‘So Luke was alone that evening? What time did you go out?’
‘He was, I came back from the salon around four, then I went straight out again. I couldn’t look at him.’
‘Ava wasn’t there?’
‘No, she went straight to her friend’s after school that day.’
‘Heather, does Luke have a bad temper, do you think he’s capable of hurting someone?’
‘I think I’ve said enough, he’s going to be furious when he finds out what I’ve told you. Is he going to find out what I’ve said?’
‘Heather, has Luke ever hurt you or Ava in the past?’
She bowed her head. ‘What’s going to happen now?’
‘We need to bring him in for an interview. Meantime, if you think that you or Ava may be in danger of domestic violence, you could obtain an occupation order, which would mean he wasn’t allowed into the family home.’
Heather began to cry, loud, hitching sobs.
Ben crouched down next to her. ‘We want to keep you and Ava safe; we have to, it’s our job. If you want us to arrest Luke and seek bail conditions to keep away from you then we can do that, but you’re going to have to give Amy a statement, so we have the power to do that.’
She stood up. ‘I have to go; I need to get home; I don’t want to leave Ava with him. He’ll be angry if I’m here too long and I don’t want him to take it out on her. Am I free to go?’
‘Of course, you are. If you’re worried about anything then ring 101, and if Luke gets violent towards either of you, ring 999 straight away, Heather, don’t hesitate. We are going to have to bring him in for interview, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t.’
She nodded.
Ben pressed his key fob against the wall to let her out.
‘Do you have a safe place you can take Ava to?’
‘I could go to my friend’s.’
‘It might be best, for a couple of nights.’
Heather turned and walked towards the sliding doors, her head bowed, and Ben felt terrible.
He closed the door; Amy was standing up. ‘Should we get a warrant sorted out?’
‘Yeah, I’ll go speak to Marc and we’ll get an arrest team together.’
‘Is there enough to arrest him?’
‘I hope so, there’s lots of circumstantial evidence. Feelings for Sally, computer knowledge. At least if we bring him in it will give Heather a chance to change the locks or pack some things to go to her friend’s. Declan said that Tim may have scratched his killer. We will get Luke photographed and swabbed whilst he’s here.’
Ben went to Marc’s office hoping that he would agree with the need to bring Luke Rigg in for questioning.
THIRTY-ONE
Morgan parked on the double-yellow lines outside the café with the hazards on, waiting for Annie to come out. Moments later she rushed out of the door, a paper bag in one hand, a piece of paper in the other, and clambered in the front seat.
‘Have you phoned Natalie to warn her we’re coming now?’
‘Yes, there was no reply, so I left a voice message. I hope she’s in. Sorry, this might be a wasted journey.’
‘We can only try, where are we going?’
‘Hellsfield Road, it’s one of those big old mansions that time forgot. I remember getting called out there when I was covering this area. It used to break my heart going around there looking for teenagers and seeing the state those houses were in. Now of course you’d need to be a millionaire to live there.’
