Marie smiled. “Thank you.”
He smiled back. “Sure aren’t you always helping me with bits of food and stuff?”
Patricia said, “So what happened then?”
Johnny screwed up his face. “He made those calls using two phones, I ask you. Then he walked down the street and went into the corner shop. I saw him through the window. He was getting a scone and him only come out of your café. I knew that was strange. Anyway he came out of the shop with his wee bag and then he stood into a doorway and I see’d him slip one of those phones into that bag secret-like. Then he walked on down the street and threw the whole bag in the bin, scone and all.”
Isobel bit her lip again to smother her smile. She couldn’t help it – she was mad about this man.
Patricia said, “What happened then?”
Johnny rolled his eyes, “What do you think happened? I went and got that scone. It was in a bag, clean as a whistle.”
Marie said, “Of course you did.”
Johnny said, “Wasting good food like that. It did me for breakfast. You know I loves a scone, Mrs Frost?”
“I do, Johnny, I do.”
Patricia shifted on the seat. Her voice came out more strained than usual. “Where’s the phone, Johnny?”
He frowned. “I’m getting to that. I thought he might be one of those protection people, you know, demanding money from people who have businesses and I was worried about you, Mrs Frost, so . . . in case anything happened . . . I was going to talk to you about it again when I had things straight in my mind . . .” Johnny looked at Marie.
She nodded at him.
“I have the phone here. I knew he was up to no good that man, throwing away a phone like that.”
He reached into a big pocket in the inside of his coat and drew out the phone.
Adam stepped forward and pulled open a plastic evidence bag to receive the phone.
Johnny looked at him but then dropped it in the bag.
Johnny continued to eye Adam, “I suppose you’ll be wanting me to come and make a statement?”
Adam smiled gently. “That would be a big help. We’ll probably need your fingerprints as well to exclude them from the phone.”
Obviously familiar with police procedure, Johnny nodded.
Mrs Frost said, “I’m sorry, Johnny, but I really want to help these people.”
“It’s all right, Mrs Frost. I reckon he must have been real bad if they sent all of these people to find the phone.”
Isobel said, “And while you’re helping the police I’m sure there’ll be plenty of tea and food to keep you comfortable.”
Johnny grinned.
Adam added, “And, you never know, we might find a pair of shoes in your size.”
“I could do with a new pair.”
Adam said, “Will I bring the car?”
Johnny snapped, “Don’t be stupid. I don’t want everyone here to see me getting into a police car. I’ll walk back to Mrs Frost’s.”
Johnny got up and set off with Mrs Frost and Patricia while Adam pulled out his phone and called the police station. He spoke quickly to Simon who had not as yet interviewed Thomas, filling him in on what they had found. He also rang the lab to let Jeff know they had the phone. Fingerprints and phone history were a priority and Jeff had people standing by.
They walked back to the café. Mrs Frost was somewhat shocked to realise that she would have to make a statement too.
The car journey to the police station was cramped and rather pungent.
Chapter 45
Isobel thought that she and Patricia would be told to go home while the interview was taking place, but maybe in deference to all the work they’d done on the case, they were allowed to stay. More than that, they were being treated as part of the team. They followed Adam and Stella to a room which was crowded with faces she recognised from the meetings. Most people were standing along the walls. Stella ushered them to the few chairs in the room. They were all facing a wall where there was obviously a hidden window because they could see into an interview room where Thomas Banks was sitting with another man. Isobel assumed this man was his solicitor. There was a table and two more chairs.
Isobel leaned in and asked Stella in a whisper, “Has he admitted anything yet?”
“They haven’t started to question him. We usually let the person stew for a bit. Mr Banks wanted a solicitor and that takes time to organise and they need time to confer. You haven’t missed any of it.”
“Are there usually this many people watching?”
Stella laughed. “No, but we usually have the body first and then have to find the person who did it. This case has intrigued everyone because this guy has killed three people – he’s a serial killer. The psychiatrists can argue over the type. And he almost got away with it. Patricia and you are here because only for you we wouldn’t even have known what he’d done. Not only that but he has tried to implicate someone else in his wife’s murder. Believe me, this is not a normal case and we all want to see the boss take him down.”
Isobel shivered, partly with fear and partly with tension.
The door opened and Simon entered the interview room with Rajesh.
Immediately, the solicitor started talking. “I object to the way that my client has been dragged in here and doesn’t even know why.”
Simon ignored the solicitor and Rajesh went through a litany which Isobel recognized from watching television, giving the date and time, the location and then identifying everyone in the room. Thomas Banks’ solicitor was Percy Fenwright.
Rajesh then read out the caution and asked if Thomas understood and asked him to answer for the benefit of the tape.
Then Rajesh started by asking some basic questions, name, address, then occupation.
Thomas answered to this, “I work for White and Smith.”
“How long have you worked for them?”
“Almost ten years.”
“They’re a very prestigious firm. You must be a trusted employee.”
“I like to think so.”
Stella whispered in Isobel’s ear, “Rajesh is just getting Thomas to relax, asking some easy questions to get a rhythm going.”
Percy Fenwright said, “I’m sure Mr Banks’ job is fascinating but if it’s not relevant to why we’re here can we move on?”
Stella whispered again, “He wants to disrupt the flow of the interview so that Thomas doesn’t get too relaxed – that’s when people slip up.”
Patricia was leaning in from where she was sitting on Stella’s other side, as fascinated as Isobel was by the dynamics of the interview.
“Of course,” Rajesh said with a smile. “Are you married, Mr Banks?”
“Yes.”
“Does your wife live with you?”
Thomas Banks looked at his solicitor who nodded.
“No, she moved out about three months ago,” Thomas said. “She was an alcoholic. She went to rehab and has been doing rather well. We were to be divorced this Wednesday. However, my wife didn’t turn up as arranged. I tried her flat later that day and she wasn’t there. I haven’t heard from her since. This sort of thing is one of the reasons we are getting divorced. I just hope that she hasn’t fallen off the wagon.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Are you worried about her?”
Thomas shrugged. “Not yet. Maybe. A bit. I know from going to some of the sessions at the rehab centre that things like this can happen in the early days of recovery. Getting the divorce was to protect our son from the trauma of this type of occurrence.”
“So you’ve no idea where your wife is, sir?”
“Not at present, no.” Thomas Banks said this very clearly.
Percy Fenwright intervened again. “Is that why my client is here – to answer questions about his soon-to-be-ex-wife?”
Rajesh smiled. “Just establishing some facts. And your son, Mr Banks, where is he?”
“I had to ask an old neighbour to collect him from school. I had hoped to be home before it go
t too late.”
Simon now spoke. “We want to show you some footage that a concerned citizen brought us.”
Rajesh got up and opened the door and a constable brought in a laptop which Rajesh placed so that Thomas and his solicitor could see it. He played an extract of footage showing the man dumping the bag into the Thames.
Everyone was watching Thomas Banks like hawks. All that Isobel observed was a slight tightening at his jaw – otherwise he didn’t move. Silence followed.
Simon asked, “Do you know this man?”
“No.”
Percy Fenwright said, “What’s the relevance of this?”
Simon ignored him. “Do you recognize the van, Mr Banks?”
“No.”
“Obviously dumping rubbish in the Thames is something we frown on.”
Percy Fenwright now vehement. “You brought my client here to talk about illegal dumping? This is ridiculous!”
Simon kept his gaze firmly on Thomas Banks and continued as if Percy hadn’t spoken. “We’ve tracked this van through the city and it came from your house to this place by the river.”
Thomas Banks paused a moment, seeming genuinely shocked, and then said, “What? What was this van doing at my house?”
Percy Fenwright said, “My client is clearly stating that he has no knowledge of this van.”
Again Simon ignored this comment. “We have obviously run the van’s plates and it’s a rental.”
No response from Thomas Banks.
“The van was rented in the name of Charlie Ellis.”
“Oh, Charlie, my occasional gardener. I must say, I’m shocked that he would dump stuff in the Thames but surely I can’t be responsible for what my gardener does with rubbish?”
“What was he doing at your house?” Simon continued.
“He did some work for me earlier in the year, digging some ground when I was planting trees and putting in a flower bed.”
“Why would Charlie Ellis have gone to your house and then to the river?” Simon asked.
Thomas Banks paused a moment. “I don’t know. When we did the garden there was talk of later putting in some special fertiliser to help the garden grow. He was to do that but we hadn’t discussed any particular time for it. Maybe he had some time and was being helpful and forgot to tell me.”
Simon asked, “Have you noticed any digging in your garden in the last few days?”
“No. But then I haven’t been out in the garden. With Anne going off like that, and the divorce not happening, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Tommy, playing computer games, going to McDonald’s, stuff like that.”
Simon shifted the focus. “We tracked the van through the city. It was collected from the rental place, driven to a shopping centre and then driven to your house. It was at your house for about two hours then driven through the city to Deptford.”
Percy Fenwright said, “I have to object to this. Surely Charlie Ellis is the man to ask about all of this, not my client?”
Simon smiled an acknowledgment. “The Marine Policing Unit pulled a bag identical to this from the river yesterday.”
Thomas Banks paled now but didn’t shift in his seat.
Simon said, “The bag when opened contained the body of a woman.”
Percy Fenwright looked flabbergasted. “What has this to do with my client?”
Thomas Banks said, “Charlie Ellis threw a body in the Thames?”
“It certainly appears like that, sir.”
“I’m shocked.”
“Needless to say we’ve brought Charlie Ellis in for questioning. He says that you rang him to rent the van, offered him a thousand pounds and told him to take the rest of the day off.”
Thomas Banks now stood up suddenly. “This is ridiculous. Check my phone here, I never rang him.” He sank back into his seat and put his head in his hands.
His solicitor, taking this cue, said, “This is a blatant attempt to incriminate my client.”
Simon said, “You can appreciate, I’m sure, Mr Banks, why we had to bring you in and ask you some questions.”
“Of course, of course.”
“We just need to ask you where you were when this all happened.”
Thomas nodded but said nothing.
“Where were you, Mr Banks?”
Thomas Banks looked at him. “You’d better tell me what time you want me to account for my movements. You haven’t said when this took place.”
Isobel could see the challenge in his eyes and the confidence. He really thought that he was too clever, that he was unassailable.
“Oh, haven’t I, sir? My mistake. This would have been Wednesday before three o’clock.”
Thomas Banks looked thoughtful. “That was the day of the divorce that never happened, so let me see. I dropped Tommy at school. I had a quick word with the principal to tell her what was happening and to ask her to keep an eye on Tommy. Then I went and had coffee in a little café.” He paused. “And then I went . . . I was upset . . . I just wanted to wander around so I actually went to a shopping centre.”
“Really, sir? Which shopping centre was it?”
“I’m not sure of the name.”
Rajesh said, “Perhaps it was the Commercial Shopping Centre?”
“It could have been that one.”
“Could have been?” Rajesh raised his eyebrows.
“It probably was.”
Simon said, “There are a number of shops there, furniture shops, bed shops – what were you looking for?”
“Well, nothing specific but I was thinking of changing the bedroom, you know, after the divorce and that. Make a new start.”
Isobel marvelled at how plausible that sounded.
“That’s the same shopping centre where Charlie Ellis parked that van,” Simon said.
“I never saw him there.”
“He says he didn’t see you either.”
“Maybe he did. Maybe that’s why he thought to implicate me.”
“Who can say, sir? We’ll check your phone. If you could just give us the authorisation we can confirm that you made no call to Charlie Ellis’s phone.”
Thomas looked at his solicitor who nodded, “Yes. This will prove that I’m innocent and he’s lying.”
Rajesh supplied a form and Thomas signed it. Rajesh opened the door of the interview room and handed it to a waiting constable.
“Is that everything, then?” Thomas asked. “Maybe I could get home to my son now.” He started to stand up.
Simon forestalled him. “If you wouldn’t mind, sir, there are a few more things that I want to clarify.”
Thomas blew out impatiently.
Percy Fenwright said, “This seems like harassment.”
Simon very calmly said, “On the contrary. Finding the body of a woman is very serious. I’m sure Mr Banks wants to assist us as much as he can.”
There was no verbal response but Thomas Banks settled back into the chair.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the address, 42 Sycamore Street.”
There was a long silence. Thomas Banks stayed very still, the only movement again a slight tightening of his jaw. Simon waited out the silence.
After a long pause Thomas Banks said, “That’s the area where I grew up.”
Everyone in the observation room was silent, watching intently.
Simon now appeared very relaxed. “You probably don’t remember, sir, but a couple bought that house about ten years ago. Just this week the husband decided to dig a pond for his wife. She wants to get koi fish and to survive the winter here they need the water to be about five or six feet deep, about the depth of a grave.”
Thomas Banks licked his lips. This was the first major sign of stress that he’d betrayed.
Simon continued with his tale, “The husband went out yesterday morning to dig the pond and what did he find?” He paused as if waiting for an answer. The silence lengthened. “He found some bones.”
Thomas Banks had his eyes locked on Simon.
>
“Naturally he rang the police and they in turn rang the coroner. The coroner found the bones to be human and forensics took over the digging. The body is that of a fifty-year-old woman.”
Another pause and again no one spoke.
Simon continued. “The coroner estimates that the bones have been in the ground for about ten years.”
The stillness was intense in the interview room and also in the observation room.
Simon continued in his storyteller tone. “Ten years ago is the time when the house changed hands. Since the people who bought it contacted us about the body which would be stupid if they were trying to get away with murder, we tried to contact Mrs Cooper who lived there previously. There has been no activity on her national insurance number in all those years. Naturally we were concerned and so we wanted to find her son. There has been no activity on his number either. We were very worried, thinking that maybe they were both dead.”
Thomas Banks seemed to twitch slightly at that, maybe in relief.
“In the course of our investigation with the neighbours it came to our attention that this missing Matt Cooper was very friendly with Thomas Banks. I suppose that would be you, sir.”
Thomas Banks didn’t say anything. He just looked steadfastly at Simon.
“Is that you, sir? Were you Matt Cooper’s friend?”
Thomas Banks said nothing.
“Answer the question, sir.”
There was another pause then Thomas Banks said, “I want to confer with my solicitor.”
Percy Fenwright immediately piped up, “My client has that right.”
Simon inclined his head and Rajesh told the tape the necessary things and stopped it.
Percy Fenwright said, “I want all sound to the observation room stopped also. This is confidential.”
“Of course.” Rajesh pressed a button on the wall and they could hear no more. Then he and Simon left the room.
Isobel expelled her breath and it was only then she realised that she’d been holding it.
“Come on, let’s go and get a coffee,” Stella said.
The three women left the room while Adam joined some of the other officers to talk.
Stella led them to one of the open offices and they helped themselves to coffee. Through a glass window they could see Simon and Rajesh in Simon’s office, talking.
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