‘He’s gone very quiet after all that effort to get him in here.’
‘Probably realised that it’s better to be compliant and get it over with. Do you think he’s going to cough?’ asked Jo. Cough was police speak for a confession.
Ben shrugged. ‘Be nice if he did, we could get this thing put to bed. Somehow, I don’t see Luke Rigg as the confessing type though, I think he’ll believe he’s far cleverer than us and play the game.’
‘Lucy won’t let him anyway, will she?’
‘Probably not, but it depends on how good the story he tells her is. If he’s in there playing the victim, she might believe everything he tells her.’
Ben sat down next to Jo, all three of them waiting for Lucy to give them a shout.
It didn’t take long before she was at the door beckoning them in. Ben went in, followed by Cain who towered over him. They sat down and Lucy smiled at them.
‘My client maintains his innocence in all of this, and he is going to use his right to remain silent. You may present your evidence and we’ll take it from there.’
‘Very well, but these are serious crimes and it would be in your client’s best interests to help us with our enquiries.’
Ben looked at Luke Rigg who was sitting tight-lipped, fury shining out of his eyes at the indignity of the situation. Ben sat up straight and stared Luke Rigg in the eyes as he introduced everyone for the benefit of the tape and then began to ask the questions he’d carefully put together, the frustration as Luke replied no comment to each one giving him heartburn.
Lucy smiled at Ben. ‘I believe you have evidence of Timothy Lawson coming home from school that day accompanied by an unidentified person. We’d like to see that, please.’
Ben knew that Lucy was going to ask to see it, and he had it ready to play on the station laptop. As Luke and Lucy watched, Luke began to laugh, Ben pushed his hands underneath the table so that neither Lucy nor Luke could see his fingers curling into tight fists.
‘What’s so funny about that clip, Luke? Tim is walking home and unbeknown to him, about to be brutally murdered. His entire family were killed in cold blood, executed as if they were nothing, and you are finding this hilarious. It could have been Ava and Heather, it could have been you.’
He stopped laughing. ‘I’m not laughing at Tim, I’m laughing at whoever is behind him, because there is no way that’s me. Is that the best you have?’
Ben glanced at Cain, asking Luke, ‘Do you know who the person with Tim is?’
Luke leaned closer. ‘Play it again.’
Ben did, twice.
Luke leaned back in his chair, his fingers clasped together on the table in front of him. ‘I can tell you one thing, have you asked Heather about this? It looks suspiciously like her. She was out walking at the time or so she said, maybe you should be bringing her in, taking her prints and DNA.’ He smiled at Ben.
Lucy looked up from her notes. ‘Is that all the evidence you have, DS Matthews?’
‘No, we have the photographs from Luke’s phone of Sally Lawson, and we believe that you, Luke, were desperate to start a relationship with her, but she turned you away, didn’t she? Were you so annoyed that she didn’t want to start an affair with you that you thought you’d take your revenge by killing her entire family?’
Luke stared into Ben’s eyes, not blinking until he finally smiled and spoke. ‘No comment.’
Ben wanted to lean across the table and punch Luke Rigg right between the eyes; instead he looked down at the clipboard with his notes, breathing slowly to calm himself down.
‘Tell me about Isaiah.’
‘Who is he?’
Ben felt every last piece of the confidence he’d had about bringing Luke Rigg in drain away.
‘We believe it’s an online game that Tim Lawson was playing on the Dark Web, did Tim ever ask you about the Dark Web?’
He shrugged. ‘I barely knew Tim except to say hello to. How would I know what games he was playing and no, we never talked about gaming or the Dark Web?’
Lucy looked at Ben. ‘From what I can see everything you have is circumstantial, DS Matthews. Do you have anything that would forensically link my client to the scene? And let’s not forget that my client spent a lot of time at the Lawsons’ house, they were neighbours as well as friends. If you have nothing substantial, then I’m going to suggest that we close this interview here, and I wouldn’t suggest bringing my client back unless you have concrete evidence of his involvement.’
Ben said, ‘For the benefit of the tape, interview stopped at sixteen forty-two.’ He looked at Luke. ‘You will now be taken to be pre-charge bailed. Do you have an alternative address you can go to?’
Luke looked confused. ‘Why would I need that when I have my own home?’
