Page 56 of By His Side

“He claimed you’d locked him in a basement while the murder was taking place.”

Julian’s sigh said, here we go again. “A basement that didn’t have a lock. There were numerous witnesses who attested to that on the stand. Not to mention my family who’d been down there and never noticed a lock.”

“You took it off.” I’d given up on the he-said game, anger slowly building in my gut. “You had ample opportunity to do that because you knew what he was going to say.”

“Did I?” Julian cocked his head to one side and studied me as if seeing me in a new light. “You think I’m the sort of man who needs to lock his significant other in a basement?”

A hard glint in his eye said I should think carefully about how I answered. I’d already shown my hand, though. All backtracking would do was make me look weak. “Yeah, I do.”

“I see.” Julian took a leisurely swig of his Coke. “Who are you really, Mr. Quinn? You’re not writing a book, are you? I would guess you’re on some sort of crusade. What exactly were you hoping to gain from this meeting?”

I leaned forward slightly, refusing to blink. “The truth.”

Julian’s lips twitched. “The truth, or what you’ve decided the truth is?”

I held his gaze. The key was to use his ego against him. If I did, I might have a chance of getting him to admit something. “The thing is, this whole, it was Felix that did it, and I knew nothing about it, and I was too blind to see what he’d done makes you look stupid.” I let the statement hang there for a moment. “And I don’t think you’re a stupid man. Far from it. I think you’re highly intelligent. Intelligent enough to see in Felix someone who could be bullied into what you wanted him to be. You abused him emotionally and physically until he didn’t know which way was up. You cheated on him because you wanted to have your cake and eat it, and probably because a sixteen-year-old would be even easier to control. God knows what she did that made you flip and kill her. We’ll probably never know. But you sitting there and pretending you’re a victim just doesn’t wash. And even facing a murder charge, you still had to prove to Felix that you controlled him, that he couldn’t be free of you.”

I stopped for a breath, Julian’s eyes like chips of blue ice now. “And I have to admit that I’m impressed. To convince an entire courtroom that you never laid a finger on Felix, and have him sent down for something he didn’t do, is manipulation at its finest. A masterclass. So, come on, just between you and me, why don’t you admit how clever you are? Here’s your chance to boast about how you controlled Felix like a puppet.”

A surge of euphoria coursed through my body as Julian opened his mouth, his expression decidedly smug. I only had a few seconds to celebrate my imagined victory before he replaced the smugness with concern. “It saddens me that Felix is still confused about what happened. I’d hoped that seven years of thinking time might have given him clarity, but apparently not.” He affected a shrug far more exaggerated than it needed to be. “But then he was always mixed up. Perhaps you could suggest to him he has some therapy. He needed it when he was younger, and it sounds like his need hasn’t lessened any. Especially if he’s roping strangers into doing his dirty work for him.”

Something must have shown in my expression, a knowing look appearing on Julian’s handsome face. “Except you’re not strangers, areyou? Oh, dear!” He sat forward. “Let me give you a piece of advice, Mr. Quinn. Whatever he’s told you, whatever he’s saying, don’t believe a word of it. Or you’ll find yourself in the same situation that I did, with him making allegations about all sorts of things. Run while you still can. And whatever you do, don’t let him move in with you or you’ll never get rid of him.”

He didn’t wait for a response, scooping up the crisps and the Snickers and rising to his feet. “I presume we’re done here, and that I won’t receive any further requests for visits.” He crossed the room without further ado, catching the guard’s eye, who dutifully escorted him out. I released a breath as the door closed in his wake. Well, that hadn’t gone the way it was supposed to.

Levi twisted round in the passenger seat as I climbed back into the Toyota. “Well?”

I wanted to laugh, but I suspected if I started, I might never stop. Instead, I sat back in the seat and stared out at a young woman climbing out of her car clutching a baby. Poor kid got to visit Belmarsh before he or she was even a year old. I hoped that wasn’t a sneak preview of the rest of their life. I might be a probation officer, but I’d rather people avoided me and my colleagues altogether.

In my peripheral vision, Levi grimaced. “That good, hey? I’m guessing he didn’t give you the confession you were after?”

“Not even close.” I could feel his eyes on me as I unfastened my shoe and retrieved the recording device from my sock. After switching it off, I flung it in the glove compartment where it would no doubt live forever more. I certainly wouldn’t be listening back to the recording.

“Did you really think he would?”

“I wouldn’t have gone in there if I hadn’t thought there was a chance.”I wouldn’t have risked my career to smuggle a recording device in either.I didn’t have to say it for us both to be thinking it.

Levi cleared his throat, trying to choose his words carefully. “Well… you’re no worse off than you were before.”

The woman and her baby disappeared out of view, forcing me to concentrate on a lone starling instead, the bird apparently an optimist if the way it was pecking at the concrete was anything to go by. “Julian made out like it was all Felix, that Felix lied about stuff constantly, that he was a difficult person to be with.”

Levi went still. “And you believe him?”

The starling flew off. Presumably to find an area where food was more plentiful. “No.” I’d paused too long before answering, though, and Levi knew it. He was many things, but he wasn’t a fool. “I don’t know.” I heaved out a sigh.

“Let’s imagine for one minute,” Levi said, his voice a study in caution, “that Julian was telling the truth and Felix is lying… and I’m not saying it’s true, I’m just getting you to think about it.” I closed my eyes against the stab of pain that hearing those words spoken aloud evoked. “What would you do about it?”

I heaved out a sigh. “I’d need him out of my house.”

“He could blackmail you. He has a lot of power over you when it comes to your job.”

“He wouldn’t do that.”

Levi laughed. “We’re talking about a scenario where he’s a murderer, remember? I hardly think he’s going to draw the line at blackmail.”

“He’s not a murderer.” Even I could hear the doubt in my voice. I sat up straighter and started the engine. “You can’t tell Hayden about this.”

“Which part?”

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