Free Shades of Evil by Shirley Wells

saw the same amusement in his eyes.
    They sat opposite Marshall and went through the usual performance of switching on the equipment, informing him he was being recorded and introducing themselves.
    It became clear that he enjoyed being under the spotlight. As he had several previous convictions for theft, he was well used to the procedure.
    ‘When did you last see Lauren Cole?’ Max asked him.
    ‘I’ve already told you.’
    ‘Then tell me again.’
    ‘A couple of weeks ago.’
    ‘Where?’
    ‘Can’t remember. Some pub or other, I expect.’
    ‘OK, let’s start at the beginning,’ Jill suggested. ‘Where did you first meet her? Can you manage to remember that?’
    ‘Yeah. It was at the Commercial.’
    Jill had never been inside, but she knew the place by reputation. It was an ugly, sprawling town centre pub where fights broke out on a regular basis. Drinks were cheap so it attracted a young crowd.
    ‘When was that?’ she asked him and he shrugged.
    ‘About six weeks ago.’
    ‘Tell us about it. She was there with friends, yes? You got talking?’
    ‘No.’ He had a sneering smile that made Jill long to slap him. ‘She was there on her own. She wasn’t bad looking, and there was nowt better in, so I went up to her.’
    Nowt better in? Jill could have howled with laughter. He thought he was a gift to the female species. He believed he’d done Lauren Cole a favour.
    ‘She was very attractive,’ she corrected him, ‘and you’re trying to tell us that you were the best she could do? I find that hard to believe. Let’s face it, Ricky, you haven’t been well blessed in the looks department, have you?’
    He didn’t answer, just stared back at her, and Jill waited for the insult that she felt sure was coming. But either he couldn’t think of anything suitable, or he couldn’t be bothered.
    ‘So, having gone to chat her up, did you wine her and dine her? Or is a quick shag in the bogs more your style?’ Jill leaned back in her chair to wait for his answer. Often, when she reduced conversation to the opposition’s level, they talked. Ricky was the exception; he didn’t say a word.
    ‘Lauren was a bit classy, wasn’t she?’ she pushed on. ‘She came from a good family. So what was she doing with you? Did she fancy a bit of rough, Ricky?’
    No answer.
    ‘It didn’t last long, though, did it? And you didn’t get to have sex with her, did you?’
    ‘I did!’
    ‘Liar,’ Jill scoffed.
    ‘What do you know about it?’
    ‘I know you didn’t sleep with her. You called her a prick tease. You thought you were on a promise but she didn’t deliver, did she?’
    ‘So what?’
    ‘So the fact that you were seen hammering on her door and calling her names makes you a suspect in a murder investigation,’ Max informed him.
    ‘You what?’
    Gone was the cocky young man who enjoyed being the centre of attention. In his place was someone who was suddenly looking very nervous.
    ‘Now, look, that’s nowt to do with me. You know that. Aw, come on, that’s bloody daft.’
    ‘Is it?’ Max asked. ‘Why?’
    Jill brought to mind photos of the dead girl. It had been a brutal killing, but swift. Someone had lifted that axe and brought it down right through her skull.
    ‘Why the hell would I kill her?’ Marshall asked urgently. ‘I told you, I saw her a fortnight ago and that was it. I haven’t seen her since.’
    ‘You’d kill her for revenge,’ Jill said. ‘You thought you were guaranteed great sex and she didn’t deliver. You thought you’d teach her a lesson.’
    ‘Bollocks! Christ, she reckoned everyone fancied the tits off her. Maybe it was one of them did it to her.’
    ‘Like who?’ Max asked.
    ‘Well, I don’t know, do I? Everyone. She reckoned everyone she spoke to fancied her.’
    ‘So you said. Give us an example, Ricky.’
    ‘There was her landlord for a start. She reckoned he only called in to chat her up.’
    Lauren’s landlord was overweight, pushing sixty and, more