Curtis began to wipe the Bentley down with his shammy leather.
‘You said Mr Reynolds asked you about decorating his mum’s place – do you know if he found anyone to do the job?’ she wondered.
‘Well, when I asked him, he said he had.’
‘Did he say who it was?’
‘I can’t recall exactly – let me think back.’ Curtis paused for thought and held his chin. ‘That’s it, bloke called Sam, Sammy or Samuel, something like that.’
Again, Anna didn’t get the impression that Curtis was lying as she moved on to ask him if he knew whether the decorator had ever done any work at the flat Josh shared with Donna. Curtis said he didn’t and Anna casually asked him if he used to wash Mr Reynolds’ car for him as well.
‘He didn’t have a car, sometimes used Donna’s.’
‘What about a bike?’
‘Yes, he used to leave it inside the back door.’
‘Did he use it the day you last saw him?’ Anna pressed.
‘No. I remember he hadn’t been on his bike for a while and I asked if he’d sold it and he said it was at home with a broken pedal. I said I’d fix it but he never brought it in to me.’
‘Well, thanks for your time, Curtis,’ Anna said, and started to walk off.
‘There’s something I remembered about the last day I saw Mr Reynolds.’
Anna stopped instantly, eager to hear what Curtis had to say.
‘You asking about the decorator man just brought it back. The same day Mr Reynolds died, there were a man walking through the club. I ask him what he was doing and he said he come to see Josh and he was his uncle.’
‘Did he give his name?’ Anna asked, but Curtis shook his head.
‘Can you describe him?’ Anna asked, trying to hide her excitement.
‘About my height, black, fifty-five maybe, with a Rasta hat and dreadlocks. The thing was, he was wearing the same type blue overalls as me, but his had a lot of paint splashes on.’
‘Had you seen him here before?’
‘No, just the once and never since. I told him where Mr Reynolds’ office was and he went up the staff stairs.’
‘Can you recall what time this was?’
‘Afternoon sometime, I think, just before he left the club though. I knows that ’cause I saw him speaking to Mr Williams and then walk off.’
Anna thanked Curtis for his help. She didn’t think he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes and felt increasingly certain that Dewar was totally wrong about any involvement the handyman might have had in Josh Reynolds’ death. The hard part would be getting Dewar to accept the fact.
Marcus Williams, smartly dressed in a blue linen suit and matching shirt, was in his office working at his desk when Anna walked in, and immediately invited her to take a seat opposite him.
‘So what can I do for you this time, DCI Travis?’ Williams asked.
‘Did Josh ever use your Bentley?’ Anna asked without preamble, taking her notebook out of her bag.
‘No, I’ve only had it a couple of months. I had a Saab Convertible before that. He used it occasionally to pop out to the wholesalers or-’
‘What about the day he died?’ Anna interrupted, getting to the point.
‘Definitely not, it was off the road then being re-sprayed after some little shit keyed it all along one side.’
‘Did he have access to any other cars?’
‘Only Donna’s Mini, as far as I know; beyond that it was like I told you on the phone, public transport or his bike.’
‘Curtis Bowman said he stopped using his bike in October.’
‘That could be the case. I never asked or kept an eye on how he got to and from work,’ Williams said, leaning back in his chair.
‘Did Josh have any other family left after his mother died?’
‘His Aunt Marisha or Marsi as everyone called her. She was Esme’s sister and lived in Brixton but the family fell out with her donkey’s years ago. Esme had a brother and maybe other sisters in Jamaica but I’m not sure.’
‘Do you know Marisha’s surname or where she lives?’ Anna asked.
‘No. I went to see her with Josh a few times, when we were about fourteen.’ Williams grinned. ‘I remember she was a large woman who had a big smile and really infectious laugh. She used to make a mean fish stew.’
‘What about Esme or Josh’s funerals – didn’t any family attend?’
‘At Esme’s, yes. Josh introduced me to her brother who had flown over from Jamaica. I think his name was Samuel but I only spoke with him briefly and he wasn’t at Josh’s funeral. Actually, come to think of it, Josh did say that he thought his Aunt Marisha would have made the effort to attend her sister’s funeral,’ Williams said.
‘Did his Uncle Samuel ever visit him here?’
‘Could have done but I never saw him.’
‘Do you know anything about Josh having either his own flat in Bayswater or his mother’s flat redecorated before he died?’ Anna asked.
‘He said he was going to do his mum’s place up and either lease or sell it but I don’t know if he did or about redecorating his place.’
Deciding to gauge Williams’ reaction to the mention of financial matters at the club, Anna asked if he or Josh had ever got involved with loan sharks.
Williams was clearly offended as he gave a firm, ‘NO.’
‘So, no problems paying off legitimate loans, tax returns-’
Williams jumped up from his seat, went over to a corner cupboard and withdrew two large cardboard boxes. He thumped them down on his desk, declaring that all the Trojan’s renovation invoices, business receipts and accounts for the last two tax years were inside. Anna thought his reaction was overly defensive.
‘Everything you need is in there, including a dealer’s receipt for the Bentley as it’s my company car, so feel free to take the boxes with you,’ Williams said, flippantly pulling out his mobile phone to check a text.
Anna, irritated by his attitude, stood up, got her handcuffs out of her handbag and held them up to Williams as she spoke.
‘Personally, I don’t give a toss if you’re fiddling the books, but this is your last chance to answer my question or I will arrest you for fraud and let the tax man loose on you,’ Anna said firmly, making it clear she was in no mood to be messed about.
Williams let out a sigh of defeat. ‘Okay, okay, we paid cash for the renovation work. The invoices were drawn up by the builder to look like different companies had done some parts of the work and…’
‘I’m here because Josh Reynolds may have been murdered and your lying to me doesn’t help you or my investigation.’ Anna set the cuffs down on the table in front of her and reached into her handbag, removed her Dictaphone and placed it on the table next to her handcuffs. ‘You’re going to tell me the truth and I’m going to record the rest of this conversation, right?’
Williams, clearly worried, nodded as she switched on the tape.
Anna had been growing more and more convinced Williams was hiding something else, and it occurred to her that there might be something to Delon Taylor’s allegation after all. She looked Williams straight in the eyes and he turned away.
‘Look at me, Mr Williams,’ Anna said, leaning further forward, and he glanced at her briefly. ‘Delon Taylor was telling the truth about you making money out of illegal sexual activities, wasn’t he?’ He said nothing in reply, making her increasingly sure she was on to something. She glanced again at her notes from the Delon Taylor interview. ‘So, if Taylor was telling the truth about the illegal sex then he also told Josh about it. Josh found out and confronted you.’
Williams leaned on his desk with his hands covering his face, his breathing growing erratic. Anna, sensing he was becoming upset, changed tack, convinced an aggressive stance was not the way forward now she was so close to the breakthrough. ‘The truth, Marcus, that’s all I want. You owe it to Josh.’
Williams looked up at her as he took a deep breath, and then in an unsteady voice he confessed that it was true that Taylor told Josh about the sex-for-money scam, but Taylor was stealing money.