“I told you — my wife has nothing to do with any of this. I swear on my children’s lives, she knows nothing.”
“What doesn’t she know about, John?”
Smiley was sweating. Instead of patting his tie, he began to loosen it.
“Why don’t you get it off your chest?” Anna said persuasively. “At least it will avoid our having to arrest your wife. And then you have your children to consider if she’s brought in for questioning.”
Gregson pointed at Anna. “This is really becoming intolerable, DI Travis. Mr. Smiley has stated over and over that his wife has no connection with any—” He stopped as if he knew he was trapping himself.
“That his wife has no connection with what?” Anna demanded.
Gregson got his act back together. “She knows nothing about the murder allegations leveled against my client.”
Anna stacked the photographs of Margaret Potts and tapped them on the tabletop like a pack of cards. “But I have made it very obvious that due to your client refusing to answer any questions, it leaves us with no alternative but to question Sonja Smiley in connection with those murders.”
“I do not believe you have any incriminating evidence against my client for...” Gregson checked his notebook and listed the four victims’ names.
Anna wished she had Langton backing her up. She felt Mike was taking a backseat.
“No evidence? No evidence? I beg to differ with you, Mr. Gregson, but I am not prepared to sit here any longer and play this game with you.”
John Smiley pushed back his chair. It made a harsh noise, startling them into silence. “I want to get some things cleared up,” he said.
There was a lengthy pause.
“I admit I have lied to you.” John Smiley stared at the tabletop; he was now sweating profusely. “I did meet Margaret Potts, and I did place a blind in Miss Turk’s box room. It was a long time ago, and I really couldn’t remember her. I didn’t even know her name, which is the reason why I have not admitted to knowing or recognizing her.”
“Take us through what happened when you first met Margaret,” Anna said.
“Miss Turk opened the door to me. I didn’t even know there was anyone else there. She seemed anxious to leave, so I said I’d let myself out as soon as I’d finished rehanging the kitchen blinds. She mentioned there’d been a problem with the ones in the little bedroom, too. I knew those flats, as we had a contract with the housing association in them days, and I happened to have a set the right size in the back of the van. She bunged me forty quid, waited for me to nip down and bring up the blinds, then she cleared off and left me to it. Didn’t seem to mind leaving me on me own. I didn’t realize there was anyone else there at that time.” Smiley rubbed his nose, then continued. “I was just finishing off the kitchen blinds when she came out of the smallest bedroom.”
“Margaret Potts?”
“Yes. I didn’t know anyone else was there, right, and she gave me quite a fright. She asked if I wanted a cup of tea, and I said I wouldn’t mind one when I’d put up the other blinds. She sat watching me while I did it. After a quick cup of tea in the kitchen, I left. I was eager to get home.”
“What was she wearing?”
“She was in a nightdress.”
“What color was it?”
“Black, I think.”
“Low-cut, strappy thing, was it?”
“Yeah, I think it was.”
“See-through?”
“Yeah, nylon thing.”
“She sat up on one of the stools, did she?”
“Yeah.”
“So then what happened?”
“I just told you. I packed up my tools and I left.”
Anna tapped the table with her pencil. “That’s all that happened? This sexy woman wearing a transparent black nightdress sits watching you, and you expect me to believe that you just walked out? Didn’t you even strike up a conversation with her?”
“We exchanged a few words, but none I can remember.”
“What vehicle were you driving?”
“Pardon?”
“What vehicle were you using on this occasion?”
“Er... it’d be the one I used for the company, as I’d had some jobs to do earlier in the day.”
“What time of day was this?”
“Late afternoon.”
“So did you return straight back to Manchester?”
“Yes. It was my last bit of work.”
Anna tapped the table again. “Did you have sex with Margaret?”
“No, I did not.”
“It’s very hard for me, Mr. Smiley, to believe a word you say. I am expected to believe that you just finished your work, packed up your tools, had a conversation that you can’t really remember, but you recall exactly what she was wearing. You were eager to get home, but she must have been very tantalizing, provocative, and we all know what you have waiting for you at home.”
“I don’t like the way you say things about my wife.”
“And I don’t like you lying to me. What happened, John? You start getting a hard-on when she crossed and uncrossed her legs on that high stool — is that what happened? You couldn’t resist her, could you? And she was offering it up to you, giving you a big come-on. A sexy man like you couldn’t help but want it. What was she doing, easing her nightdress up her thighs, pulling the straps down? Just exchanging a few words... Come on, what do you take us for!”
“I knew she was a slag.”
“Oh, you knew that, did you, John?”
“Yes. The woman Emerald is one as well. It was obvious.”
“So knowing Margaret was a tart meant nothing — right, John?”
He nodded.
“What are you nodding for? To admit that you knew she was a tart, or that it was all right to screw her because it was on offer?”
“All right, all right — I let her do it.”
“Do what, John?”
“I went into the bedroom with her.”
“You had sex with her?”
“Yes. She gave me a condom.”
“So after you’d had sex with her, what happened?”
“I took a shower. I felt dirty after screwing her. I was ashamed about it, and when I came out, she’d got my wallet out of my trousers and was looking at the photographs of my kids and Sonja. Nosy cow! I snatched them off her.”
“Was she dressed by this time?”
“Yeah. A right slob, she was.”
“Go on, John.”
“She asked for twenty quid. She knew I’d got cash off the other whore, so I threw it at her. She was laughing, saying it’d have cost more, but she fancied me.” He shook his head. “Listen, I don’t like admittin’ this. I’d been faithful up to then. You know, I respect my marriage vows?” He sighed deeply.
“What happened next?”
“I told her I was going back to Manchester. Although we’d lost the contract with Strathmore, we still had to complete the term of the contract, right? She said she’d give me the twenty quid back if I dropped her off at the Gateway Services.”
“And did you?”
“Yes. I just dropped her there and carried on out of the service station. I didn’t stop, I just wanted to get rid of her.”
“Did you see her again?”
“No. That was the last time I saw her.”
“You said you wanted to get rid of her. You didn’t really mean that, though, did you?”