“Did she say why she thought you’d abused Simon?”
“She said he’d told her he didn’t like me touching him. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he would say that.”
Jane nodded. As much as she disliked the thought, she knew she’d have to be sympathetic to keep Simmonds talking.
“I think that Simon was bullied at school about his braces. It’s possible Helen misconstrued what he told her, and she decided to confront you.”
“She never mentioned anything to me about him being bullied.”
“Did she mention anyone else expressing concerns about Simon being abused?”
“Yes. Helen only suspected there was a problem because Simon’s teacher told her she thought he was being abused.”
Jane raised her biro. “Would that teacher be Eileen Summers?”
“I’m sorry, I need to explain everything in the order it happened. As I was saying, I reminded Helen that she’d always been present when I treated Simon, so her accusations couldn’t be true.”
“If that was the case then why didn’t she believe you?” Jane asked.
“I pleaded with her to realize it was absurd and she eventually calmed down. We then went into the waiting room to continue the discussion.” Simmonds paused and took a deep breath before continuing.
“Helen was sitting on the sofa. I asked her if she’d told anyone else about Simon, or had been to the police. She thought my questions implied that I was guilty, so she stood up and said that was exactly where she was going. She started to walk towards the door … I don’t know what came over me.”
He looked at the floor then put his head in his hands. “Oh my God, Oh my God … I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, but now I relive the moment over and over. I snatched a curtain tie and followed the poor woman into the hallway. She had her back to me and was about to open the front door. Something came over me … I wrapped the curtain tie round her neck and pulled hard …”
“David, the cord round Helen’s neck was tied in a slip knot. Can you explain how you had time to tie it if you were acting on impulse and didn’t know what you were doing?”
“I did that after she was dead, then cut the tassels off, so it wasn’t obvious it was a curtain tie.”
Jane kept her voice quiet and encouraging. “I see. So what happened next?”
“She was struggling and kicking. I pulled her to the ground and somehow she ended up face down on the hallway carpet. I knelt on her back and tightened the cord … Eventually she stopped moving.”
Jane recalled Professor Martin saying that the killer had knelt on Helen’s back in order to stop her getting up or struggling. It seemed Simmonds was telling the truth.
“I didn’t mean to kill her. I was frightened that a sexual abuse allegation would destroy my career. I had this terrible sense of panic and didn’t know what I was doing.” He sighed. “I was standing over her. I couldn’t believe what I’d done … It was all like a bad dream. Then the doorbell rang. It kept ringing and ringing. Then I heard knocking on the window and her voice asking over and over if I was there.”
“Did you know who the woman was?” Jane realized she would be a valuable witness.
His reply came as a shock.
“It was Sybil Hastings. She knew I drove a Mercedes, which was parked outside, and all the lights were on in the surgery and hallway. I was worried that if I didn’t answer the door she might think something had happened to me and call the police.”
Jane leant forward. “Wait a minute—wasn’t Helen Matthews’ body still in the hallway?”
Simmonds was getting impatient. “Yes, yes. I had to quickly drag her body into the surgery, out of sight.”
Jane encouraged him to continue. “OK, you’re in a terrible state of panic. So then you let Sybil Hastings in?”
“Yes. She kissed me on the cheek, then asked if I was dealing with a patient. I said no—”
“Sorry, did you say she kissed you?” Jane interrupted. She thought it strange that Mrs. Hastings would greet him in that way if she suspected him of child abuse.
“I wasn’t just her dentist. We were friends … She always greeted me with a kiss.”
“Then what happened?”
“Sybil looked upset. She said that she’d received a distressing phone call whilst she had been on duty at the Samaritans on Thursday evening. I told her I was running late for a dinner engagement and asked if we could discuss it at another time. ‘No,’ she said, ‘this can’t wait.’”
Jane was sure the distressing phone call was from Eileen Summers. She realized she needed to chase up the documents section at the lab to see if they had examined the indented writing Lawrence had recovered from the Samaritans call sheet. She thought about Simmonds having a conversation with Mrs. Hastings whilst the dead body of Helen Matthews was in his surgery, only a few feet away.
“What was the distressing the phone call about?” she asked.
“Sybil said she’d had a call from a concerned teacher, who thought a young pupil of hers was being sexually abused. And she could hardly believe it, but she said the abuse was being carried out by a dentist in Peckham.”
“I’m trying to keep up with you, David. Are you saying you killed Sybil Hastings because she suspected you’d abused Simon Matthews?”
Simmonds looked offended and shook his head. “No, no, no. Sybil didn’t think I’d abused him. She never thought for one minute the teacher was talking about me. I’m her grandchildren’s dentist. They adore me.”
Jane was confused. “So why had Mrs. Hastings come to see you?”
“I’m trying to make this as clear as possible, Jane. You have to listen to what I’m saying. Sybil Hastings had come to me because she wanted to ask me if there was any dentist in Peckham I thought might be capable of such a monstrous act. I told her I would make some discreet enquires and get back to her, and then if necessary we could go to the police together. She thanked me and got up to leave.” He ran his hands through his hair.
“So Sybil Hastings was murdered after she left your Peckham practice? Who by?”
Simmonds slowly looked up. His eyes were cold. “I never said she left.”
Jane wondered if he was starting to play mind games again. “If you’re saying you killed her, then why? Sybil Hastings didn’t suspect you of anything.”
“She suddenly heard a noise coming from my surgery. I realized in an instant that Helen Matthews must still be alive. Before I could stop her, Sybil opened the surgery door and saw Helen lying on the floor. She was struggling to breathe and trying to remove the cord from around her neck.”
Simmonds took a sip of his water.
Jane couldn’t begin to imagine the sheer terror the two women must have felt at that moment in time. She wondered if Simmonds was deliberately pausing to see if the horror of what he was describing was upsetting her. She was determined not to show it.
“You must have been panic-stricken.”
“You have no idea. I was hysterical. I … picked up a dental chisel and stabbed Sybil. She was screeching and waving her arms as she backed away into the waiting room. Then she stumbled and fell to the floor. I will never forget what I did next … She lay there looking up at me and I couldn’t help myself, I just kept stabbing her.” He raised his right arm and made several quick stabbing gestures.
Jane could hardly believe Simmonds was admitting to brutally murdering two women, with no emotion in his voice. It was as if he considered himself to be the victim, and his actions had been forced on him by the predicament he had found himself in. Before Jane could say anything, he continued.
“I went back into the surgery. Helen was on her stomach, dragging herself towards the door. I was forced to pull the cord tighter around her neck until I was sure she was dead. I don’t think you can believe what a nightmare situation I found myself in, suddenly having two dead bodies to dispose of. I had to compose myself and think what to do next. I found Sybil Hastings’ car keys in her pocket. I l
ooked out of the window and could see that she’d parked it outside the surgery. I waited until after midnight when there was no one about, then I carried Helen Matthews’ body to Sybil’s car and put her in the passenger seat. I went back and got Sybil’s body and put it in the boot. It was a tight squeeze because she had a thick fur coat on, but I was now working on automatic pilot. I had decided that I would dump Helen Matthews’ body in Bussey Alley, then drive out to the Kent countryside to hide Sybil’s body in woodland and set her car alight with a can of petrol I’d already got from my own car. After I’d dumped Helen’s body, I discovered the Allegro had a flat tire and I panicked. A man was walking past the car, so I decided to just leave it where it was. I went back to the surgery, cleaned up Sybil’s blood, then drove home to Harley Street.”
Simmonds had spittle forming in the corners of his mouth. He wiped it with his forefinger and suddenly seemed disinclined to continue.
“Did you rape or sexually assault Helen Matthews before you killed her?”
He glared at Jane. “No, I did not. I’m not a rapist. I had to protect myself. I needed to make it look as if someone else had raped her. She was already dead when I scratched the inside of her thighs and ripped her clothing. And I obviously did a good job of it, because all the headlines reported that a rape victim had been found in Bussey Alley.”
After everything he’d just described, the pride in his voice was unmistakable. Jane’s desire to physically assault him was almost overwhelming. She decided she needed a break to compose herself.
“Please excuse me, Mr. Simmonds, I need to take a break.”
“I hope you’re not using it as an excuse to tell DCI Moran or your colleagues about our conversation. I’ve got more to tell you and if you come back with anyone else I will deny everything.”
“I’m not going to tell Moran. If I did, he’d stop the interview,” Jane said, knowing that she still needed Simmonds to tell her about how he killed Eileen Simmonds and Aiden Lang.
She walked to the door and asked the custody PC to enter the room until she returned. She quickly went into the ladies’. Having to listen to Simmonds’ litany of horrific assaults had really shaken her. She washed her hands and splashed cold water over her face. She took several deep breaths, then checked her appearance in the mirror.
“You can do this.” She gripped the edge of the basin. “Get back in there, Tennison.” She stared in the mirror at her ashen face. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to hear what Simmonds was going to tell her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jane met Gibbs in the stairwell down from the canteen.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said.
“Moran is getting himself really pumped up for the interrogation. We’ve now got even more incriminating evidence from forensics, so we can charge that bastard for all four murders. Did he sign the interview yet?”
Jane nodded. “I need to talk to you, Gibbs. Simmonds is still in the interview room … and he’s making a full confession.”
Gibbs whistled. “Does Moran know about this?”
Jane clenched her fists. “No, not yet. Simmonds is getting some kind of sick pleasure in telling me in graphic detail about exactly how he murdered Helen Matthews and Sybil Hastings. He hasn’t even got to Eileen Summers or Aiden Lang yet. I had to get out of the room for some air.”
“Who’s doing the interview with you?”
“Please, Spence, just listen to me. After Simmonds signed the record of interview, he suddenly decided to confess to me. I told him I needed another officer present and wanted to get Moran, but he was insistent he would only tell me what happened alone. He threatened that if I left the room or told Moran, he wouldn’t say another word.”
“What the fuck are you playing at, Jane? You know it’s against police regs to do solo interviews in major crime investigations.”
“I know, but it’s not a legal requirement per se. The man’s a sick psychopath. He’s cold and calculating, but he wants me to believe he killed out of panic and didn’t know what he was doing.”
“Sounds like he’s trying to run a diminished responsibility defense, so the murders get dropped to manslaughter. You’ve got everything he’s said recorded word for word in the interview book, right?”
Jane shook her head. “Simmonds wouldn’t let me take notes. He said he’ll make a full handwritten confession after he’s told me everything.”
“Jesus Christ! If he doesn’t, you’re screwed, Jane. It will be his word against yours.”
“I know that, Spence, but what would you have done? Just walk away with nothing?” Jane was frustrated.
“You’d better go and tell Moran what’s been happening right now.”
“I told Simmonds I needed a break. If I’m away too long he might think I’ve spoken with Moran and then he’ll say nothing. He’s telling me things only the killer could know. I’m confident a court will believe me even if he doesn’t make a written confession,” Jane said with conviction.
Gibbs held his hands up. “You better hope to Christ he does make a full confession. When you go back in there with Simmonds, keep calm and let him think he’s running the show. I’ve every confidence in you, Jane. Simmonds might never have been arrested if it wasn’t for you.”
“Thanks, Spence. Can you do me a favor? I still haven’t heard back from the lab about the indented writing on the Samaritans call sheet. Could you ring DS Lawrence and ask if he’ll chase it up for me?”
“Will do. Are you sure you can handle this?”
“I don’t have any other option.”
“Don’t let Simmonds get to you. He’s not worth it.”
Gibbs watched Jane walk away and immediately went in search of Moran.
Jane paused by the door of the interview room and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She opened the door, told the custody PC to wait outside and sat down opposite Simmonds. She checked her pen, pencils and the interview book were still on the desk.
“Are you willing to continue with your confession, Mr. Simmonds?”
“Of course. Why shouldn’t I be?”
Jane got straight to the point. “Did you murder Simon Matthews’ teacher, Eileen Summers?”
Simmonds looked at Jane as if she’d asked a ridiculous question. “I wouldn’t have hurt anyone if that woman hadn’t stuck her nose in. After disposing of Helen’s and Sybil’s bodies, I was totally exhausted, but I knew I somehow had to get Eileen Summers to agree to meet me, and believe me, it took a great deal of planning. Would you like to know how I lured her to the hostel?”
“You know I would,” Jane replied calmly.
“It was simple, really. As a dentist I always try and relax my patients and engage them in conversation before carrying out any treatment. From previous conversations with Simon, I already knew he went to Southfield Primary School in Kentish Town, and his teacher was called Miss Summers. I have a very retentive memory, you know.”
“You rang the school, didn’t you?” Jane recalled Mrs. Rowlands saying that a Mr. Smith had phoned the school and asked to speak to Miss Summers.
“Yes, I called on the Monday morning and spoke to Eileen Summers. I told her I was a friend of Helen Matthews and that I had information about Simon being abused. I said I’d rather speak to her in person and gave her the hostel address. We arranged to meet in Ben’s room at seven o’clock that evening.”
Jane held up her hand. “You told me and DCI Moran earlier that you only knew Smith as Benjamin.”
“I was lying. He told me his name was Benjamin Smith, but everyone called him Ben.”
Jane was curious, and more than a little confused. “Was Ben—or rather, Aiden Lang—still alive when you made that call to Eileen Summers?”
Simmonds seemed irritated by the question. “Yes, he was still alive.”
“Was he involved in the murders?” Jane asked.
“Would you stop interrupting and let me finish telling you about Eileen Summers?” he snapped.
> Jane put her hands up in a calming gesture. “I’m sorry, carry on.”
“I had Ben’s keys for the hostel. I made my way past the porter at about ten minutes to seven, then waited in Ben’s room. At exactly seven o’clock there was a knock on the door and I opened it. The young woman said she was Eileen Summers and that the hostel porter had kindly allowed her to come to the room. I introduced myself as Ben Smith and invited her in. She hesitated at first, maybe because I didn’t look like a resident of the hostel. But when I told her I thought I knew who had been abusing Simon, she walked straight in. She didn’t like it when I asked if Simon had said anything about a dentist abusing him, though. When she turned to leave the room, I had that terrible feeling of panic sweeping over me again. You have no notion of what it feels like—the sheer terror. I hardly remember picking up the wine bottle and hitting her with it.” Simmonds blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. “Well, you obviously know I strangled her as well.”
Jane recalled the ligature mark around Eileen Summers’ neck. “Did you use the other curtain tie from your waiting room?”
Simmonds snorted. “I’d say that was pretty obvious, wouldn’t you? But this time I made the slip knot and cut the tassels off beforehand, so it wouldn’t be obvious it was a curtain tie.”
Jane knew Simmonds was lying about the panic attack. He had pre-prepared the curtain tie and taken it to the hostel with the intention of strangling Eileen Summers. It was premeditated murder.
She rolled a pencil back and forth on the desk in front of her, trying to keep her voice steady. “Did you also make it look as if Eileen had been sexually assaulted?”
“Yes, God help me, I did. I used an empty Coca-Cola bottle I found in the room. I took the bottle and her handbag with me when I left via the fire escape, and threw them in a dustbin.”
Jane felt sick. She didn’t want to know if he had defiled Eileen Summers with the Coca-Cola bottle before or after she had died.
Murder Mile Page 33