“You came, then,” he said quietly as I sat down. “Didn’t think you would.”
“Didn’t Mr. Sarwate explain? I-”
“Oh, he explained. Still didn’t think you’d show up, though. These places put people off.”
“Well…” I glanced around. “Facilities here seem quite… reasonable.”
“Yeh. Well, they would, wouldn’t they? Different story back there.” He nodded towards a door behind him, the door to the rest of the prison.
“Yes. I imagine it is.”
“That’s all you have to do, though, ain’t it? Imagine. You don’t have to live it.”
“No. Well, of cour-”
“Get us a cup of tea, will you?” He pointed over my shoulder to a serving hatch. “Two sugars.” Obediently, I went and bought him a cup. When I brought it back to him, he uttered no word of thanks, merely took a gulp and said: “It ain’t so bad here. I don’t get as much harassment as… other places. My first night at Winson Green, well, I thought it was going to be my last. Anywhere. They beat the shit out of me. Literally. Cons don’t like nonces, see.”
“Nonces?”
“Sex offenders. We have to be segregated. That’s why I’m here in the VPU. Vulnerable Prisoner Unit. Locked away with the child molesters. You know? Really nice people. But I can’t complain, can I? Being a rapist and a murderer. I’m getting off lightly. Don’t you reckon?”
“It’s not for me to-”
“You know I didn’t do it. You met her that day. You must have known what she wanted. Is that it? Have you got it in for me because you missed out on a sure thing?”
It was the tiny fragment of truth in his question that angered me more than the suggestion itself. “If you’re trying to antagonize me, Mr. Naylor, you’re going the right way about it.”
“That right?” A sneer quivered across his lips. “Well, if you came here expecting me to beg, you’ve had a wasted journey.”
“I came here at your solicitor’s suggestion, in the hope you might be able to-”
“Tell you who tipped off Vince? Yeh, he said. He also said the police think you did.”
“Yes. They do. But I’m sure you don’t.”
He lit another cigarette and took a long draw on it, then said: “Tell you what. Agree to alter your statement. Agree to say you knew all along she was on the pull that day. Then I’ll give you what you want.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me?”
“Nah. You’d know if I was. That’s just an offer. A fair offer. Causes you no grief. It’s only the truth anyway.”
“No it isn’t.”
“Come on. You know what she was after. I could tell when I heard you give evidence. You’d seen the signs. Like me. Oh, you hadn’t done anything about it. Too well-bred, I suppose. But you knew what her game was, didn’t you?”
“No. I didn’t. What was her game?”
“You want me to tell you? You want to hear me say it? OK. She was seeing how far she could go. Seeing how far she enjoyed going. And that was quite a way. She wanted a stranger to do the things to her she’d never dared ask her husband to do. Or her lovers. She was after some rough trade. And I gave it to her. You bet I did. A classy lady, no holds barred. Too good to refuse. A real bargain, I reckoned. But it didn’t turn out to be much of one, did it?”
“Obviously not.” Remembering Sarah’s suggestion, I added: “Tell me, did she mention anybody else to you that day?”
“No.”
“Some man in her life who’d ditched her or… let her down in some way?”
He looked nonplussed. “She didn’t say nothing like that.” And it was clear to me he didn’t have a clue what I was getting at.
“Never mind, then,” I concluded lamely.
He grinned cockily. “I’m going to get out, y’know. Never thought I would. Never thought the bastard who croaked them would cough. But he has, hasn’t he? Pretty soon, everybody’s going to know I didn’t do it.”
“You don’t need me to change my statement, then.”
“It ain’t vital, if that’s what you mean. But Sarwate thinks it’ll help, so… I said I’d talk to you.”
“Who tipped off Cassidy?”
Naylor smirked and picked a flake of tobacco from his tongue. “Not so fast. You going to change your statement?”
“Perhaps.”
“I need a promise.”
“They come cheap. What if I gave you one, then broke it?”
“I’d bear it in mind. For when I get out. I’ll have some scores to settle then. You wouldn’t want to be one of them.” He took another gulp of tea and eyed me knowingly. “What you said on the telly would be good enough.”
And what I’d said on the television had been truer than I’d realized at the time. To resist the conclusion was to cling stubbornly to a memory every fresh discovery showed up as a lie. And stubbornness was a luxury I couldn’t afford. He was going to get out. He knew it. So did I. There would be other settlements-other surrenders-more painful than this one. “All right. I’ll make a fresh statement. Along the same lines as my interview on Benefit of the Doubt. You have my word.”
He chuckled. “The word of a gentleman?”
“If it amuses you to say so.”
“Yeh. It does. But, then, the whole thing’s a bit of a joke, ain’t it? All that effort-all that closing of ranks-to get me put away. And the real murderer turns out to be one of your own. I’ve heard of keeping it in the family, but-”
“Who was Cassidy’s informant?”
“Ain’t it obvious?”
“Not to me.”
“I’m only entitled to a couple of visits a month, mate. Why d’you think I’d waste one on you?”
“Because Sarwate advised you it was-”
“Sarwate? I don’t take orders from some-” He broke off and smiled grimly. “Truth is, I got visits to spare. The missus don’t come to see me no more. Says it’s bad for the kids. But that’s bullshit.”
“Why doesn’t she come, then?”
“Because she’s got somebody else. Simple as that. Can’t blame her, really. I mean, twenty years is a long time, ain’t it? Must have come as a bit of a shock to hear I was going to be out in less than four. Like I say, I can’t blame her. Leastways, I wouldn’t. If it had been anybody else but Vince Cassidy.”
“You’re saying…”
“My wife tipped off Vince. Nobody else it could be. Sarwate told her about Bryant. She told Vince. And Vince scarpered. What else could he do? Hang around till the police came for him, then explain he helped have me sent down just so he and Carol could…” He shook his head. “Don’t think so, do you?”
“Why didn’t you say this at your trial?”
“Didn’t know, did I? Not then. Carol talked me into believing he’d done it to get the Drugs Squad to drop some charges against him. But I’ve heard since he was having it away with her long before…” He swirled the tea glumly in his cup and drained it. “Should have guessed. She was always thick with that tart Vince had for a sister.”
Then it came to me. The girl on the walkway outside Sharon Peters’ flat. The faint but mutual recognition. We’d seen each other on the same videotape. Carol Naylor and me. Carol Naylor, calling on Vince Cassidy’s sister. She’d tipped him off. There was treachery everywhere. Even, perhaps especially, for Shaun Naylor.
“You look more shocked than I was at the time, mate. Not the answer you was expecting?”