There was no need to check her story about the row in the café – enough people had witnessed that. Instead he looked through the window and noticed how cramped it was. Causing an argument in a place this size wasn’t a very English thing to do, he reasoned … unless you wanted everyone to remember you. When Tom Carney told the young manager of the local cinema he was a journalist, the guy couldn’t do enough for him. As he led him into the foyer, Tom realised why he was being so cooperative. The cinema was old, dark and musty. There were even cobwebs in less accessible corners and the place smelt vaguely unpleasant. The manager must have been hoping a journalist might give the cinema a boost, though Tom wasn’t sure how linking it to a murder was going to do it any good. ‘I’m looking for information on a specific film shown two years ago.’ He gave the manager the relevant date, the name of the film and an explanation: he was researching the Rebecca Holt case. ‘The police asked us about that,’ said the manager.
