Lorraine continued to question Lyall as he sobbed out his part in the blackmail racket. She made only a few notes, knowing that Bickerstaff would go over everything. She didn’t even feel self-congratulatory. She couldn’t stop Brad Thorburn’s face drifting into her mind and she only half listened as Lyall talked, freely now as if relieved it was all out in the open.
Lyall had used Didi to make up the men who came to him for secret photographic sessions. They had met through Mathews when they worked together in Santa Monica. When they met again in Los Angeles they continued their old tricks and Mathews let Didi and Nula use his apartment for photo sessions. He moved out, leaving them there. Didi continued to pass on potential blackmail victims. Janklow was paying first Art, then all three to keep silent. None had any indication that he was also a killer. He had always paid up without argument, regaining one negative after another, until he began to get edgy, saying he had no more money, no more jewellery.
Lyall asked for water, sipped it and then traced the rim of the glass with his finger. ‘Hastings didn’t have much cash but he paid up, fifty bucks here and there. But when Art found out he went crazy.’ The rim of the glass squeaked as he ran his finger round and round.
‘Did you kill Norman Hastings, Craig?’
‘No, I didn’t, and I had nothing to do with any of those others.’
Lorraine leaned forward. ‘What about Didi?’
Lyall closed his eyes and sighed. ‘I saw her — she was already dead, she was at their apartment. Nula called me. She was lying on the floor. I never touched her. I think they had something to do with that girl Holly, but I don’t know what — they knew something, I’m sure of it.’
‘What about Mathews? Was he involved in Holly’s murder? That’s what you’re suggesting, isn’t it? That Nula and Didi had something to do with Holly’s death?’
His voice was quiet, almost a whisper. ‘Yes, but I don’t know if Art was involved.’ He started to cry, biting his bottom lip to stop the tears. ‘I swear all I’m guilty of is helping Nula to—’ He broke down, and Lorraine waited until he had composed himself. ‘I helped move her body, carry it to the stolen car.’
‘When you carried Didi, did she have these injuries?’
Lorraine brought out the photograph of Didi’s hideously beaten face again and he straightened up.
‘No. When I last saw her her head was covered in a black plastic bag, I never saw her face, and after she was put in the car, I went home.’
When he had finished Lyall seemed more relaxed. He had stopped crying and seemed resigned. As Lorraine gathered her notes and files together, he gave her a weak smile. ‘I loved her, you know, really loved Nula. We were going to be married in Vegas — that’s why I helped her. It wasn’t anything but that, I didn’t do anything.’
Lorraine walked across to the door. ‘They’ll want a statement from you, Craig, and I think you’d be wise to tell them everything you know, just as you’ve told me. Don’t let her get away with it.’
Bickerstaff didn’t congratulate Lorraine. He almost grabbed her notes from her while directing his men to begin the detailed requestioning of Craig Lyall. Lorraine sat in his office, drained, as the atmosphere around grew charged with excitement. She felt ill, her head thudded, but all she could think of was Brad Thorburn. Had she been wrong? Could he be implicated in the murders? Had he always known more than he had indicated?
‘What about Thorburn?’ she asked Bickerstaff quietly.
‘We’re having him brought back from France.’ He hesitated and leaned over her. ‘How involved do you reckon the smooth bastard is?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You mean there’s something you don’t know about this business?’
‘I didn’t think he was involved.’
Bickerstaff tapped her shoulder. ‘We’ll find out soon enough.’
Now it was Nula’s turn. Bickerstaff was moving like a man on speed, talking non-stop, firing instructions right, left and centre. Lorraine remained sitting in his office until they were ready for her, thinking about Brad Thorburn.
Nula was brought up from the cells. She screamed for her lawyer and wanted to see Lyall. She was aggressive and abusive, and had to be half dragged into an interview room, kicking and spitting. Only when she saw Lorraine did she quieten down. As the door closed behind her, Lorraine entered the adjoining room, looking through the one-way glass as Nula knocked over the jug of water.
She refused to say one word without her lawyer present. He was, in fact, sitting beside Lyall, now under oath to tell the truth. He made a formal statement detailing his part in the blackmail of Norman Hastings and describing how Nula had killed Didi. He could give no details about Holly’s murder as he had not been involved.
Bickerstaff waited until Lyall’s statement was ready before interviewing Nula. By law she had to be allowed time to talk to the lawyer and he would be present throughout. Bickerstaff formally requested that Lorraine not only be present but a party to the interrogation. The entire station was buzzing with the new developments. There was no animosity, just strong professional back-up: anything Bickerstaff wanted he got.
They were ready to interrogate Nula, the last piece in the jigsaw. She now knew how serious the charges were, and that there was no hope of her being released from custody. She had become calmer, having been kept waiting for hours. She was sitting at the table, and had redone her make-up and hair. She looked almost perfect, every hair in place, her lips a deep dark vermilion with a sheen of gloss but small flecks of the lipstick stained her front teeth.
Bickerstaff, two uniformed officers and a stenographer entered the room, followed by Lorraine. Nula turned slowly to face her and then laughed. ‘I underestimated you,’ she said, completely relaxed, and apparently unconcerned by the formidable line-up. If anything, she seemed almost to be enjoying the attention. Her lawyer waited until everyone had been seated and the tape recorder switched on; the stenographer’s hands were poised.
Nula was facing two separate charges: blackmail and extortion, and first degree murder. She stated that her birth name was Nigel Simmons. Her lawyer now turned to Bickerstaff. ‘My client categorically denies any part in the charges levelled at her and she has the right to remain silent. She has been made aware of certain statements by Craig Lyall, implicating her in these said crimes, and again denies playing any part in the said crimes but will, if required, be prepared to stand trial for the prosecution and to implicate Craig Lyall as being solely responsible for the crimes.’
There was a short pause before Bickerstaff began by asking Nula directly if she had been involved in the blackmail of Steven Janklow.
No comment.
Had she struck David Burrows (Didi) during an argument and then with the assistance of Craig Lyall, carried his body to a stolen car and deposited it?
No comment.
Bickerstaff asked detailed questions for almost half an hour. Each one was answered with, ‘No comment.’
Throughout, Nula sat checking her nails, fixing her skirt, straightening her frilled blouse. She sometimes looked at Lorraine, raising an eyebrow, and then, as if bored by the proceedings, yawned, crossing and recrossing her legs. When the photographs of Didi were displayed, she averted her face and stared at the wall. When she was asked again to look at the photographs, she sighed and glanced down, then looked at her lawyer.
Holly’s pictures were laid in front of her. This time her lawyer asked her to look at the photographs as requested. She picked one up, glared around the room, and then let it drop back on the table, drumming her nails on it.