but he said he wanted to help because …’ How do I explain? Telling them that I remind him of his dead wife, isn’t going to help. Even to my ears now it seems weird.
Reza waits for me to finish my sentence.
‘I don’t know,’ I admit finally with a shrug. ‘Have you checked his alibi?’ I ask. ‘He was working the night Kate vanished. It would be easy enough to find out where he was when she died. The app would have tracked all his journeys.’
Reza’s mouth purses. ‘We’re looking into it.’
I nod, but my brain is spinning at a million miles a minute, trying to test the theories against what I know and what I remember. Could Konstandin really be involved in this? On the one hand it would mean that Rob isn’t guilty but on the other it means I’ve been hanging out with Kate’s killer without realising it.
‘Your landlord say that Konstandin caused an argument between you and your husband,’ Nunes says.
That pulls me up. How did Sebastian know about that? It was on the street outside the apartment. The only way he could know that is if he was spying on us from a window.
‘No, not really,’ I hedge. ‘It wasn’t an argument.’
‘He said you had big fight,’ Nunes says.
Alarm bells start to sound. ‘No, that’s not true,’ I answer as evenly as I can, given my heart is undergoing a series of miniature attacks. Goddamn Sebastian. What if he was listening at the door when I was talking to Toby and Rob, confronting them over the affair? How much do the police know, I wonder? I have to force my fingers to stop worrying at the skin around my nails. I don’t want to give away my nervousness. It might be read as guilt.
Should I tell them the whole truth now – about the affair and about Rob being in Lisbon on Friday night? If they do already know, they could be bluffing to see if I’ll admit it. Won’t I look more guilty if I don’t speak up? Crap. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to give them any more reason to suspect me, especially if they don’t already know.
‘Was your husband upset you went away for the weekend?’ Nunes asks.
‘No,’ I answer, shaking my head. ‘Of course not. Kate and I always went away. It was a regular thing. We must have gone on over a dozen trips over the years. We’ve been to Seville and Valencia and Marrakech …’
‘Don’t forget Paris,’ Nunes scoffs.
‘But this time your husband wasn’t so happy about you going away with Kate,’ says Reza, wresting the conversation back from Nunes who I can see she’s getting annoyed with. Her lips keep pursing angrily in his direction.
‘He was fine,’ I argue, unsure why we’re going down this road.
‘Even though he was having an affair with her?’ Nunes cuts in.
I draw in a breath. Oh dear. They know. How did they find out? It must have been Sebastian. He must have overheard me on the phone.
Reza glances sharply at Nunes. Was he not supposed to have given it away that they know? Did he just make a rookie blunder?
‘You knew about it,’ Nunes says, a triumphant gleam in his eye.
I should have admitted it straight up. They’ve caught me out. I don’t answer. I’m too scared and don’t want to say anything that might land me in even more trouble or incriminate me in some way.
‘You found out your best friend and husband were having an affair but you still decided to come on a weekend away with her?’ Reza asks, mildly.
‘No,’ I splutter. ‘I didn’t know. I just found out. After she died.’
‘How? When exactly?’ Reza presses.
‘Her phone,’ I respond in a panic. ‘The messages on her phone. I found them.’
Reza cocks her head. ‘Her phone was wiped clean. There was nothing on it.’
I gulp. I look so damn guilty, but what else is there to do but admit it and explain why I did it?
‘Yes,’ I blurt out. ‘I did that. I wiped the phone, deleted everything on it. I was worried if you found out about the affair you’d think I did it, that I killed her. And I didn’t. I didn’t do anything! I wouldn’t!’ I’m gripping the edge of the desk, leaning forwards, trying to impress on them the truth but they don’t seem interested.
‘You knew about the affair, you came away with Kate on purpose. You planned to get rid of