Page 65 of A Game of Lies

‘Drop the knife, Ryan. Let’s get you sorted out.’

‘I can’t.’

‘You can.’

‘I’ve lost everything.’ Silently, Ryan starts to cry.

‘You’ve got everything that matters, Ryan, I promise. Jessica loves you.’

Several seconds pass.

Slowly, a degree at a time, Ryan lowers his hand to his side. Leo keeps his eyes trained on the knife, hardly taking a breath as Ryan’s fingers begin to open.

‘You’re doing great, Ryan,’ George says.

The knife falls to the ground.

‘Great job. Now I want you to take six steps forward – can you do that? One, two, three …’ As Ryan moves forward, George moves back, the distance between them never changing. ‘That’s brilliant, well done. Now can you kneel? That’s it, great. Now put your hands on your head, fingers together like mine – can you see? Perfect.’

George holds up a hand to stop the uniformed officers, who are twitching like greyhounds in a trap, from rushing in.

‘Ryan, in a moment, a police officer is going to put handcuffs on you, okay? That’s for your safety as much as ours. He’s going to put one of his hands on top of your hands, then he’s going to use his other hand to apply the cuffs, and I want you to stay very still and just keep looking at me, alright?’ She’s crouching now, her eyes level with Ryan’s, a supportive smile on her face. ‘Ready? Okay.’ She drops her hand. ‘Now.’

‘You were really good with him,’ Leo says, as they walk down the mountain. It’s slow progress. Overcome with exhaustion and stress, Ryan stumbles every few steps, held upright by a uniformed officer on each side.

‘I didn’t want him tasered,’ George says. ‘It’s bad enough we’ve arrested him.’ She’s put her hood back up, but the rain’s driving into them and the gesture is futile. Leo’s grey trousers are black with rain, and his muscles are tight from the unexpected cold.

‘Ryan is our primary suspect for Miles’s murder,’ Leo says. ‘He put Angharad in hospital. We had to arrest him.’

‘Still. It’s not exactly going to help him get better, is it?’

They walk on in silence, Leo casting the occasional glance at George. She’s rattled by what’s just happened, her forehead creased in concern. Her thoughts seem somewhere else, and when Leo asks how she is finding being paired with Ffion she has to ask him to repeat the question.

‘It’s … an experience,’ she says. ‘You worked with her on the Rhys Lloyd murder, didn’t you? I heard that was quite the job.’

‘It had its moments.’

‘The two of you must have got to know each other pretty well.’

Leo glances sharply at her, but George is looking straight ahead, her expression neutral. He doesn’t answer. He isn’t sure he can. Does anyone really know Ffion Morgan?

Ryan is taken in the back of a marked car to Bryndare custody, where they will request a doctor to establish whether he’s fit for interview. Jessica drives behind them, despite Leo’s warning that she’s unlikely to be allowed to see her husband.

When Leo and George go into the kitchen at the farmhouse, they find Ffion with an older woman wearing a burgundy trouser suit.

‘DCI Christine Boccacci.’ The woman shakes Leo’s hand. ‘Have your ears been burning? Ffion’s been telling me all about you.’

‘It’s all lies, ma’am,’ Leo says seriously, before cracking a smile. ‘Unless it’s good.’

‘Good enough for me to ask you to stay and oversee things here, if that’s alright with you? I’ll clear it with your DI when I get back to the incident room.’

‘No problem.’

‘Ready to brief me?’

Leo would have liked a little more time to gather his thoughts, but the DCI’s question was rhetorical.

‘Miles Young was killed at approximately 11.40 this morning, in stable number eight, which he was using asExposure’s production suite.’

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