Ash & Bone

'This interview,' Karen began, 'timed at eleven forty-seven…'

Steadily she led Ke

'Mr Ke

Even from where he was watching, through glass, Elder could read the jolt of apprehension that flickered across Ke

'Mr Ke

'Yes.'

'Do you own -'

'Yes, I said yes.'

'My client,' Murchfield intervened, 'would appreciate a break at this time. It's now very nearly -'

But Karen cut him off with a brusque, 'I'm sure he would,' followed by, 'I wonder, Mr Ke

Ramsden held up the necklace, secure inside a plastic evidence bag.

Ke

'Or this?'

The earring.

'No.' A vigorous shake of the head.

'Or this?'

The bracelet.

'No.'

'Mr Ke

Recovering, Ke

'Secure in your car, carefully wrapped and hidden away.'

Ke

'Where you left them.'

'Jesus, I just told you -'

'You've told me nothing.'

'Okay, I'll tell you again. These things, they're nothin' to do with me. I've never seen 'em before, okay?'

'You've no idea how they came to be in your possession?'

'They weren't in my fucking possession.'

'They were in your car.'

'Says who?'

Ramsden smiled. 'Says me.'

'Then you fucking put 'em there.'

Karen leaned back away from the desk. There was sweat accumulating in the palms of her hands and she wiped them against her trouser legs. Sweat in the air, too: hers, his, everyone's.

'A little over an hour ago,' Karen said, 'one of my officers showed this bracelet to Je

A pulse, Elder noticed, had begun to tick in the corner of Ke

'This earring,' Karen said, holding up the evidence bag, 'was identified by Jane Forest as belonging to her.'

'So?'

'Je

Ke

'So can you explain how these items came to be hidden away inside your car?'

'No. I can't. Except that someone put them there.'

'And that someone, Mr Ke

Ke

'You,' Ke

Murchfield stammered, blushed, reached down to retrieve his pen.

'There is one further item,' Karen said, almost succeeding in keeping the tone of virtual triumph from her voice as she dangled the watch, in its bag, in front of Ke

'This watch. Maddy Birch's watch. You can see her name clearly engraved, there on the back. You see? You see the name, Mr Ke

'Yes.'

'That this watch belonged to her?'

'Yes.'

'Can you then tell me, how it came into your possession?'

Ke

'Mr Ke

'No. No, I can't.'

'Well, I suggest to you that she was wearing it the night she was killed.'

'I don't know.'

'And that was when you took it from her body.'

'No.'

'After you had raped her.'

'No.'

'Murdered her.'

'No.' The sweat on Ke

'Mr Ke

'No.'

'She was wearing this watch, wasn't she? That evening?'

Ke

'She couldn't have been wearing the watch. Not then. I'd already taken it, weeks before.'

Karen brought her breathing back under control. 'Say that again.'

'The watch, I'd already taken it. Weeks before.'

'And how did you do that?'

'I broke into her flat. When she wasn't there.'

'When was this?'

'End of October some time. Tuesday, Wednesday, I don't know. Middle of the week.'

'And had you done this before?'

'Broken in? Yes, but not there. Not Maddy's place. Others. Jane. Je

'And each time, you take away what? A souvenir?'

'Yes. I mean, not always, no.'

'Nothing else?'

'How d'you mean?'

'You don't take anything else?'

'Not take, no.'

'What then?'

'I don't know, I… sometimes I just stand there. Not doing anything. Sometimes, you know, look at things.'

'What kind of things?'

Ke

'Panties,' Ramsden suggested scornfully. 'Knickers. Underwear.'

'Sometimes.'

'Jerk off into them, do you?'

'No.'

'Mr Ke

He looked at her carefully before answering, her eyes, her mouth. 'Sometimes,' he said, 'I masturbate. Into a condom. Take it home. That the kind of thing you mean?'

'I think, Mr Murchfield,' Karen said, 'your client can have a break. Twenty minutes, no more. This interview suspended at twelve nineteen…'

'What do you think, Frank?'

They were standing outside, the sky overcast but the temperature a good five degrees warmer than the day before. Karen had come as close as this to snagging one of Ramsden's cigarettes and was munching her way through a Bounty instead.

'You had him sweating, no doubt about that.'

'Like a Turkish bath in there.'

'All that stuff about the murder really had him in a state. Once he'd copped to the break-ins, though, different again. Proud of it, almost. Relieved, certainly.'

'You think I let him off the hook?'

'I don't see what else you could have done.'

'You said yourself. It was as if he'd got away with something.'

'You'll keep on at him. If there's anything else there, you'll make him crack.'

Karen stuffed the last piece of Bounty into her mouth, screwed up the wrapper and pushed it down into her jacket pocket. Black today, funereal black.

'Frank, the other night. At my place. We've never really talked about it.'

'Maybe there's no need.'

'Not worth remembering, then?' Just a hint of a smile.

'That's not what I meant.'

'I just don't want you to think…'

'What?'

'You know, that it meant anything… anything special, I mean, between us.'

There was an amused look in Elder's eyes. 'You mean we're not engaged?'

She punched him, quite hard, on the arm.

'I don't want you to expect…'

'Believe me, I don't expect anything.'

'You're sure? Because if…'

'Listen, listen. It was great. I had a great time. A total surprise. But a one-off, okay? I understand.'

'Okay.' With a quick glance round to make sure no one was looking, she kissed him on the cheek.