‘Harassing our boy when he’s done nothing wrong. We’ve told you everything we know, and you now accuse Reece of having—’
‘Wait one minute, Mrs Porter,’ Kim interrupted. ‘No one has accused Reece of anything, and if we did, it would be of tampering with a crime scene.’
Della’s mouth fell slack.
‘He didn’t tell you where we found him?’
Della said nothing but didn’t move aside either. Fine, if she wanted this conversation on the doorstep, that was okay with her.
‘He was found hiding under the bed of Rosalind Daynes when it was still an active crime scene. He hasn’t yet been charged with any offence relating to—’
‘He’s done nothing wrong,’ she said, ignoring what Kim had said.
‘He also seemed to know Rozzie quite well, not to mention that he couldn’t possibly have seen the fire from where he told us, Mrs Porter, so right now he’s lucky we’re only asking for a DNA sample to rule him out.’
And that was only because she wasn’t sure he had the IQ to pull off the murder.
‘You lot will try and pin this on anyone. Maybe he did like Rosalind, but that doesn’t mean—’
‘You’re admitting he had feelings for her?’ Kim asked.
Della Porter coloured, realising what she’d said. ‘No, I mean…of course if he did have feelings for her doesn’t mean it went anywhere.’
‘Which is exactly why we’d like to rule him out, and given what you’ve just told us, I think we can find a judge who will—’
‘He’s innocent.’
Kim could tell the word judge had spooked her. Now she was on the rails.
‘Ninea.m. tomorrow, Mrs Porter, or we’ll be back with a warrant,’ she said as her phone began to ring. It was Stacey.
Her finger hovered over the button.
‘Well, I hope you’re looking just as closely at that son of hers.’
She let the call ring.
‘And why would I do that, Mrs Porter?’ she asked.
‘Because he was clearly upset with his parents about something.’
‘And how would you know that?’
For neighbours who didn’t speak, she sure knew a lot of the Dayneses’ business.
‘Because he almost ran me off the lane as he left on Saturday afternoon. Driving like a bloody madman he was.’
‘What time?’
She shrugged. ‘Mid-afternoon.’
Approximately twelve hours before the murder took place.
Kim nodded her acknowledgement as she turned and walked back towards the car.
Her phone rang again.
‘Go ahead, Stace.’