Jack and May finally exchanged brief opinions on the weather, and she assured him that the sun was now due to stay out, so their afternoon would be delightful. Jack thanked her for her time and said goodbye. He’d got everything he needed from the lovely May, and she’d only learn that she’d broken confidentiality when she informed Arnold Hutchinson of their conversation.
As soon as Jack ended the call with May, a text message from Ridley appeared on the screen:
DC Daniel Lyle. Hammersmith police station. 11 a.m. Interview re: Tania Wetlock.
Jack swore — just the fact that Ridley was privy to the situation was enough to make him more than pissed off. The next call he made was to Foxy.
‘How’s married life, Jack? You know you only get sex once a week from here on in, don’t you, mate? Friday. Tea, Inspector Morse, sex, then you can stay up and watch Match of the Day whilst she’s upstairs reading Fifty Shades.’
‘Match of the Day is on Saturday, and Maggie read that novel when it first came out!’ Jack responded, making Foxy laugh out loud.
‘Are you doing the post-mortem on Tania Wetlock today?’
‘I don’t recall seeing your name on the paperwork, DS Warr, so I can’t tell you anything in relation to the post-mortem of Tania Wetlock. Let’s catch up properly over a pint after work... that’s if the old ball and chain will let you out unescorted. Four o’clock. Prior to that, I’ll be in the lab with my newest patient.’ Foxy hung up before Jack could thank him. His day was suddenly filling up.
Jack now knew that whilst he was being interviewed by DC Lyle about Tania Wetlock, Foxy would be examining her corpse. By four o’clock, Jack and Foxy would be comparing notes, and hopefully he’d find out whether or not Elliot Wetlock had anything to do with his daughter’s death.
Chapter 31
Jack wore a smart suit and tie and sat in the soft interview room at Hammersmith nick. It was bigger than theirs, but not as nicely decorated, and the camera which would be used to record the interview was on a tripod at the end of the sofa rather than being hidden behind a two-way mirror.
DC Lyle wore thin wire-rimmed glasses that made the lenses seem as though they were floating on his face. He looked smart, fresh-faced and trustworthy — but the tiny beads of sweat on his baby-smooth upper lip gave away that he was nervous. Lyle brought no complimentary hot drinks into the soft interview room, nor did he offer to get any sent in. In front of him was a thin file, a notebook and a pen. He poured two glasses of water from the jug on the table between them, and then jumped straight into the interview by asking Jack to describe his relationship with Tania Wetlock.
‘Relationship isn’t the correct word,’ Jack replied evenly. ‘Tania Wetlock was the daughter of Elliot Wetlock, who works at the same hospital as my wife, Maggie.’ Jack’s own words made him pause. This was the first time he’d described Maggie as his wife. And the moment was horribly tainted by the fact that he was being interviewed in connection to the suspicious death of a teenager. ‘Elliot Wetlock claimed to be worried about her. He thought she was being led astray by a talent scout, whose identity I never discovered. He’d tried to send her to therapists, but she wouldn’t comply. He wanted a female police officer to speak with Tania in the hope of... I don’t know... there’s no mother on the scene and Wetlock seemed out of his depth.’
‘So, you asked DS Laura Wade to speak with her...’ Lyle opened the file he’d brought in with him and pulled out a single-sided A4 piece of paper, indicating that he had already spoken to Laura. ‘Off the books?’
‘I didn’t know if there was anything to investigate. In hindsight, I should have told Wetlock to go through the proper channels.’ Jack didn’t apologise for his decision. It was the least of his worries. ‘Tania came to my home twice. Both times uninvited and unwelcome.’
‘But you let her in on each occasion?’
‘She was intoxicated, and in my opinion she was also high. My decision to let her in was more about not wanting to leave her wandering the streets alone. She was vulnerable.’
‘Let’s talk about the first time she visited you, Jack. Tell me everything you can recall.’ Jack could see that the file in front of Lyle’s contained at least seven or eight sheets of paper which, he assumed, were all statements. So, he chose to be open about everything.
Jack explained how on her first visit Tania had wanted help to get her dad off her back, so that she could follow her dream of becoming a Hollywood star. He told Lyle how one minute she was offering him sex, and the next she was crying like a baby; and how she shifted between ‘Marilyn’ and Tania in the blink of an eye. He explained how she seemed to be a confused mess of a girl, who’d lost track of who she was.
‘She was more challenging the second time. Perhaps because I was, too. I flatly refused to let her in, regardless of her again seeming to be drunk and high, because my daughter was asleep on the sofa.’ Jack took a deep breath as he got to the more potentially damaging moments of her visit. ‘I closed the door on her. She kicked it numerous times, forcing me to go back and open it.’
Lyle took a second sheet of A4 paper from his file and placed it on top of Laura’s statement. ‘Your neighbour looked out of his window at this point.’
‘Then my neighbour would have heard Tania shouting, “Rape!” and seen me dragging her inside.’ Lyle smiled his appreciation at Jack’s honesty. Jack continued to relay the facts with absolute confidence that he had nothing to hide. ‘I’ve never seen Tania straight. I don’t know what she was actually like. But the volatile, frightened child I met was disturbing to be around. Because regardless of the fact that I wanted to help her, I was a man alone with a sexually aware young girl. I was more vulnerable than her on both of the occasions she came into my home.’ Jack glanced at the file. ‘I expect you have a statement from the taxi driver in there.’ On cue, Lyle pulled a third sheet of paper from the file and laid it face up on top of the neighbour’s statement. He then took a fourth sheet of paper and handed it to Jack. Much of it was blacked out, but some of it was readable.
‘Elliot Wetlock managed to get Tania to a couple of therapy sessions over the years.’ The information Lyle chose to volunteer came as no surprise to Jack. ‘It was suspected she may have been experiencing the onset of schizophrenia, possibly triggered by excessive drug use. They didn’t see her again, so she was never properly assessed and diagnosed. Mr Wetlock never returned to them, nor did he approach his community mental health team.’
‘She tried to call someone for a lift both times she left my house. Can you get her call history?’ Jack asked, trying to keep the impatience from his voice.
‘That’s in hand.’ Lyle slid all of the paperwork back into the file, suggesting that the interview was almost over. But instead, he kicked things up a gear. ‘Did you ever see Tania anywhere other than at your home?’ Lyle’s casual tone had been a clumsy ruse to lull Jack into a false sense of security.
‘No, I did not.’
Lyle then asked if Jack had had a sexual relationship with Tania Wetlock.
‘No, I did not.’
Jack knew that Lyle was clutching at straws, but this sort of empty tactic really pissed him off. It was amateurish at the best of times, but to use it on an experienced DS was insulting.
‘I only ask,’ Lyle continued, ‘because we found two bottles of champagne in Tania’s bedroom. One had your fingerprints on it.’
Jack sprang to his feet.
‘You ran my prints! Does DCI Ridley know?’
‘This isn’t his investigation. Sit down please, DS Warr.’