Page 19 of Gone in the Night (Detective Morgan Brookes #16)

NINETEEN

Cain sat opposite Eddy Lightburn in the small interview room.

Eddy had demanded a solicitor, and the duty solicitor, Lucy O’Gara, was sitting next to him.

Lucy had been down this road more times than any one of them.

She smiled at Cain, who nodded at her. Stan could not tear his eyes away from her long blonde hair, sharp suit and warm smile.

Cain could see him from the corner of his eye, and he gave him a side kick in the shin with his extra-large boot.

Eddy looked bored, as if this was all a major inconvenience to him.

After the introductions, Lucy looked up from her notepad.

‘My client is happy to be open and honest with you; he has nothing to hide so will answer your questions as long as they are reasonable and pertinent to the case.’

‘Thank you, Lucy. Eddy, that’s good. We can get this over with if you’re happy to comply.’

‘I’ve got nothing to say, except I’m sorry to hear Sharon is dead. I know I treated her badly, but I’d never have killed her.’

Cain refrained from stating the obvious: that Eddy had beaten her so badly he’d gone to prison for it.

‘When was the last time you spoke to Sharon?’

‘The day I was released from prison, I went to her house.’

‘Why?’

He shrugged. ‘I had nowhere to go. Have you stayed in a bail hostel? They’re full of nonces and weirdos.’

Cain shook his head. ‘Can’t say I have.’

‘No, you’re on the right side of the law.’

‘What happened when you saw Sharon?’

‘I said I was sorry, could we maybe start over.’

Stan let out a loud noise that was a mixture of disbelief and disgust, and Cain had to stop himself from kicking him again.

Stan asked, ‘I thought you said Sharon didn’t open the door to you when you knocked?’

Eddy shrugged. ‘Wasn’t going to admit to that, was I? But seeing as how I don’t really have much choice, I’m being honest with you now.’

Cain continued. ‘Well, we appreciate that, Eddy. I’m having a hard time understanding why you’d think that Sharon would want to see you again after you hurt her so badly the last time you were together.

Did you not think to yourself that going to her house was a little messed up?

Like you say, you didn’t exactly treat her well.

Don’t your release conditions say you are not to even set foot on the same street as Sharon Montgomery? ’

Eddy glanced at Lucy, who nodded. ‘Yes, I just wanted to make things right. I thought she might forgive me; she was such a forgiving person. I’ve had a lot of time to think about stuff in prison.

I’m getting tired of living the same shit life, go straight for a bit, then fall off the wagon and end up back inside.

It’s the drink, you see? Not me really. I wanted more and I’m not getting any younger.

This time I’ve been looking after myself inside, working out and trying to focus on getting healthy, you know. ’

‘And you thought that Sharon could give you more?’

‘Yes. She’s loaded, or her parents are anyway.’

‘How was Sharon with you? We have no log of her calling the police out to remove you.’

‘She was a bit shocked, but she was polite. Told me she forgave me, but was struggling with a lot of personal stuff at the moment and wasn’t looking for a relationship with anyone.’

‘How did you take this?’

‘I told her I respected that and left.’

‘No shouting or arguing, no feeling angry enough to want to harm her?’

He shook his head. ‘Check the neighbour’s doorbell camera. It was lit up and recording the whole incident. I thanked her for being kind and honest, turned around and left, wishing that I hadn’t screwed up the one good thing I ever had in my life with my drinking.’

Eddy looked genuinely sad, and against his better judgement, Cain felt a little sorry for him.

‘You haven’t seen Sharon since that night?’

‘No.’

‘You didn’t go to where she was camping and kill her?’

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but Eddy held up a hand.

‘I swear to God, I didn’t. I’m not being funny, mate.

I’m broke, I have no car, I don’t have a phone that connects to the internet without paying a fortune.

I wouldn’t have known where she was camping even if someone drove me up there and pointed her tent out to me, and I had no reason to kill her. Why would I do that?’

‘Because she reported you to the police and you ended up doing three years inside. Because you know she loves camping, you know where she camps.’

‘Mate, if I killed every person who reported me to the police over the years, you’d have a stack of bodies as high as Helvellyn. And the camping hobby started after me. It must have been something she started doing while I was inside.’

Lucy did interrupt this time. ‘I think you have everything you need. My client has admitted to speaking to the victim the day he was released. I suggest you check out the doorbell footage to confirm what he’s told you.

I don’t think there is anything else for us here unless you have any evidence to suggest he was involved with the murder. ’

Cain shook his head. ‘We will do that. Thank you for your time, both of you.’

Eddy looked at Lucy, then turned to Cain. ‘Is that it, you’re not keeping me?’

‘Not at the moment, the court will decide what to do about you breaching your conditions, but you’re free to go. Eddy, keep out of trouble and don’t leave town because I don’t want to have to come looking for you.’

‘I will, I mean I won’t get in trouble. I’m done with it; I want an easy life.’

Cain stood up. ‘My colleague will see you out.’

He left Stan with them and went to speak to Marc, who had offered to interview with him, but Cain had wanted to get a measure on Stan, and he’d certainly done that.

In Cain’s opinion he was a thug, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Lucy, who Cain had worked with many times over the years, didn’t put a complaint in about his leering at her.

But he thought Eddy was telling the truth.