She watched him scribble away and sighed.
‘It is obvious, Mr Simonie, why we suspect that your client may have been involved with Miss Brooks for a considerably longer time than he has admitted. He could therefore be . . .’
‘In cahoots with her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is Miss Brooks a suspect in the murder of persons unknown?’
‘Yes.’
‘Ah, the plot thickens. Could you give me an indication of why you believe she is connected to the murder of whoever bled on the bed?’
‘There was blood on the floor and in the bathroom, leaving us to suspect that a body was dismembered inside Miss Brooks’s flat.’
‘Bloody hell! Right – and my client has denied knowing anything about this awful situation, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you believe him to be connected?’
‘You tell me, why does your client refuse to assist us? By not giving a DNA sample it is reasonable to suspect his involvement.’
‘No, no, no, I disagree. My client does not realise the seriousness of why you have been questioning him. If, however, you have evidence that proves him to be connected . . .’
Anna sighed and shook her head.
‘Mr Simonie, it is a very simple request. He has lied, he has denied knowing Miss Brooks or having any kind of relationship with her, yet we have a series of phone calls between them.’
‘These calls, how did you get them?’
Anna tensed up and explained that they had acquired them after Miss Brooks had left her salon to place calls to Mr Phillips, first at his office and then to a mobile phone.
‘Ah yes, but these calls have only recently taken place. He admits that he has become friendlier with Miss Brooks, but this has only occurred over the past few days. Miss Brooks was in his apartment for one occasion only and not since. Do you have any evidence that disproves this?’
‘He can resolve the situation by agreeing to give a DNA sample,’ she snapped, exasperated by Simonie.
‘Do you see his predicament?’
‘What?’
‘Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?’
‘The only thing obvious to me is that your client’s continued refusal to assist my investigation is because he is withholding evidence.’
‘My client is guilty of nothing, Detective Travis. His refusal to comply with your request for a DNA sample is, as I have already stated, his prerogative – unless, of course, you have evidence that proves he is connected to your murder investigation. As his legal representative I will also refuse to encourage my client to—’
Anna stood up, angrily suggested that he leave and crossed to open her door to usher him out.
‘If we find that your client is lying and perverting the course of justice, he will be arrested and charged. You may take him out of the station.’
Simonie stuffed his loose papers back into his briefcase and, clicking his pen, walked towards her.
‘I will inform my client he is free to go. Thank you so much.’
She wanted to slam the door behind him, but she restrained herself and closed it firmly before kicking out at the chair he had just vacated. Then she rang through to Brian Stanley.
‘Brian, have you got the results on Michael Phillips’s mobile and office calls yet?’
‘I think that’s already in progress,’ he said.
‘I asked you personally to do it and I need them urgently. See how far they go back, then let me know the dates ASAP.’ She banged the receiver back and drained the dregs of her cold cup of coffee.
Fifteen minutes later she was heading down the corridor to the interview room as Mr Hyde had finished talking to his client.
By now, Michael Phillips had left with the irritating Rhaji Simonie, who may have been wet behind the ears, but had won round one. Anna had no doubt that she would be seeing him again.
Chapter Thirteen
Tina Brooks was very subdued. She sat with her head bent down and her hands clasped in her lap. Anna seated herself opposite Hyde, who had moved his chair as far from his client as possible. His legs were crossed beside the table rather than beneath it. In front of him he had his leather-bound notebook open and his pen placed beside it. Paul had the stack of case-files beside him, leaving Anna space to have her notes in front of her. Quietly she cautioned Tina and reminded her that she was under arrest on suspicion of murder.
Hyde coughed, clearing his throat.
‘Let’s begin with clarifying that my client is suspected of murdering someone as yet unidentified. The possibility that the victim was Alan Rawlins, with whom she cohabitated in flat two Newton Court, Hounslow, has as yet not been proven. So there is also the possibility that the victim was in fact killed by Mr Rawlins, who has since absconded after disposing of the body.’
Anna met his cold flinty eyes and nodded.
‘So taking on board this rather confusing scenario, let us now discuss why my client is here.’
Anna looked directly at Tina.
‘Your client, Mr Hyde, is under suspicion of murder. Miss Brooks, could you please describe the last time you saw Alan Rawlins.’
Tina kept her head down as she replied.
‘I got a call at about ten in the morning. Alan said he was feeling ill and that it was probably a migraine. He had driven into work, but I agreed to pick him up and take him back to the flat in case anything happened while he was driving. He said he was really feeling bad and went straight to bed. I closed the curtains, made him a flask of tea and I went into work.’
‘And that was the last time you saw him?’
‘Yes, it was. I did call home later, but I didn’t get an answer so I presumed he was sleeping.’
‘How frequently did Mr Rawlins have these migraines?’
‘Not often, but he had one or two before that I can remember, and he always slept them off.’
‘Taking no medication for them?’
‘Not all the time, no.’
‘What time did you return to the flat?’
‘It was after I finished work – maybe six or quarter to seven.’
Anna flicked through her notebook.
‘Take me through what happened when you got home.’
‘Alan wasn’t there. He had been working a few nights until late so I presumed he must have felt better and gone back to the garage. I rang them, but no one answered. Well, they wouldn’t because he would have been outside where he worked on his own car.’
‘Go on.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘When he didn’t come home, what did you do?’
‘Oh, I see. I went to bed.’
‘In your bedroom?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, so what happened the next day?’
‘I went to work and I did phone home again, but there was no reply. I began to think that Alan had left me. He had been very distant with me for a while, non-communicative, and I started to think he had someone else. I rang his work again and they told me he hadn’t turned up there either.’
Anna watched the way Tina was acting, demure and upset. She constantly glanced towards Hyde, never looking at Anna.
‘I really believed he’d left me for another woman. His father phoned wanting to talk to him, and I asked him if he had seen Alan and he said he hadn’t.’
‘You remained alone in your flat?’
‘Yes. It was horrible because I didn’t know what was going on. He had never done this before, but I still thought he had maybe taken off with another woman or gone to Cornwall. He often went there whenever he had spare time.’
‘Without telling you?’
‘Yes.’
‘But also not informing his boss at the garage?’
‘I don’t know – maybe he did tell him. Mr Smedley never mentioned it when I called, but that was sort of why I felt suspicious – you know, that maybe Alan had told him and asked him not to tell me.’
‘How long was it before you became conce
rned about Alan’s disappearance?’
‘Well, it may sound awful, but not until about a fortnight had elapsed. This was because his father kept on calling me as he expected Alan to make contact as they were going to go to the cinema. Well, that’s what he told me. He then said he was going to report him missing so I agreed and that’s what we did.’
Anna paused, flicking the pages of her notebook back and forth.
‘During all this time you slept in the flat?’
‘Yes.’
‘Was there anyone else sleeping there?’
‘No.’
‘Do you have a cleaner?’
‘No.’
‘So did you change the bedlinen on your bed?’
‘I can’t really remember, but yes, I suppose I did. I usually change the bed every Monday and take the used stuff to the launderette for a service wash.’
‘We have been to the laundry you use and they have no record of you bringing in anything for the period of time when Alan Rawlins was missing. How do you explain that?’
‘I dunno. I said every Monday, but sometimes I’d skip a week or so if we’d been away.’
‘But you weren’t away, so what did you do with the sheets left on the bed when Alan was at home with a migraine?’
‘I can’t remember.’
‘You can’t remember?’
‘I just said so.’
Paul passed over the photographs taken at the scene of crime. They showed the blood pooling, under the floorboards and the removed segment of carpet. Anna handed them across to Tina.
‘As you can see, we discovered dense blood pooling beside your bed.’
Tina stared at the photographs.
Next, Paul produced the print of the staining to the edge of the mattress.
‘This bloodstain was on your mattress.’
Again, Tina just stared at the photograph.
‘We also know that you purchased four large containers of bleach and carpet cleaner, but we found only one container of bleach in your flat. Forensics have ascertained that bleach was used in an attempt to clean up. The blood must have soaked through the original carpet, through the underlay and down onto and under the floorboards.’
Paul got out the forensic shots. Again Tina stared at them, but remained silent. She turned to hand them to her lawyer, but he shook his head, having already been shown them.
‘Do you have anything to say about the findings, Tina?’
‘No.’
Anna nodded to Paul as she explained the use of Luminol in the bathroom and hallway.
‘As you can see, although there had been an attempt to clean the bathroom and the surrounding areas, we were able to uncover further bloodstaining.’
Tina chewed at her lips. Again she turned to her lawyer, almost as if he could give her an explanation, but he said that he was already privy to the photographs.
‘We have, as you know, been unable to identify the blood recovered as that of Alan Rawlins, but it stands to reason that as he has been missing for over nine weeks now it is very possibly his,’ Anna went on. ‘And that he was murdered in the bedroom then carried into the bathroom, due to the amount of bloodstains discovered in both rooms.’
‘I don’t understand any of this,’ Tina said, and placed her hands over the offending photographs.
‘It’s very difficult for us to understand, Tina, especially as you claim that the last time you saw Alan Rawlins was—’
‘I’m telling you the truth!’ Tina burst out. ‘I don’t know anything about this, I really don’t. I am telling you the truth!’
‘But if you changed the bedlinen, you must have been able to see this.’ Anna snatched the photograph of the blood pooling by the bed and slapped it down in front of Tina. ‘You must have known about it! How else did that section of carpet get to be in place over the stain?’
‘I told you – Alan spilled wine, and he must have done it.’
‘When did he do it?’
‘I don’t know, maybe the same day he had a migraine.’
‘Really? And yet Forensics have been unable to discover any wine stain left on the underlay in the living room or the piece of carpet in the bedroom.’
‘Well, I saw him spill wine and he was upset because it was a big stain and he cleaned it up.’
‘You recall the spillage as a reason for the carpet being cut by Alan, correct?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘Whether or not there was a stain, the sofa was moved across it. We know that the section cut out was wide and long enough to cover the exact area of the bloodstain beside your bed.’
‘Alan must have done it,’ Tina repeated.
‘When did he do this?’
‘I don’t know exactly.’
‘I think you do know, Tina, because I think you cut that section of carpet and you thought it would not be noticed. You cut the exact size of carpet needed to hide the bloodstain; you then moved the sofa over the missing section in your lounge and returned to—’
‘I DID NOT.’
‘Why did you subsequently order a new roll of carpet, Tina?’
Jonathan Hyde leaned forward, frowning. ‘I was not told about this. What carpet are you now referring to?’
Anna explained that whilst she was at his client’s flat the caretaker had taken possession of a new roll of carpet that Tina had ordered. Tina looked at Hyde rather than Anna as she explained.
‘I’d ordered it weeks ago ’cos I couldn’t clean off the fucking wine and other food and drink stains in the lounge. When the landlord comes round to check before we leave, we gotta have everything as it was when we moved in. He says he’s been done before and wants the flat to be left as we first saw it. I told you this; I said all this to you! We had to leave a big deposit.’
Paul passed Anna a receipt in a plastic cover.
‘This is a receipt from Wall-to-Wall, a carpet warehouse. As you can see, the order was placed after Alan Rawlins disappeared.’ Anna pushed it across the table to Hyde.
Tina didn’t even glance at it, but continued, ‘I wanted it done because I’m not plannin’ on staying. That place has got too many bad memories for me.’
‘Are these the bad memories, Tina, the bloodsoaked carpet?’
‘No, I didn’t mean them! I meant because of Alan leaving.’
Anna gathered the photographs up as Hyde carefully checked the receipt and the agreed delivery date. He passed it back to Paul, making a note in his notebook.
Paul looked to Anna, who leaned over and whispered to him. He opened another file and took out a report.
‘We discovered further forensic evidence from the sheet and pillowcase on your bed, Tina. We have semen stains that don’t match the blood DNA, and hair that is not Alan’s as it’s seven inches long. From recent photographs of Mr Rawlins we can see that his hair is cut short. Can you explain how this evidence came to be there?’
‘No, I can’t.’
‘You have claimed today that you and only you stayed at the flat – no one else – but this is a lie. You are lying, aren’t you, Tina?’
‘I am telling you the truth.’ She turned to Hyde and tapped his arm. ‘For fuck’s sake, why don’t you say something and stop all this because I am telling the truth. I never had nobody sleeping with me. I was there on me own.’ Her accent was slipping more towards cockney as she grew increasingly upset.
‘Miss Brooks, the officers are required to put the evidence in their case to you, and you do not have to answer unless you want to. I assure you I am more than aware of Detective Travis’s accusations, but this is your opportunity to tell them your version of events . . .’
‘It’s the truth! I mean, I never hurt Alan and she’s been telling me that he had this other life – right? Or was that you trying to make me implicate myself?’
Anna pursed her lips, saying, ‘We have uncovered records of substantial amounts of money that Alan had acquired, also a property in Cornwal—’
Tina interrupted her ag
ain. ‘I don’t know nothing about any money or what you said about him being a queer. I’ve been telling you the honest-to-God truth.’
‘Then please explain to me, if you still insist that you and you alone slept in your flat after Alan’s disappearance, why we have evidence that indicates another man was in your bed.’
‘One moment.’ Hyde tapped the table with his fountain pen. ‘You have as yet been unable to identify whose blood was discovered beside the bed or who left the evidence found on the bedlinen, correct?’
‘Yes, that is correct. We have been unable to acquire DNA from Alan Rawlins for a direct comparison.’
‘Then surely it is possible that the evidence uncovered from the bedside plus whatever DNA has been found on the bedlinen, could well belong to someone other than Alan Rawlins?’
‘That is possible,’ Anna said curtly.
‘Then isn’t it also possible that Alan Rawlins not only murdered someone else, but changed all the bedlinen and cleaned the flat? He would have had the entire day whilst my client was at work.’
‘YES!’ Tina half-rose from her chair.
‘Please remain seated, Miss Brooks.’
Tina sat back in her chair with a smug look on her face. She jabbed the air with her finger.
‘He could have removed the carpet, he could have shoved the bed over the bloodstain. I wasn’t thinking when I got back from the salon that we’d got different bedding on – right? That fucking semen stain you say you got could be his, right? Well, am I right?’
‘Just stay quiet, please, Miss Brooks,’ Hyde said coolly.
‘But that makes sense, don’t it? And it’s just coincidence that I ordered the new roll of carpet. I’ve been telling the fucking truth since I’ve come here.’
Jonathan Hyde closed his notebook, pocketed his pen and gave half a smile.
‘I think, Detective Travis, that until you are able to identify who the victim is, you really have no option but to release my client.’
Anna knew she was cornered and said that Tina should remain available as they might well need to question her again.
‘Is that it, then?’ Tina said, smiling.
‘Just one more thing. You have denied knowing Michael Phillips?’
Hyde looked up enquiringly.
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