All Her Little Lies by Becca Day

Author:Becca Day [Day, Becca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2022-10-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

STEFANI

Nine Days After the Murder

Daniel Forrester sits in the interview room for the first time since this investigation started, and it all feels rather surreal. There was a point where Stefani wondered if they’d ever find him. A teenage boy really shouldn’t be able to elude the police for as long as he did, but he knows the woodlands. He visits a different part of the county every time he goes camping, so they didn’t even know where to start. The time it took to track him on dashcam footage, coupled with the fact he managed to pitch his tent in a remote patch of forest only accessible by wading through water, meant it was like finding a needle in a haystack. So Daniel’s used to going off-grid, disappearing without a trace. A handy skill for someone guilty of murder.

Except Stefani isn’t so sure he is guilty anymore. She had been certain. All the clues pointed to him. The timing of his camping trip, the fact they couldn’t get hold of him, his relationship with Hannah that may have been on the rocks due to her heading off to uni. Not to mention her mystery lover, as they now know. But there is a seed of doubt in Stefani’s mind that she can’t shake, and that always makes her feel uneasy. Why would he have come out of hiding if he was guilty?

She had expected DS Davies to do the interview with her, but DCI Walton insisted. The senior commissioner is clearly breathing down his neck. Arresting Daniel Forrester is their major breakthrough, and Walton probably wants to make sure they don’t mess this up. It’s taken a while to actually sit down with Daniel. They had to contact his parents and arrange for a solicitor to be present, and then due to his existing brain injury there were other protocols to meet. A health practitioner had to assess him to make sure he was fit to be interviewed. They had to bring in his cognitive behavioural therapist to serve as his appropriate adult — a requirement given his condition — in addition to his solicitor. Then there was the time it took for him to actually be briefed before the interview. But now, finally, here they are.

‘Pretty,’ Daniel says as Stefani sits down.

‘Excuse me?’

‘I said you’re pretty.’

Stefani exchanges an awkward glance with Walton. Dr Eriksen leans in to mutter something to Daniel, and he immediately fixes his eyes on the table. He whispers something under his breath. He’s counting things he can see.

Walton clears his throat. ‘Let’s get started, shall we? Interview commenced at’ — he looks at the clock — ‘4.47 p.m. Murder Investigation Team interview of Suspect A, Daniel Forrester, by Detective Chief Inspector Walton and Detective Sergeant Warner in the presence of the suspect’s solicitor, and appointed appropriate adult, Dr Eriksen. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court.

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