‘No.’
‘You probably think it all rather sad, to be so dependent on material things?’
‘I do understand,’ she said helplessly. Part of her couldn’t believe that a famous movie star was being so familiar with her. The other part the professional part — disapproved strongly.
To her alarm, he threw his arm around her shoulders. ‘Anna, I want to show you something.’
When she shifted position, he looked at her, surprised.
‘I just want to show you something.’
He kept one arm around her shoulder and produced from his back pocket a slim kid-leather wallet.
Langton arrived soundlessly in the doorway and watched them. Their heads were bent close to each other.
‘I have never shown this to anyone before,’ Daniels was saying softly.
He indicated a small black and white picture of a little boy with frightened eyes. His hair was plastered down and he was wearing baggy grey shorts with a knitted jumper. ‘It is the only photograph I have from my childhood.’
Opposite, was a scaled-down version of his headshot. He was tanned, handsome and looked ahead with confidence. Alan tapped the photograph. ‘See? They face each other. One lives inside the other. One comforts the other. Both of them are the reason I am so ambitious.’
There was a loud cough. Anna broke away, embarrassed.
‘We’ve finished, Mr Daniels,’ Langton said coolly. He looked strangely at Anna.
‘Have you?’ said Daniels lightly. He replaced his wallet into his back pocket.
‘Yes, sir. I am taking a few items that I will need you to sign for.’ Langton walked further into the room. As he passed Anna, he gave a curt nod. ‘If you wish to accompany me around your apartment, to see there has been no damage? You can return to the car, Travis.’
‘Yes, sir.’
As she passed, Daniels took her hand. She stopped, confused and watched him lift it to his lips.
‘Goodbye, Anna,’ he said, quietly playful.
Flushed to the roots of her hair, Anna left swiftly.
Outside the house, she found Lewis and Barolli had already gone.
She climbed in the back of the patrol car, waiting for Langton with some trepidation. As Langton exited from the house, she saw Daniels appear at the ground-floor window for a moment, then disappear. Langton opened the front passenger door, got in and then slammed it so hard, the car rocked.
‘What the fuck was that about?’ He spun around to confront Anna.
‘What, exactly?’ she stammered.
As the car moved off, Langton’s face remained taut with anger. ‘You were supposed to be searching his fucking room, Travis. I walk in there: you are standing with his arm around you. I felt like I was intruding. And allowing him to kiss your hand? What the fuck do you think you were doing?’
She swallowed.
‘What the fuck was going on? I have never seen anything so fucking unprofessional.’
‘If you would just calm down and stop swearing at me, I can tell you.’
He glared at her. ‘Asking you out on a date, was he?’
‘No! He was talking about his childhood. He’d opened up. And then, just before you came into the room, he wanted to show me a picture.’
‘What kind of picture, Travis?’
‘Similar to the ones his foster mother showed us: a black and white snapshot. And opposite it, a recent one.’
‘Really? And what do you deduce from that?’ he snapped.
‘He said that one lived inside the other. He also talked about his fear of losing all he had gained. I suspect he fears becoming that wretched child again.’
Langton groaned. ‘Well, that’s fucking brilliant psychology, Travis. I’m glad you compromised your dignity for that nugget of wisdom. He didn’t identify the wretched child as the real serial killer by any chance, did he?’
Sullen, she did not reply.
Several minutes later, Langton turned back to her, more calmly. ‘We found his dental X-rays. So he lied about them being lost.’
She stared out of the window wordlessly. She decided not to say what she thought, which was that Daniels’s compulsive neatness would, in her opinion, mean he knew exactly where everything was. If they were in any way defamatory, he would have destroyed them.
Langton unbent a little more. ‘So, after your tete-a-tete with Anthony Duffy — what do you think?’
She took a big intake of breath. ‘He has too much to lose. I don’t think he would jeopardize the life he has now.’
There was a pause.
‘So, in your humble opinion, is he our man or not?’
‘No, I don’t think he is.’ She leaned slightly forwards. ‘What about you?’
‘I’d like his wardrobe.’ He smiled ruefully.
‘That’s not a proper answer.’ She managed a half grin.
‘It’s all you’re going to get,’ he said. Langton knew they might have come up empty-handed and it hurt.
Peace had been restored between them.
Anna was at her desk by nine o’clock the next morning, when Lewis and Barolli strolled out of Langton’s office. Lewis gave her a lewd wink and whispered, ‘Heard he almost got into your pants!’
‘What?’ she hissed.
‘Just a joke, all right?’ Lewis grinned. Suddenly his mobile phone rang and he went into a flap, trying to get it out of his pocket. He listened, then he grabbed his coat, yelling, ‘It’s coming! The baby’s coming!’ and legged it fast out of the incident room, followed by hooting and cheering.