“You never told this to anyone?”
“No, never, but even though I tried not to think about it, it was always somewhere in the back of my mind. It didn’t matter that Chrissie was promiscuous; I’d had plenty of boyfriends, too, and it was no reason for her to end up in that field.”
Sonja gave a helpless gesture. “What it did was make me cautious with John. I was so afraid he’d do it again. I was always wondering if he was seeing other women, it didn’t matter that we had two children. The fear was always sitting inside me, and I warned him that if he ever crossed the line, if I ever found out he was seeing other women, I’d report him. I kept him short of money, made sure he always came home to me because, yes, I was afraid he would do it again.”
She drained the water and set it carefully down on the table. “He has, hasn’t he? He betrayed me. All the years I’ve protected him and looked out for him, and he’s been with other women again.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Her grief was just for herself, not for any of her husband’s subsequent victims. Any sympathy Anna had felt toward her had evaporated. She spent some time getting the exact dates and location of the murdered Chrissie, whose surname Sonja thought was O’Keefe.
“I won’t get charged with anything, will I?” she asked, looking pleadingly at Anna.
Miss Flynn had not said one word, but she, too, looked to Anna for an answer.
“That will depend on whether your statement can be verified. In the meantime, we will begin checking out your information.”
Sonja looked up as Anna pushed back her chair. “It’s the truth, I swear before God, but I can’t protect him anymore. I never want to see him again, and he will never see his children again.”
She gasped for breath and gestured at herself. “This is what he did to me. I used to be such a pretty woman, but when you live with a secret like that, something has to give because of the guilt. I have hated myself, but you know... he has nothing, I know that now.”
Langton was sitting at Anna’s desk, having by now watched the entire video of her interrogation of John Smiley.
“Tomorrow I’ll be with you; we’ll do the interview together,” he said.
She rested her briefcase on the desk, and he reached for her hand, patting it lightly.
“It’s been a long day,” he said tiredly.
“Yes. How did your case go, the Pixie?”
“I got a full confession and more crocodile tears. The bastard.”
“Well, congratulations.”
He stood up and smiled. “We’ll get Smiley tomorrow, so go home and get a good night’s rest.”
“Good night, then.”
“Good night, Anna.”
She started to walk away and stopped. He rarely, if ever, called her Anna.
“Don’t you have one to go to?” she asked.
“One what?”
“A home.”
She caught a look in his eyes, a split second of pain, and then it was gone.
“Got a lot of catching up to do here. Go on, get out.”
Chapter Eighteen
Anna thought about Langton on the drive home. She was certain he was trying to get closer to her, but she didn’t know why. Perhaps he didn’t like the fact that she was no longer under his control, emotionally, at least. As she drove up to her garage, she saw Ken sitting astride his motorbike. Her spirits lifted immediately. As he took off his helmet, she got out and flung her arms around him. “Oh, I needed to see you!”
Arm in arm, they headed toward the lift. They kissed frantically as they reached the flat, besotted, and it didn’t take long for them to undress and get into bed. Having him with her made all the weights of Anna’s day disappear. Wrapped in his arms, she said that she couldn’t think of anything better than to have him there.
“I’ve had such a long, shattering day, and yet we are at long last moving the case forward.”
“Yeah, me, too. We got verification today that Welsh is being moved the day after tomorrow. That’s the reason I was able to make my escape.”
They got up and made bacon sandwiches, as hungry for food as they were for each other. Anna didn’t elaborate on the day’s events, and Ken didn’t feel inclined to give more details on the problems they were having with Welsh. Instead, they discussed dates for their wedding, and Anna said that perhaps after this case, she would take some unpaid leave for a few months. This would give them time to look for a place to live.
Ken was surprised. “You’d want to do that?”
“Yes. You know, I have never taken a holiday, never mind proper time off, and I think now is the right moment.”
“I thought you were ambitious?”
“I am. Let’s say I’m not at the moment, although I would like to try and get my promotion. But the thought of not being involved in another case straightaway comes as a big sense of relief.”
They discussed finances. Ken knew that starting more training as a child psychologist, expanding his degree to work with mentally challenged children and underprivileged teens, would not be well paid. He was embarrassed to admit that his salary would be in the region of £12,000 to £14,000 a year. He was surprised to discover how much Anna earned; she also had a substantial savings account: £170,000.
“I never spend all that much. Maybe because I never have time to go shopping,” she said. “This flat cost more than I ever believed I’d be able to afford. I’ve got a mortgage, but I was able to use some money my dad left me, and I sold my previous flat. So when we sell this one, we won’t have any money problems for a few years, at least. When I return to work, we’ll have my wages combined with yours.”
Ken put his arms around her, clearly loving her even more. Her practicality and generosity had overwhelmed him, he said. “It’s strange, isn’t it? There’s me, saving every cent to be able to continue getting more training as a child psychologist, and there’s Welsh with a degree, having all the time to study, plus three meals a day, living in a comfortable cell and financially well off.”
Anna hugged him. “I wouldn’t even think about it. He’s never going to be able to do anything but have even more time to face up to the waste of his intellect. Also, he’ll be out of your hair soon, so you won’t have to see him again.”
The following morning, Ken had to leave early for his shift on the unit. Anna took a lazy shower, washed her hair, and then dressed, ready to go into the station. She knew it was going to be another long day, and she was glad that Ken had stayed over, because she had slept so soundly in his arms. Usually, if the day ahead looked like a tough one, with lengthy interrogations, she would have forced herself to check over her files and notes in preparation, and more often than not, she would have had a restless night. But having Ken there made her feel calm and confident.
Anna was at her desk by eight-thirty. She had stopped to buy a Starbucks coffee and was eating a cream donut when Barbara passed.
“All right for some. I eat one of them, and I roll on extra pounds.”
Anna smiled and licked her sticky fingers.
“He was here all night, I think — Langton,” the DC went on.
“Was he?”
“Yeah. In Mike’s office. When he was a DCI, he used to have all his shirts stacked up — had me going back and forth to the laundry for him.”
“He’s got a wife to do that now.”
“I suppose he has. You never know with him, but then you probably know him better than any of us.”
Anna couldn’t help smiling, Barbara was so obviously fishing for gossip, and she looked her straight in the eye. “Why do you say that?”
Barbara hunched her shoulders. “You know, we all sort of knew you were with him for a time. You know, when he got injured...”