But detectives, constrained as they are by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, can’t keep office hours, and I could already visualize the rest of the weekend disappearing. I told the custody sergeant to put Roberts in the interview room, and decided that Kate Ebdon would be best suited to assist me in interrogating him. I let her kick off. ‘When we searched the warehouse at twenty-seven Cantard Street earlier today,’ Kate began, ‘a quantity of firearms was found.’ ‘Don’t know anything about them,’ said Roberts, making a statement that came as no surprise. ‘Who is the other man who we arrested at the same time that we nicked you?’ ‘No idea.’ Roberts lounged in his chair, fully relaxed. ‘Never seen him before.’ ‘What were you doing there?’ ‘I’d gone to collect some wine for my nightclub.’ ‘We searched the place from top to bottom, mate,’ said Kate, her Australian accent becoming a little more aggressive, ‘and there wasn’t any wine there.’ ‘So I made a mistake.’ ‘What d’you know about the wine business?’ ‘I sell it in my club.’ ‘Don’t get bloody clever with me, sport,’ said Kate.
