‘And Alexa?’ I press. ‘Does it show her dropping it?’
DS Rani hesitates. ‘No,’ she admits. ‘But the location the card was found is interesting. It was found near a café called The Grounds. Have you ever heard of it?’
I shake my head.
‘It’s close to the university campus. It’s also two streets away from Otis Clarke’s office.’
‘Oh,’ I reply, my voice small.
‘Oh indeed. Janine, when you were with Otis in Manchester, how did he seem?’
I think back to that afternoon. It’s only a few days ago, but with everything that’s happened, it could have been another lifetime. ‘He was tense,’ I say.
‘Is there anything else you can add to that description?’
I pause to think. ‘All I remember is that we waited for a long time and Alexa didn’t show. Otis was worried. That’s why he called you.’
‘And did you believe his upset to be genuine?’
‘Yes,’ I reply, shrinking at my former naivety. ‘I think that was the moment it hit Otis that Alexa really was gone. He seemed furious with himself for not doing more sooner. I believed him on that. Before you arrived, we were out walking. Searching the fields at the back of the house for Alexa.’
DS Mullins leans forward. ‘A field behind his house, you say?’
I nod, but when I notice the detectives’ eagerness, it dawns on me. ‘You found something there, didn’t you?’
When DS Mullins and DS Rani share a glance, my heart stops.
‘What was it? What did you find?’
I know my questions cross a line, but DS Rani must suspect that telling me will make me open up to them more.
‘We found a tennis ball,’ she says eventually. ‘We think it was probably left behind by a dog walker, but it was stained with something. It’s been sent off for testing, but we’re under the assumption that the stain could be blood.’
DS Rani’s first sentence is booming in my mind so much that I barely hear the rest. ‘Did you… did you say a tennis ball?’
DS Rani scours my stunned reaction. ‘Is there something we should know?’
I go to swallow, but my throat is too tight. ‘The day you first came to the house, Otis spotted a tennis ball in the field. He – he picked it up and threw it.’
Both detectives cannot hide their surprise.
‘Otis Clarke found what appears to be a blood-spattered object moments before we arrived to ask about his missing wife, and he threw it?’ DS Mullins asks.
‘He did, but it all happened so fast. Maybe Otis didn’t see the stain.’
Dubiousness is written all over the detectives’ faces, but they don’t push me. They don’t need to. My confirmation that Otis had seen the tennis ball is more than enough.
DS Rani sets her sights on me once more. ‘Has Otis ever mentioned Denmark to you?’
The sudden swerve in conversation is disorientating, but as DS Rani studies my reaction, I realise that was intentional.
‘He told me Alexa was from there, if that’s what you mean,’ I say.
‘Has Otis ever mentioned a desire to travel there with Alexa? Maybe even move there?’
I blink. ‘No. He’s not mentioned it in any context other than being Alexa’s birthplace.’
The detectives nod and the conversation moves on. I try not to be alarmed by questions like, ‘How did Otis seem when you first met him?’ or ‘Did Otis share with you what he and Alexa argued about?’, but I can’t help it. Each time a question that casts doubt on Otis is fired my way, that man and his wife shapeshift before me.