Free Black & Blue (Lord & Lady Hetheridge Book 4) by Emma Jameson

creature. Ever see one on my land I'll stomp it, or give it both barrels."
    "So you owed Mr. Hardwick about twenty thousand dollars?" Kate watched a flush creep up Buck's neck. Murder suspects often worked to project tranquility. Usually they insisted all was sweetness and light, even with an estranged spouse or hated creditor lying dead in the next room. Buck seemed incapable of this; frustration came off him in waves. As did the stink of alcohol.
    Even if he showered and changed before ringing 999, he reeks like a drunk tank. Must've been a massive binge.
    " He claimed I owed him twenty thousand," Buck continued. "More, with late fees. I earned it, she spent it, and my lawyer?" He gave an incredulous laugh. "Called it an 'expensive lesson.' Says I should have closed our joint accounts the day she flew to London. Should've taken steps. Steps! Isn't that what the law and lawyers are for?"
    "So you were stuck."
    "That's what he said. Now where I'm from, ma'am, this sort of dispute doesn't have to clog up the legal system. Doesn't even have to end in violence. Where I'm from, when there's a misunderstanding, even over money, men can talk it over. Come to Jesus. That's what I had in mind when I decided to see Hardwick one last time. Discuss it, man to man."
    "Today?"
    Buck nodded.
    "What time?"
    "I'm not sure. I'd had a few," he muttered, gaze dropping.
    "How many?"
    Buck cleared his throat. "A few," he repeated, still not making eye contact.
    "And how did the meeting go? The, er, 'come to Jesus?'"
    "No messianic figures turned up," Buck said morosely. "Hardwick told me to pay him directly, or pay through the courts, plus legal fees. Called me a berk and a pillock. Maybe he didn't realize I've been over here long enough to know what that mean. That's when I hit the wall. At least, I think I hit it. Who else could have left those marks?"
    "You're not sure?"
    "No, ma'am. I got what they call a blackout temper," Buck said softly. "Something flips the switch inside my head and I… I…."
    He was trembling from head to toe, overcome with shame. Recognizing her moment, Kate did what she'd been trained to do: go for the throat.
    "Hardwick was sleeping with your wife. Emptying your bank account. Laughing in your face." She leapt to her feet. "You reek like a distillery and look like you went ten rounds with a brick wall. But scaring Hardwick wasn't enough, was it? You finished it, didn't you? Dashed his brains out!"
    "Yes," Buck whispered. "I must have."
    "Right. Now we're getting to the truth. Good." Kate interjected an artificial note of compassion into her voice. Hurling that accusation at Buck, she hadn't felt angry. And now that he'd accepted responsibility, she felt no true softening. Altogether, Kate felt nothing for Buck, not even contempt. Emotions might come later, when the job was done and she had the luxury of sentiment. Now, the only feelings she cared about were his—his fear, his self-pity, and his desperation for absolution. She had to stoke those passions, keep them in play, until she placed him in front of a camera and drew out his full confession, word by golden word.
    "Buck Wainwright, I'm charging you with the murder of Granville Hardwick," she said, reciting the standard right-to-silence caution. "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court." At this point, Kate usually took her prisoner by the arm, as being taken into literal custody often had profound psychological effect. But Buck topped her by close to a foot and outweighed her by five stone. So Kate stepped back, letting the stone-faced PC with the truncheon do the honors.
    "On your feet, sunshine," Stone Face barked, sounding more like Peckham's Most Wanted than a uniformed officer of the law.
    "Anything you do say may be given into evidence," Kate finished as Buck stood. He looked miserable, desperate, ready to die. But still better than Granville Hardwick,