At Pickering police station, a pleasant modern building, Jake was disappointed not to have the reassuring presence of the sergeant at his interview. Instead, consigned to a young, brisk-mannered officer, he immediately felt himself on the defensive. The inspector, a dark-haired swarthy character with a sizeable mole on his right cheek, by his own admission had been in contact with the York police. The thought of what D.I. Shaw might have planted in his brain made Jake edgy. His apprehension didn’t escape the policeman, and the air of suspicion and incredulity this generated increased a vicious circle of unease.
Barely stopping short of an outright accusation, D. I. Smethhurst grilled him about his movements, alibis and motivations. Most of which, unfortunately for Jake, were either absent
