The Last Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

at its own shadow. I couldn’t believe it would have sat in silence while members of its family were murdered.
    ‘If she did, I didn’t hear her.’ He looked down at her silky head, pulling an ear. ‘She’s not a guard dog, you know. She’s a pet.’
    ‘Collies aren’t generally placid.’
    ‘I didn’t say she was.’ I caught a glint of steel in the last answer, the edge that made him a top brief. Another smile to rob the words of offence. ‘She hasn’t read any Conan Doyle. She didn’t know it would be suspicious if she didn’t bark.’
    ‘What did you do before your shower? It might help if you could talk us through your evening.’
    ‘I had dinner with Vita – salad and cold salmon. Neither of us was hungry, probably because of the heat. Vita had a glass of wine but I had water because I needed to do some work and I wanted a clear head. The girls were doing their own thing – they rarely eat with us. After that I went out for a swim. Lydia came out later and swam lengths for a while. That’s where she was when it happened, I suppose. I came in from the garden at about nine and she was still in the water. I’d stayed outside for a bit after swimming, enjoying the night air. And smoking. I suppose I’d better admit that now.’ Another wry smile as he picked up his lighter and flipped the lid on his pack of cigarettes, tapping one out. ‘Vita disapproved so I hid out there. I kidded myself that she didn’t know about it, but of course she did. Turning a blind eye is the secret of a happy marriage, isn’t it?’
    Derwent jumped on the opening. ‘Did she have to do that a lot? Turn a blind eye, I mean?’
    Kennford shook his head very slightly as he lit his cigarette. He blew out smoke and said, ‘You know, I don’t think we’ve started off on the right foot, Mr Derwent.’
    ‘And I don’t think you’ve given me an answer.’
    ‘Josh.’ Godley was glaring.
Save it for the next interview when we might be trying to make him sweat
… ‘Did you notice anything strange while you were outside?’
    ‘No, but you can’t see much of the house from where I was sitting.’ He anticipated the next question. ‘And I wouldn’t have heard the doorbell either.’
    ‘Do you think that’s how the killer gained access?’
    ‘That’s what I’ve been assuming. There was no damage to the front door, was there? Or the windows?’
    ‘None that we’ve found. Would your wife have answered the door at that time of night if she wasn’t expecting a visitor?’
    ‘We have a video entry system. She could have checked who she was letting in before she opened the door.’
    ‘Does it record?’ Derwent was practically quivering with excitement.
    ‘That would make your job easier, wouldn’t it? No, it’s a real-time camera. Just shows who’s there at that time, and not very clearly. They have to stand in exactly the right place or you just see their elbow, which isn’t much help. I never bothered with it. I can’t stand things that don’t work properly.’
    ‘Did Vita usually check it?’
    ‘I didn’t watch her answer the door, Mr Godley.’ He sounded irritated. Not a man who liked to say ‘I don’t know’, I thought.
    ‘Did you see anything that struck you as unusual when you came in from the garden?’
    ‘Nothing. But I didn’t put the lights on in the kitchen or the hall. I just went straight upstairs.’
    ‘In the dark?’
    ‘I knew the way. And it’s not as if there was much to bump into.’ He raised his eyebrows, inviting us to laugh with him, though none of us took him up on it. It seemed I was right about his taste being very different from his wife’s.
    ‘Did you see Vita or Laura when you came in?’
    ‘No. In fact, I thought Laura was out. She had gone around to a friend’s house and I’d expected her to be there all evening.’
    ‘Which friend?’
    ‘I don’t know. Vita knew.’
    And you didn’t listen when she told you about it
.
    ‘Didn’t you hear voices from the