‘The Fonsekas live in Tulse Hill. Brixton CPU have spared a couple of officers to search the property, I’m just waiting for confirmation that they’re ready. Copeland are you good to assist on the search?’ Henley asked.
‘Of course,’ Copeland replied.
‘Thank you,’ said Henley. ‘Stanford and Eastwood, I want you on Mikaela Fonseka and the CCTV footage from the Ferguson acid attack has come through. I need you looking for anything that can help us identify the third person in Iron Shadow. Ramouter and I will be interviewing Fonseka but I don’t want him on record until we’ve got something concrete to put to him. At the moment all we’ve got is that he’s left the court building and didn’t stop when Copeland ordered him to.’
‘Don’t forget the assault on a PC,’ Copeland said, removing the cold compress and pointing at her swollen eye.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be asking him about that too. Right, everyone get to it, and Copeland can I have a quick word?’ Henley said, gathering her things.
‘Yeah, of course, guv.’ Copeland followed Henley outside. ‘Is everything ok?’ she asked.
‘Everything is fine,’ Henley said. ‘I didn’t want to talk in there with everyone pretending they’re working and not eavesdropping.’
‘They’re not exactly subtle.’
‘No, they’re not. I wanted to say well done, for today. You did good work.’
‘It was just luck really. We would still be at square one if I hadn’t caught Siobhan Perez in the car park.’
‘Don’t diminish what you did. You followed through and you got a result that has moved this case forward. You’re a good addition to the team.’
‘Oh, thank you,’ Copeland said, visibly surprised.
Henley’s phone vibrated in her hand; she replied to the text message. ‘That’s Brixton CPU,’ she explained. ‘They’re ready to go. I’m forwarding the address and the officers’ details to you now.’
‘I’ll keep you updated,’ Copeland said.
Henley waited until the door slammed shut behind Copeland, before turning around and pressing her forehead against the cold wall. She was grateful that the text message had arrived and stopped her from going that one step further and apologising to Copeland. Despite her protestations and a gnawing feeling that she shouldn’t trust Copeland she couldn’t deny that she was a good detective.
Elliot Fonseka was both shaking and sweating. Large sweat patches were visible in the underarms of his blue shirt and his top lip glistened as the hands holding on to the plastic cup of water shook. His solicitor, a man named Arthur Crooks who had been knocking around the criminal courts longer than Henley had been alive, sat next to Elliot. The room reeked both of body odour and desperation.
‘Elliot, DC Ramouter has reminded you of the caution which you’ve confirmed you fully understand. I’m going to question you about the allegations made against you,’ Henley said. She spotted a box of tissues on the ground, pulled out one and handed it to Elliot.
‘Before you do that,’ said Arthur, tearing a page from his notebook, ‘I have a prepared statement from Elliot Fonseka which I’m going to read out.’
Henley leaned back as Ramouter sat with his pen poised. Prepared statements weren’t unusual in a police interview. Most people thought they had only two options when being interviewed by the police, to answer questions or answer no comment but there was a third option: to give a statement prepared by your lawyer which either denied the offence or admitted it but also laid out a defence.
Arthur cleared his throat and read: ‘“I, Elliot Fonseka, will say as follows: I deny having any involvement in the murders of Catlin Ferguson, Nathan Hall, Sian Fox-Carnell, Douglas Mantell, Gong Bo Hyoo, Kaiden Longley and the attempted murder of Tabitha and Graham Ashcroft. I have no knowledge of a conspiracy to commit murder. I deny running away and attempting to avoid arrest when I saw DC Copeland at Wood Green Crown Court. I was leaving the court for a cigarette break. I was not aware that DC Copeland was a police officer and was acting in self-defence when I punched her. I believed that I was being attacked. My actions were reasonable and not excessive.” The statement has been signed and dated by Mr Fonseka. I have a scanned copy so you can keep the original.’
Henley, took the statement from Arthur. ‘Just because you’ve given a prepared statement doesn’t mean that the interview is over,’ she said. ‘But you would know that, being a court clerk.’
‘And he’s been advised to answer no comment to all questions following on from his statement,’ said Arthur.
‘Elliot, you’ve been working for the court system for a long time. Twenty-six years,’ said Henley. ‘We’ve got a copy of your employment history. You started as a legal advisor in the old Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and were there until it closed in 2006. You then transferred to Blackfriars Crown Court where you were a clerk for eleven years and then you moved to Manchester Crown Court. Why?’
‘My dad was ill, and I moved to be closer to him. He died four years ago.’
‘I’m going to remind you of the advice I gave you in consultation,’ said Arthur without looking up. ‘To answer no comment to all questions put to you.’
Elliot picked up his water, sipped and replied, ‘No comment.’
‘How did your dad die?’ Ramouter asked.
‘He was mugged when he was leaving the betting shop. He was pushed and banged his head. He died before the ambulance arrived,’ said Elliot as Arthur gave an audible sigh, signalling that he’d given up.
‘Did they catch the person who mugged him?’
‘He was charged with manslaughter and was given a two-year sentence. Can you imagine that? He killed a defenceless old man, and he got a shorter sentence than someone convicted of being in possession of a fake passport,’ Elliot said angrily. ‘That wasn’t justice.’
