he had always seemed so devoted to my husband. But maybe something had happened that made even that pale into insignificance. Maybe Danny had got himself into trouble, and somehow dragged Quinn into it too, and Quinn had attacked him out of revenge. Maybe – and we thought long and hard about this, until we convinced ourselves that it was a real possibility too – maybe it was Quinn Danny was hiding from in Bristol. Maybe it was Quinn who had driven him away. Maybe he’d even caught up with Danny, and Danny was now dead at the hands of his own cousin. The dating app, the other murders, they were all a big coincidence, nothing to do with Danny’s disappearance at all. And now, after I’d gone to see Quinn, he’d suddenly decided to reinforce the police’s suspicion that I’d hurt Danny. He wanted them to think it was me.
‘He knew, Eva, about that bike accident. He knew all about it. I remember us meeting up with him not long afterwards, and Danny pulling up his shirt to show him the bruises. I have no idea why they took pictures, but Quinn knew what had really happened. So why tell such a different story, unless he’s trying to make the police think I killed Danny?’
She’d nodded slowly, picking a piece of jalapeno off the slice of pizza on her plate and rolling it between her fingers. And then she’d said what I’d already started to think but hadn’t yet dared to voice.
‘And if he’s done that … I think it might have been him who sent that text message too, Gem. He wanted you to show it to the police. It reinforces their theory that you killed Danny. It implies that you did it, and that somebody knows you did it, and they’re trying to make you confess.’
I swallowed hard.
‘I was just thinking the same thing. But it’s just … it’s just so horrible, Eva. I mean, if Quinn really has hurt – or even killed – Danny? They were like brothers … so why turn on him like that?’
We both sat there for a moment, looking at each other, my despair reflected in her eyes. Then Eva said:
‘You should have told the police, you know. This theory about Quinn being the one who attacked Danny. Even if they didn’t believe you, you should have told them. Got it on record.’
‘I know. I know. It just suddenly seemed so pointless, all of it. They can’t prove anything, and neither can I. It’s all just theories.’
We both sat in silence then, the pizza growing cold and greasy on our plates. Finally, Eva spoke.
‘Gem. Look, I don’t want you to freak out or anything, but you said just now that the police can’t prove anything against you. You do realize, don’t you, that with all this circumstantial evidence mounting, well … it’s like building a jigsaw. And if they get enough pieces, and they all fit together neatly enough, well, sometimes that can be enough.’
‘What? What do you mean?’
I pushed my plate aside, the sight of the uneaten food beginning to make me feel queasy.
‘Well, it’s just … look, remember Barry George? The man convicted of shooting Jill Dando?’
I nodded. The BBC television presenter had been murdered on her doorstep in west London in 1999. Barry George, a local man, had been convicted of killing her two years later. It had been a huge story.
‘Of course. He got out though, didn’t he? Served eight years, something like that?’
‘Yep. Was released on his second appeal. But my point is that he was convicted basically on circumstantial evidence. They said they found a tiny speck of gunpowder in his pocket, but everything else was circumstantial. They found witnesses who said he was obsessed with celebrities and with guns. They found women who said they’d had unwanted approaches from him. He was a loner, and he stalked and photographed women, and he had a grudge of some sort against the BBC. None of it proved he’d killed Jill, but the prosecution built a successful case on all that stuff, Gemma. No hard evidence. Yes he was cleared in the end, but he went to prison for years. And all this stuff that the police keep hauling you in for … it’s making me nervous, Gem. I’m wondering if any day now they’re going to think they’ve got enough. That they’ll hand it all over to the CPS and charge you with murder.’