This time he had no hesitation in setting off to make an arrest, armed with the knowledge that Dana had seen Frank outside the jewellers’ shop on the night Tim had been killed. Only as he drove to the suspect’s house did he begin to wonder how reliable a witness Dana was. Putting such reservations aside for now, he rapped smartly at the door. After all, he was only pursuing a lead. It wasn’t as though he was judge and jury in the matter. After a moment Frank came to the door. He was clearly startled when Ian announced the purpose of his visit. ‘What are you talking about? She was my daughter. All right, she was my stepdaughter, but I brought that girl up, from a child, and in all the time I knew her I never touched a hair on her head. I might have yelled at her for her wild ways – she used to go out drinking to all hours, even when she was only fifteen, and her poor mother at home worrying herself sick. There were times I would have liked to give her a good slap, given half a chance, but her mother was too soft.
