Free Delayed & Denied by J. J. Salkeld Page A

Burke.’
    ‘Adam did it. I don’t want to talk to you, and I’m not going to. I’ve just lost my wife, you know.’
    ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’
    ‘Aye, six weeks back. It was sudden, like, so she didn’t suffer.’
    ‘Well look, we can easily come back at another time, if this isn’t convenient.’
    ‘No. You just never come back. I don’t have to talk to you.’
     
    Hall smiled, but other than that he didn’t move a muscle.
    ‘You certainly don’t have to chat, that’s true. But I’d have thought you’d be interested in talking to us. You see we now know that Adam Burke is an innocent man, and I’m confident that the police will make an arrest in connection with the death of Sharon Burke, and possibly quite soon. We already have some valuable new information, you see. This matter isn’t going away, I promise you that. All we’re asking for is ten minutes of your time. We’re not serving police officers, so we have no powers at all. It would just be a chat, I promise. Who knows, you might even get something from us.’
    ‘Like what?’
    ‘Like an understanding of what happens from here on in, for example. Aren’t you at all curious?’
    ‘You can tell me that from where you are.’
    ‘No, I’m afraid we can’t. All we want to do is to hear for ourselves what happened in the aftermath of Sharon Burke’s disappearance, that’s all.’
    ‘But I’ve already said all this. To the cops, and at the trial. I’ve got nothing to add.’
    ‘So you’re refusing to talk to us?’
    Hall’s tone was as neutral and reasonable as always. Dixon had heard him talk that way to a child killer once, and he still wondered how Hall had done it. And it was clever, what Hall was doing this time. Banking on Lee responding to the copper vibe that they both gave off, even though he had laid no claim to any kind of official powers.
     
    And it seemed to be working, because Lee opened the door a little further.
    ‘No. No, I’m not refusing. Of course not. You can have ten minutes.’
    ‘Make it twenty. I’m afraid that ten simply won’t be long enough.’
    ‘All right. Come in. I’m still in shock, though, over my wife.’
    ‘We appreciate that. We won’t upset you, I promise you.’
     
    Ray Dixon seemed to sense that Hall would lead the interview, even though they’d previously agreed that he would, so he simply smiled at Lee when Hall introduced him, and flicked on the recorder.
    ‘I only really wanted to ask you about the circumstances surrounding Adam Burke’s confession to you. Were you surprised, when he said it?’
    ‘Yes and no, really. Like I said at the time, he’d acted pretty weird since she’d disappeared. And he was always an odd bloke, like, but I expect you’ve already seen that for yourself.’
    ‘Yes, we’ve spoken to him today. But was he worried weird, or something more, would you say?’
    ‘Hard to say. Adam was a mate, a good mate, but who knows how someone will react when their wife vanishes like that, whether it was murder or not, like.’
    ‘Very true. OK, thanks, Jack. This is helpful. Now, tell me all you can remember about the circumstances of Adam Burke’s confession. Where were you, when he told you?’
    ‘Right here. He was sitting just where you are now. It was a different sofa then, like. We’d been out for a drink, and we were just having a coffee before he went home. Like I told the cops at the time, he didn’t want to be on his own.’
    ‘So you’d been out regularly, over the preceding weeks?’
    ‘Aye, we had. Once or twice a week, probably.’
    ‘And your wife was upstairs, asleep?’
    ‘Aye, that’s right.’
    ‘And how did it come up, the confession? What was the context?’
    ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘Well, did he just come out with it, or was there a lead-in of some kind?’
     
    Lee frowned, and seemed to be thinking hard.
    ‘I’m sorry. It’s all so long ago. I just don’t remember.’
    ‘That’s fine. It’s only natural. So