Chapter Twenty-Four;
Shore

"Oh check it, girl power!" Hayleigh grinned as DC Moss and PC Brown entered the interview room. "Are we gonna have a girl talk? Paint our nails? Oooh, boys." She giggled like a schoolgirl then changed quickly, leaning back in her chair with a cold glare on her face and crossing her arms. "No comment."

DC Moss ignored her and started the tape. "Interview with Hayleigh Jane Bolt. Present are Mrs. Bolt, her lawyer Robert Shore, DC Moss…"

"And PC Brown." Millie added, not taking her eyes off Hayleigh. The woman was cocky, cool and totally at ease with the situation. Millie hid a smile. She wasn't aware yet that across the hall right now her husband was selling her out.

"Now Mrs. Bolt, are you aware of why you're here?"

Hayleigh shrugged. "Some pathetic attempt to link my husband with a crime you can't solve?" She gave a big smile, looking very pleased with herself. Millie quickly grew to dislike the woman.

"Actually Mrs. Bolt, we've found a kilo of cocaine in your niece's possession and she claims you and your husband know quite a lot about it."

"We don't do drugs DC Moss. Only idiots and troubled street kids, like my niece, do it."

"Are you suggesting that your niece is some stupid little girl who deals?" Millie asked, shocked.

"If the shoe fits." Hayleigh shrugged. "Her father is an incompetent fool, her mother is too busy for anyone and her own brother skipped town to get away from them. The only one in the family that gives her any time is Craig, and this is how she repays him? So much for gratitude."

Millie smothered a growl as Stevie continued her questions. "What do you know about the drugs Mrs. Bolt? If you help us, it'll look better in court."

"I won't be going to court DC Moss, I haven't done anything wrong and neither has my husband."

"Right now your husband is across the hall in Interview Room 3 telling two of our sergeants that you are responsible for the mistreatment of some of the women at your premises." Millie spoke up, hiding a rather out-of-character smugness in her tone. She inwardly blamed too much time spent with the Sergeant of Smug, and lessened her glare. "Why would you help him if he's not keen to help you?"

Hayleigh's lawyer made to speak, but Hayleigh put up one hand and he fell silent. "I haven't been mistreating any of the girls. If I had, they would've made a statement and you'd be waving it in my face right now. As for my husband selling me out," she chuckled. "That doofus will say anything to draw attention away from himself. Do what I do officers and take everything he says with a grain of salt."

"Even a protest of innocence?" Millie pushed but Hayleigh didn't take the bait, just smiling back at the PC.

"The Sahara is registered in your name." Stevie continued, putting the registration papers they'd obtained from the boat down on the table. "Your husband has been using it lately, hasn't he?"

Hayleigh smiled. "Yes, he has. And your point?"

"My point, Mrs. Bolt, is that if we find any link to the drugs we found in your niece's room…"

"We've been over this DC Moss; Craig and I don't do drugs, don't deal with drugs or even understand the fascination with drugs."

"Drugs and prostitutes go hand-in-hand though, don't they Mrs. Bolt?" Millie spoke.

Hayleigh turned on her. "Do they PC Brown? Because I believe that's a stereotype and I don't really deal in those."

"Back to the Sahara…" Stevie continued, Hayleigh pulling her eyes and cold smile away from the PC. "Were you aware your husband had it this afternoon?"

"Yes, I was." Stevie nodded but Hayleigh just grinned. "He hasn't done anything wrong ladies and even if he did, try and prove that I knew what he was planning to do. Guilty knowledge, I'm sure you're aware of that term Constables." Millie frowned at the woman's knowledge of the rules. She'd been right from the start – Hayleigh Bolt knew the law and how to dance all over it. "Prove that my husband did anything wrong, then prove that I helped. Until you do that, I shall return to my earlier statement – no comment." She tipped her head a little and grinned.

For five more minutes Stevie tried more lines of questioning, but still Hayleigh just sat there, her head tipped and smiling at the officers. Eventually they gave up. "Interview terminated at 17.25." DC Moss flicked off the tape and nodded back at Robert Shore as the man turned to his client. Stevie and Millie left the room.

"She knows her stuff."

"I don't know why she even bothered bringing a lawyer." Stevie growled. DS Turner appeared on the other side of the doors and Stevie nodded him to join them. He joined them a few seconds later. "Tough as nails sarge."

"She didn't give up?" The women shook their heads. "Okay, not what I wanted to hear."

"We're not going to let them go are we?" Millie frowned.

"Not exactly. Bolt'll face court for the allegations and the circumstantial evidence, but we don't have enough to hold him. We're going to have to bail him."

"Great." Stevie sighed. They glanced back at the doors to custody, almost imagining the smug look on Bolt's face right now. But he was locked up in his cell, and were it up to CID that's where he'd stay. However luck and the law weren't on their side. Bolt was heading home. "How much is bail?"

"Enough, so he better stick to it. Without his cocaine money he may be losing out if he skips it." Stuart tried hard to make light of the situation, but he was struggling. In the end, however, he grinned. "So, who gets to tell the rest?"

Millie frowned. "Will'll be crushed. He wanted Bolt to give up Brecht."

Stevie nodded. "I'll tell him, make sure he doesn't cry." She gave a small smile and walked off.

Stuart grinned. "I call the DI. That leaves you to tell DS Carter."

Millie held up her hands. "Oh no, I SO did not sign up for that when I joined the team. I call the DI, no givesies-backsies." She grinned and turned on her heel, walking away from him.

"No fair! You can't call givesies-backsies!" Stuart called after her. Millie just shook her head and forced a smile, but beating Stuart to the DI was not enough to help her forget that they'd allowed Brecht and now the Bolts to get away. She sighed. She hadn't signed up for this either when she'd agreed to join the investigation team.