‘Never mind. How would you describe your relationship with Mr Petrou at that time?’
‘We were friends.’
‘You were lovers.’
Long stared at the table in front of him. He said nothing.
‘You were lovers.’
Nothing.
‘You were lovers.’
‘Yes!’ he whispered hurriedly, anxious not to hear the words repeated yet again in front of this audience.
‘And you had sexual intercourse with him that afternoon.’
‘No … yes … not at first. At first we talked.’
‘You could have talked in the drawing room upstairs or gone for a walk outside. You met him in the gym because you wanted to have sex with him there.’
‘No!’ Long’s protest was almost a shriek, i needed to talk to him undisturbed. To discuss some matters — in confidence.’
‘I ask you again. What was your relationship with Petrou at this time? What were your feelings for him?’
He sucked in a lungful of air, eyes staring, as if he were drowning, it was a madness,’ he whispered at last. ‘A madness. I couldn’t help myself.’
‘You couldn’t control your feelings for him?’
Long nodded.
‘And what about his feelings for you?’
‘I knew that he was using me. That there were others he was using.’
‘In what way was he using you?’
‘At first, money. He needed money. I didn’t mind helping him. Why should I mind? He repaid me fully.’
‘He repaid you the money you gave him?’
‘No, no. He repaid me in other ways.’
‘With his body.’
Long said nothing.
‘With his …’
‘With his companionship, yes!’
‘But he was greedy.’
‘Yes. And cruel. He enjoyed making me suffer for him.’
‘What else did he want besides money?’
‘I told him there was a chance I would be going to London to a senior position in the Metropolitan Police. He seemed to think that this would be important for him. He had plans to set up some sort of club in London, and he seemed to think that he would need a … special arrangement with the police. I told him it was out of the question, of course, but he wasn’t easily dissuaded. When he decided that he wanted something, he could be completely unreasonable.’
Long was breathing heavily as he spoke now, and sweat was gleaming on his forehead.
‘You must have found that rather worrying.’ ‘Oh yes! It could have been absolutely disastrous, of course!’
‘What did you do?’
‘When I realized he was going to be so unreasonable, so demanding, I became very worried. I suppose I became frightened. One day I had a meeting here with a number of officers about some staffing matters, and at the end of it I was speaking to Chief Inspector Tanner — Inspector Tanner as he then was. On the spur of the moment I asked if he could make some unofficial inquiries for me about the immigration status of someone who was being a nuisance to some friends of mine. I wanted him to check if Alex’s papers were in order, perhaps find out if something could be done to terminate his visa, have him sent back to Greece. That’s what I wanted really, just for him to go away.’
‘When did you have that conversation?’
‘A week or two before that Sunday.’
‘What happened?’
‘Tanner came back quite quickly to say that Alex was an EU citizen, without a criminal record, that his papers were in order, and that nothing could be done unless he was found guilty of a criminal offence. Well, I knew that if he did get into trouble with the law he’d expect me to help him, so I didn’t see any hope there. However, I thanked Tanner and left it at that. A couple of days later he spoke to me again about Alex. He seemed to know quite a lot about him, where he worked, and my connection with Stanhope. He asked if Alex was still being a problem to my friends. I said yes, and he asked me if I would like him to have a word with him, to persuade him, as he put it, to behave himself. I said I didn’t think that a warning from the police would have any effect in this case, and he just laughed and said that, with respect, I didn’t have much idea about what he called “practical policing”.’
Long was sweating freely. The crisply ironed shirt that his wife had thrown out of the bedroom for him was now limp and stained around his armpits and in the small of his back.
‘Did you take him up on his offer?’ Kathy was speaking more gently to him now, coaxing rather than pushing him along as his explanation became fuller and freer.
‘No, although I thought quite a lot about what he had said. Anyway, I had arranged to have a few days at Stanhope and decided I would bring things to a head with Alex while I was there. It was very difficult. He refused to take me seriously. When I told him I would have nothing more to do with him, he simply laughed. He also reminded me …’ Long paused, swallowed, as if each awful memory had to be digested afresh each time he dredged it up. Kathy passed him a glass of water, which he gulped before continuing. ‘He reminded me that he had a personal letter I had written him and some photographs he had taken.’ Long hung his head, it was a nightmare, you see. An utter nightmare.’
‘What did you do?’
‘That was on the Friday. On the Saturday I saw him briefly and arranged to meet him the following afternoon. My idea was to make one final attempt to come to an arrangement with him, a financial arrangement to settle our …’ He paused again.
‘Affairs,’ Kathy said.
‘But I wasn’t optimistic, so I phoned Chief Inspector Tanner. I explained that Alex was becoming more difficult and was threatening my friends with blackmail. They were going to make one final attempt to settle things, but if that wasn’t successful, then it might be necessary to seek Tanner’s help.’
‘You were still saying it was friends who had the problem?’
‘Yes, but I’m fairly sure that he suspected the truth by that stage.’
‘Go on.’
‘I gave him details of the meeting the next day, and he suggested that I ring him afterwards. If it wasn’t successful, he would come over and speak to Alex.’
‘Wasn’t that risky?’ Kathy asked. ‘Weren’t you worried about what Alex might tell your Inspector?’
‘It was a last resort. I just wanted the problem solved. I saw no other way.’
‘How did Alex react to your offer of a financial arrangement?’
‘He was outrageous. I was prepared to be generous, very generous, but he simply laughed. He said that he would take my money and my help. He said I could refuse him nothing and that he would prove it to me. He did.’
The room was very silent.
‘How?’ Kathy said.
They waited, but Long said nothing.
‘What happened?’
Long looked up suddenly at the ceiling, eyebrows raised as if trying to recall some prosaic event in the distant past. ‘When it was over … as I was leaving, I said I had a friend I wanted him to meet. I asked him to wait there in the gym for him. Then I went out and phoned Tanner. I was upset. He could tell from my voice how upset I was. I mentioned the letter and photographs, and he asked me about Alex’s room, whether he had a car or a flat outside the clinic, things of that kind. He said that I should go to my room and then ring him again later that evening.’
‘Give me the times of all this. When did you leave Petrou?’
‘I’m not exactly sure. Perhaps a quarter to five. I went upstairs to the public phone to ring Chief Inspector Tanner.’
‘Did you see anyone?’
‘No, it was very quiet. I went to my room and had a shower and came downstairs for the evening meal, then the recital. When it was over I rang Tanner. He asked if I’d heard anything concerning Alex, and when I said no, he said there was no need for me to worry any more, he had taken care of everything.’
‘What were his exact words?’
‘I’m not sure. Just that, I think. He had taken care of everything with Petrou. There was nothing more to worry about.’
‘What did you understand by that?’