Page 106 of Slack Tide Kill

In the center lay a close-up of her body. Sally looked at it for a time. The same clothes she'd worn on the beach, and clean. The killer must have been careful while ferrying her through the marsh. Her face was blank. Older in death, maybe. Eyes that had been so alive now gazed vacantly. It was hard to tell her ears were missing, given the curls of her hair.

Sally looked at the surrounding information; mostly a social graph of Cagen's next of kin, friends and neighbors. They all fit in a tight, interconnected circle. At some level, it could probably expand to everyone in Romney Marsh. Everyone knew everyone. She studied the details and the photographs until a hand came on her shoulder. DI Gemmell.

"The DCI's ready, Sally."

Her heart thudded. She followed.

Jerome Rook was sitting in Interview Room 2, arm in a black sling across his chest, face locked in a half snarl. He was a doughier version of Roarke; thicker lips, puffier cheeks, but the same mocking half smile that warped his contoured stubble like a funhouse reflection. The same slick lawyer sat beside him in a gleaming black three-piece suit, opposite DCI Mayhew.

"And here she is," Rook said softly, eyes latching onto her. "The arm-breaker."

"It's your brother's arm that broke." Sally pulled out her chair. "Not yours."

"In fact, my client sustained a fractured humerus," the lawyer corrected. "Due to your recklessness."

"Shouldn't have been firing a shotgun at me, then."

Mayhew gave her a cold glare. Sally sat, and the DCI began the recording. "DCI Gloria Mayhew and NCA Officer Sally Rogers, on Wednesday 11th February at 8:15 a.m., interview 4 with Jerome Rook and his solicitor Richard Carrack."

Sally restrained her surprise. This was the fourth interview? Mayhew hadn't mentioned they'd already tried three times.

"Mr. Rook," Mayhew began, "as already discussed, we're seeking precise details about what you saw on Dungeness beach, in front of Reactor A, between the hours of 3 and 3:30 a.m. on Monday, February 9th. You requested my colleague, Officer Rogers, who is now present." She gestured to the side. "Now, what can you tell us?"

"Sweet F all," Jerome said, "until I get an apology from her."

"An apology connotes guilt," Mayhew said, "and it has not been proven that–"

"I apologize that you fractured your arm while assaulting a police vehicle," Sally said easily.

"That I fractured my own arm?" Rook shot back. "I didn't fracture it, bitch, you did. All because we were out for a ride on our boat."

"You were fugitives evading lawful pursuit," Sally said coolly. "I was justified and I've already been cleared to continue this investigation. So, answer the question please."

Rook spun to his lawyer. "Cleared? She hits me and my brothers with a sodding car, and she's cleared, just like that?"

"Shall we get to the point here, Jerome?" Mayhew said.

"The point?" He pointed at Sally. "This whole bloody thing, she's been profiling and persecuting us! She trespasses on our land, assaults my brother, fires some fucking gel at us and beats the shit out of one of my dogs, and she's cleared? This is a joke!" He paused to take a breath. "Now you're trying to pin Cagen on us, but why would we kill some old bag?"

"What did you see on the morning of the 9th?" Mayhew repeated. "That's what we're here to discuss."

"It's not what I want to discuss, is it? My old dad's shotgun, that's cleared for killing vermin, and she's coming right at us in her muscle car, so what are we supposed to do? Just wait to be–"

Sally stood, cutting him off. She'd heard enough.

"Where are you going?" Rook demanded.

"You wanted an apology. I've given you one. But if all you want is an audience for your deluded bullshit, I've got better things to do. Either tell us what you saw on that beach or I'm gone, and that's your shot at leverage done with."

Rook's jaw twitched. "Shot at leverage? Fuck you!"

Sally headed to the door.

"Officer Rogers!" Mayhew hissed.

Sally opened the door and stepped out into the–

"Wait, for fuck's sake!" Rook called.