Page 45 of Murder in the Family

PETER LASCELLES

No, he didn’t. Our theory was Clarke took it, after the killing. He had £300 on him. In fifties. Not a common combination of notes.

BILL SERAFINI

Were Ryder’s prints on those notes?

PETER LASCELLES

No, unfortunately, back in 2003 the banknotes over here were still made of paper. We were never going to get anything from them.

BILL SERAFINI

But even if you’re right about the supposed drug deal, the sequence of events doesn’t add up, does it? If they’d arranged to meet, but it ended up in some sort of disagreement that led to Ryder’s death, why would Clarke stick around until the police got there?

PETER LASCELLES

Our working hypothesis was that Clarke was going through Ryder’s pockets for the cash when he saw the Howard girls arrive – they’d have been clearly visible through the drawing-room windows. He hid in the bushes, then saw Maura Howard come out and discover the body, then run back inside. He’d know the first thing she’d do was call the police, and there was no way he could get off the property without going back down the drive and scaling the gate, and that’d be far too risky: he could easily have been seen.

We believe he decided to hide in the garden, hoping to slip out when the officers’ attention was elsewhere.

BILL SERAFINI

But they found him right by the body, didn’t they?

PETER LASCELLES

(giving him a wry look)

Is that what he told you?

BILL SERAFINI

He says the uniform officers saw him, he ran – out of instinct – and they caught up with him on the other side of the house.

PETER LASCELLES

(shaking his head)

Didn’t happen. It was one of my DCs who saw him skulking in the bushes and gave chase.

BILL SERAFINI

So you’re saying he’s lying?

PETER LASCELLES

(smiles dryly)

Let’s just say ‘recollections may vary’. And when we did the house-to-house later that night one of the neighbours reported seeing a man matching Clarke’s description in a car along the street around forty minutesbeforehe says he got there. But it was dark, and she didn’t get a good enough look at either Clarke or the vehicle to identify him in a line-up.

BILL SERAFINI

Did you find any proof that he and Luke knew each other? That Ryder was expecting him that night?

PETER LASCELLES

No. There were no phone records to link them, no emails, nothing.