Price to Pay, A Read Online Free Page B

can live with that.’
    He gave her an approving look. ‘You’ll go far, Iona, trust me. Now, Peter has OK’d this. In the lounge downstairs, we have Philip Young – the student who brought in the laptop and carry case with the profiles.’
    The lounge, Iona thought. The pleasant interview room for members of the public not suspected of any terrorist crime.
    ‘Understandably, he’s feeling anxious about what he might have stumbled across. We need to make him feel at ease, but not complacent. It’s a tricky one. Me? I’m a fifty-four-year-old with a receding hairline. You are the closest thing this unit has got to someone his age. You’re a maths graduate, yes?’
    Iona nodded. My file really has been doing the rounds.
    ‘That’s also his subject. Where did you study?’
    ‘Newcastle.’
    ‘OK. Not sure what connections the city might have with Manchester. But you’ve got the maths. Now, he’s already been interviewed by uniforms. We need to sit down with him and see if there’s anything else in his head that’s useful. Are you OK with that?’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘Excellent. And Iona? Just to be clear, he has no idea about the fate of Jade Cummings. Let’s keep it that way – for the time being, at least.’

FOUR
    P hilip Young looked up from the sofa on the far side of the room. He was holding a copy of that day’s
Guardian
. Iona guessed it had been bought specially for him; it wasn’t the kind of thing you normally found lying around the building. She spotted a waxed cup from a proper coffee shop on the table before him. Someone had done their best to make him feel at home.
    She didn’t think it had worked very well. There was a slightly queasy look on his face, like he was about to sit an important exam or be interviewed for a coveted job.
    Appearance-wise, he was meticulously plain. Absolutely nothing made him stand out. Loose-fitting jeans and a baggy top. Drab blues and grey. A pair of black Adidas trainers. His hair – brown and straight – was parted at the side. Iona guessed Philip was aiming to get through his time as a student without attracting attention and then land a steady job and have a nice, quiet, respectable life. Shame he hadn’t been able to resist an unbelievably cheap laptop.
    ‘Mr Young,’ O’Dowd announced as they crossed the room. ‘Sorry to keep you. This is my colleague, Detective Constable Iona Khan.’
    ‘Hi.’ Iona smiled. As they’d come in, he’d looked surprised at the sight of her. She deliberately didn’t hold eye contact so he could continue his appraisal, aware that a petite female in her mid-twenties was far removed from the burly male officers who’d no doubt been dealing with him so far.
    ‘We appreciate you giving us your time, Philip,’ O’Dowd said, taking one of the seats opposite him.
    The student glanced at Iona again as she settled into the other chair.
    O’Dowd pointed at the small camera mounted in the ceiling above them. ‘I’ll need to record this conversation, I hope that’s all right.’
    Philip glanced up. ‘Um … yes. I signed a statement for the officers at the other station already—’
    ‘I know. I have it here.’ O’Dowd nodded.
    His eyes went to Iona yet again. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘But you look really like the photo of that girl …’
    Of course, Iona realized. That’s why he keeps giving me the eye. ‘Yes, sorry if that threw you. You’re not the first person to notice.’
    He was frowning. ‘Are you going to be doing one of those reconstruction things? Playing her part in it?’
    She wondered if he realized where he was: detectives in the Counter Terrorism Unit would never appear on the telly. ‘No, a professional actress would probably be recruited for that.’
    ‘Oh.’
    O’Dowd sat forward. ‘We’d just like to talk you through a couple of things. I realize it might seem like you’re being taken over the same old ground.’
    As Philip folded the paper over, Iona could see its corners were