by Gytha Lodge
“OK,” Jonah said, nodding. “There are also a few things that have come up connected to the death of Aleksy Nowak.”
Benham gave him a slightly blank look. “Aleksy? He didn’t even know Aurora.”
“No,” Jonah agreed. “But he did know the rest of you, and possibly ended up knowing a little too much.”
Benham gave him a skeptical look. “What could he know? He didn’t get together with Jojo till…till almost twenty years later.”
“Given that we’re busy investigating thirty years after Aurora’s death, and information is coming to light,” Jonah said evenly, “Aleksy may well have found something out.”
There was a brief whispered comment from his solicitor, and Benham shrugged. “All right. All right. Go on.”
“I’d like you to think back to the weeks before Aleksy’s death, if you can.”
Benham gave a look halfway between worried and exasperated. “That’s not the easiest thing to do.”
“I know,” Jonah said, choosing to soothe. “But some things might have stood out. Did he argue with anyone, for example?”
“Aleksy?” Benham asked, and shook his head. “He didn’t do arguments. He was too…I don’t know. Too ridiculous about things. I mean, he sometimes drove people mad with pranking them or teasing them…but it was impossible to argue with him.”
“No arguments at all?” Jonah persisted. “Even with Jojo?”
“Really, no,” Benham said, shaking his head. “Those two were…they were one of those annoyingly compatible couples. You must know the kind. You and your wife are busy falling out over stupid things, and they’re joking around and then smooching in a corner when they think nobody’s looking.”
But then there was a momentary slip in Benham’s expression.
“I…actually, there was…God, I’d forgotten about that. There was a falling-out of a kind. I suppose…I suppose I thought it was drink-related. And nothing much seemed to come of it.”
“I’d like to know, even if it seems unimportant.”
“Well…” Benham cleared his throat slightly. “We’d got into the habit of having parties at Brett’s after Mary and I had kids and stopped hosting so much. It was just a normal party at his. But there was some…thing. Some row. Which I think was because Brett had been cracking on to Jojo and Aleksy didn’t like it.”
“Did you see him doing it?” Jonah asked.
“Yes,” Benham said with a grimace. “Quite a number of times. I think he admired her athleticism and strength. And Jojo is a lot of fun. I suppose sometimes Brett just felt like she was something Anna wasn’t. Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t love Anna,” he added quickly. “He clearly does. And I don’t think he’d ever cheat on her.”
“So Brett liked to flirt,” he said slowly. “Did Jojo respond?”
“No,” Benham said, shaking his head. “Jojo might have been a little flattered by the attention, but she had boundaries, and if he looked like he was crossing them, she moved away.”
Jonah nodded, wondering whether Jojo might not have kept to those boundaries in private. The public routine may have been protecting a private affair.
“Look, I don’t know if I’ve got that right,” Benham said quickly. “About the argument. You’d have to ask them really.”
“Do you remember when this was?” Jonah asked.
“Oh…not really. I mean…it was after Topaz and Connor got married. So…that must have been…nine years ago. Or more recently. Though I suppose Aleksy’s been dead for…eight years?”
“So we can’t pin it down any more than that it happened in the year before Aleksy died,” Jonah summed up.
“I don’t think so…And like I said, I don’t think anything came of it.”
A brief pause was broken by Lightman. “What about Aleksy?” he asked. “Did he show any interest in anyone else?”
Benham shook his head. “No, he really didn’t. He teased Coralie and Topaz, and Mary and Anna, too, sometimes. But he teased the rest of us just as much.”
“He didn’t meet up with any of them alone?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“OK, thank you.”
* * *
—
JONAH LEFT THE room, and found himself mulling over that argument between Aleksy and Brett and Jojo. Perhaps he ought to be talking to some of the partners of his suspects.
It was something that should always be done during an investigation in his opinion. Talking to people alone was like examining them in a vacuum. There was a lot more to all of those six than that one night in the forest, and how they accounted for their movements. He wanted to have as full a picture as he could, about all of them. Whatever complex series of events had occurred to lead to Aurora’s death, it had been based on the kids who had gathered there—perhaps on their teacher’s presence or on the baggage each of them had brought with them that night.
He checked the time on his phone. It was almost five, and he realized he had forgotten lunch again. He checked for any spare food in his desk, but came up with nothing.
He headed out into CID again, where all three of his team were at their desks. He avoided making eye contact with Hanson, though he could feel her level gaze on him.
“OK. I’m going to see Anna Parker, and probably Mary Benham after that. Ben, you’re with me. Domnall, I’d like you to get on with the phone records. Hanson, I’d like you to go and stake out Stavely and find out if he visits anyone. And please be careful,” he added, thinking back to the fire, and the feeling of being watched. However worried he was about his own future, that threat was still there. “Take a uniform along.”
“OK,” Hanson said. “And could I…have a quick word before you go?”
“Sure,” Jonah said, keeping it light.
He let Hanson into his office, and perched on the desk instead of sitting. He felt like he was waiting for a verdict.
“I had a call with Zofia, and I thought you’d like to know what she had to say,” she said.
“I would,” Jonah said, not quite sure that was true.
“Nothing happened between you,” Hanson said in a tight tone. “Zofia says that she was trying to talk you into it, and kept trying to get undressed, but you stopped her, tucked her into the bed, and then left.”
“Jesus,” Jonah said.
He felt suddenly weak, and very much aware of the perspiration that was all over his face. It was all OK. It was all OK.
Hanson was still standing stiffly in front of him, not entering into his relief at all.
“There is a little more to it, though,” she went on, with a trace of censure still in her voice. “It may well have no bearing on our case, but someone else did attack Zofia. She woke to find herself facedown with someone on top of her. She never got to see who it was.” Hanson looked away from him, and folded her arms across herself. She looked as awkward as he felt. “I did ask if she was sure it wasn’t you, and she was very clear on it. She says she remembers it all in absolute detail. She remembers that his arms were covered by a shirt, and you’d been in a short-sleeved T-shirt. She’d had to clean blood off it earlier in the evening. He’d hissed in her ear that if she tried to move, he’d kill her, and once he was done, he left. She didn’t dare look round for a long time.”
Jonah’s relief turned into a cold feeling. The same cold feeling he’d had about Aurora having been raped.
“Did she report it?”
Hanson shook her head. “Her mother wouldn’t believe that she hadn’t been willing. And then she sent her away.”
“Fuck,” Jonah said. “So the big question is, do we now start investigating a thirty-year-old rape at a party, too?”
“I’ll have to leave that to you, sir,” Hanson said.
Jonah could see that she was still angry. The fact that he could easily have done it himself w
as still with her. He understood the anger more than he wanted to.
“I’m glad you spoke to her.”
“Let’s hope I don’t have to do anything like that again, shall we?” the constable said acidly.
She was turning to go as Jonah said to her quietly, “Thank you, Juliette.”
“For what?”
“For waiting to find out the truth before you reported it,” he said. “And for finding it out.”
She nodded, but there was still that anger running through her.
He hoped the anger would go in time. In the midst of his own fear, it was still clear to him that she was a huge asset to his team. And despite the likely awkwardness between them going forward, he really hoped that she would stay.
36
He put a call through to Brett’s business number on the way to the house, and got Anna, as he’d hoped.
“Do you mind if we come and ask you a few questions?” he asked, as if they weren’t already on their way. “It seems like you know the group fairly well and might be able to help us.”
“Oh.” She sounded uncertain. “Yes, I’m sure that’s fine. Would you…do you need Brett to be here? He’s out on a bike ride at the moment.”
“No, that’s fine,” Jonah said, feeling that this was a piece of good luck. It would be a lot easier asking for candor without Brett there to overhear. “Perhaps we’ll catch him before we leave, but it’s not vital. He’s been very helpful so far.”
“Oh, good,” Anna said, clearly cheered by this.
He rang Daniel Benham’s home as well, but this time was not quite so lucky. He got Polly, who said that her parents were both out. Daniel was probably still on his way home from the station, Jonah thought, but he decided not to mention that.
“I’ll try them later,” he said, in a relaxed tone. “Nothing urgent.”
The traffic on the way was good, and the roads had dried up after the rain. Once they were off the bypass, it was almost enjoyable to drive the rural lanes toward Brett and Anna’s home, eating crisps one-handed as he went. But his thoughts descended quickly into cyclical attempts to make sense of everything. Lightman knew him well enough to let him stew in silence at least.
Anna treated them like guests when they arrived, just as she had the last time, and her warmth and her careful movements as she made coffee and tea and put homemade truffles onto a saucer were strangely soothing.
“I’ve got cream as well as milk, if you prefer,” she said to Lightman, who had asked for coffee. “It would have to be cold, though. I can’t do the foam thing with cream.”
“Whichever’s easiest,” Lightman replied, and so she set about steaming some milk and pouring it over a shot of espresso.
“Come through to the sitting room,” she said, piling everything onto a tray. “The breakfast bar isn’t very comfortable.”
Jonah didn’t think that anywhere in the sleek house looked that comfortable, but was pleasantly surprised to find a deep sofa to sink into.
“You’re a great hostess,” Jonah said to her warmly. “I hear you two generally have gatherings of the group here.”
“Most of them,” she answered with a slightly embarrassed smile. “I’m not that great. Brett is the real expert. He’s an amazing chef, and he likes everything to be just right.”
Jonah grinned. “Are you less of a perfectionist? More a creative type?”
“I suppose so,” she said with a slight laugh. “If you want to put it nicely. I’m definitely a lot clumsier.”
He didn’t think this was deliberate self-deprecation. Anna struck him as genuinely hard on herself.
“Well, you’ve done a great job today,” Jonah said, taking a truffle and demolishing it. He could have done with something more substantial, but they were pretty incredible, he had to admit. “Can I ask about one of your parties?” he went on. “There was one a while back that came to our attention.”
“Oh,” Anna said. “Yes, if I can…if I can help.”
“It was a long time ago,” Jonah warned her. “Eight years or so. When Aleksy was still alive.” He left a momentary pause, and when she nodded he went on. “There was a row, which was apparently unusual within the group. It was between Aleksy, Brett, and Jojo, I think. We’re told that you intervened to smooth things over.”
“Oh.” Anna looked uncomfortable. “Right. Yes.”
“You remember it, then?”
“Yes, I do. But it wasn’t important.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t,” Jonah said gently, “but the thing I’ve learned in investigating crime is that the small things can often point toward the bigger things. Or hide them.”
“Well…yes, I suppose they must,” Anna said, her blue eyes a little troubled. “But I don’t think it had anything to do with Aurora….” She paused. “If it was something…something else, that was a little bit wrong, would it get people in trouble?”
Jonah put his cup down, and said firmly, “We’re not interested in pursuing anyone for any crimes unrelated to Aurora’s death. That’s not the aim here. And if there is a small misdemeanor that we can write out of our investigations, it would be much better if we knew now.”
Anna nodded slowly. “OK. Well…Aleksy had decided to snoop around. It was my fault, I think. I’d told him how Brett wouldn’t let me in his study. I don’t really know why I told him. It was sort of a joke about him, because he hates disorder and—you know, he’s a little bit OCD, really.” She gave a slight smile. “It’s quite endearing, and I’ve learned to fit around it. I shouldn’t have told Aleksy about the study, though. It was a mistake. He decided there must be something to hide, and when he got a bit drunk and went off to use the bathroom, he decided to go and take a look.”
Jonah watched her, finding himself intrigued by this.
“And when I found them they were arguing. I sort of guessed what it might be about because they were in Brett’s study, and I knew his business wasn’t doing so well at the time.” Anna sighed. “I got a full explanation afterward. He was so humiliated, and I think that was why he flew off the handle at Aleksy. He’d been filing false accounts. Not wildly so, but…not declaring things for tax.”
“So Brett was angry with Aleksy for checking up on his business?”
“Yes,” Anna said. “And Aleksy said it wasn’t his fault if Brett had things to hide. But I think I calmed things down. I reminded them that nothing was more important than their friendship and I reminded them they were both drunk.”
“Did anything more come of it?” Lightman asked, interjecting for the first time.
“No. Well, I texted Aleksy, apologizing, after Brett and I had spoken. I said, look, I know about it all, and it’s not ideal but I’m OK with it and I don’t think it’s going to continue. I asked him to please not mention it to anyone.”
“And what did he say?” Jonah asked.
“He said it was up to me,” she said, nodding. “But that he worried about me and if it were him, he’d be disentangling himself right away.”
“Because you’re heavily involved in the business?” Jonah said, and Anna nodded. He wondered for a moment,whether there had been more to it than minor tax avoidance. Whether Brett had been up to some serious fraud. It was worth considering whether that had been a motive for murder, but if it had been, then it hadn’t had anything to do with Aurora. “So he decided to back off as a favor to you.”
“Yes, I think so,” Anna said, going slightly pink. “I know that means I’m colluding in hiding a crime. But I’m positive it was never on any large scale, and he’s been fine for a long time now. There’s been no need for tricks.”
“Thank you,” Jonah said. “I know it’s a difficult subject.”
“That’s all right,” Anna said. “You don’t…you don’t think there’ll be any need to pursue it?”
“I shouldn’t think so,” Jonah sa
id. “It’s fairly straightforward, and nothing to do with Aurora.”
The reality was that he could assume no such thing just now. But reassuring her seemed the right thing to do.
“Good,” she said with clear relief. “That’s good to hear.”
There were sounds of movement out in the main hall, and Anna became silent and a little tense.
“I’m back!” Brett called from the hall.
“Just in the sitting room,” Anna called. “The police came for a quick chat.”
There were padding steps, and then Brett appeared in cycling shorts, a technical top, and fingerless gloves. His hair was all spiked up with sweat, and there were patches of it on the tight top.
For a moment, witnessing Jonah and Lightman, he looked thoroughly pissed off. But then he made an effort to smile. It amused Jonah. It seemed to be part of a middle-class upbringing that you should be polite and respectful to the police. It was something that Jojo had definitely sidestepped, and Topaz seemed more than happy to ignore.
“I’m a bit…odorous,” Brett said, walking toward them. His voice and movements were both weary. “Sorry.”
“That’s OK,” Jonah said. “We’re definitely intruding. The last thing anyone wants after a long ride is the bloody cops in their house.”
The friendly tone seemed to soothe Brett. Jonah felt he was partly soothing him to make sure that Anna didn’t get in trouble. Reading between the lines of the chat, Brett could be quite critical when he wanted, and he didn’t think Anna was likely to stand up for herself.
It was an interesting dynamic to note. He had interviewed numerous lawbreakers who were somewhat abusive toward their partners. Many of them were, like Brett, slightly controlling, and unkind when their partners didn’t live up to their standards. But being a bit of a domestic bully didn’t make Brett a murderer any more than being a troubled boy with a temper made Connor one.
“Oh, can I ask one quick question?” Jonah asked Brett, as they headed for the door.
“Sure.”
