Free Ugly Duckling by Malcolm Allen

would end yours with Peter, but when Peter came around that night he persuaded you there was another way'
    'No!'
    'You had told Peter, at some point, that you wished Bill was dead, and Peter told you he would kill Bill rather than loose you, with Bill out the way you didn't need to worry about where you and your children would live and you still had your lover, Peter, next door.'
    'No, No! It wasn't like that; Peter would never have done that!'
    John sat for a moment without speaking.
    'Well if it wasn’t like that Gillian, how was it? Did you and Peter plan the whole thing together; perhaps Debbie Lovitt was going to be next?'
    'That's ridiculous. No!'
    There was a knock at the door and a police officer gestured towards John.
    'Interview suspended at 11:45' John said and he and Ian left the room.
    'What is it?' John asked
    'Elizabeth Collingsworth on the phone for you sir, says it’s important.'
    John went to the phone.
    'Hello Liz, this had better be good'
    'Hello John, I'm sorry to interrupt but I thought you'd want to know this straight away. You got the CCTV of William Broom buying the McDonalds, the time stamp on the tape shows 6:17 pm. And you can see him sitting at a table eating it.'
    'I've got a feeling I'm not going to like this, but go on'
    'Well John, that means the time of death would have been no later than 10pm'
    'Are you sure Liz?'
    'Absolutely no doubt John.'
    'I knew I wasn’t going to like it, Thanks Liz'
    He put the receiver down.
    Ian was looking at John 'what is it J.D'
    'Peter Lovitt, What time did you say he was working till?'
    'It was about 11:30 pm'
    'Bollocks! We'd better let them go, time of death was about 10pm, he couldn't have done it, and without him we've got nothing on her. Fuck! And I thought it was going to be a good day!'
    'OK, I'll tell the boys to cut them loose. Then we'll go talk to Jenni Everitt'
    'Good Idea' John said, his mood lifting slightly once again.

 
Chapter 15
     
    Jenni was lying on the bed, her vibrator and gel next to her, on her computer screen Wheeler49 was having a cigarette,
    'I needed that' she smiled at the screen
    'You seem to get better and more beautiful every time my little darling' grinned Wheeler 'but you'd better get dressed now I think D.I Dick and his little friend are about to pay you a visit'
    'How could you possibly know that?'
    But the connection was closed just as the door bell rang. Jenni wrapped a bathrobe around herself and went to the door, peering through the spyhole she could see John Dickie waiting, 'how could he have known?' she wondered as she opened the door.
    'Good Afternoon Miss Everitt, I wonder if we might have a word'
    'Yes of course, come in Inspector Dickie, we are being very formal today aren't we? Please take a seat'
    John and Ian sat on a large white leather sofa and Jenni sat opposite them in a chair with her legs tucked under her, her robe gaping slightly showing just enough cleavage to make John look, and quickly look away, she closed the robe smiling slightly at John.
    'So, how can I help?'
    'Miss Everitt' John began
    'You can call me Jenni if you want, unless I'm in trouble' Jenni smiled
    Her smile is just like Sonia's John thought. 'No, I don't think your in any trouble Jenni' John continued 'Its just that last night after we'd spoken, my colleague here' pointing at Ian 'said he thought he recognised you as one of the reporters at the scene, I just wanted to clarify the situation'
    Jenni laughed 'I'm a freelance journalist' she said 'I do a bit of reporting here and there but my main interest is 19th century London, I've written a couple of pieces that got published in women's magazines, but when I saw the police activity I thought maybe this was a story that would give me the breakthrough I've been looking for, until Sergeant Cripp came over and told me to stop.'
    'I ordered him to do that, Jenni, you see after the first murder there was a lot of nonsense written about what was happening, we have to go through proper