Page 22 of Her Last Breath

Jane tapped the screen of her smart tablet, bringing it to life, before turning it around so Liam could see the pictures onscreen. Footage of the white van, crawling down Clitheroe Road in Rose Hill, followed by Alice minutes later. Interest flared in his eyes when he saw her. Surprised that she was caught on cam like this. Shocked that the van was too.

Jane tapped her screen again, sliding until she had more footage. This time of the abattoir.

‘Recognise these vans, do you, Liam?’ she said, menacingly. ‘They’re from your workplace. Delivery vans used to transport smaller orders in cooling boxes. All Ford Transit Couriers. Notice something? Exactly the same make and model as the van we believe was used to abduct Alice.’

Now Jane got a reaction. Liam looked up at her sharply, his face flushed red.

‘There’s loads of those vans all over Burnley. Doesn’t mean jack.’

‘Only, the van we’re looking for has very distinctive damage to its paintwork. And I have no doubt one of these vans at the abattoir will be the one we’re looking for. You have a motive, a history of violent, coercive behaviour. No alibi. Van access. I’m not looking for anybody else in connection with Alice’s death, Liam.’

‘You’re framing me,’ he protested. ‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘We spoke to your boss,’ DS Johnson said smoothly, turning a page in his binder, reading from a statement Ray Peel had given them. ‘He told us about the sadistic way in which you treat the pigs at the abattoir. Slaughtering them without stunning them properly, enjoying their agony, inflicting terror on them in their last minutes. Looks like you get off on causing pain to others, whether they’re the animals in your care or the women in your life.’

‘Is that what you did to Alice?’ Jane could barely keep the rage from her voice. ‘Tortured her? Humiliated her? Is that why you had to dump her body in the river, so your unhinged, cruel treatment of her would never be discovered?’

‘I didn’t do anything to her.’

‘You’re the only person in her life who would want to hurt her,’ DS Johnson replied fiercely.

‘No, you’re wrong. I’m not the only one, she was a bloody slag. You need to ask her fancy man instead of me. Yeah, you didn’t know about that, did you?’

He was almost frothing at the mouth, leaning out of his seat, his hands across the table. Jane thought he might reach over and grab her throat. He was unravelling, perfect for her to push.

‘No, I didn’t know, because you just made him up,’ DS Johnson said dismissively. ‘Trying to blame someone else? Come on, be more original.’

‘You don’t know Alice. You think she’s some dumb, messed-up druggie. She wasn’t. You know she tried to steal from her dying grandmother? You don’t believe me? Check your records, the hospice called you lot.’

‘I don’t see the relevance,’ Jane said.

‘She wasn’t innocent, that’s all I’m saying. She was a crafty, gobby bitch, always lying to me.’

‘Why did she feel she had to lie to you?’ Jane asked.

‘Ask her. She used to disappear on me all the time, lied about where she was. One time she told me she was with the kids. But they let it slip, told me they’d been with her parents all day. Ask them if you don’t believe me.’

‘I really am struggling to believe you,’ Jane goaded him.

‘Not just that.’ Liam was on a roll, unable to stop. He seemed to have forgotten that Jane was a cop, listening to his every word. ‘She always had cash on her. She used to pretend her parents had given it to her, but they weren’t idiots. They got wise to her ages ago. Always made sure they gave gifts or clothes to the kids. Nothing she could sell for a quick fix. That money must have come from somewhere.’

‘You think this other man was giving her the cash?’ Despite her instincts about Liam Harrison, Jane wanted to know if there was anything to this other man theory.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘So you killed her because you were jealous of this other guy?’ DS Johnson suggested.

‘What? No, I didn’t mean … I just meant that there are others you need to be looking at. Not me.’

‘Maybe there was no other man?’ DS Johnson said dismissively. ‘Maybe she just had enough of you and needed some time to herself?

Liam folded his arms over his chest.

‘You have no alibi for the day Alice died, Liam,’ DS Johnson said, the warning clear in his voice, ‘and staying silent won’t save you.’

‘You can’t prove anything,’ Liam said, glaring back at him.

Jane smiled at him.