“Best to think back... how long had you been living here? Was it shortly after you moved in or a few months later?”
Emerald got up and opened a drawer in one of the kitchen cabinets. She rooted around in it, taking out a lot of leaflets from electrical appliances and insurance coverage of washing machines and TV sets. “Well, it wouldn’t be that long after I moved in, ’cause everythin’ was supposed to be finished, right?”
Barolli returned to hover in the kitchen doorway. Emerald sat down, placing all the leaflets on the table; many were still in their envelopes.
“I moved in here April 2005... that’s right, isn’t it? Been here five years now and...”
Anna was growing impatient as Emerald sifted through the guarantee forms and then shoved them aside. She returned to another drawer and took out a TV license then sat down again.
“Right: we’d not got a TV in, so this was after. It’s got to be that winter, but dunno which day. All I remember is, I didn’t have a TV then.”
“So when you moved in, the blinds were working. Think about how much time it had been after you said they were faulty and then got them taken away and brought back.”
“Bloody hell, I’m trying. Lemme get another fag.”
Back at the station, the team was buzzing when Anna, using a thick red marker, wrote down the date that Emerald’s blinds were repaired, that Margaret Potts was staying in her flat at the time, close to Christmas 2005, and that after she had left and a good time later, the following summer, Maggie had called her again.
“The date is near enough, and it took a long time working it out, but first Emerald had the kitchen blinds removed in November 2005, and then a different man returned the repaired blinds in early December. She didn’t recall much about him but said he was tall and dark-haired. She was yet again unclear how long it was until some months later, she received a phone call from Maggie Potts in which she mentioned something about the Evening Standard. Dorota’s murder was discovered in June 2006, so maybe Maggie had read the story and wanted to talk to Emerald about it.”
Anna gestured at the dead girl’s photograph and then moved on to Maggie Potts’s photographs. “Margaret Potts’s body was discovered in March 2008. This leaves quite a time gap between the phone call and her body being discovered.”
Anna looked over at Barbara, as she’d asked her to check the Evening Standard news coverage around the same time. Next she underlined the month when Swell Blinds moved to Manchester.
She turned to the team while replacing the cap on the marker, saying, “We need to get a video ID set up and bring in Emerald and John Smiley, because he is now back in the frame.”
Barbara had brought up the Evening Standard newspaper coverage and was scrolling through the lead stories. They all turned their attention toward her as she read that on June 15, 2006, the paper had issued a request for information connected to the body of a young woman found wrapped in a blue blanket.
The buzz was on, and Anna had to settle everyone down as they discussed the latest development. Dorota Pelagia’s body had been discovered four years ago. When Margaret referred to the newspaper article in her call to Emerald, did it mean she knew something about the killer? Did she meet John Smiley at Emerald’s? Had she seen him again at the service station? Was she perhaps in contact with him?
Mike Lewis had sat listening, and he now took over from Anna. “We are presuming a hell of a lot. If this is going to pan out and we can prove that John Smiley did meet Margaret Potts, then why wait so long before she got herself murdered — or, more to the point, why did he wait?”
There was a murmur around the incident room, suggestions flying from one person to another. Joan suggested that it was perhaps due to the fact that he had moved from London to Manchester, but she was ignored. Anna eventually quieted everyone.
“If we can prove that John Smiley did meet Margaret Potts, it shows he was lying about never seeing her — and why would he do that? Let’s get him back in and see what he has to say.”
Anna was just stepping out of the shower when her phone rang. It was Langton, and he was calling to congratulate her. She thanked him and said that she felt sure Emerald was still lying about the last time she had actually seen Margaret. She thought the lie might be connected to the contents of Maggie’s suitcase, since she was certain there had been money hidden inside, as well as a few pieces of quite valuable jewelry.
“She lied to me when I first interviewed her, because I think Margaret was more of a regular visitor than she likes to admit, but at least we’ve got this new connection, and maybe to John Smiley. If she can identify him, he moves back into prime suspect position...”
“We’ve never really had anyone else,” Langton said, yawning.
“But not until now do we have a possible connection to a victim.”
“Right. And yet again Travis uncovers it.” He sounded as if he had been drinking.
“I hope if we do move forward, we’ll have the finances and can keep the full team,” Anna said.
“Don’t tell me how to run the inquiry,” he snapped.
“I’m not, but you know we have a terrific team, and they have been working full-time for weeks.”
“Thank you for that information. Apart from that, how are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
She just wanted to get off the phone, but he continued asking about the new possibilities that might be opening up the case. Finally, he went quiet. Anna was at a loss as to what he expected from her.
“Okay, that’s it,” he said.
“Thank you for calling.”
“You know, you sound different. Want to tell me something?”
“No.”
“Okay. Good night.” He hung up.
She went to bed wondering what all that had been about, but she wasn’t prepared to divulge anything about Ken to him. She was different, she was more confident in herself because of her relationship, and she was determined to keep it private. She had always hated the gossipmongering that went on about her previous relationship with Langton, and the realization that she had at last moved on from his hold over her emotions felt good. She didn’t feel in any way that Ken had the same stranglehold; their love was somehow cleaner and gentler by far. She was loved, and it was special because she felt as if she could have another life apart from the Met.
As she got into bed, Ken called, and they spent over an hour chatting, neither wanting to end the call, wishing they were wrapped in each other’s arms.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend,” he eventually said.
It wasn’t until then that she told him about the new developments, hoping it wouldn’t mean she had to work instead.
“Whatever, let’s just try and see each other as soon as possible,” he told her. “I never stop thinking about you, missing you.”
“I miss you, too. I love you.”
“Take good care of yourself, Anna. Kiss you good night.”
“Good night.”
He laughed and told her to hang up because he couldn’t. She did and then curled up in bed thinking about him, wanting to be close to him, the call from Langton forgotten.
It took two days to organize and film enough John Smiley look-alikes in order to be able to hold the identity parade. Mike then rang Smiley, requesting him to come down to London to assist inquiries. If he’d refused, they would have been forced to arrest him and bring him to the station, but he agreed. Mike asked if he wished to have a lawyer present. Smiley hesitated, asking how long it would take, as he would have to get time off work. Barolli was listening in to the call on the speaker. Smiley didn’t sound scared, more confused than anything.