"Very well, Honour, let's go from the top, shall we? Please give your name and address." Langton kept his voice low, almost encouraging, as Honour cleared her throat and answered his seemingly innocuous questions about how long she had lived at the farm, how long she had been married to Damien Nolan, when she had worked at the antiques store, and her relationship with Mrs. Doris Eatwell. Her answers were concise and to the point.
Seated beside Honour was her solicitor, a gray-faced man, with extremely bad halitosis. Matthew Webb used a stubby pencil to jot down notes in what looked like a child's exercise book. His solid square face gave no hint of expression, his watery eyes unblinking, as his client continued.
Langton paused before he asked Honour to detail her relationship with Alexander Fitzpatrick.
Webb looked up. "My client will refuse to answer that question, on the grounds that it could—"
"Your client, Mr. Webb, has already admitted to knowing Mr. Fitzpatrick and, according to her sister, had an ongoing sexual relationship with him."
"That is a lie," she said.
"I'm sorry; do you want to explain why you say it is a lie?"
"My sister did not tell you the truth. I have never had a sexual relationship with him."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
Again, Webb interjected that his client would not answer, on the grounds that it might implicate her.
"Your client, Mr. Webb," said Langton, "was fully aware that Fitzpatrick was a man wanted on both sides of the Atlantic. Your client aided Mr. Fitzpatrick to store a sizable amount of medical drugs, first at Honey Farm, and then subsequently in Mrs. Doris Eatwell s garage."
"I did not." "Were you aware that your husband fathered a child by your sister?""That is preposterous! If my sister claimed that this happened, then she lied to you. Julia was incapable of ever telling the truth.""Could you please explain why this has been brought up?" Webb tapped the notebook with his stubby little pencil."We are simply trying to establish the relationships that enabled Alexander Fitzpatrick to avoid detection for such a considerable time. His mother, Doris Eatwell, was a close friend to you, Mrs. Nolan; you assisted in moving the drugs to her garage with the help of Adrian Summers.""That is not the truth.""Do you admit to knowing Mr. Adrian Summers?""I have never met him.""But we have a witness who saw him at your farmhouse," Langton persisted. "He also submitted a statement, claiming that you helped store the crates containing the drugs in the henhouse at your farm.""I did not.""Were you aware that your husband fathered a child by your sister?""That is preposterous! If my sister claimed that this happened, then she lied to you. Julia was incapable of ever telling the truth.""Could you please explain why this has been brought up?" Webb tapped the notebook with his stubby little pencil."We are simply trying to establish the relationships that enabled Alexander Fitzpatrick to avoid detection for such a considerable time. His mother, Doris Eatwell, was a close friend to you, Mrs. Nolan; you assisted in moving the drugs to her garage with the help of Adrian Summers.""That is not the truth.""Do you admit to knowing Mr. Adrian Summers?""I have never met him.""But we have a witness who saw him at your farmhouse," Langton persisted. "He also submitted a statement, claiming that you helped store the crates containing the drugs in the henhouse at your farm.""I did not.""Then, at a later date, when it became known that the police were making their presence felt, possibly about to orchestrate a search of the farmhouse, you moved the crates to Mrs. Eatwell's garage for safekeeping.""That is not true.""At this time, you assisted the injured Mr. Fitzpatrick; you tended to, I believe, a flesh wound to his right shoulder.""That is not true."Langton glanced at Anna, and took out a photograph of Julius D'Anton. "Do you recognize this man, Mrs. Nolan?"Honour hesitated, then admitted that she did recall seeing him, when he tried to buy a table from the antiques shop where she worked. She was shown the photograph of D'Anton, taken when his body was dragged out of the water. She gave a strange lift of her eyebrows, but said no more.Anna sat patiently as Langton began to bring out the photographs of all the victims: David Rushton, Donny Petrozzo, Frank Brandon, Julius D'Anton's wife, Sandra. Lastly, he laid out the pictures of Julia Brandon's mangled car, and the mortuary shots of her body. He kept up a fast delivery, slapping down the pictures, not giving Honour time to < or her lawyer time to interject. He spread the photographs out fan across the table and stared at Honour."Why are you showing me all these terrible photographs?' voice was now starting to sound strained.Langton laid down numerous photographs of Alexander Fitzpatrick; taken from Rushton's security CCTV footage. "This is Alexander Fitzpatrick, correct?"Honour chewed her lips. "Or maybe you still refer to him as Anthony Collingwood? Which name do you call him by?" "I don't know him." "All these people—