Page 144 of Murder in the Family

LAILA FURNESS

I tend to agree. And if this is anything to go by, I can also see why he made such a poor impression when he turned up at that care home—

HUGO FRASER

(nodding)

And then tried to bully Sylvia Carroll.

ALAN CANNING

(rather impatiently)

None of that makes any difference: Peter Lascelles specifically told us that Wilson had analibi. He’sout of the picture. This is a dead horse and Ican’t for the life of me understand why we’re still flogging it.

MITCHELL CLARKE

We weretoldhe had an alibi, but we still don’t know what it was, do we? Maybe Lascelles didn’t check it out that hard—

LAILA FURNESS

What did Peter say about that, Bill? You were going to speak to him, weren’t you?

BILL SERAFINI

I was, and I did.

MITCHELL CLARKE

And what did he say?

BILL SERAFINI

Let’s take a look, shall we.

CUT TO: INTERVIEW sequence. Bill is sitting in a pub with Peter Lascelles. He has a pint of bitter in a jug glass, Bill has a bourbon on the rocks.

BILL SERAFINI

I still don’t get the Brit thing with warm beer.

PETER LASCELLES

(smiling)

It’s all part of the package: goes along with the stiff upper lip and the bad teeth.

(Bill laughs)

So, you wanted to ask me about Ian Wilson’s alibi. Of course there’s only so much I’m at liberty to say, given it’s still an open case—

BILL SERAFINI

Understood.

PETER LASCELLES

—but this much Icantell you. As we discussed before, we did investigate Margaret and Ian Wilsonin 2003, as both clearly had a prima facie motive for wanting Luke Ryder dead. The real Luke Ryder, needless to say.