Mike switched on the DVD recorder and recited the caution to Donna, who listened intently, clenching her hands together on her lap. Mike said that he would firstly like to go over the statement she made to DI Simms back in November 2012. Holme confirmed that he had discussed the statement with Donna during their consultation.
‘So you were at the Lynne Foundation Charity Ball all night on the fifth?’ Mike asked her.
‘Yes, and I stayed in the hotel overnight.’
‘You never left it?’
‘No, except to go to the ladies’ room and eventually bed,’ Donna said, confused by Mike’s insinuation.
‘This was also verified by Lady Gloria and Aisa Lynne,’ Mr Holme interjected.
‘That’s not true, is it, Donna?’ Mike looked Donna in the eye.
‘Are you suggesting that Lady Lynne and Aisa are lying?’ Holme asked.
‘No, Mr Holme, I’m suggesting Donna is, and they were totally unaware she left the hotel.’ Mike opened the case folder and got out a CCTV picture of Donna’s Mini leaving the hotel car park. It had been edited to remove the date and time stamp. He placed the photograph on the table and turned it round for Donna to see, pointing to the vehicle’s number plate.
‘Is that your car?’
‘Yes,’ Donna said nervously.
‘Do you know where and when this picture was taken?’ Mike continued. Donna stared at the picture and shook her head.
Mike took out a duplicate photograph with the time and date stamp on and placed it on the table for Donna and Holme to see.
‘Ten o-five p.m. on the fifth of November 2012 leaving the Savoy underground car park,’ Mike said and then placed another picture on the table, again pointing to the time and date stamp. ‘Eleven fifty p.m., your car returning to the same car park.’ Mike was expecting Mr Holme to object that he had not had access to the pictures before the interview, but he didn’t.
Donna looked startled as she turned to Holme. ‘I swear it wasn’t me driving.’ Holme raised his hand for her to stop and explained that the police were not obliged to disclose all their evidence prior to the interview.
‘My client has said it was not her and I notice that the driver is not visible in any of your pictures. Do you have any CCTV footage that clearly shows Donna Reynolds driving the vehicle in and out of the car park?’ Holme said in a calm and precise manner.
Donna began to shake and was close to tears. Mike pressed her, asking if it wasn’t her driving then who was it, to which Donna replied she didn’t know. Holme leaned over and whispered to his client, who nodded to him repeatedly during their hushed conversation.
Holme tapped the table with his pen. ‘I was at the Charity Ball that night and as I recall the hotel had a valet parking service. Are you aware of that fact?’
Mike looked at Dewar. She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.
Holme continued: ‘I’ll take that as, no, shall I? My client used the valet service and her car keys were not back in her possession until she left the hotel on the morning of the sixth.’ He smiled smugly.
‘You got the car keys from reception, drove to the Bayswater flat, murdered Josh and then returned to the hotel, didn’t you, Donna?’ Mike quickly countered, staring her in the eye.
‘Do you have anyone from the hotel reception who can confirm she asked for her car keys that evening?’ Holme interjected.
Mike admitted he didn’t and was annoyed that the car-park evidence was now less compelling. It irritated him that Holme was guiding Donna and not letting her answer the questions, but he had no choice but to move on. Next, he produced the set of keys for Esme’s flat.
‘These keys were found in your car-’ Mike began, but Holmes leaned over and had another whispered conversation with Donna, eventually nodding for her to answer.
‘They are keys for Josh’s mother’s flat. I was given them by DI Simms after the post-mortem,’ Donna said, fumbling for a tissue from her pocket to wipe her eyes.
‘Why did you go there last Thursday evening after visiting Marcus Williams at the Trojan club?’ Mike demanded.
‘You had me followed?’ Donna asked, crying.
Holme again leaned towards her.
‘Mr Holme, would you please allow Donna to answer my questions,’ Mike said, and the steely-eyed QC glared at him.
‘As you never disclosed any of this to me, I need to advise Donna accordingly. She is being cooperative and I do not want her to give an answer that may be taken out of context and made to fit your wild theories,’ Holme said calmly and then, turning to Donna, told her to continue. He reached over to a box of tissues on the table and plucked one out, handing it to her. She blew her nose and sniffed.
Donna then said quietly that after Agent Dewar and DCI Travis had been to speak with her at her mother’s house she couldn’t believe that Josh might have been murdered. She felt as if she was left in the dark, and in that very distressed state she went to see Marcus Williams. Donna insisted she had wanted to find out what Delon Taylor had said and if there was any truth in it. She blew her nose again, crumpled the tissue, swallowed hard and took a deep breath before continuing.
‘Before Josh died, I had suspected he was having an affair. At the time he was acting strangely and I became a bit paranoid about it, but I never found anything that confirmed my fears. I thought Josh had sold Esme’s flat to pay off some of the Trojan bank loan and renovation work. After Agent Dewar came to see me at my mother’s, I wondered if he did have an affair and was using his mother’s flat.
‘You must have realized he hadn’t sold Esme’s flat when DI Simms gave you the keys?’ Mike said sharply.
‘No, I did not. I was given all his belongings in one plastic bag. My mother sorted through it and put his personal belongings in a box for me. I never looked through the box until after DCI Travis and Agent Dewar came to see me.’
‘Why then?’ Dewar asked.
‘Because your questions made me suspicious again, of Josh having an affair. I found the keys in the box and wondered if they were for Esme’s flat so I went there.’
Mike placed some photographs of the recovered money down on the table.
‘There’s one hundred and fifty-eight thousand pounds here in bundles of a thousand. It was found in a cash bag under the floorboards at Esme’s flat. Do you know anything about it?’
‘No, nothing at all,’ Donna said, clearly shocked.
Mike asked her if she knew the combination for Josh’s safe and she said she didn’t and neither did she know if he’d had any money in it.
‘Can you explain then why your fingerprints and firearms residue matching the gun were on some of the money we recovered?’
Donna looked stunned and she turned to Holme, trying to make sense of what she had just been told.
‘Josh phoned you at the Savoy and said he was ill and was not going into work. It was the perfect opportunity so you sneaked out from the ball.’
‘No, I swear I didn’t,’ Donna pleaded.
‘Josh was in the living room asleep so you quietly opened the safe, got the gun, made him kneel in front of you and then you shot him,’ Mike said firmly.
Donna sat shaking her head in disbelief as Holme impatiently drummed his large fingers on the table and rolled his eyes.
‘I really must object, Superintendent Lewis. Nearly every question you have asked is based on evidence that was not disclosed to me. You are trying to entrap my client, so I would like full disclosure and a further consultation with Mrs Reynolds before any more questions are put to her.’