‘Yeah, but that other guy is in prison,’ Jessica said, exasperated.

‘Doesn’t matter though, does it? There’s still doubt and it could go either way. All it takes is a clever barrister who has a different expert witness banging on about planting evidence and some dopes on the jury let him walk.’

‘John Mills is an eyewitness. He saw the guy.’

‘He saw someone with a bit of a scar after he had already been stabbed. Besides, all it would take is a witness to his bad character and he’d be laughed out of court. If the other side had any sense they’d use a female barrister and the misogynistic prick would blow his top anyway.’

Jessica nodded in agreement but still tried to force the point. ‘We know it’s Doherty though.’

‘What are we sure of?’ Reynolds asked.

The chief inspector spoke. ‘Not enough. There’s no doubt they are twins. Their DNA matches for a start and we’ve got both birth certificates – they have the exact same birthday and birthplace. McKenna has a mother listed but no father, Doherty has a different mother listed and a father. Just to confuse matters more, their half-sister, Mary O’Connor, doesn’t have a birth certificate.’

DI Cole sighed before he spoke. ‘We know Mary said she was born to travellers and certainly the area McKenna and Doherty were born in was home to traveller families. Is there any chance the mother could have given away a daughter and then, a couple of years later, split up twins because she couldn’t cope?’

Farraday looked across at the three of them. ‘I’m not sure we’ll ever know that. You don’t have to have a baby in a hospital and although the parents should legally register a birth, we know from Mary’s experiences it doesn’t always happen. None of their parents are alive and it would have happened before any of them were old enough to know any better. I think the only thing we can ask is if either McKenna or Doherty – or both – have realised since they were related. It would help if we knew why they looked different too. With Doherty no-commenting, we may never know.’

‘Did you get much from McKenna at the prison?’ Jessica asked, turning to Cole.

‘A long stream of “no comment”s.’

The four detectives looked at each other, as if hoping for inspiration. ‘What do you reckon?’ Jessica asked the DCI.

‘I think the CPS could possibly charge him with the murders and then hope we actually dig something up before the pre-trial hearing. Otherwise, everyone’s screwed.’

‘Can I talk to him?’ Jessica said.

The chief inspector looked at her. ‘You know why I’ve kept you out. For one, you can’t just assault someone, even if he did “slip”. Secondly, if he brought up the fact you dropped him my name, we could end up with nothing. Frankly, I don’t know why he hasn’t done it already.’

‘Do we know why he’s giving us no comment?’ she asked.

The DCI gazed at her quizzically. ‘Same reason they all do, so they don’t give anything away.’

‘But he’s not just our standard killer, is he? If he wanted to cause a fuss, he would have told his lawyer about me already but he hasn’t. Don’t forget, he went after specific people because he thought they deserved it. I don’t think he’s afraid of facing up to his crimes – you might even find he wants to go to prison because he’ll have better access to the people he’s targeting.’

‘If that was true, why wouldn’t he just confess?’

‘Maybe he needs an incentive?’

‘Like what?’

‘Let me talk to him.’

‘No. Tell me your idea and one of us will try it.’

‘I think it has to be me.’

Cole spoke next. ‘He was somewhat smitten with Jessica at the prison, Sir.’

‘You don’t think he’s going to confess to everything just because he has a bit of a crush?’

‘No, Sir,’ Jessica said. ‘I think he’s going to confess because we know something he doesn’t.’

Jessica was sitting in the interview room as Cole set up the recording device. ‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

‘You can’t do anything . . . silly.’

‘You know me.’

‘Yes I do and that’s my point.’ Jessica said nothing as the heavy door clanged open and Dennis Doherty was led into the room handcuffed with his solicitor just behind him.

The lawyer was someone Jessica recognised from one of the local firms, convincing her even more the suspect wasn’t too bothered whether or not he got off. If he was really desperate, he would have either hired one of the better-known defence solicitors himself or waited for the ones who were desperate to get their faces in the papers to come along. Jessica knew she was playing a dangerous game and that if Dennis really did want to be acquitted, he would bring up their various meetings. The possible entrapment would muddy the waters further for a jury when it came to trial if a solicitor mentioned it.

‘I’m just wondering if we can have a bit of a chat, Dennis?’ she said.

He said nothing, staring at his own hands. His nose still had flecks of dried blood around it and was flattened to one side. Jessica thought she should probably feel guilty for doing it but there was no remorse.

She wanted to stare into the blue eyes of the man who had killed her friend but he wouldn’t look up. ‘You and I both know you did this but I don’t think anyone else in this room understands why you did it. You see, I think you worked on the front gate for all those years and you saw people coming in and out and in again and you got sick of it all.’

No response.

‘First there was Craig Millar. He was a bit of an unsavoury guy, wasn’t he? Drugs, intimidation, all sorts. Bit unimpressive though, wasn’t he? On his own I bet he was a pushover?’

Dennis didn’t acknowledge her, still staring at his own wrists.

‘Then it was the big two, Webb and Hughes. I wondered if you planned to hit the two of those together. Still, it worked out all right, didn’t it? What about the prison guard, Lee Morgan? It must have driven you crazy seeing him walk in and out of work each morning knowing what he was up to on the side?’

‘No comment.’

‘Is that all you’ve got to say? Here’s my point, if you wanted to deal with those people, why wouldn’t you want to be inside with them? Couldn’t you operate better from the inside?’

The man shuffled slightly in his seat and Jessica wondered if he was understanding what she was trying to say. She pointed towards the solicitor. ‘This man in the suit who’s been telling you to not say anything, you don’t think he’s interested in your work, do you? He’s the exact kind of person who gets all these criminals off. All those ones you hear about on the news, all those people you see walking in and out of the prison, they’re all represented by people like him.’

The lawyer leant in across the table. ‘You’re out of line – and the actions of other people have got nothing to do with my client.’

‘Do you hear that, Dennis? You’re his “client”. Does that sound like someone who’s remotely interested in what your reasons were?’

Dennis again fidgeted nervously in his chair but didn’t say anything.

‘Obviously you know you have a brother in prison. All the coverage through the papers would have told you if you didn’t already know. Now I’ll be honest with you – we don’t know whether you were working with your brother or not. We have no idea. But isn’t it strange that you want to get these types of people off the streets and yet one of them is your brother?’

‘No comment.’

‘Here’s my second point, Dennis. Does it strike you that maybe this kind of thing runs in the family?’

Dennis was clearly getting agitated. He raised his cuffed hands to scratch at his head.

‘And then your sister’s in prison too . . .’

He moved in his chair, shuffling backwards and then looking up at her. His solicitor went to cut in but the prisoner spoke over the top of him. ‘I don’t have a sister.’