no, but unusual perhaps.’
Elliott shrugs. ‘I don’t know what to tell you. I’m a generous guy.’
He’s definitely hiding something. Jennie glances at Martin, but he’s sitting back and clearly happy to let Jennie do all the questioning. She regrets not having Zuri in on the interview; she’s a great detective, and they make a good tag team. Martin never seems to be proactive about asking questions; she always has to prompt him beforehand. And for this interview, there wasn’t time.
Jennie decides to change tack again. ‘How were things between you and Hannah in the weeks before she went missing?’
‘They were fine,’ replies Elliott.
‘Is that right?’ says Jennie. ‘Because we have a witness statement saying that the two of you were arguing a lot in those last few weeks.’
Surprise flits across Elliott’s face before he quickly changes his expression to appear unbothered.
‘So, what were you arguing about, Elliott?’ says Jennie, her tone firmer now, pushing him for an answer.
Elliott grimaces, reluctant. He glances at the audio recorder. ‘It was a personal thing.’
