A short while later, Penny came down. Charlie had been fed and was much calmer, so she carried him to his swing seat and hooked his safety harness around him. Charlie was instantly a happy little soul bouncing up and down.
Maggie walked in, and Penny immediately saw that she’d been crying. She held out her arms. ‘Come here, love, give me a hug... you look as if you need one.’
Maggie sat on Penny’s knee, wrapping her arms around her and resting her face on her neck as she cried. Penny gently rocked her just as she did her granddaughter, telling her softly that everything was going to be all right.
‘Jack’s been in trouble before, but he always comes out on top. He’ll be home soon, and everything will be sorted out. You just have to calm yourself and be here for him when he needs you.’
Maggie sniffed. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mum.’ Maggie had never referred to Penny as ‘Mum’ before, and it made Penny cry. Then the pair of them started to laugh. It was a childlike moment between the two women before Penny cupped Maggie’s face in her hands.
‘We’re here for him. I know this is serious, but we never show that we are scared for our boy.’
Jack had finally been allowed to take a shower. He was still in the clothes he had been wearing when they brought him in, but he felt a little better. He was returned to his cell and this time, a young, uniformed officer was assigned to take him back. When Jack asked how long it was going to be before someone told him what was going on, he got an embarrassed shrug.
‘Morrison’s back from the search, so...’
‘Search? Are you telling me they’ve been searching my home?’
‘All I know is there’s a lot of people up in the incident room, some of them from Scotland Yard.’
Morrison stood up behind his desk as Broadbent came in with a thick file, followed by Collingwood carrying another file.
‘So, what did you find at his house?’ Broadbent demanded. ‘Anything connecting him to Detmar Steinburg?’
Morrison looked uncomfortable. ‘We removed his computer and a laptop from the address, both of which are being examined by the digital technology blokes.’
‘That’s it? A laptop... and is it Jack Warr’s?’
‘It’s his wife’s.’
‘She gave you permission to take it?’
‘Warr could also be using it. Plus, his home PC had data on it that he must have illegally downloaded from the HOLMES major incident database.’
‘Show me a fucking officer who hasn’t done that, so they can complete their work at home,’ snapped Broadbent. He sat down in front of Morrison.
‘We have some new information, first up the contents of Steinburg’s will. His main beneficiary is Ester Langton: she gains all his personal property, including his art collection. However, there is a proviso attached: Miss Langton will only receive the bequests if she takes care of Kurt Neilson financially and pays all his medical bills.’
Broadbent shook his head and gave a grunt of a laugh. ‘Given his mental health issues, that might put quite a dent in her finances. And she definitely won’t be inheriting any cash from Steinburg. In fact, all she may be inheriting is crippling debt. It looks like his whole global business empire was a house of cards. He didn’t own any of the galleries or the penthouse — they were all on short-term leases and he died owing a staggering amount of money. I’ll be handing all the documents over to the fraud squad, let them sort it all out.’ He closed the file in front of him. ‘So, tell me, what else did the search of Jack Warr’s home turn up, apart from his wife’s laptop? Uncovered any connection to Steinburg?’
Morrison was sweating again. ‘I’m afraid not — not so far, anyway — but the search history on his wife’s laptop is interesting. Lots of articles about art fraud and books about it ordered from Amazon.
Broadbent was studying his nails. ‘That’s it?’
‘To date, yes it is, but we are still working on it.’
‘OK, might as well interview him now. But I’d say so far you have fuck all on him. I hope you’re going to prove me wrong.’
It was decided they would interview Jack in the largest interview room. The meeting would be recorded, and as he had not requested a lawyer, Broadbent and Collingwood would also be present. Accompanied by a young, uniformed officer, Collingwood headed down to the cells. He stood to one side as the cell was unlocked and waited as Jack casually walked out. As all three reached the stairs, Collingwood told the officer in front to go up ahead of them, giving Jack and Collingwood a few seconds alone.
‘We found nothing, Jack. And you’re in the clear on the anonymous call.’
In the interview room, Morrison was seated next to Broadbent, and Collingwood was left to stand behind them. The table was stacked with files.
‘Right,’ Morrison began, looking at Jack seated opposite him. ‘You’ve been arrested for obstructing a police investigation by withholding vital evidence pertaining to the arrest of Kurt Neilson and the murder of Detmar Steinburg.’ Jack sat back in the chair, his hands resting on his knees, appearing relaxed. Morrison coughed then continued. ‘Firstly, can you explain how you financed two large extension projects in your house?’
‘What? How do you know about that?’
‘We had a search warrant, and we were at your property this morning.’
‘A search warrant? What the hell is going on? You’ve been holding me here since yesterday afternoon. Why did you need a fucking search warrant? What could I possibly have that you hoped to find at my family home?’
‘I’m asking you again, Jack. How did you pay for the building work at your property?’
Jack banged the desk with the flat of his hand. ‘I had paternity leave; my mother’s partner is a retired builder and we did the work between us. My wife will be able to provide you with the breakdown of costs as she handled the finances.’
Broadbent tapped the table for Morrison to change the subject.
‘All right,’ Morrison said, clearly annoyed. ‘How can you explain your presence at Steinburg’s gallery on the night of Kurt Neilson’s arrest?’
‘Jesus Christ! Is this what it’s all about? I had an invitation.’
‘Explain how you acquired this invitation. We have a list of all the guests, and your name wasn’t on it.’
‘Well, on a Friday morning, a few weeks before the exhibition, I was at the framer’s shop in Portobello Road. I asked the man in the shop the price of a small gilt frame, and he told me it was ten pounds. I offered him five. He got irate and snatched the frame out of my hands, then told me to get out. I was standing by a cabinet and noticed there was a stack of invitations. Honestly, at the time, I didn’t know what they were, but I was so angry at the way he had spoken to me that I took an invite without thinking.’
‘Did you notice anything unusual inside the shop at this time?’
‘Yes, I did. There was an enormous cross that took up a huge amount of room. In fact, I recall making a joke about whether or not it had been bought from Jesus Christ Superstar.’
‘So, now you had this invitation for the show at Steinburg’s gallery, what did you do with it?’
‘Well, it was a coincidence because my wife and I had recently become very interested in art. It’s become a bit of a hobby we share outside our work. Around this time, I think there was also a lot of coverage about a painting being valued at sixty or more million, and we started to get interested in how paintings are valued and then the whole business of art fraud.’
‘Detective Warr, you recall our previous interview regarding your presence at the ICU where Detmar Steinburg was being treated?’