He said that was it and repeated that he didn’t see her again after that one time. Anna doodled on her notepad, unable to bring up what was lingering in the back of her mind, because it didn’t quite make sense. Margaret Potts was murdered two years or more ago, Dorota even longer. Margaret was making more money than usual and had been, they presumed, hitting John Smiley up for cash before he had purchased the van from Michael Dillane. Then it clicked. It was like a piece of jigsaw falling into place, and she was angry with herself for not grasping it sooner.
“You knew Margaret Potts before you met her at Emerald Turk’s flat, didn’t you? You lied when you said it was the first time you met her.”
She could almost see the wheels turning in Smiley’s head as he weighed the question and made a decision on how to answer. Mike Lewis was looking confused, as it was something he hadn’t even considered; this was completely out of left field. Like Anna, he waited for Smiley to answer.
“You got me there,” Smiley said, and he had that weird smirk on his face again.
“Where exactly have I got you, Mr. Smiley? Caught in yet another lie?”
“Yes.”
“Please don’t waste any more of our time. Just tell us how long you had known Margaret Potts before that meeting at Emerald Turk’s flat.”
He looked at the ceiling, thinking. “Maybe four years. I wouldn’t say I knew her — let’s say it was more of an occasional thing. It was often months in between meetings, and then it was only for one thing. I suppose you can guess what that was.”
“Sex?”
“Yeah. I also need to tell you that I liked her. Okay, she was cheap and she was fucked up — and she was always on the take — but at the same time, she had a kind of genuine niceness. She was always gonna clean her act up, but she liked the drink, she liked getting stoned out of her head, and she also liked sex in a big way.”
“Four years?”
He nodded, adding that it was about that, but he couldn’t be sure, as he saw her only infrequently.
“Where did you really first meet Margaret?”
He closed his eyes, remembering. “It was in a café opposite King’s Cross station. They do a good cheap breakfast there. Don’t know what it’s called, but that’s where she used to hang out.”
Smiley continued to recall the different places that he had subsequently met Margaret Potts; he reckoned that it was before she began working the service stations. He added that he met her there by accident, as he hadn’t seen her in months.
Anna wrote a note to pass to Mike. The body of Dorota Pelagia had been discovered four years ago. The time frame bothered her because Margaret Potts wasn’t murdered until two years after Dorota. Did she have a connection to Dorota? Mike glanced at her note. She had written, Firm up dates.
Anna remained silent as Mike took over.
“Go back to the time you met Margaret at Emerald Turk’s flat. Did you know that she’d be there?”
“Yeah, because I’d seen her recently. She told me about the blinds, though her mate didn’t know we were acquainted. It worked out okay for me because I’d been part of doing the housing association contract. I even gave her a cut of the cash Emerald Turk paid me ’cause of selling her the Swell Blinds for the box room. Maggie was hitting me for more and more cash; she even threatened to call my wife, and I’d had enough.”
“Can I clarify something, Mr. Smiley? Are you saying that Margaret was hitting you up for money during the entire time you knew her? From the meeting in the café?”
“Yeah. Not much — a few quid here and there. I paid her ’cause I didn’t want her callin’ Sonja, and like I said, it wasn’t that much.”
“You said Emerald did not know that you knew Margaret Potts?”
“No. It was gonna be convenient, ’cause we could have time to play some sex games in a bed; before that, I’d only ever done it with her in the back of the van. Listen, I’m tired, and I’ve got a headache.”
Anna knew how he felt. Her head had begun to throb just from trying to assimilate all the new dates and locations, and she began to also want to take a break. It was already after six. Smiley had started to droop, constantly rubbing at his face.
“So after that time in Emerald Turk’s flat, when did you see her again?” Mike asked.
“I never did. Next thing I knew, couple years later, I was reading that she’d been murdered, poor cow.”
This didn’t add up for Anna. She believed that it was after that meeting that Margaret had increased her blackmail demands of Smiley. It was getting to the point that they should move to question him about Dorota Pelagia, but Gregson asked that as it was late, they should break and continue the interview the following morning.
“I want to see my wife,” Smiley said.
“I am afraid that won’t be possible,” Mike told him.
However, Anna wanted to keep Smiley sweet, so she suggested they speak to their superintendent to see if a short supervised meeting could take place.
She and Mike left Smiley with his lawyer just as Langton walked out of the viewing room. He had just arrived so had not been privy to the interrogation.
After a brief discussion, he agreed that they should keep Smiley as pliable as possible for the following day, and if they let him see Sonja for five minutes, it might assist their interrogation in the morning, but he wanted him handcuffed. Smiley would be held in the cells overnight again.
Sonja Smiley was sitting with Barbara. Food cartons and cups of cold coffee littered the table. She turned expectantly when Anna entered.
“We have agreed to allow you to see your husband, Mrs. Smiley, but I will have to be present, and it can only be for five minutes.”
Sonja reached out to take Anna’s hand and grasped it tightly. “Thank you. I just want to say a few things to him.”
Anna felt sorry for her. The big woman seemed vulnerable; her face was swollen from weeping, her eyes redrimmed.
Barbara was eager to leave, as the body odor from Sonja was by now overpowering. “Can I go?”
“Yes. Sorry to keep you here for so long.”
“That’s okay.” Barbara jerked her head to ask for a private chat. “She’s been crying since you left, almost waded through a whole box of tissues. She didn’t talk much, kept going on about betrayal... how much she’d done for him... but she still managed to scarf down four sandwiches and a hamburger.”
“Thank you, Barbara. Right, you get home. I have to say I really need a break as well. I’m exhausted.”
Anna watched Barbara walk down the corridor at the same time as John Smiley left interview room one, accompanied by Mike and Barolli. He was handcuffed but was trying to straighten his tie and run his hands through his sweat-sodden hair.
Anna stood aside, pushing the door open wider for Mike to usher Smiley into the room. Sonja was like a sumo wrestler. Considering her size, she moved quickly and kicked her husband hard in the groin, then as he moaned, bending forward, she gave him an upper-cut punch worthy of Mike Tyson. His head jolted back as she came at him again with fists flying, catching him twice with well-aimed heavy punches before Barolli and Mike managed to drag her off.
Her face was red as she spat at him, then held between the two officers, she screamed, “You bastard! After what I done for you — well, now I make you pay. You got no home, no job, and you never gonna see your kids again. I hate you.”
Smiley burst into tears as he was helped to his feet. Anna was helping Barolli as Mike pushed Sonja into a chair; her chest was heaving as she tried to get her breath.
Smiley was taken down to the cells, still crying. His lawyer stood watching helplessly, obviously shocked by what had happened. Langton tried to put the lid on it all, ushering Anna into the room with Sonja as he headed off with Gregson. Barolli handed Sonja a cup of water, and she gulped it down. She then turned to Anna.