was on the bed and blood everywhere. I couldn’t get down them bleeding stairs fast enough.’ He turned to the girl to verify his story.
‘Dean was as white as a sheet when he came in,’ she confirmed, ‘and he was sick as a bloody parrot down the sink.’
‘What time was this?’ Gilmore asked.
‘About eleven o’clock Sunday night.’
‘And you didn’t think of calling an ambulance, or the police?’
‘Ambulance? She was dead – I could see that.’
‘Police then?’
‘What – a bloke with a record inside a dead woman’s house? That’s as good as a signed confession to you lot. I’d have been in Death bleeding Row within the hour.’
Gilmore flicked through his notes. ‘You told the other officer it was five o’clock Sunday when Mrs Haynes rang your bell.’
‘That’s right.’
‘And you were so worried about her, you waited six hours before knocking to see if she’s all right?’
‘Well, at least I did go and knock. Other people wouldn’t have bothered.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ said Gilmore.
‘I don’t expect you to,’ said Hoskins, loud and clear to the microphone. ‘But it’s the gospel truth.’
Gilmore frowned as the door opened and the little blonde WPC hovered, waving something – a large brown envelope. He’d give her a mouthful for interrupting at a crucial moment. It was Frost who spoke to her, keeping his voice low, then he called Gilmore over. Murmurs of excited conversation while Hoskins looked on worried, straining his ears in vain, wondering what it was about.
The two detectives returned, Gilmore carrying the envelope which he shook over the table. Five banknotes fluttered out, a £20 note, a £10 note and three £5 notes, all crisp and brand new. Hoskins tried to look puzzled. ‘Guess what we found hidden behind one of your chair cushions,’ said Gilmore. He picked up one of the notes and sniffed delicately, then smiled. ‘Smell it. Lavender!’ He looked across to the girl. ‘Hardly your style, is it, love?’ He waggled the note under Hoskins’ nose. ‘The old girl’s purse reeked of it!’
Hoskins pushed Gilmore’s hand away. ‘It’s my giro money,’ he muttered.
‘Of course it is,’ said Gilmore, ‘but just in case you’re telling me a porky, I’ll check the numbers with the post office where Mrs Haynes drew her pension. If they tally, Sonny Jim, you’re for the high jump.’ He pushed the money back into the envelope. He felt much happier now. Hoskins was beginning to squirm and the girl looked worried. Frost seemed fidgety, no doubt annoyed that the new boy was scoring all the goals.
Hoskins took a deep breath. ‘All right, I’ll tell you the truth. It is her money, but she lent it to me. I needed some spares for my motorbike.’
‘Lent it?’ scoffed Gilmore. ‘She wouldn’t have lent you forty-five pence, let alone forty-five quid.’
‘She bloody lent it to me,’ insisted Hoskins. ‘And I was very grateful, that’s why I went in later to check she was all right.’
Frost leant forward. ‘She gave you everything she had in her purse. How was the poor cow going to manage?’
‘I intended paying her back in a couple of days. She said she could wait.’
‘When did you borrow it?’ asked Frost.
‘When she thought she’d lost her spare key. I saw her purse in her hand so I asked her.’
‘Do you mind if I continue, sir?’ asked Gilmore with an edge to his voice that would slice through tempered steel. He didn’t want Frost taking over just when victory was within grasp.
Frost’s hand waved him to silence. ‘Indulge me, Sergeant.’ He puffed cigarette smoke down over the seated man. ‘All right, Hoskins, let’s pretend she lent you the money. And let’s pretend you were so full of gratitude that you were worried about her and decided to see if she was all right at eleven o’clock at night. When you knocked, were the lights on in her house?’
Hoskins paused for a moment. ‘No.’
‘So when you got no reply, from a house with all the lights out, you thought it was your duty to investigate it – to use her spare key and nose around inside?’
‘That’s right.’
‘It never occurred to you that at eleven o’clock at night the most obvious answer was that this seventy-eight-year-old woman might be in bed, asleep?’
Hoskins’ mouth opened and shut, then he shook his head. ‘No. It didn’t occur to me at the time.’
Frost gave a weary sigh. ‘Don’t waste my time, son. Of course it occurred to you. You were banking on it. You wanted her to be in bed and