He shrugs and shakes his head at the same time. ‘Erin told me that you and she were…togetherthe other night, is that correct, Malcolm? Are you and Erin partners?’
The question clearly blindsides him.
‘Um… No, we aren’t together, not yet, although wedid…’ he scratches his bed-hair, unruly curls bouncing with the momentum. ‘… This hasn’t got anything to do with that woman, has it?’
Davis and I exchange glances.
‘What woman is that, Malcolm?’
‘The one that your lot are looking for, some witness or other, um… Samantha someone… yeah, that was the name, Samantha Valentine. Erin had all this stuff about her pinned on the wall, newspaper cuttings and maps and whatever, hidden behind the wall hanging…’
Davis immediately goes over to it, untacks it. There’s nothing behind it, but the marks and residue on the wallpaper suggest there was recently.
‘She was touchy when I asked her about it. She told me she was looking for someone she knew, someone called Samantha Valentine, and it reminded me that I’d seen something on social media that day, about a request for a witness to come forward in a murder case with that name, and well,’ he snorts, ‘she flipped out then, literally, jumped up and started crying, throwing clothes into a bag – she told me she was taking them to Molly’s to be washed because her machine was on the blink. I said she could use mine, but she was just, I dunno, on a mission. I could tell she was spooked, like, really freaked out about something, but when I asked her about it, she told me to mind my own business, more or less. And then she asked me to leave.’ He pauses. ‘Did Molly just say that Erin is a convicted killer?’ His brow crinkles in confusion as he turns to me and then Davis. ‘Did I just hear her say that?’
I flash him a simultaneously rueful and empathetic smile.
‘Nah…’ He shakes his head. ‘I can’t believe that Erin’s capable ofkillinganyone… she’s…’ He pauses.
‘She’s what, Malcolm?’
He micro-shrugs.
‘I dunno, she’s, you know…nice. I like her. I really liked her.’ He sounds genuine.
‘Do you know if Erin has taken her medication with her, Molly?’ I turn to her. ‘Where does she keep it, ordinarily?’
‘In the bathroom.’ She scurries off to look for it before shortly returning, a little out of puff.
‘It’s gone,’ she says, struggling to catch her breath. ‘Maybe she has it with her. I do hope so.’ Concern shadows her face. ‘It’s dangerous to come off anti-psychotics and depressants quickly, or any drug for that matter.’ She’s biting her bottom lip again.
I glance at Malcolm.
‘The night of the incident, last Thursday. Did you see Erin that day, or evening? Did you hear her go out, or return? Where were you that night, Malcolm?’
‘In my apartment,’ he says, ‘where I always am, alone, most of the time anyway.’ I detect a hint of regret in his voice. ‘But I know Erin was home the whole day, and evening. I heard her moving around inside her apartment, the sound of the TV on. And later on that night, I saw that this film she likes was on telly, you know,Grease? And so I called to her through her letter box to let her know it was on.’
Grease? Wasn’t that the film that was playing on the TV in Milo Harrison’s apartment when I attended the crime scene? Yes, I remember switching it off. Erin didn’t mention any of this when I had asked her about an alibi for the night of Milo’s murder though. I suspect he’s covering up for her, although I don’t think his motives are sinister. He seems genuinely fond of her. I pull him to one side again.
‘I’ve spoken to Erin, Malcolm.’ I drop my voice. ‘She’s OK. I think she’s safe, but we need to find her…’
‘Youthinkshe’s safe!? When did you speak to her? What is this all about?’
I glance over at Molly. She’s talking to Davis while simultaneously very obviously looking over at us, or rather, at Malcolm.
‘Erin asked me to tell you something, Malcolm, to give you a message.’
‘A message, for me?’ His eyes widen.
‘She said to tell you she said she was “sorry”.’
TWENTY-FIVE
‘Glad you could make it, DI Pritchard. I’m DCI Riley and this is DS Davis – Dan and Lucy. Good to meet you.’
She shakes my hand brusquely, with an air of authority, or perhaps superiority, though I’ll reserve my judgement for now. Either way though, I’m sure it has helped her move up the ranks as quickly as she has in her by-all-accounts impeccable career to date.
Detective Amanda Pritchard, or DetectiveInspectorAmanda Pritchard, as it now transpires, was the investigating officer who had interviewed Erin at length following the death of Bojan Radulovic, seven years ago. She’s currently on CID at Leeds and has agreed to meet us, informally, at a nearby coffee shop.
