‘Sorry. Go on.’
‘When I came to, I was on my side on a hard floor with my ankles tied together and my legs bent back at the knees. A rope from my ankles was also attached to my neck so that if I tried to—’
‘A variation of the hog-tie, I understand.’
‘Precisely. My hands were also tied behind me.’
‘Were you on the upper level at any time, where the offices are?’
‘No. Just down in the operating area.’
‘Was anyone else present?’
‘Yes. A man I knew as Phil Keane. He’d lately been going under the name of Hugh Foley, and he had been connected with a woman called Faye Butler, found dead in the Thames a few weeks ago.’
DI Dunne leaned over and whispered something in Newry’s ear, never taking her eyes off Banks. ‘Did you think this Keane was responsible for Faye Butler’s death?’ Newry asked.
‘No. Keane likes fire. I put her death down to Tadić and his crew, the people Keane worked for.’
‘I understand that Faye Butler wasn’t your case,’ Newry went on, ‘but why do you think she was killed?’
‘I think she was tortured for information, then raped and murdered.’
‘What information?’
‘Of that I have no idea. Something the Tadićs wanted an answer for, I’m sure.’
‘What happened next?’
‘Keane started splashing petrol around my feet and on the floor around where I was lying. While he was doing that he admitted to me that he had killed an NCA agent called Trevor Hawkins, who had been Zelda’s — Ms. Melnic’s — boss at the department where she worked. He set fire to his house.’
‘How did that come up?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Did he just come out with it, out of the blue, so to speak, or was there a context?’
‘I asked him. He’d mentioned something about the Tadićs, and I asked him what happened. Zelda had been getting a hard time about her boss’s death from the NCA, so I wanted to know.’
‘OK. So this Keane tells you he set fire to this man Hawkins’s house, working on behalf of the Tadićs. Did he say why they had wanted this done?’
‘Only that Hawkins was taking their money and giving them crap in exchange. It’s my guess that he’d been tipping them off about possible raids, border checks, and so on, but he’d either started to get cold feet, or he’d become greedy and given them dud information.’
‘Quite the conversation you had.’
‘You asked me. Some of it’s conjecture. Besides, all the time he was talking, he was splashing petrol around. It was pretty obvious that it was meant for me, and I could hardly move. I figured my time was up and the best thing to do was keep him talking as long as I could. He knew this, so he said something about it not working, that he wasn’t going to confess all just to keep me alive, even if I wasn’t going to be around to tell anyone.’
‘So what happened next?’
‘That’s all still a bit of a blur. Something happened. He stiffened. The fire flared up. I thought that was it, but the next thing I knew someone was cutting my ropes and telling me to run.’
‘Someone?’
‘Nelia Melnic.’
‘Ah, the mysterious Zelda. Let me get this straight. She suddenly appeared in the room, incapacitated Keane, and cut you free?’
‘That’s right.’
‘How did she incapacitate Keane?’
‘I don’t know. Knocked him out, I should imagine.’
‘But she had a knife.’
‘She must have had, to cut me free. As I said, it gets a bit blurry. Maybe she took it from Keane?’
‘Who started the fire?’
‘I don’t know that, either. I couldn’t see. Keane, I should think. He was the one with the petrol and the lighter in his hand.’
‘But you said this Zelda had knocked him out.’
‘He wasn’t completely out. Just dazed, I think.’
‘Did you ever see Petar Tadić at any time you were in the plant?’
‘No.’
‘So he didn’t suddenly come in and stab Keane and set the place on fire?’
‘Not that I know of. If he did, I didn’t see him.’
‘Only there was forensic evidence of a knife wound on one of Keane’s ribs.’
‘So I heard. I didn’t see a knife at the time. And I’m not sure the evidence of knife wounds on burned bones is conclusive.’
‘Is that what Dr. Galway told you? But we’ve already established that this Zelda must have had a knife to cut your bonds. And given the nick on the victim’s rear rib, doesn’t that seem to indicate that the one is connected to the other?’
‘It doesn’t necessarily follow. And Keane was hardly the victim, as you put it.’
‘As far as I’m concerned he’s a victim.’
‘It’s all a bit hazy, and it happened so fast. Zelda had her back to me. She was struggling with Keane. He’d lurched at her. I was disentangling myself from the last of my bonds that she’d just cut. Then the fire flared up.’
‘So she still had the knife in her hand?’
‘I don’t know what happened to it, I just didn’t see it. I had other things on my mind. Like getting the hell out of there. It was chaos. The fire was spreading. Keane was burning by then. Writhing and screaming.’
‘By when?’
‘By the time I was ready to run.’
‘So he was still alive?’
‘Yes.’
‘The pathologist said it was impossible to check the body for smoke inhalation.’
‘He was still alive when the fire started. He must have burned to death in the flames. Or he died of shock. I don’t know.’
‘Or this Zelda stabbed him.’
‘I have no knowledge of any stab wound. But if she did, I’d say it was self-defence.’
‘Well, unfortunately, you’re not the one to be pronouncing on that.’
‘But I was there. I know what I saw.’
‘Come on, Superintendent. You can’t have it both ways. Either it was chaos, and you don’t know what happened, or it wasn’t, and you do. Which was it?’
‘I don’t know. Both maybe. A lot of confusion.’
Newry scowled at DI Dunne, who continued to look disapproving. ‘Are you sure you didn’t see the woman stab Keane?’
‘No, I didn’t see anything like that. You keep going on about this knife. Did you find one at the scene?’
‘No. She must have taken it with her. Are you sure she didn’t start the fire?’
‘I told you, she was struggling with Keane. I think she was trying to stop him. I couldn’t see what he was doing because she was blocking my view.’
‘Ah, yes, and the lighter went off mysteriously?’
‘You must have found it, or what was left of it.’
‘I’m afraid that doesn’t tell us a great deal. Is it true that this girl is a friend of yours?’
‘A friend of a friend. I know her. Yes.’
‘You were searching for her, right?’
‘Yes. She’d been abducted from her home three days before.’
‘By these men Tadić and Keane?’
‘A witness was able to give us a good description of Tadić in the vicinity of Zelda’s cottage, but there’s no evidence that Keane was involved in her actual abduction. Or mine. Talk to my team about it, or to AC Gervaise, why don’t you? They know more than I do.’
‘I’m not too sure about that, but I will, don’t worry. You tracked this woman, Zelda, to the treatment plant, right?’
‘No. You haven’t been listening. I told you. I was knocked out and taken there. We had no idea where she was being held. We still had people out searching the moors.’
‘Do you like this Zelda?’
‘What kind of a question is that?’
DI Dunne gave Banks another disapproving glance. ‘Just answer me, please,’ Newry said.