‘I didn’t know what you were here for. It’s safer to talk indoors than it is to be seen with one of you out there.’

‘Why do you think I’m here?’

Jessica didn’t think he would answer but figured it was worth a try. She guessed he could probably reveal any number of things if he wanted to.

He said nothing, stopping pacing to lean against a counter top. ‘I’ve got to go to work soon.’

‘Where were you on the night Nicholas Long died?’ Jessica asked.

She saw his nose twitch but his reply was almost instant. ‘I was playing computer games with Scott.’

‘At whose house?’

‘His. I told you that.’

‘What games did you play?’

Liam shook his head, breathing loudly. ‘Football probably.’

‘Which team did you play as?’

‘I don’t know, different ones. What does it matter?’

He wasn’t getting flustered by the questions but was certainly struggling not to raise his voice, even though she doubted it would sound any more menacing because of how high-pitched it was.

‘I spent this morning going through CCTV footage,’ Jessica lied. ‘It’s taken us ages because there’s hardly any around but considering you left together – and spent the early hours of the morning together – it’s pretty strange there’s footage of each of you going your separate ways.’

Liam didn’t speak, drumming his fingers on the counter. Jessica resisted the urge to look towards the knife rack she had seen on the way in, even though it was closer to her than him, desperate to trust her instincts.

‘I don’t believe you,’ he said eventually, although he didn’t sound so sure.

‘I can take you to the station and show you if you’d prefer?’

She knew she had him when his eyes flickered towards the back door. As quickly as they had shifted, they moved back to her. Liam’s voice was shaking as he finally replied. ‘It’s not what you think.’

‘What do I think?’

Liam’s eyes continued darting from side to side. Jessica could see his grip on the counter hardening, the muscles in his shoulders rippling through his shirt.

‘I didn’t kill him.’

‘I never said you did.’

Liam paused, not knowing if he should believe her. ‘I . . . can’t tell you.’

Jessica hadn’t known for certain Liam’s alibi had been made up but she had suspected it ever since things began to fall into place.

‘Maybe you should try me?’

Liam’s upper arms were beginning to shake but Jessica felt a calmness, unthreatened despite his size. ‘You wouldn’t understand what it’s like,’ he said. ‘It’s not easy being like this when you’re supposed to be a tough guy.’

Jessica was initially confused, thinking he meant his size. When he realised she didn’t get it, Liam pushed himself up from the unit, picking up a tea towel from a cupboard handle and beginning to dry up. Jessica turned to look at him but he was deliberately facing the other way.

‘There’s this old public toilet block on my way home,’ he said. ‘I walk back after work most evenings and it’s at that time of night when hardly anyone is around.’

He reached to place a mug onto a shelf above him.

‘And that’s where you were that night?’

‘Yes.’

‘Does Scott know about what you do there?’

‘Yes.’

‘So why did he insist you were with him?’

Liam turned to face her, holding a second mug in one hand and the tea towel in the other. ‘Because I asked him to. He’s not going to get into trouble, is he?’

Jessica didn’t know what to say. Liam not wanting his friend to get into trouble was admirable as she realised how clever Scott had been.

It was still circumstantial but with the theory that Kayleigh was pregnant with Nicholas’s baby – however willing or not she had been in the process – the thought had occurred to Jessica that perhaps there was another son out there.

That hadn’t given her all of the answers but because Kayleigh had never registered a child, Jessica guessed it must have been given up or left somewhere anonymously. As Izzy checked the adoption records, Jessica went through the newspaper archives with Garry, assuming one of them would find something.

She wouldn’t have discovered any of that had it not been for the initial idea which led her to Kenneth. When she had seen Nicky’s gums bleeding, Jessica realised it was the third time she had seen blood in the club. Nicholas had had a nosebleed – but Scott had been sucking his finger on the very first occasion she had visited the place, throwing a reddened tissue in the bin as he tried to stop the cut bleeding. As they left, his finger was still in his mouth, the blood flow refusing to stop.

Kenneth’s explanation for why the bleeding could run in the family wasn’t proof of anything but Jessica couldn’t think past Scott being Kayleigh and Nicholas’s child – even if he had an alibi for everything.

Of course, as with his mother, Scott knew that if you wanted someone to do something for you, the best way was to ensure they thought it was their own idea.

Liam had made it easy because he’d told Scott the secret about what he got up to in the public toilets after hours. Scott just had to bide his time until an evening where Nicholas was particularly drunk and then he could act, safe in the knowledge that when Liam saw what had happened the following day, he would contact him in a panic knowing he didn’t have an alibi.

Scott had ensured he had a reason why he couldn’t be the killer and hadn’t even needed to ask.

When Jessica didn’t reply, Liam repeated his question with more edge to his voice. ‘He’s not going to get into trouble, is he? It wasn’t Scott’s idea. I should be the one in trouble.’

‘He won’t get in trouble for this,’ Jessica replied.

Liam didn’t realise the specific meaning of what she’d said; the possibility that Scott could be involved in Nicholas’s murder seemingly hadn’t occurred to him.

He put the mug on the shelf and placed the tea towel on the draining board. ‘I know you have no reason to believe me but it is the truth. I wouldn’t have hurt Nicholas, I promise.’

Jessica started to move towards the door.

‘Is that it?’ Liam asked, surprised.

‘Yes, but I might need to come by the club later. Are you all going to be there?’

‘I suppose so, I’m opening up.’

‘What time will you be there until?’

‘Probably one in the morning or so.’

‘Everyone? You, Scott, Nicky and the girls?’

‘Yes.’

Jessica reached into her pocket and took out a business card, flipping it over and taking out a pen to write her mobile number on it. ‘If any staff member leaves, let me know.’

‘Nicky?’

Jessica said nothing but she could understand why he thought that. ‘Anyone,’ she repeated.

She walked quickly towards the front door. As her hand closed around the handle Liam spoke quietly. ‘Just remember everything I told you at the club,’ he said.

Jessica didn’t know exactly what he meant but, as her phone began to ring, she knew it would be Cole to say the warrant had been granted.

33

Two plain-clothes officers had been sent to the club to make sure Scott was there and didn’t leave as Cole, Jessica and a specialist team raided his flat. Jessica thought hanging around a strip club sounded like easy work if you could get it.

Scott had a mortgage on a flat on the edge of an estate bordering Eccles and Salford. When Cole had given her the address over the phone, Jessica winced as she knew the area well. The estate was in the shadow of a large tower block. When she had started in uniform, a large number of their call-outs were to the district. Although things were a lot better now, back then a few of her colleagues had referred to the area as ‘needlepoint’. Officers had dreaded the Friday and Saturday night reports of fights or overdoses.