The Camera Lies: a gripping psychological thriller

by AB Morgan

  Really? Where the hell did they come from?

  ‘Why would the rope and the sex toys be of interest in relation to injuries sustained by the alleged victim in this case?’

  DS Jenkins hesitated. ‘As well as the injurious cuts to his face, Mr Neale had lacerations or marks on his back and buttocks, which were found to match with the rope. According to the forensic reports, there was evidence of the sex aids having been used by both parties.’

  ‘Yes. That is indeed the case. Thank you for clarifying that, DS Jenkins. Most helpful.’

  Konrad was still trembling from his experience in the witness box and from the shock of being told that Lorna, the woman he’d left his wife for, the woman he loved for her common sense and humour, the woman he had planned to spend the rest of his life with, was being accused of behaving like a first-class sex-crazed psychopath. He was so caught up in the horror of the situation that he failed to listen in full to the details of the evidence being given by DS Ffion Jenkins, or to understand the implications.

  ‘Call Detective Chief Inspector Anwell.’

  Gethin Anwell, in pristine suit, shirt and tie, took the stand to be examined by Rupert Van Dahl, who continued to insist that the motive for assault had been that of revenge.

  ‘DCI Anwell, you interviewed my client at length in the hospital and in the police station at Bangor when he was fit enough to attend. Did you at any time suspect that Mr Konrad Neale was not telling the truth about the events as he recalled them from the night of the thirteenth May?’

  ‘No. Mr Neale was always cooperative and in fact he consistently tried to convince the investigating team that he and Lorna Yates had been the victims of a revenge plot by a woman by the name of Tessa Carlton. During our interviews, Mr Neale identified Naomi Woods as the most likely person to be Tessa Carlton, based on photographic evidence, texts he’d received and the chronology of events.’

  ‘Did he at any time say that he had met either Lorna Yates or Naomi Woods six years previously.’

  ‘No. He reported that he had known Lorna Yates since February 2016, but that he’d never met Naomi Woods. However, once he had identified Chloe Jordan as possibly being the same person as Naomi Woods, it was obvious that he had met her face to face.’

  ‘What did your investigation reveal about Ms Woods?’

  ‘Naomi Woods had a legitimate job as a businesswoman, working with her partner, Joshua Hawley, running a recruitment service, Hawley Recruitment Solutions. She was well qualified and experienced in that role and respected in her industry. She had previously worked for Helena Chawston-Hawley who was murdered by her husband in 2014, but we know that Naomi Woods did not feature as a suspect in any way, although she gave evidence at the trial in that case.

  ‘On investigation of her past history, we found a connection between Naomi Woods, Tessa Carlton and Lorna Yates.’

  ‘Can you clarify for the court what that connection was please.’

  ‘Yes. All three had been patients at Willow Hall, an adolescent unit in Suffolk. We also identified that after disappearing from Willow Hall, Naomi Woods had worked as a chambermaid at a gentlemen’s club in London where Lorna Yates had also been employed as a barmaid.’

  ‘Do you have a record of the name of that club?’

  ‘Yes. La Maison.’ There were hushed mutterings from the public gallery.

  ‘Did all three of these women meet or know each other at any given time?’

  ‘Yes, we found records for Lorna Yates that confirmed her admission to Willow Hall coinciding with the time that Tessa Carlton and Naomi Woods were resident – albeit an overlap of merely two weeks.’

  ‘What happened to Lorna Yates and Tessa Carlton after they left Willow Hall.’

  ‘Tessa Carlton disappears from any records and we have reopened an investigation into her disappearance. According to formal records, Lorna Yates appears in stable employment in 2012 with a PR company in London. She was twenty-five by then, so we had a gap of eight years that were not fully accounted for. Miss Yates insisted that she was travelling through Europe and the UK, and being paid cash-in-hand for casual labour jobs in pubs and clubs whilst studying for an Open University Degree, and she also did some agency administrative work. We have been unable to corroborate every single one of her stories, however, we have confirmed the majority of her employment history. Our investigation also confirms that she lived in Camden for a period of twelve months between October 2013 and November 2014. After that she moved to a flat in Forest Hill. There are no records of any previous contacts with the judicial system or other health institutions.’

  ‘Thank you, DCI Anwell. That’s most illuminating. Taking you back to the assault on my client, can you outline for the jury why you believe that Konrad Neale could be unable to recall the events that took place in his hotel room on the night of thirteenth of May 2017?’

  ‘Yes. Mr Neale’s last recollection was of a powdery substance being blown into his face just before he grabbed hold of the alleged intruder who had forced their way in through the door to Mr Neale’s hotel room. Room 110. Our forensic team found evidence of a powdered substance and had this analysed. It was found to be a refined synthesised version of a drug that has been used previously to render victims entirely suggestible and leaves them with no recollection of events. The original substance derives from a South American plant, the Borrachero tree.’

  ‘Is this substance known to have been used before for criminal purposes?’

  ‘Yes, but this version was more refined and more predictable in its effects. Our conclusion initially was that both Mr Neale and Miss Yates had been affected by this, but on examination of clothing, only minimal powder was found on the clothes Lorna Yates was wearing when she entered the hotel room. However, there was a significant pattern of powder still remaining in amongst the blood stains on the towelling robe worn by Mr Neale when he opened the hotel room door. Powder was also found on the door, the light switch and the wall immediately to the right of the doorway.’

  ‘Your conclusion was, therefore, that only Mr Neale had been drugged.’

  ‘Unfortunately, that proved difficult to ascertain. We found evidence of the powder, and our interviews with Mr Neale and Miss Yates indicated memory loss in each case, but it has not been possible to state categorically that either of them suffered from amnesia directly as a result of deliberate intoxication.’

  ‘I see, but it is possible.’

  ‘Yes. It’s possible.’

  38

  The heat from the central wood burning stove could not penetrate the chill of dread that had made its home in Konrad’s knotted stomach. He sat at the kitchen table in a rented stone and slate cottage hidden away in Llanrug. The bleak November rain pelted down outside the windows, adding to the air of general grey gloom. Rupert Van Dahl took a sip of strong coffee before trying again to explain himself.

  ‘Look, I know it was a shock, but if we had warned you beforehand then there would have been accusations flying around about coaching witnesses. The police have carried out an extensive investigation and the court will get to hear irrefutable evidence that will prove the guilt of the accused.’

  ‘Fuck me, Rupert, you could have said something before I was hung out to dry. At this moment in proceedings, I look like a liar and a pervert. Christ, how am I supposed to deal with this mess? I’ve lost everything. Everything apart from Eliza and now she knows about La Maison she’ll probably disown me. I don’t even know what to believe about Lorna any more. How could she have kept her past that secret, and why?’

  Rupert raised his eyebrows. ‘You did the same. I don’t suppose she knew about your habit of procuring sexual services, which you should have at least mentioned to me. You made us look as if we had deliberately withheld information. Please tell me there are no more surprises about your private life, and, while you’re at it, you can give me chapter and verse on La Maison.’

  Konrad heard the resignation in his barrister’s tone. ‘I never mentioned it becaus
e it wasn’t relevant. It was years ago. If you’d been married to Delia, you’d have gone there too.’

  ‘I doubt it.’

  ‘No, really… the place was full of England’s finest legal and medical minds and half the MPs of Westminster. It was a smart club for discerning professionals whose sex drives outweighed that of their wives and partners. It wasn’t a seedy dive with scabby drug-fuelled prostitutes locked behind doors, quite the opposite. La Maison was a high-class establishment with a bar and piano music, where like-minded men could be sure of a warm welcome, attention, and a room for the night in the company of intelligent women who found sex enjoyable. Expensive but worth it.’

  ‘Tell me whether you used the services of either of the two defendants at La Maison, before they take to the witness stand.’

  ‘Lorna was never an escort there. I knew most of the girls intimately and it can’t be possible that one of them was Lorna. No way. Not a chance. I’ve slept with Lorna, I know every inch of that woman. As for Naomi, who knows? It’s possible.’ He stood up from the table and paced the length of the stone flagged floor, a glass of red wine in his hand.

  Rupert agreed. ‘You have a good point. We can find no indication that Lorna ever worked as an escort at La Maison. I’ve had an investigator on the case since this morning’s revelations in court, and two members of the staff at La Maison did remember her working behind the bar there during the time you were a regular customer, so you’ll have to be patient until we have the chance to put the record straight on that fact.

  ‘Look, Konrad, the trial is going to be a long one and you may have to hear information that you don’t agree with, but please understand, we have a strategy in mind with which to undermine the defence’s case. They are insisting on self-defence as an argument, and blackmail and revenge as the motives but that simply does not wash.’

  ‘Too bloody right it doesn’t. How many more witnesses are you calling?’

  ‘Two more. Our strengths will come during the cross-examination, so try not to worry.’

  Konrad snorted at Rupert. ‘“Try not to worry”. Are you having a laugh at my expense? Can you imagine the headlines tomorrow? “Dirty pervert TV presenter has roving eye cut out by ex-prostitute lover…” or some such shit. God, what a mess! Who are our last witnesses?’

  ‘Doctor Sarah Tyrell and then finally Delia.’

  ‘Delia? My ex-wife Delia? You’re either very clever or exceptionally stupid and I have no idea which.’ Konrad knocked back the last of the wine in his glass, slammed it down on the table and walked away towards the open plan lounge. ‘Shut the door on your way out. We’re done.’

  Rupert Van Dahl swiftly gathered the papers from the table and left the cottage under cover of darkness, leaving Konrad with his thoughts.

  Slumped in a high-backed chair, which was in dire need of reupholstering, he held the phone to his ear, waiting for Eliza to say something in reply to his question. ‘What do you want me to say, Dad? I understand about the extramarital affairs and I understand you wanted to divorce Mum, but do I understand why you made regular use of escorts for sex? No. Why couldn’t you have a wank instead? Then we wouldn’t have to wait for the next wave of sordid details to come out in the press and I wouldn’t be made to feel tainted by your life choices. Some prude you turned out to be.’

  ‘Sorry, Eliza, I never wanted any of this to happen. I don’t know what else to say to you, other than sorry. Please don’t come to the hearing. You stay out of it and keep yourself away from the press furore and public scrutiny as much as you can.’

  ‘Dad, I’m still here for you. Call me every day. Okay? Anyway, like it or not I’m coming to court tomorrow to give you my support, but Mum says please don’t try to speak to her as she can’t guarantee she’ll be civil.’

  Konrad had to smile at his daughter’s comment, and admire her family loyalty.

  Delia’s hair remained solidly in place although the card in her hands was vibrating rapidly as she read her affirmation out loud to the court in a quavering high-pitched voice. Rupert Van Dahl stood and gave her a transient grin of reassurance before asking his opening question.

  ‘Mrs Neale, for how many years have you known my client, Mr Konrad Neale?’

  ‘I’ve known Konrad for over twenty-five years.’

  ‘In that time has he ever been physically violent towards you?’

  ‘No. Never.’

  ‘Has he ever raised a hand in anger and threatened to physically hurt you in any way?’

  ‘No. Never.’

  ‘Could you please describe to the court what level of intimacy you had in your marriage before you decided to divorce?’

  ‘Konrad and I had drifted apart over the years and our physical relationship was minimal.’

  ‘Were you aware of his use of escorts in the past?’

  ‘Yes. He would make use of a club in London where he stayed at the weekend. I did know about it although we never discussed it openly.’

  ‘Did you know about his affair with Miss Lorna Yates?’

  ‘Yes. I asked him to stop seeing her in order to salvage his career. I’m his business manager and the public expected him to be seen with me, as his wife, at engagements. He was besotted with her, so they started seeing each other again in the weeks before he was attacked.’

  ‘Did that make you angry?’

  ‘Yes, but it also made us decide to divorce, which we probably should have done years ago. We stayed together for the children and for his career.’

  Konrad couldn’t quite comprehend what his wife was doing for him. He looked at the faces of the jury and saw their admiration for her honesty. Rupert Van Dahl completed his questioning, making way for the impressively cutting tongue of Mrs Steele.

  Here comes old Iron Breeches. Watch out, Delia, the cow made mincemeat of Dr Tyrell, poor woman.

  He had not been surprised when Dr Tyrell had immediately left the courtroom following her grilling by Lorna’s brief, and then by Mrs Steele. Between them, they undermined the psychiatrist’s statement and questioned her professional opinion about the three girls who had been in her care at Willow Hall. At least she had remembered the facts about who absconded when and with whom. ‘Lorna had been treated for depression and discharged back into the local authority care system. Tessa Carlton and Naomi Woods had absconded together and never returned.’ Mrs Steele had taken the opportunity to condemn the standards of care at Willow Hall and Dr Tyrell eventually crumpled under her cross-examination, confusing the details of each of the three girls and thus undermining her credibility as a witness.

  ‘Any re-examination, Mr Van Dahl?’

  ‘If I may, My Lord.’ Rupert Van Dahl stood again. ‘Dr Tyrell, you said to my learned colleague that Naomi Woods had strong psychopathic traits that were similar to those of Tessa Carlton. In your view was Naomi Woods, the defendant, capable of influencing Tessa Carlton?’

  ‘Yes. Tessa was much more obvious in her manipulation of the other girls in the unit, she was boastful and a bully, but Naomi was more skilled, and more successful. She would watch and learn about her fellow patients. Once she had identified their strengths and their weaknesses, she would groom them, for want of a better expression. She was crafty and underhand.’

  ‘Did you ever see Lorna Yates being targeted by either Tessa Carlton or Naomi Woods in an attempt to bully her in anyway?’

  ‘No, not that I was aware of. As I said, Lorna kept to herself. She didn’t mix with the others.’

  ‘No further questions, My Lord.’

  Mrs Steele now took aim at Delia Neale and played to the audience once more.

  ‘It’s very admirable of you to stand as a witness for your feckless, adulterous ex-husband, Mrs Neale. One can only assume he must be worth the maintenance money… Mrs Neale, you say you tolerated your husband’s infidelity and that your sexual relationship with him had been minimal. How long was your marriage purely one of financial convenience, would you say?’

  ‘Probably for the last
ten years.’

  ‘So, would it be fair to assume that you have no real idea of your husband’s sexual preferences?’

  ‘I don’t understand what you mean.’

  ‘Has your husband ever indulged in bondage, whipping, use of sex aids or sexual violence with you or anyone else?’ Mrs Steele swivelled slowly as she shared the words with the court and the jury.

  ‘He certainly never has with me. No.’

  ‘But he could have with someone else.’

  ‘He could have. I wouldn’t know.’

  ‘No. You wouldn’t know. Thank you. No further questions.’

  Mrs Steele sat down and had a whispered conference with Mr Harry Drysdale, the brief for Lorna Yates, who indicated that he didn’t need to ask any additional questions on behalf of his client.

  Delia appeared bewildered as she was escorted from the witness stand and seated on Eliza’s right. ‘What a bitch…’ Delia cursed under her breath into her daughter’s right ear.

  The judge stirred. ‘Does that conclude the case for the prosecution Mr Van Dahl?’

  ‘Yes, My Lord.’

  ‘Then we begin the case for the defence. Mrs Steele, you continue to lead on the case for Naomi Woods, with your learned colleague Mr Drysdale as the counsel for Miss Lorna Yates.’

  ‘That is correct, My Lord,’ confirmed a smiling Mrs Steele.

  ‘I suggest we adjourn for lunch and then you may call your first witness when we reconvene at one thirty.’

  Konrad sat next to Barney in the public gallery waiting for Annette who had just completed giving evidence as the first witness for the defence. She had been called to stand, and her role was to paint a positive picture of Lorna as a hard-working professional who had been led by Konrad to believe they would have a future together.