‘I’ll try not to make you repeat everything over again,’ Jack said. ‘I am aware that you’re very protective of your business, and rightly so. To have a client found dead in such horrendous circumstances could be very damaging. Luckily there has been no publicity about the case so far.’
She frowned. ‘So far.’
‘Well, let’s hope that can continue. Right, first I need you to tell me how the woman known as Sandra Raynor first approached your agency.’
‘By the usual means. She had seen an advert and requested an interview, which we arranged.’
‘This was all done by phone?’
Shay sighed with impatience. ‘Yes, but we explained that, when she came to see us, we would need her CV and some personal data before we could agree to take her onto our books.’
‘So, tell me about when she came to see you.’
‘I have described this over and over...’
‘One more time please. Perhaps you could start with how she was dressed?’
‘Very smartly, wearing a fitted suit, a white bow-tied blouse, high-heeled Jimmy Choo shoes, and an elegant handbag. She had some nice pearl earrings, with a large signet ring on the pinkie finger of her left hand. She was very well made up and her blonde hair was nicely styled.’
‘So, she gave you her age, her previous employment, and bank statements?’
‘Yes, it all seemed legitimate, and both my partner and I felt she was suitable to be put on our books.’
‘Are you aware she was lying about her age?’
Shay frowned, and Jack wondered if she had been told about the post-mortem report. He sensed that she probably hadn’t as she turned away and picked up her wine glass.
‘The woman you knew as Sandra Raynor was estimated to be nearer sixty than the age she gave you.’
Shay sipped her wine, then carefully placed the glass down.
‘Well, I’d like to know who her plastic surgeon is.’ She gave a brittle laugh.
‘So, she lied to you and your partner,’ Jack continued. ‘But I’m sure that’s not the first time that has happened. On the other hand, you obviously need to be extremely careful about taking on someone with criminal intentions.’
Shay’s lips tightened. ‘Excuse me? I’m not sure what you’re insinuating.’
‘I am not “insinuating” anything, Ms Shay. But the fact is that Sandra Raynor was using a false name, and you arranged a meeting, a date, and a dinner for her with a person now accused of her murder.’
‘We went through the same strict procedures we go through with every one of our clients,’ she protested.
‘Did you do a criminal check on Sandra Raynor?’
‘No, but we do if we think it’s necessary. In this instance there was nothing to make us suspicious.’
Jack nodded. ‘How do you select a match? Show them photographs and do it a bit like an identity parade? We show someone six faces and ask them to pick out the criminal.’
Shay licked her lips and took another long sip of wine. Jack could see she was becoming anxious.
‘We have our clients’ photographs with their ages, previous work experience and hobbies. And if they are retired professionals then we also include a bit of a CV.’
‘So, Sandra came in to go through your client photographs in order to pick out the one she wanted?’
‘Yes, that is it exactly what happened. We then submitted her photograph to the person she had chosen, and when it was accepted, we arranged for them to meet in a location suitable to both parties.’
‘How long did this take?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘How long was it from when Sandra came to see you before you got her a date with the man she had chosen?’
‘It was unusually quick, just under a week.’
‘A week, and during this time did she return to your office? How did you contact her?’
‘She did come back into the office, but we also had her mobile number. I gave this to the officers, straightaway.’
Jack knew that the phone in question had turned out to be a burner that was no help in tracing who she really was.
‘How well did you know the gentleman she chose?’
She shrugged. ‘As much as we know any of our clients. We had already organised two dates for him that proved to be unsuitable.’
‘Did Sandra Raynor know the identities of the unsuitable clients?’
‘Oh no, we never disclose anything like that.’
‘OK. So, just let me go back to the beginning. In Sandra walks, looking very presentable and glamorous, with an impressive CV and a healthy bank balance. She pays the fee, chooses her date and they appear to get along well. They then go on a second date for drinks and dinner, and before you know it...’ Jack frowned. ‘Something about it doesn’t sit quite right with me.’
Shay pursed her lips. ‘We have a number of clients who have become more than just friends very quickly, and in many cases have got married. I don’t know what you are referring to.’
Jack smiled. ‘You, Ms Shay. You are a very intelligent woman, running a very successful business, and yet you are completely taken in by this woman. I think she may have made a mistake, and I think you caught on to it.’
Shay looked flustered. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve answered all your questions to the best of my recall and, repetitive as they’ve been, I’ve been very patient.’
‘Did you not question her about her previous employment as an accountant?’ Jack persisted.
Her false eyelashes fluttered, and she took a large gulp of her wine, draining the glass.
‘You were also an accountant, so surely it would have been natural to question her.’
‘I think I have spent enough time talking to you. I’d like you to leave, please.’
Jack didn’t move. ‘I know about your bank account in Monaco, Ms Shay, and I know that recently there were two large sums deposited there.’
She pursed her lips. ‘My ex-husband has property there. And yes, I also have an account, but...’
‘I just need some answers,’ Jack continued, ‘because it looks to me as though you might be creaming off money from your agency, and I don’t think Mrs Da Costa is aware of it. Of course, I’m not about to share that information unless I have to do so.’
Jack watched her get up and cross over to a silver tissue holder. She pulled out a tissue and returned to sit beside her dog.
‘Alright. She did come back to the office. It was early evening, and I was there alone. We take it in turns to stay late. I didn’t like the fact she just walked in without an appointment. We take a lot of precautions for our own safety, but she was very insistent and wanted to find out when the date she had requested would be organised. I told her that we had to wait for her selected man to get back to us to confirm if he wanted to go ahead. We don’t like to put pressure on anyone.’
‘Get to the point please, Ms Shay,’ Jack said.
Shay licked her lips. ‘She went to wait in the small reception area whilst I made the call to the client, as I obviously didn’t want her to overhear me. There was no response. I glanced at her CV again, as I was becoming slightly irritated by her manner. I knew the accounting firm she had listed — to be honest anyone in the accountancy world knows them. I was attached to a very small firm but hers was top of the range. I knew someone who worked there, who’d previously been a colleague of mine.’
Eva got up again, opened a small fridge and took out the bottle of wine to pour herself another full glass without offering one to Jack. She was very tense, almost sitting on her dog when she went back to the settee.
‘My contact, Debra, said she would run a check but that it would take a while. So, I went into the reception area and told Sandra that I was just waiting for him to call me back. I offered her a drink, and just out of curiosity I asked about what it was like working with such a high-powered company. She said it had been a big learning curve as they were very competitive and rather discriminating. My desk phone rang so I went back into the office and Debra told me that there was no present or past employee of that name working with the company.’