In the Still of the Night

Derek had aroused all the usual complex, changeable reactions human beings did. And now he was dead, but here she was, as usual, acting, pretending, playing a part.

Why did she live in this crazy way, in this phoney world of make-believe, inhabited by people like Mike Waterford … what did she mean, people? He wasn’t people. He was a rat. A snake. Worse. She couldn’t think of a word low enough to describe him.

When they broke for lunch at noon, the police refused to allow either Sean or Harriet to be present during the interview with Annie which, at Billy’s insistence, took place in the boardroom on his floor of the administration building. But they couldn’t refuse to allow the company’s lawyer to sit in on the interview, keeping a watching brief for Billy Grenaby.

Annie was nervous before she went into the room, unsure what to expect, but the questions at first didn’t seem to have any real edge to them. The two policemen spoke in quiet, polite voices and didn’t seem hostile.

‘Where were you two nights ago, Miss Lang? From eight o’clock onwards?’

‘At home. At my house.’

‘What time did you get there?’

‘I don’t remember. You could ask the friends who were with me, I had two of them to supper … Mr Halifax, the scriptwriter on the series, and the producer, Harriet York.’

‘They were there all evening?’

‘Yes. Harriet stayed all night.’

A long, searching stare from Inspector Chorley. ‘Why?’

Annie looked blankly back at him. ‘Why what?’

‘Why did she stay the night?’

Annie didn’t want to talk about why she had been so upset that particular night, there was no need for them to know about Roger Keats and the past, but she said flatly, ‘My home had been burgled and I felt rather nervous being alone at night.’

The two men sat up then. ‘Burgled? When was this? Did you report it to the police?’

‘Yes, I rang at once when I woke up and found that someone had broken in.’ She briefly explained about the Valentine’s card and the rose in her bedroom. ‘But nothing had been taken, there was no sign of damage. So the police decided it wasn’t worth visiting me.’

‘They what?’ Inspector Chorley’s eyebrows seemed to shoot up into his hair. ‘Decided it wasn’t worth visiting you?’

‘They seemed to think it was a practical joke by someone I knew, someone who had a key. They told me to ring again if I found anything missing.’

‘And did you?’

She shook her head.

‘Have you found out who broke into your home?’

‘No, but I had the locks changed so it won’t happen again. I told Sean Halifax about it, and he thought it would be a good idea for Harriet to stay with me for a night or two.’

‘So you didn’t go out again once you got home?’

She hesitated, half meant to lie, then couldn’t somehow. She would have felt too guilty about it if she had. ‘Well, I did go for a walk later.’

She felt the tension in the room jump up. Inspector Chorley leant forward, watching her intently. ‘Where did you go?’

‘Oh, just walked … I don’t remember. I ended up down by the river; I was tired, so I got a bus back.’

‘Were you alone? Did your friend go with you?’

She shook her head. ‘Harriet was asleep.’

The inspector’s voice was incredulous, coldly doubted her. ‘You went out alone, at night, on foot?’

‘I needed some exercise, I don’t get much, while we’re filming. I couldn’t sleep, so I went for a walk, but I went further than I’d intended and I tired myself out.’