be involved in her life much, as long as there was no scandal. She used to think he was spying on her.’
Jo recalled Cranleigh’s anxiety about the press. ‘Do you think he was?’
‘I never saw anyone, but like I said, we didn’t see that much of each other.’
Catskill was flattered, he told them. Malin was a student at the university with her whole life ahead of her. A girl who could have done pretty much anything she put her mind to. But eventually, he was the one who had called it off, about a month ago – he felt she was getting too attached.
‘How did she take that?’ Jo asked.
‘Not great,’ Catskill admitted. ‘She said it didn’t have to be serious. But I could see it was. She said she … she threatened to hurt herself.’
Jo thought about the blood in the room. Self-harm? Anna hadn’t mentioned anything like that, but perhaps she had wanted to protect her friend’s privacy.
‘But you haven’t had contact for twelve days?’ asked Pryce.
Catskill shook his head. ‘She’d been calling me at all hours,’ he said. ‘Begging to meet. You can check my phone records if you want. I told her to stay away. To be honest, I was scared she’d get to Emily – that’s my wife. She could be determined, could Mally. Stubborn. She showed up at Quench and made a bit of a scene. I had to throw her out.’
‘Sounds like you used her,’ said Jo. ‘She was a vulnerable girl half your age.’
Catskill looked angry, but it passed quickly. ‘It might look like that, but it really wasn’t. Malin’s a clever girl. She looks like butter wouldn’t melt, but that’s part of her power.’
‘She’s missing,’ said Jo. ‘We think someone might have taken her against her will. Did she have any enemies that you know of?’
‘When you’re that beautiful, I think most women hate you, deep down,’ said Catskill. ‘But maybe she’s just run away? She wasn’t really very happy, I don’t think.’
Jo thought of the pills she herself had stopped taking. Lots of people weren’t happy.
‘I’d like you to come to the station,’ she said.
For the first time, Catskill looked alarmed. ‘Am I under arrest?’
‘No,’ said Jo. ‘But we’ll need an official statement, and it would be helpful if we could confirm your alibi and cross-reference those phone records you mentioned.’
‘I’m very busy,’ he said. ‘How long will all this take?’
Jo sensed they had him on the back foot already. Just a little push needed. ‘Not long. If you’re honest with us. We might not even have to involve your wife.’
Catskill seemed to realise he was hardly in a position to negotiate. ‘Let me get my coat.’
* * *
The temperature in town seemed to have dropped another degree as they arrived back at the station. A biting wind whipped up St Aldates and everyone passing by had their heads down, extremities covered. Jo, chin tucked into her thick scarf, just wanted to get inside.
As they entered through the main doors, she could still see her breath. The front desk clerk was wearing gloves and a hat.
‘It’s bloody freezing in here,’ she said.
‘Boiler’s gone,’ said the clerk. ‘They’re saying it could be a couple of days waiting for parts this time of year.’
They booked Catskill in, then took him through to CID, where the air was just as chilly. A man in overalls stood by the door to the rec room, sipping from Dimitriou’s Spurs mug, and inside another man on a small stepladder had the front off the boiler, and was tinkering with a screwdriver.
Pryce escorted Catskill to an interview room to get an official statement of what he’d told them at the club.
In his office, Stratton was talking animatedly to Detective Inspector Andy Carrick, who caught Jo’s eye and waved. Stratton saw her too, then adjusted the blinds to make the glass partition of his office opaque. Charming. Heidi Tan emerged from the stairs, waddling slowly and holding her back. She was in a maternity top, a sheen of sweat on her forehead despite the cold.
‘Dimitriou called. He’ll be another twenty. Got a puncture on the way in.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like a whale,’ said Heidi. She eased herself into her desk chair.
‘Only a week to go,’ said Jo. ‘Then you can swim away.’ She sat opposite. ‘We’ll miss you.’
‘Stop it,’ said Heidi. ‘You’ve got the professor now. I know Stratton prefers him.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Jo, though it was quite true. The Chief Inspector had made no secret of his admiration for Jack Pryce when they were looking for maternity cover. His application was apparently ‘exceptional’ and the team ‘should be grateful to have him’. From what Jo had learned later, Stratton had a point. Pryce’s aptitude scores were off the charts, and he had a proven track record in financial crime. Only Dimitriou failed to be impressed, muttering on several occasions variations of the same criticism, ‘but what’s he going to be like on the street?’ The answer so far was, rather good.
‘You don’t have to lie for my benefit,’ said Heidi. ‘Did Stratton ever invite me to play golf?’
Jo laughed. ‘Count your blessings.’
‘Forensics are on their way to Oriel College now by the way. They had to finish up a scene over in Didcot. You got any paperclips?’
Jo fished in her drawer, pushing aside the gallantry medal, and tossed a box over. She sat down at the computer to put together a brief for the crime scene investigators, including prints from the desk, all of the bathroom, blood samples, hair and anything else from the bed. Catskill said they’d met in hotels, so if they found any traces of him in the room, that could be a break. So far though, Jo’s instincts were cold on the director of Calibre Events.
‘Would you mind contacting Belinda Frampton-Keys, the Vice Provost? We could do with a list of anyone who might have had access to the room.’
She heard the door to Stratton’s office open, but kept her focus on the screen. ‘Who’ve you got in the IR?’ he asked.
She was typing her message to forensics as she spoke. ‘It’s the ex-boyfriend,’ she said. ‘Jack’s checking out his story, but first impressions are that he’s clean. The way he tells it, Malin was quite unstable.’
‘Really?’ Stratton sounded incredulous.
‘Vulnerable, anyway. We’ve got her computer, and forensics are going in shortly to scrape up what they can. I think there may have been drugs involved.’
Stratton looked nervous. ‘What sort of drugs?’
‘We found weed, but heroin is my guess too.’
