‘Well, he did it again. Rodney goes out and attacks the fucking Greek shop owner that knows him. They come round to arrest him, and he walks out with the knife he’d used, telling them he’s guilty and he done it.’
‘So, while he was in prison, did you live there alone?’
‘Well, not straightaway. I went and dossed down on the streets for a while, hung out a bit at Euston Station. They got good cafés, and it’s warm there.’
‘So, during this time did you keep in contact with Rodney?’
‘Yeah, every day. He was making calls from the phone at Brixton to keep my spirits up, and he told me that if I needed anything I could call his aunt Joyce.’
‘Did you visit Joyce Miller?’
‘Yeah, but they wasn’t that friendly. Gave me a few quid and told me to go back to Liverpool. But I was never going back there. It got me really angry, that awful big fat woman telling me to get out, that if I knew what was best for me, I would leave. For a while I sort of thought about catching the train; I mean they had been nice to me at that hostel place and I was really angry at him. That’s when I called you, because I was fed up with him and I had no money, but he called me. I never said I talked to you cos it would have made him go ballistic. He told me that he had spoken to Mrs Delaney, the caretaker. She had a spare key so she could let me into the flat.’
Jack nodded. ‘I remember, that’s when you told me about the bracelet, and the ring you gave to Trudie.’
‘Yeah, that’s right. To be honest, I was still pissed off about being left on the streets, but when you offered to pay for the train ticket...’
‘Can I just clarify: did you meet me before or after that phone call from Rodney to say that you could collect the spare keys to the flat?’
‘Oh, it was before I think, yeah, cos I should never have told you about the bracelet. But I was still mad that when Trudie left, she took my ring. I never told him about telling you about that either.’
Jack tapped his notebook with the pencil and looked up.
‘Can I just take you back to the evening when Rodney was arrested for the first assault?’
Amanda pulled a face, sighing.
‘Yes, they took him away, arrested him.’
‘So, how long were you with Rodney after he had committed the assault, and before the arrest?’
Amanda shifted in her seat, chewing at her bottom lip. Jack repeated the question before she answered.
‘Few hours.’
‘I see, so in those few hours with Rodney, did he tell you what he had done?’
‘Not really, but he had blood on his shirt cuff. He said it was nothing, though.’
‘What did he tell you to do?’
She was becoming anxious, squirming in her seat, crossing her legs and then uncrossing them.
‘Amanda, you need to answer the question. Rodney had assaulted a man with a knife, someone he knew, as he was a frequent customer in the shop. We know he’s already committed a similar offence in the past and served time for it, so he had to know that it would only be a short while before he was arrested. What did he tell you to do?’
Bukhari put up his hand. ‘You’re coercing my client. She has already made it clear that she was concerned that Mr Middleton had blood on his shirt sleeve.’
‘I am asking what Mr Middleton asked Miss Dunn to do once he was arrested, because he had to know it would only be a matter of time before the police would be round.’
‘I didn’t know what he had done,’ Amanda said firmly.
‘I am only interested in exactly what Mr Middleton discussed with you, because shortly after his arrest, if we are to believe what you have told us, you left the flat and were living on the streets.’
‘I never had a front door key to get back in. But I was hungry so I went out for some food and then I couldn’t get back in,’ she said.
‘So, you left to buy food shortly after Mr Middleton was arrested, taking a holdall with all your belongings? That doesn’t make sense, does it, Amanda?’
Amanda looked to Bukhari, then back to Jack. In her hands she was twisting the paper tissue she had used, tearing small strips from it, in exactly the same nervous way her mother had done when she was talking with Jack.
Jack flicked back and forth through his notes, then looked back up at her.
‘Did you go to speak to Mrs Delaney?’
‘I don’t remember.’
‘We have a statement from Mrs Delaney saying that she saw the arrests from her window. She claims that you came to her front door to tell her that Rodney could not help her husband carry the bins to the pavement, and that they were due for collection early the following morning.’
‘Oh right, yes, he told me to do that. Sorry, I forgot.’
Jack looked over his notes. This was the time when the bins were not collected due to a strike. It must have freaked Rodney out as he obviously expected they would have been collected as usual.
‘What else were you told to do?’
She gave a long sigh and shrugged. ‘Clean up the kitchen and the bathroom.’
‘What about the shower?’
‘Well, yes, as it’s in the bathroom.’
‘So, after his arrests you remained at the flat until the following morning, waiting until one of the tenants helped to carry the bins to the pavement.’
‘I wasn’t waiting just for that. I had to get my head round being on my own.’
‘Then what did you do?’
‘Well, the bins wasn’t picked up. I told him and he went funny, got really angry. But they was only out a couple of extra days before they were collected.’
‘That would mean you stayed at the flat longer than you previously claimed.’
‘Yeah, suppose so. I just forgot.’
‘So what was the next thing you were instructed to do?’
‘I used the hose pipe to clean out the bins after they’d been emptied; that was Rodney’s job, he always did that.’
‘So, he told you to do it for him?’
‘Yes, and I hosed down the courtyard as well.’
‘That was quite a big task, and you just complied with his wishes?’
‘Yes, I did, because sometimes the bins smelt bad. I had helped him before, using bleach.’
Jack glanced at DCI Clarke, then back at Amanda.
‘After the other girls left, was it usual that the bins were very heavy and often had a bad smell?’
Bukhari interrupted again, accusing Jack of trying to bully his client into admitting that she was involved in the disposal of bodies. Jack cut him off.
‘I am simply asking her to describe the contents of the bins. She has admitted to cleaning them with a hose pipe. Bodies decompose quickly, and there would have been residue in the bins. We believe the bodies were dismembered in the coal hole, and the remains possibly washed in the basement flat’s shower, before being deposited in the bins. The reason I’m pressing for Miss Dunn to answer my questions is the fact we know that on this specific date, contrary to expectations, the bins weren’t collected in that area due to a strike. This delay would have resulted in quite a stench.’
Jack glanced at DCI Clarke and tapped the table with his pencil.
‘Have you anything further to say, Miss Dunn, regarding my previous question?’
‘No, I don’t. And for your information, he never told me to leave. I just did that on my own.’
‘When did you last speak to Mr Middleton?’
‘I’m not going to answer that because I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.’
Jack knew she must have been in contact with him recently, probably via one of the carers at the safe house where she had been held after leaving the hospital.
Jack looked at DCI Clarke again, who nodded.
‘Miss Dunn, I believe you haven’t answered all my questions honestly. You will, therefore, be charged as an accessory to the murders of Jamail Brown, Trudie Hudson and Nadine O’Reilly.’