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Poe said nothing.
‘So you can see why she’s a person of interest.’
‘You have a view on motivation?’ Poe said, refusing to be drawn.
‘We’ve only had a day.’
Poe waited. Someone as good as Tai-young Lee didn’t leave her engine in neutral for long. She had physical evidence in the FDR residue, circumstantial evidence in the broken glass and compelling evidence with the lack of footprints. She would already behammering the big one – motivation. If the prosecution failed to answer the ‘why?’ question, juries were far less likely to convict.
‘Fine,’ Lee said. ‘You know she didn’t get on with her father?’
‘You misunderstand the nature of my relationship with Professor Doyle, ma’am. It’s purely professional. I’ve never seen her outside of work and I’ve never had a discussion about her private life.’
Except that wasn’t entirely true, he thought. The last couple of times he had seen her, he’d got the distinct impression she was on the verge of asking him something. Something personal. And Bradshaw had been hinting at it for months. He hadn’t pursued it for one simple reason – he was scared. Not scared of Doyle, as terrifying as she was, albeit in an attractive way. No, he was scared of opening up to someone. Allowing vulnerability into his life.
‘He’d wanted her to be a stay-at-home daughter, apparently,’ Lee explained. ‘They had a big falling out when she chose to study medicine. Cut her out of his will. He had planned to leave her nothing.’
‘They’d reconnected?’
‘Quite recently. We’ve seen his last will and he had added a valuable house to what she was due to inherit. Dated and witnessed just a year ago. Professor Doyle was in the solicitor’s office when it was signed, so we know she’s seen it.’
‘You think she killed him in case he changed his mind?’
‘It’s a theory.’
‘Not a great one.’
‘I’m sorry, Sergeant Poe, but unless someone levitated in and out of the house, she was the only one with the means, motive and opportunity. And while the investigationisat an early stage, I do not believe there are any outstanding suspects.’
Poe had heard enough. ‘I’d like to see her now,’ he said.
Lee took the seat beside him and tapped something into the gadget she was holding. It was slightly bigger than the over-sized iPhone Bradshaw used.
‘I’ll have her brought to Interview Room Four,’ she said.
Interview Room 4 was in the custody suite. C116 was written underneath. Poe assumed that was for the benefit of the facilitiesmanagement company.
He opened the door and stepped inside.
Doyle was already seated, her eyes staring at her lap. Poe knew she would hate him seeing her like this. He took the seat opposite and put his hands on the table.
‘Estelle,’ he said. Nothing. She didn’t move a muscle. ‘Look at me, Estelle.’
She raised her head. Slowly. Held his gaze. Her eyes were swollen and Poe saw nothing but grief. Her makeup had run. She was in a shapeless paper evidence suit. She looked small and afraid, a far remove from the cold logic and feigned detachment he had grown used to. But he saw defiance, too. Doyle was still in there somewhere. She wasn’t defeated yet.
He reached across the table and grabbed her hands. ‘It’s going to be all right,’ he said.
