by P R Ellis
‘I’m not surprised.’ Jasmine recalled Tyler grinding it into the floor of the hotel room.
‘And forensics are checking out the boot of Tyler’s car for your DNA. Just to provide evidence to confirm your story.’
‘Great.’ Jasmine was quite certain she had shed skin cells and dribbled some saliva while tied up.
They reached the ground floor. All three of them entered the viewing room where screens showed the CCTV pictures of the two interviewees. Tyler was slumped in a chair looking bored while Harriet sat nervously upright. Jasmine noted that she’d been given a mundane outfit consisting of track suit bottoms and sweat shirt. She was certainly not her usual immaculate self. Jasmine hoped she was feeling vulnerable and susceptible to Tom’s questioning. Sitting beside the two arrestees were the duty solicitors. A uniformed officer stood by the exit from each room.
Tom bent down to examine the two screens then stood up. ‘Let’s have a go at Tyler first. Looks like he needs waking up. Harriet can stew for a little longer. Keep an eye on them, Jasmine, and let us know if you have any ideas.’
‘How?’
‘Send a note in with one of the uniforms. Come on Sasha.’ The two detectives left. Jasmine sat herself down in front of the screens. She saw Tom and Sasha enter the room containing Tyler Smith. They sat down opposite the young man who didn’t move.
Tom’s voice came over clear and loud. ‘DI Shepherd and DC Patel have entered the room. Interview with Mr Tyler Smith commencing at,’ he looked at his watch, ‘Eleven-oh-four a.m. Monday twenty-first October. Good morning Tyler. I hope you had a good night.’
Tyler mumbled and shifted in his chair but made no effort to sit up.
Tom began, ‘You are under arrest for the abduction of, and assault on, Jasmine Frame. We will have her statement about that and plenty of evidence, such as the discovery of her handbag in your car. There’s also the statement of William Morley who I think you know as “Winkle”. He took Miss Frame’s car without her permission from a certain Basingstoke Hotel where we have your presence on CCTV. Morley wrote off the Mini on the M6. He’s in hospital but is answering questions.’
Jasmine was interested to hear news of her car but was more intrigued by Tyler’s reaction. He stirred and straightened up. His expression seemed to show realisation that he was in trouble.
Tom went on, ‘But what I’m really interested is what you were doing in Thirsbury on Tuesday evening between about eight-thirty and nine fifteen.’
‘I was in Faringdon.’
‘Not between those times you weren’t,’ Tom said, ‘We have CCTV of you leaving the hotel in Faringdon and returning around ten, and more from Thirsbury High Street between those times. Why did you leave Harriet Bunting and her companions, drive back to Thirsbury, spend less than an hour there and then drive back to Faringdon?’
‘No comment.’
‘Why did you send a message to Harriet Bunting at nine-ten saying “Done”? What had you done Tyler?’
‘No comment.’
‘I’d think about it if I were you, Tyler. I think you were at Molly’s between those times. We’ll have DNA and fingerprint evidence of you being there.’
Tyler sat up and glared at Tom. ‘I was there a lot. That won’t help you.’
‘Ah, but we have the murder weapon. The implement used to beat Evelyn Bunting to death.’ Tom leaned forward and fixed a stare on the suspect. Smith glared back. Nothing was said for a moment.
‘No comment.’
Tom stood up and walked out. DC Patel followed.
Jasmine swung her seat around as Tom entered her room.
‘What do you think, Jas?’
‘I think you rattled him, Tom. He was paying attention by the end even if you didn’t get more than a “no comment”. He knows he’s in trouble. Keep reminding him that he’s not going anywhere because of the abduction charge.’
‘Will do. Now it’s time for Harriet I think. Keep an eye on Tyler for us, Jas.’
Tom backed out of the small room and he and Sasha appeared on Jasmine’s second screen commencing the interview with Harriet Bunting. She was attempting to put on a haughty look but it was spoiled by the scruffy pink sweatshirt.
‘Now, Harriet,’ Tim said, ‘Let’s consider Tuesday evening. The time when your husband was being murdered and your business and home in Thirsbury was set alight.’
‘You know I wasn’t there. I was in Faringdon.’
‘Ah yes, a romantic night away with your lover, Tyler Smith, joined by your two compliant gentlemen friends, who I believe go by the names, Buttercup and Willy.’
Harriet sniffed but said nothing.
‘But you weren’t all there all the time, were you? Tyler left after dinner and did not return until about ten. He drove all the way back to Thirsbury. Why did he do that?’
Harriet shrugged, ‘I don’t know. He is a free man.’
‘Unlike Buttercup or Willy, I understand.’ Jasmine thought she detected a chuckle in Tom’s voice. ‘But let’s get back to Tyler Smith. If it was nothing to do with you, why did he send a text to you saying “Done”, at nine-ten, before starting the journey back to join you?’
Harriet shook her head but remained silent.
‘Come on Harriet, we need an answer. “Done” implies a task completed. What task did Tyler carry out on your behalf? A task that required notification that it was complete?’
She shrugged and glared impassively at Tom.
Tom tried a different tack. ‘You like being in charge don’t you. You took charge of the abduction of Jasmine Frame when she turned up unannounced at your lunch in Basingstoke. You give instructions to your slaves. You dominated Evelyn.’
Harriet Bunting didn’t deny any of Tom’s statements. Jasmine actually noted a slight relaxation of her body indicating acceptance. Harriet wielded power as her right. She didn’t mind that being presented to her as fact.
Tom paused, then took up his speech again. ‘I don’t think Tyler Smith would go anywhere unless he was under strict orders from you.’ Harriet didn’t blink. ‘So what order did you give him on Tuesday evening?’
Jasmine saw Harriet catch her breath. She had realised that her lack of denial of her control over the men in her life had drawn her into a trap.
‘It was of no importance,’ she said, looking away.
‘Oh, but it was,’ Tom replied, ‘Because when Tyler left Molly’s to return to you, Evelyn was dead and your property was on fire.’
Harriet snapped back, ‘That was nothing to do with the instructions I gave Tyler.’
‘What were those instructions?’
She gaped. Jasmine watched with a smile. Harriet must answer now. A “no comment” would look like an admission of guilt.
After a considerable delay while Tom watched her, she spoke. ‘He was to put Evelyn to bed.’
‘Surely Evelyn was capable of doing that himself.’
Harriet shook her head. ‘No, he had to be stripped, shackled and locked in his cage.’
Tom nodded, ‘Ah, I see, the cage in your basement dungeon.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘This was a regular ritual.’
‘Most nights.’
‘Evelyn was left on a thin mat in a cage in the basement while you slept on a king size bed with your lover.’
‘It was what Evelyn liked.’
There was silence. Jasmine sympathised with Tom’s failure to find an immediate response. How did one empathise with a person who accepted such treatment as Evelyn suffered or indeed with the woman who administered it?
Tom recovered however. ‘Tyler didn’t carry out your instructions, did he? Evelyn was found, dressed, on the ground floor, having been bludgeoned with his own antique baseball bat. So why did Tyler send a message to you saying “Done”?’
Harriet didn’t respond. Jasmine saw her face freeze with her mouth slightly open.
‘Can you give me an answer Mrs Bunting?’
She shook her head.
‘What were the actual instructions you gave Tyler?’
A more violent shake of her head.
‘Did you tell Mr Smith to dispose of your husband?’
Still no reply.
‘I need an answer from you, Mrs Bunting. For the record.’
She whispered, ‘No comment.’
Tom went immediately on. ‘Well perhaps you will comment on the conversations you had with Mr Neville Griffiths.’
Harriet’s face showed shock. The change of topic had surprised her.
‘Business,’ she said. ‘Mr Griffiths had made a loan to us.’
‘But you told us before, that Evelyn handled all the business matters. You took no interest in Molly’s. Of course, we know now that you had other business interests involving twelve men. So, what was the purpose of your calls to Mr Griffiths.’
‘He was demanding money.’
‘Wasn’t Evelyn handling that?’
For the briefest of moments, Harriet’s nose wrinkled. Jasmine saw it. What was the cause of her distaste? Having to deal with Griffiths or the fact that Evelyn wasn’t?
‘I was helping.’
‘How?’
There was a pause which went on and on. This time Jasmine could almost see the cogs in Harriet’s brain turning. What lie would she tell now?
‘We were negotiating the sale of the business.’
‘And the property?’
‘Um, yes.’
‘I can’t imagine that Neville Griffiths’ offer was generous especially as you already owed him a hundred grand plus interest.’
‘We hadn’t agreed a price.’
Tom leaned forward as if to make a killing thrust. ‘But Griffiths must have been fairly confident that the business and your home could be his for a pretty low price.’
Harriet shrugged in grudging agreement.
Tom went on. ‘So, it wouldn’t have been in Griffiths’ interests to burn the place down would it. We know the fire was deliberately started and encouraged by a liberal sprinkling of petrol. If it wasn’t Griffiths who set the fire, who was it?’
Harriet looked blank.
‘The only people to benefit from the fire, assuming the insurance company was convinced that you weren’t responsible yourselves, were you and Evelyn. With Evelyn dead, you are the sole beneficiary.’ Tom was sounding triumphant now. ‘Admit it, Mrs Bunting. It was you that planned the fire at Molly’s and the murder of your husband.’
‘No!’ Harriet screeched.
Tom stood up. ‘Think about it Mrs Bunting. You are not leaving here because of the charge of the abduction of Jasmine Frame. Pleading guilty to the arson and murder might mean that you get out of prison in your lifetime. If you don’t, you’ll die in a cell. Evelyn may have liked being imprisoned in a cage but I don’t think you will.’
Harriet looked away as Tom walked out of the room with DC Patel close behind.
He joined Jasmine. ‘What do you think, Jas?’
‘You’ve got her,’ she said feeling elated.
‘Not quite,’ Tom said in more measured tone. ‘She hasn’t admitted it yet.’
‘But you’ve got a logical story now,’ Jasmine said. ‘Harriet is bored with Evelyn and a business that is failing. Now she’s got her slaves and a young lover, she wants a change. Griffiths doesn’t want the business because it has no future, so the insurance scam was the only option.’
Tom nodded, ‘But it was executed badly. The use of petrol was a forensic giveaway, and implicating Evelyn by making it look as though he had spread it ruined the story.’
‘I think she expected Evelyn’s body to be burned to a crisp. For someone who excels at giving orders I don’t think she gave Tyler instructions that were precise enough.’
Tom nodded. ‘He’s the one who’s carrying the can. Literally as far as the petrol goes. He killed Evelyn and started the fire, didn’t he?’
‘I think so.’
‘Perhaps I can make him admit what he did and implicate Harriet to share the responsibility.’
‘That’s it! Put him on the spot. Suggest that it was all his idea, his plan, so he gets all the blame and we’ll see how loyal he is to his lover.’
Tom chuckled, ‘How fickle can love be, eh?’
‘Too right, Tom. We’re nearly there.’
Tom hurried from the small room, and Jasmine saw that he was feeling confident of success. Could he break down Tyler Smith?
She saw his image and Sasha’s reappear in the room with Smith and his solicitor. Tom and Sasha sat down without a word. Jasmine saw the two men eyeing each other. At last Tom announced the recommencement of the interview.
‘Do you have anything to say to me, Tyler?’ Tom said. The young man shook his head.
‘Well, we have it from Harriet that she did give you instructions to return to Molly’s. Certain things that you had to do before your headed back to her bed in Faringdon. You presumably felt you had completed those tasks because of that message you sent to her. “Done”, you said.’
Tyler looked glum but didn’t answer.
Tom tried again. ‘Mrs Bunting says that her instructions were to put her husband to bed. That is, to strip him of his women’s clothes, bind him in chains and lock him in that cage downstairs in the cellar.’
Tyler looked confused.
‘Was that it, Mr Smith? Were those the instructions she gave you?’
‘Er…’
‘Because that’s not what you did was it. You thought that if you killed Evelyn and made it look as though he had spilt the petrol, you assumed that Harriet would get the insurance money.’
‘No.’
‘You saw a chance to get rid of the sissy husband and the failing business and get Harriet all to yourself. You knew she was bored with her husband and fed up with the shop. You hoped to please her by taking the initiative, so you planned and carried out the murder and the arson. You’re going to prison for a long time for planning and carrying out those crimes, Smith.’
‘No, no!’ Tyler was rising from his seat.
‘No?’ Tom’s voice was quizzical, ‘Sit down Tyler. What’s wrong with that interpretation of the facts?’
Tyler slumped back onto his chair. ‘She told me to do it.’
This was it. Jasmine clenched her fists to stop herself clapping. Surely Tyler was going to confess.
In a slow voice, Tom asked, ‘What did Mrs Bunting tell you to do?’
‘She told me to drive back to Thirsbury and set fire to Molly’s.’
‘Is that all she said?’
Tyler took a breath. ‘She said to make it look as though someone else had started the fire.’
‘Did she say why?’
‘She said there was an insurance policy that she could collect on.’
‘She didn’t tell you that it was Molly’s insurance policy and that if either of the owners were shown to have been involved in the fire then the insurance was void?’
‘Um…’
‘Um, what, Mr Smith?’
‘Harriet said the money would come to her.’
‘It would have if you hadn’t created the impression that Evelyn Bunting was implicated in the arson. The insurance company would not pay out if that was the case. You were just supposed to ensure that Evelyn died in the fire weren’t you.’
‘No, Evelyn wasn’t meant to die.’ There was a look of anguish on Tyler’s face. Jasmine was surprised. She had convinced herself that Harriet wanted Evelyn out of her way.
‘What was supposed to happen, Tyler?’ Tom said
Tyler Smith took a deep breath and looked at Tom with appeal in his eyes. ‘Harriet decided that the only way out of the financial mess the shop was in was to burn it down. She said it had to look like someone had attacked the place with a petrol bomb. So I travelled back with the petrol can. Once the fire was lit I was supposed to get Evelyn out.’
‘You were supposed to be his rescuer?’ Tom sounded sceptical.
‘That’s it. But he wouldn’t do it.’
‘Do what?’
‘He wouldn’t let me start the fire. He didn’t want to lose the business. I suppose he was attached to it.’
‘It was his. His life’s work,’ Tom agreed, ‘Harriet may have been a joint owner but didn’t show any interest in the day to day running of it.’
‘That’s right,’ Tyler said.
‘So, what happened when you got back to Molly’s?’
‘I started spreading the petrol, but Evelyn tried to stop me. He was really wild. He was bashing at me with his fists. I pushed him off, he came at me with that old bat. I grabbed it off him and swung it. He… he fell.’
‘You killed him with one blow from the baseball bat?’
‘I didn’t mean to, but he was dead.’
‘So, you decided to finish the job Harriet had given you and let Evelyn’s body be consumed by the fire.’ Tyler nodded slowly. ‘Tell us what you did.’
‘I left Evelyn where he was. I couldn’t touch his body. I just ran out of the building.’
‘What did you do with the baseball bat?’
‘Er, I don’t know. Dropped it somewhere I think. In the shop?’
Tom nodded. ‘And when you were outside?’
‘I had a cloth. I lit it with a lighter, smashed a small window in the door and pushed it through. The petrol caught alight. It was faster than I expected. I barely got away before the front of the shop blew up.’
‘You overdid the petrol, Tyler. The fireball at the front of Molly’s attracted attention so the fire service arrived before the whole building was alight. You left Evelyn at the back of the building where the fire didn’t quite reach and because a little petrol had spilled on him when you fought, we thought he had spread it.’
Tyler looked down at his hands resting on the table.
‘You ran away, sent the message and drove back to your lover,’ Tom concluded. Tyler nodded.
‘You, Tyler Smith, killed Evelyn Bunting and set fire to Molly’s.’
Tyler nodded.
‘Answer please, Mr Smith. For the record.’
‘I didn’t mean to kill him.’
‘But you did.’
‘Yes.’
‘And started the fire.’
‘Yes.’
‘Thank you, Tyler. That’s all.’ Tom rose from his chair.
