DI Sean Corrigan Crime Series: 6-Book Collection: Cold Killing, Redemption of the Dead, The Keeper, The Network, The Toy Taker and The Jackdaw. Luke Delaney
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about five seconds. When that noise stops, we’re recording. Do you understand?’
Templeman spoke for Hellier. ‘We understand, Inspector.’
Sean could feel a ‘No Comment’ interview coming his way. He nodded to Donnelly, who pressed the ‘record’ button. The two tape reels began to turn together, the buzzing noise louder than anyone had expected. Even Sean felt his heart skip a beat. After a few seconds the noise stopped. There was a second of silence before he found his voice.
‘This interview is being recorded. I’m Detective Inspector Sean Corrigan. The other officer present is …’ He let Donnelly answer for himself.
‘DS Dave Donnelly.’
Sean continued: ‘I am interviewing – could you please state your name for the tape?’ Sean spoke to Hellier. Hellier looked at Templeman, who nodded that he should speak. Hellier leaned forward a little.
‘James Hellier.’ He leaned away.
‘And the other person present is?’
Templeman knew his cue. ‘Jonathon Templeman. Solicitor. And I’d like to say at this point that I am here to represent James Hellier. I will advise him regarding the law and his rights. I am also here to ensure the interview is conducted fairly and to challenge any questions or behaviour by the police that I deem to be inappropriate, unfair, irrelevant or hypothetical.
‘I would also like to say that against my advice …’ Sean saw Templeman cast a quick glance at Hellier, ‘Mr Hellier has decided he would like to answer any questions you ask.’
Sean wondered if they’d staged this little performance. Templeman’s idea, probably. Cast Hellier in the role of the victim of circumstance. The innocent man out to prove it. Whatever it was, Sean hadn’t seen it coming. He continued with the pre-interview procedure.
‘You have the right to consult with a legal representative or solicitor. You can consult on the phone or have one attend the police station and this right is free. As we know, you have your solicitor, Mr Templeman, present here anyway. Have you had sufficient time to consult with your legal representative in private?’
Templeman continued to speak for Hellier. ‘Yes, we have.’
‘I must remind you that you’re still under caution. That means you do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so. However, it may harm your defence if you fail to mention when questioned something that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be used in evidence. Do you understand?’
‘He understands,’ Templeman said.
Sean decided to break this routine. ‘I would like Mr Hellier to answer for himself. I need to hear that he understands from his own mouth.’
Templeman was on the verge of protesting, but Hellier spoke. There was no feeling in his voice. ‘I understand, Inspector. The time has come for explanations.’
Sean’s stomach tensed. Was Hellier about to spill? Had the burden of guilt caught up with him? Few had the strength to carry their darkest secrets all the way to the grave.
Hellier and Sean locked stares. Sean spoke. ‘Mr Hellier. James. Did you kill Daniel Graydon?’
Sally entered the Intelligence Office at Richmond police station where she was met by a uniformed constable. ‘Are you the DS from the SCG?’ he asked unceremoniously.
‘Yes. I’m DS—’ Sally was interrupted. The constable wasn’t interested.
‘So what is it you’re after?’
‘Information from your records,’ Sally told him. ‘Back in 1996 a man called Stefan Korsakov was charged here with a serious sexual assault and fraud.’
‘An unusual mix,’ offered the constable.
‘Yeah,’ Sally answered. ‘Later the assault charges were dropped, but he went down for the fraud. You should have a charging photograph of him. I need to see it.’
‘Back in ninety-six? You’ll be lucky if we still have a card on him. Unless he re-offended within the last five years, his old card wouldn’t have been transferred on to the new Intelligence System. It may have been shredded. We kept the more interesting ones, though. People most likely to come back and haunt us. What was the sexual assault?’
‘He raped a seventeen-year-old boy in Richmond Park. Tied him up and threatened him with a knife.’
The constable scratched the side of his face. ‘Hmm. That’s definitely the sort of person we should have kept. I’ll have to check in the archives. What did you say this bloke’s name was?’
‘Korsakov. Stefan Korsakov.’
The constable began to move alongside the metal filing cabinets, which were just big enough to hold the old intelligence cards. As he did, he spoke to himself: ‘K, K, K, K … here we are.’ He stopped and opened the cabinet containing records of people whose surname began with K. He fingered through the files.
‘Korsakov. Korsakov. Stefan Korsakov.’ He pulled a thin card from the cabinet. ‘You’re in luck. We kept his card.’ His smile soon turned to a frown. ‘Bloody typical.’
‘Problem?’ Sally asked.
‘The photographs. They’re not here. Some bastard’s taken the lot.’
‘Did I kill Daniel Graydon? No, Inspector, I didn’t. No matter how hard you find that to believe, it’s the truth.’ Hellier’s eyes were giving nothing away. Damn, he was difficult to read.
‘Why did you lie to us?’ Sean asked. ‘You told us you were never in Daniel Graydon’s flat, which leaves me very confused as to how your fingerprint ended up on the underside of his bathroom door handle.’
Hellier sighed. ‘I lied to you, and that was wrong. I was foolish to do so and I can only apologize for wasting your time. I pray to God I haven’t distracted you from catching the person responsible.’
Sean didn’t believe a word.
‘I have been to Daniel’s flat. I was a client of his. I’ve been so for the past four or five months.’
‘And on the night he died?’ Sean asked.
‘No. I didn’t see him the night he was killed. I didn’t go to his flat that night. I hadn’t been to his flat for over a week.’
‘You see,’ Sean said, ‘whoever killed Daniel got into his flat without breaking in. We believe Daniel let them in. Now what sort of person would Daniel let into his flat at three in the morning? A friend, perhaps? Or maybe …’ Sean paused a second to make sure he still held Hellier’s gaze ‘… a client? One who made regular visits. One he thought he could trust.’
Templeman could stay silent no longer. ‘These questions are totally hypothetical. If you have evidence …’
Hellier put a hand on Templeman’s forearm. Templeman fell silent. ‘I want to answer their questions. Any questions. I didn’t go to his flat that night.’
‘So why did you lie about never having been to Daniel’s flat? You knew this was a murder investigation. You must have known the serious consequences of lying to us. You’re not a stupid man.’
Hellier looked at the floor and spoke. ‘Shame, Inspector. I don’t expect you to understand. I only wish you could.’
Sean had had about all he could stomach. Most of his childhood he’d felt nothing but shame. Shame and fear. Listening to Hellier’s false pleadings made him feel physically sick.
‘You live a lie. You lie to your wife, kids, family, friends. You pay young men to have sex with you and then curl up in bed with your wife. You lie to the police, even though you know that may delay our investigation. And now you want me to believe you lied because you were ashamed of your sexual preferences. I doubt you’ve ever been ashamed of anything in your entire life.’