“That’s Mary,” shouted Manny.
“You recognise her, then?”
Maybe they had finally pressed Manny’s buttons. “Of course I do. Why are you showing me a photo of Mary?”
“Why do you think?” asked Reilly, before asking the question that knocked him sideways. “If you’re not going to tell us anything about the night of the burglary, or Jane Carter, or the murders of all these other women, maybe you can tell us what you’ve done with Mary.”
Manny stood up, his complexion ashen, emphasising the lines etched into his skin, which in Gardener’s opinion had deepened since he’d been in the interview room.
“What do you mean, what have I done with Mary?”
“Oh come on, Manny,” said Reilly. “Don’t pull this shit on us. You know Mary is missing because you’ve taken her. What have you done with her?”
Manny flopped in his seat again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“This is not helping you, son.” Reilly had raised his voice. “Don’t believe all the crap you see on TV about the right to remain silent. Right now you’re up to your neck in shit, and you’re sinking faster than the Titanic.”
Manny was breathing like an asthmatic, his leg was shaking, his fists clenching and unclenching.
Gardener towered over him. “Mr Walters, we’re going to leave the room for two minutes, and during that time I want you to think very carefully about your predicament. You either speak and tell us everything you know, or I’m going to charge you with theft from the travel agent in town and from Swansea Court. Also, threatening behaviour, and assault, with intent to harm. I will then charge you with the kidnapping of Mary Miller, and furthermore, I will also charge you with the murder of Jane Carter. And if I can add all these other women into the mix, I will. It’s up to you. And at that point I would strongly recommend you call your solicitor.”
As Gardener and Reilly were leaving, they heard Cragg tell Manny that he had better come clean for his sake. Outside the cell, Gardener addressed the other two. “What do you think?”
“I know what I’d do in his shoes,” said Reilly.
“He’ll crack,” said Cragg.
Gardener allowed the full two minutes to pass before all three barged back in.
Manny was on his feet with his hands in the air. “Okay, okay. I’ll tell you what you want to know.” He fell to his knees all tears and snot. “Just please don’t send me down for all that shit... please...”
Chapter Forty-five
The team was back in the incident room, with the exception of Paul Benson who had gone to Whitby. Gardener stood at the front with his back to the boards, his mood enhanced by the fact that Manny Walters had told them everything.
“Behind me you’ll notice a number of photos,” said Gardener. “These are what we discovered in the metal box that Manny Walters had been holding on to.”
“Who are they?” asked Rawson.
“According to the names on the back of them, we think they are all victims of the same person who killed Jane Carter.”
“And is that Manny Walters?” asked Anderson.
“No,” said Gardener. “I don’t think he’s old enough. They have dates on them, the earliest being 1991. We do, however, have one photo with no name and no date.”
“We reckon from the quality of the photo,” said Reilly, “that it was before 1991. We just don’t know who it is.”
“To be fair,” continued Gardener, “we don’t know any of them, apart from Jane Carter.”
“And neither does Manny Walters.”
“So, what’s he admitted to?” asked Sharp.
“He was there on the night Jane Carter was murdered, turning the place over,” said Reilly.
“Yes,” said Gardener. “Apparently, he heard two noises, both of which came from upstairs. The first time he heard a noise he was downstairs. He made the mess in the bathroom because when he was upstairs, checking to see if anyone was home, he heard another noise. Trying to get out in a rush, he lost his balance and crashed into the shelves.”
“What was the noise?” asked Rawson.