by Ese McGowan
‘I’m pretty certain I saw her driving the car but I didn’t see the kid get knocked down. She was crazy though and definitely a drinker. I could imagine her creeping out in the middle of the night to pick up some alcohol or drugs or something and she’s so full of herself that she’d think she could get away with drink driving, get away with running down a kid.’
‘She had nothing to do with that. It’s a separate incident,’ Miriam tells her with her patience clearly waning.
‘She tell you that did she?’ spews Dana.
‘No, the child’s parents.’
‘Ok. Just saying that’s it sounds like something she would do, that’s all.’
‘And she didn’t. Ok I think we’ll leave it there for now, thanks,’ interjects Miriam. ‘If you remember anything about last night regarding Joel Mason’s death,’ and Miriam emphasises that word, ‘then please call again and you can speak to any of my officers about it.’ And you can tell that Miriam would prefer she did that than ask to speak to her again.
What the hell is their obsession with pinning this non-hit and run on me? It’s like they’re trying to get me convicted for anything at all costs. If not for killing Joel, then for carelessly and heartlessly running over a kid which never even happened. They couldn’t even get the times right on when the kid was knocked over. It’s desperate.
‘Has she told you about running over the kid?’ presses Dana before Miriam can end the call.
‘No. Did you not hear me? She has nothing to do with that,’ confirms Miriam, now exasperated. Dana can hardly be a reliable witness if she cannot even remember what has been said seconds before now. You can hear Dana breath an awkward sigh through the speaker phone.
What will she say now? Your lie has been caught, so what else is a fabrication to frame me, and I might possibly be guilty of killing Joel but still, you have proved nothing with your statement; only speculation.
‘Ok Dana, we’ll leave it there for now. Thanks for your help,’ Miriam tries again.
‘Sure,’ she replies nervously. ‘Anything else I can think of, about Erin, I’ll let you know.’
‘You do that,’ says Miriam, who after listening to another entirely useless statement, will surely now add Dana Begum’s name to the list of possible persons suspected of despising Erin Green. And it’s fairly likely Dana Begum, like Pearl Ritter and Mabel Ledbetter are eliminated as suspects to the murder owing to their palpable lack of balls. All they are is backstabbers. But Miriam cannot rule them out. And nor can she rule me in after all that clap-trap. Not liking someone is not a reason to suspect them of murder. Deflecting attention by doing so raises more questions about their involvement than anything else, more than mine, surely? Although Miriam must doubt these accounts are anything more than a stitch-up, I have this awful niggling feeling that as she sits there breathing in the musty air of the interview room she is asking herself why I am so detested? There must be some foundation for this contempt towards me.
Ask Adam.
This is becoming a soap opera of aggrieved women of whose beds my fiancé Adam has hopped in and out of. That’s the picture Miriam should be piecing together and when it comes down to it, even that means very little. There is something she isn’t seeing here.
Maybe I need to point you in the right direction. Maybe I don’t want you in the right direction. You still haven’t recognised me. You aren’t that clever. It’s disappointing.
13
The request.
No sooner has Miriam ended the rather bizarre conversation with neighbour Dana Begum on the telephone, a request has come from me, Erin Green and she’ll think it’s even stranger than my written statement of a truth.
It is.
I have asked to take one of the cells in the police station. Yes, you heard that right. No, I am not confessing to anything. No one, apart from the random nutters on a regular Saturday night seeking refuge when they are too drunk to remember where they live, have ever asked for such a thing the officer tells his boss.
I like to be different. Always have.
‘No shit. We’re not a bloody hotel,’ remarks Miriam to the officer. She is wondering what on God’s earth this woman, me, has in her mind when still she has yet to be interviewed formally and at no point has she been accused of anything.
Nor will I be because you’ll remember me eventually Miriam.
Still, it will give Miriam more time to piece together this most peculiar investigation into the death of Joel Mason who the neighbours and the wife are hell bent on making a murder enquiry over a mere accident, if that’s all this is.
She wonders aloud if Covid-19 is in fact an undiagnosed and unreported symptom of plain madness. It sure feels crazy with all these people acting like savage wolves and those wanting to talk are stacking up now. Who’d have thought. Discretion, by the way, is not a strong point in this police station. They’re all a bunch of gossips with seemingly nothing to do, none of them, other than mull and spew words about all this or me or the dead guy or all of it.
Is Erin Green operating on mass manipulation? Subtly suggesting that she fears returning home, that she is afraid for her life or is she merely protecting herself from the virus and thinks a cell in the station is the best face mask she can obtain under the circumstances?
Yes to all.
‘What the hell,’ says Miriam. ‘Give her a bed if she wants one that badly. Maybe the book she’s writing will be enough to keep her in there. That’ll save a lot of bother. I’ve had enough of this bloody case already.
‘Who’s next?’
‘Some bloke who’s a friend of the Konstantas guy,’ Officer Johnson tells her.
‘Right.’
‘That Greek, Konstantas?’
‘Probably only as far as his penchant for Kalamata olives. He sounds the sort.’
‘They the green ones?’
‘No, you’re the green one. Put him through.’
‘Er, room three?’
‘Yep, same as the rest.’
14
Andreas Andersen, yet another neighbour keen to offer information. He has become quite close with Adam, he tells Miriam. That’s news to me. I’m still sitting next door despite Miriam conceding a cell to me. She does want me to hear everything. There can be no other reason unless they have forgotten I’m still in here. Unless she thinks I have already been moved into the cell.
The phone line is crackling and Andreas keeps cutting in and out. It’s irritating. ‘Adam joked about it afterwards,’ he says. I have no idea what he is referring to. Eavesdropping can be calamitous at the best of times and right now I’ve had enough of it. They are all gossiping and that’s roughly the sum of it. No one has jack-shit on me.
‘I had gone for a walk and caught him putting the bins out. He looked a bit frazzled so I asked him if he was ok, at a distance though. We kept two metres apart obviously.
‘It had all started as a bit of a joke. Alicia was sick of Erin’s attention seeking self-pitying and had suggested the idea to Adam after she had pulled her pants up in the kitchen but first, she switched off the camera which had been recording them for Joel. Adam had never felt more excited in his life. That’s what he said. He was bragging about it but I didn’t mind at all. Got to admit, I wouldn’t have turned Alicia down. There is definitely something about her.’
‘Do you have anything to say about Joel Mason’s death?’ asks Miriam curtly. I’m not impressed with his sexist lecherous talk either, Miriam. Always thought this guy was a perverted lout.
‘Yeah because,’ he spouts yet they’ll be no reason and he’ll flounder. He is floundering. He’s losing his words as he has nothing of substance to say. It’s all tittle tattle. ‘Look, Erin did it all right.’ Blah, blah, blah. ‘She was jealous. Adam told me he hadn’t realised how stale he had become sexually, with Erin. He was bored with her.’
Bullshit.
‘He had always thought of himself as one of those laid-back cool types, that other guys envied, good looking, go
od job (most of the time) and a magnet for women. I mean I did kinda see him like that, truth be told. Alicia had clicked into his brain, you know, got him to thinking about how things could be different for him, how he had settled for Erin and that way led to an early death and she, Alicia, she more or less said the same to me at the party. Settling greys the soul, she had said and Erin was sapping his energy. God, she’d sap anyone’s energy.’
‘Ok, is there—’ Miriam attempts to halt the trivial diatribe. She’s not here to sponge up opinion. She wants the facts but there aren’t any and Andreas Andersen wants his moment. Hell, everyone else has something to say, some useless offering so why not him?
‘And she was so needy,’ he pompously continues. ‘It wasn’t attractive. It isn’t in anyone.’
Like you’ve had a throng of hot women kicking your door down.
‘It didn’t take much for him to agree with Alicia. Wouldn’t have done me either to be fair. There’s nothing wrong with sex and mostly nothing wrong with having as much sex with as many people as possible because one day, you never know which day, you might be unable to perform and no one wants a life of regret.’
‘Without sex?’
‘Exactly. I was a bit envious as you would be, naturally, not that I would ever have joined in but, you know, it gets you thinking doesn’t it?’
‘Does it now?’ He is trying Miriam’s patience and he’s almost out of time. ‘Where is this leading Mr Andersen?’
‘Andreas. Call me Andreas but not Andy. I’m definitely not an Andy.’
‘Fine.’
‘See the thing is, Adam felt awakened by Alicia and Joel to an extent although his involvement as a voyeur was to Adam not an essential factor. I mean, Erin never did anything. She didn’t want to do anything with Adam or go anywhere—’
More bullshit. He made me do things and he made me go everywhere and anywhere.
‘And you think that was her choice do you?’
‘Oh, never really thought about it like that. Um, yes, you know I think it must have been because Adam is so easy going, yeah. And I say Adam quite liked the thought of Joel not being around but he wasn’t adverse to it, he told me that. Think he was a bit kinky and I suppose after being with her, Erin, anyone would feel like that, wouldn’t they?’
Miriam doesn’t answer and I’m fuming listening to this crap.
It wasn’t my choice. I had no choice in anything.
‘Adam, despite Alicia’s proclamations of free love and abundant sex, was convinced that she felt for him what he felt for her and that the obsession was indefatigably mutual.’
‘Interesting,’ says Miriam. ‘Dana Begum has suggested that it wasn’t mutual and that Adam was obsessed with Alicia.’
‘Well, she would say that. A woman spurned and all that. Dana was sleeping with Adam when Erin was away at work and then Alicia came along, or came back whatever their thing is, anyway – Dana got the boot, so I wouldn’t take a whole load of notice of her.’
‘That right?’ and Miriam says this less as a question and more of a comment on him, Andreas.
‘These two are soul mates,’ he reckons. ‘And I think there was something about them that he wasn’t letting on. It’s like they had known each other for a long time. Longer than they let on. Some on the street are convinced they’d seen her coming over when Erin was away.’
‘Yes, I’ve heard that,’ adds Miriam. She is referring to Pearl Ritter.
‘That’s the feeling I got anyway. He wasn’t telling it like it really was, if you know what I mean. He told me they go at like rabbits without anyone else involved, but if he had it his way, he’d like more to join in and by that he meant women not men. Whether that meant he wanted Joel out of the picture or not, I’m not saying that, but it gets you thinking because Adam was clearly transfixed with Alicia. He might have done it you know. So when she joked that they should lock Erin in the room upstairs, “because she really was looking peaky and we don’t want the virus, now, do we?” (and she really did say that, loads of us heard her) Adam jumped at the chance. He thought it was funny. Alicia, was like a witch sprinkling her power all over him relishing his keenness and enjoying the liquidity of power trickling through her veins. She hadn’t anticipated on this being so easy. We all saw that. He was behaving like a twat when that was happening. That’s what I think. Did Erin say whether they did lock her in the bedroom or not?’
‘I’m not going to speculate on other witness statements at the moment Mr Andersen,’ informs Miriam.
‘No of course not, sorry,’ he continues. ‘Anyhow, I think Alicia waited for him to do the act like a praying mantis, she was, sitting, lounging on the oversized kitchen chair. I mean, he bragged about this video. These are his words, not mine but they stuck in my head, he was so descriptive. He said he returned to the kitchen, where Alicia was, after locking Erin in the bedroom, having crept like a panther back down the stairs and in his hand he held Erin’s phone. He had not only cut off her communication, he had also padlocked the door handle shut, a ‘bolt and braces’ approach he had bragged to Alicia, and then to me and in the street of all places so it’s really quite possible other neighbours will have heard him tell me this. Anyway, Alicia, in return for him locking up Erin, satisfied his desire to please by throwing him one of her seductive looks, which she had no intention of following through. She was a tease you know? And I don’t know why she backtracked on that, as if in the end they didn’t actually have sex. It was weird. What I think though, is that Alicia had Adam where she wanted him. Everything else would be easy for her. The children would arrive the next day and she would need some more living space and Adam would freely oblige and I guess you know about the garden deal already, right?’
‘Some,’ replied Miriam.
‘Yeah, well, that definitely happened but I really do think there’s more to this than anyone’s letting on. Adam and Alicia were much closer than anyone’s telling you. I have no evidence of that but you get a feeling don’t you?’
‘Maybe,’ said Miriam. ‘But you said it was mutual and now it sounds like you’re changing your mind.’
‘No, I’m not but I— well, in every relationship someone has the upper hand don’t they?’
‘If they want to muddy the waters,’ replied Miriam.
‘Sorry?’
‘Never mind. Thinking out loud. Thanks for your help.’
‘I can call back if I think of anything else,’ he offers.
‘No, we’ll call you if. Thanks Andreas. That was helpful.’
The call has ended. I cannot tell how she has taken that. I’m unsure if he’s accusing Adam of killing Joel so he could have Alicia all to himself or whether he’s accusing both of us and is undecided. Still no evidence to pin this on me though. Circumstance will not do it.
Then Miriam hollers out from the interview which almost makes me jump out of my skin. I thought I was calm yet clearly I am not.
‘Any sign of that Adam Konstantas yet?’
My heart has sunk to my feet.
15
Adam Konstantas.
I want to leave this interview room and be put in the cell. I cannot bear to hear his voice. I want him off speaker phone. Hope the damn thing breaks.
‘“I’m going inside to watch the video,” I said to Joel. I felt uncomfortable with Joel. I wasn’t sure how to respond. I still couldn’t quite comprehend that Joel was happy his wife messing around with me and I wasn’t completely sure or convinced even that he truly knew she was.
‘Alicia had a quirky sense of humour that I was yet to fully gauge and most of me believed that she had simply been jostling with around with me regarding the openness of her marriage. She was all about sneaking around behind closed doors. This was how she got her kicks, her fun, so Joel’s remark, this had to be a test.
‘I straightened up trying not to look so intimidated by him. I wasn’t intimidated but it could have looked that way. I was uncomfortable, like I said. I wasn’t sure if he was fishing or if
he really didn’t care if I was sleeping with Alicia or not. And it was hot out there. The sun was beating down but not enough to push away the freshness of the spring breeze. If only the air could become more still, the shake in my hands would steady and make me look less of a wimp. I remember thinking that, telling myself that. I’m not the ego maniac Erin is making me out to be.’
‘Why do you think she is doing that?’ asked Miriam.
‘I don’t know, is she?’
‘I haven’t spoken to her yet.’
‘Oh, ok,’ Adam is squirming. Miriam lets him fill the silent void. ‘Ok,’ he replies and then continues.
I feel sick.
‘I told Joel I’d make a start on the wall, pulling it down for the kids. And he said, pretty menacingly actually, “Don’t you want to watch it?” you know, the video of me and Alicia. I released a half-hearted laugh and held up my hand, shaking my head. It was awkward. I didn’t know how to respond and Alicia was inside feeding the children with the door open. I didn’t want the kids hearing this and asking about a video.
‘I said, “Better not.” And I caveated it with how we all knew what everyone was like around here. That they’d be on the phones calling the police saying we’re in and out of each other’s houses, not social distancing. And he, Joel, sort of rubbed his chin, in a confrontational way and said “Well we’re not are we?” I didn’t know if he was threatening me or joking or if he meant that I literally had been much closer to his wife than he was happy with. I basically couldn’t work him out at all.
‘So I laughed it off, awkwardly, you know.’
I really hope she can smell your bullshit Adam.
‘Did she really film us for him? No. She was winding him up, I told myself. Why would her husband want to watch her having sex with me? It was one thing having an open relationship but was it was like she was having it all and he was only watching. So I told him that we were drunk, Alicia and I and he said, “You weren’t that drunk. She certainly wasn’t.” And I told him, I made the excuse that none of this was planned and he replied, “Wasn’t it?” I insisted, that no of course it wasn’t and that it was only a fumble more than anything but he disagreed that I saw it like that and suggested we do it again and that he had no issue with it. He said that and yet I still didn’t quite believe him. I concentrated on the wall. I was happy to pull the wall down.