Free Waiting for Wednesday by Nicci French Page B

It’s hardly usual.’
    ‘It was from that guy.’
    ‘Dave?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Why didn’t you mention
it?’
    ‘It wasn’t on your
list.’
    ‘Why were you washing it?’
    ‘So that it would be nice and shiny
when I sold it.’
    ‘We’ll see,’ said
Munster.
    Karlsson, when Munster returned with the
cog, held it for a moment, turning it over, feeling its heft and weight. Then he went to
see Russell Lennox, who was sitting slack and passive in an armchair, staring ahead with
bloodshot eyes.
    ‘Mr Lennox,’ he said, holding
the cog, which was cold in his gloved hands. ‘Do you recognize this
object?’
    Russell Lennox gazed at the cog for several
seconds without speaking. His lips were bloodless.
    ‘Is that –’ He stopped and
pressed the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. ‘Is that what she was
killed with?’
    ‘We believe so. Yes. But you
didn’t mention it among the items that were stolen.’
    ‘No. I didn’t notice it was
gone. It was just a thing we had on our mantelpiece. Ruth picked it up from some skip a
couple of years ago. She said it would scrub up nicely, unlike me and Ted.’ His
face worked and he made a visible effort to control his emotions. ‘You’re
sure?’
    ‘Your wife’s blood was on
it.’
    ‘I see.’ Russell Lennox turned
away. ‘I don’t want to look at it any more.’
    Munster restarted the recorder.
‘We’ve been busy,’ he said. ‘Things have changed. Now, this is
your last chance to co-operate. Where did you get the cog?’
    Hunt’s eyes flickered between him and
Riley. ‘I said. From Dave.’
    ‘All right. That’s enough of
this crap.’ Munster stood up and left the room.
    Hunt looked at Riley. ‘What did I
say?’
    ‘He’s cross,’ said Riley.
‘You don’t want to make him cross.’
    ‘Fucking shut up,’ said Hunt.
‘So is this some trick so I suddenly think you’re my friend?’
    ‘I was just saying.’
    A few moments later Munster came back into
the room with Karlsson. He pulled a chair across and the two of them sat down. Munster
placed a closed brown cardboard file on the table and looked across at Hunt. ‘Let
it be noted that DCI Karlsson has joined the interview,’ he said. ‘William
Hunt, the next time you want to wash blood off a murder weapon, I’d pop it in the
dishwasher. If you rinse it under the tap, you always leave a bit. As you
did.’
    ‘I don’t know what you’re
talking about.’
    ‘Russell Lennox has identified it.
They kept it on their mantelpiece as a sort of work of art. A dense and heavy work of
art. Three days ago it was used to fatally assault one Ruth Lennox. You’ve been
identified disposing of articles that were taken from the murder scene. The murder
weapon has been found at a flat where you were staying. You’ve admitted attempting
to clean it. It has your fingerprints on it. We are about to charge you with the murder
of Ruth Lennox and with the burglary. Now, Mr Hunt, have you got anything to say?
It’ll make it a great deal easier for all of us if you just admit what you did,
write out a statement and the judge will regard you with some degree of
sympathy.’
    There was a long pause.
    ‘There wasn’t anyone called
Dave,’ said Hunt.
    ‘Of course there wasn’t anyone
called Dave,’ said Munster. ‘And?’
    ‘All right,’ he said. ‘I
did the burglary.’
    Another pause.
    ‘And? What about Ruth
Lennox?’
    ‘You won’t believe me,’ said
Hunt.
    ‘Believe you?’ said Munster.
‘You’ve been lying solidly ever since we met you. Just own up.’
    There was another, even longer, pause. To
Riley it appeared that Hunt was doing a complicated mental calculation.
    ‘I did the burglary,’ he said
finally. ‘But I didn’t kill her. I admit, I broke in, I took the stuff from
the kitchen. But I was only there for a minute. The alarm was going so I was in a rush.
I went into the other room and she was on the floor. I just ran.’
    ‘You didn’t just run,’
said Munster.