‘Always a pleasure to be here,’ said Timmy Kerrigan, lifting the crease of his trousers at the knees as he eased his bulk into the chair and crossed his legs in interview room three. As usual, he was expensively and garishly dressed, this time in a navy bespoke suit over a psychedelic waistcoat, lilac shirt, and green bow tie. Short golden curls topped his round head and, along with his peaches and cream complexion, made him appear quite angelic. Annie had decided to talk to Timmy instead of his brother this time, as he was marginally more garrulous and slightly less unpleasant to be around. But Timmy Kerrigan was a long way from being an angel.
Gerry was busy digging up whatever she could on Marnie Sedgwick’s background. They had already talked briefly to the ex-boyfriend Rick, who had said he hadn’t seen Marnie since the middle of April. She had become very unreliable and moody, he said, and he had decided to end the relationship and move on. He had a new girlfriend now, a drummer in a local rock band, and she confirmed that Rick had been with her almost constantly since early May. He also said he didn’t know anything about the parties Marnie had worked, and he had certainly never been to one. There was no reason to disbelieve him as he was so far out of Blaydon’s sphere of interest as to be almost non-existent. Unfortunately, they had had no success with the sparse list of guest and employee names Tamara and Charlotte had emailed. People either denied they were present, refused to talk, or said they hadn’t noticed anything. The footballer and guitarist Mitsuko had mentioned said they hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary and had spent most of the evening by the pool.
Annie was still worried about Banks. The doctor who wouldn’t let her see him earlier that day had assured her he would be fine and his injuries weren’t serious, but he was no more forthcoming than that. She had visited Banks’s cottage as soon as she heard he had been taken to hospital and found his front door open, his mobile and keys lying on the hall carpet. She had picked up the mobile and grabbed Banks’s headphones from the conservatory. She knew he would be insufferable in hospital without his music. The keys she would hang on to until he went home. There wasn’t much more she could do except call the CSIs to check out the cottage.
For the moment, though, Annie tried to concentrate on Timmy Kerrigan. ‘Timmy,’ she began, ‘first of all, you should know that this is simply an intelligence interview. You’re not under arrest and you’re not being charged with anything, OK?’
Timmy nodded and his chin wobbled. ‘I rather thought so,’ he said, glancing around the room, ‘seeing as I haven’t done anything. But why the dull decor?’
Annie smiled. ‘You’d be surprised how it concentrates the mind. No interruptions. Can we start?’
‘Whenever you’re ready.’
‘You were at a party thrown by Connor Clive Blaydon at his home near Harrogate on 13 April this year, right?’
‘If you say so. We’ve been to a few of Connor’s parties, Tommy and I. He’s a good friend. Was. I can’t remember the exact dates.’
‘Now, we have evidence that a young woman was raped at that party, and we’re trying to find out who did it.’
‘Well, don’t look at Tommy and me.’
‘We know that Tommy has — what shall we say? — other interests, but as for you...’
‘Whatever you’ve heard, it’s a vicious lie,’ Timmy protested.
Annie had heard rumours of his interest in young girls often enough to believe them without further proof, but she realised there was no point in angering him. It was clear from the video, poor as its quality was, that Timmy Kerrigan was entirely the wrong shape and size to have been Marnie’s rapist. ‘That’s as may be,’ she said, ‘and it’s not our concern at the moment, but what I want to know is whether you saw this girl at the party. Your brother said he didn’t recognise her, but we only had a very poor photo to show when we talked to him.’
She slid over a print of the photo Mitsuko had AirDropped her. Timmy picked it up and studied it, then nodded. ‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘I think she was there, but she wasn’t... how shall I say... part of the entertainment.’
‘She worked for the events organiser in the catering area, mostly back in the kitchen and behind the scenes. But apparently, she brought out drinks once in a while.’
‘That must have been when I saw her. A very pretty girl. Gamine, I’d say.’
Annie ground her teeth. ‘Yes.’
‘I do hope she’s all right.’
‘As a matter of fact, she isn’t,’ said Annie. ‘Not all right at all. In fact, she jumped off a cliff and died.’
‘Oh,’ said Kerrigan. ‘That’s a terrible tragedy.’
Annie almost believed he meant it; it was probably the closest to sincerity that Timmy Kerrigan got. Timmy linked his pink sausage-like fingers on the table. He was wearing a large gold signet ring, Annie noticed, so deeply imbedded in the flesh it looked impossible to take off.
‘Do you know the events organiser?’
‘Charlie? Yes, of course. Though she hates being called that. Charming lady. In fact, she’s organised a couple of private dos for Tommy and I over the last three or four years. Retirement parties and so on. Extracurricular, so to speak. She organised the opening of The Vaults.’
‘I thought that when you retired people, they were in no condition to have a party.’
Timmy cocked his head. ‘Very droll. Have you considered a career in stand-up?’
‘I’ll stick with what I’m doing for the moment.’
‘The stage’s loss.’
‘You were at other parties, weren’t you? Earlier in the year.’
‘I suppose you could say we were regulars.’
‘Did you ever notice Charlotte Westlake introduce Marnie to anyone?’
‘No. They seemed to know each other, though. I mean, I did see them talking together in the background on a couple of occasions.’
‘It’s a big house. Where did you hang out?’
‘Tommy and I tended to stick by the pool except... you know... when nature called. I enjoy a swim now and then.’
Annie cringed at the mental image of Timmy in his thong trunks. Once seen, never forgotten. ‘I suppose that was where most of the action was?’ she said.
‘The synchronised swimming and so on? Yes, I suppose it was.’
‘I was thinking more of the naked women.’
‘Can’t say as I noticed.’
‘Oh, come on, Timmy. You could hardly fail.’
‘One gets used to these things. Besides, what’s wrong with swimming as nature intended in the privacy of a friend’s home?’
‘So you and your brother sat around the pool, smoking cigars, drinking whisky, and ogling naked women.’
‘That last part is pure invention on your part. I don’t ogle, and Tommy... well...’
‘Tommy has no interest in naked women?’
‘You could say that.’
‘Blaydon was no doubt a very woke host. I’m sure he catered for all tastes and genders.’
Timmy giggled. ‘Very good. Yes. Yes, he did that, all right.’
‘So you saw Marnie on the evening of 13 April?’
‘Yes. I’ve already told you that.’
‘Did you see her with anyone?’
Timmy thought for a moment, or at least Annie assumed that was why his brow furrowed. ‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s about it. Except for Connor, of course.’
‘Marnie spent time with Connor Blaydon?’
‘Well, it was his party, after all, wasn’t it?’
During the day, Banks slept as well as anyone can sleep in a hospital, but — even though he had the room to himself — there always seemed to be something going on somewhere, and it usually made noise. In addition, the nurse kept waking him up to make sure he could be woken up.