‘But I thought you were nervous, after this supposed burglary?’
The company lawyer leaned forward. ‘Lots of people go for a walk before bedtime – I often do myself.’
‘My mind was working so fast I felt like a mouse in a wheel, going round and round. I needed to walk,’ said Annie, and the two policemen exchanged looks.
‘Did you go anywhere near the TV studio?’
‘Nowhere near it. I ended up on the Embankment below Charing Cross; a good half a mile away from the studio. I got the bus from there.’
‘What number bus?’
She told them and watched them write the number down.
‘And what time was that when you caught this bus?’
‘I’m not sure, I wasn’t watching the time – but it must have been close to eleven.’
‘You’re sure about that?’ Inspector Chorley asked sharply, and she nodded.
‘Certain – I told you, Sean had left, and Harriet and I had gone up to bed. It was well after ten o’clock when I went out, ‘and Harriet will tell you what time I got back. She was up when I came in – she’d discovered that I had gone out and was upset about it. Also the bus conductor stared at me all the way – he recognised me, I think, although he didn’t say anything. He was a Sikh, wearing a turban.’
The lawyer leaned back with a satisfied air. ‘I think that more or less clears my client, don’t you, Inspector?’
Inspector Chorley looked irritated. He ignored the interruption. ‘You knew Mr Fenn very well for years, didn’t you, Miss Lang?’
Annie stared at him dumbly for a few seconds, remembering the first time she’d ever seen Derek, the night she played Ophelia at her drama school, remembering the next time she’d seen him, at her home, when he’d came to offer her her first part. It was all so long ago, yet the memory was as clear as crystal. Derek had had an important influence on her life and she was appalled by the way he’d died.
Tired of waiting for an answer, the inspector pressed her. ‘You knew him very well.’
And Annie nodded.
‘Were you lovers?’
She flushed, frowned, shaking her head angrily. ‘No, we were not!’
‘We’ve heard a rumour that you had his baby – is that true?’
‘NO!’ she said explosively, her voice shaking.
‘Did you see him that night, Miss Lang?’ the inspector threw at her.
The lawyer answered for her. ‘She has already told you – she did not leave the house until gone ten o’clock, that means she could not be involved in the death of Mr Fenn.’
Annie added huskily, ‘I did not see Derek that night.’
‘You may not have met him in the pub, but you might have visited him at home.’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘I’ve been told that Mr Fenn was jealous because you were seeing Mr Halifax – is that true? Did he turn violent? Attack you? If you killed him in self-defence your best chance is to be frank with us.’
‘I didn’t see him that night! There was nothing between me and Derek!’ Annie was close to the edge, her voice shaking with hysteria. ‘It’s lies, all of it – who told you this stuff about me and Derek? It’s all lies.’
‘Inspector, I don’t like the tone of this interview,’ the lawyer said angrily. ‘Miss Lang is leaving.’
A phone began to buzz inside the inspector’s jacket. Irritably, he reached into an inner pocket. ‘One moment,’ he said to the lawyer, pulled up the aerial of his phone and spoke into it. ‘Yes? Chorley here.’
He listened, his face changing, then said, ‘I’m coming back at once. Keep her there.’ Getting to his feet, he told Annie, ‘Thank you, Miss Lang. I’ll let you get back to work now, we must be on our way, but we may need to talk to you again later.’