The custody suite at Plumstead lacked the modernity of Lewisham police station. A distinct smell of chicken and mushroom pot noodles mixed with the overmarinated stench of a detainee who hadn’t bathed in a week filled the place.
“Do you think that she’ll talk?” Ramouter asked as he followed Henley to the interview room. “Uliana’s savvy enough to ask for a solicitor, even if she does look about twelve.”
“I think that she might do, but I don’t think that she’ll talk to me,” said Henley. “I think that she’ll talk to you.”
“You do?” Ramouter asked with surprise.
“Positive. I’m the one who threatened to arrest her and stick her in a cold cell. She’ll already have her back up when she sees me. You take the lead. She’ll definitely talk if it’s you.”
Uliana Piontek sat red-faced and puffy-eyed on the hard plastic bench with a small pile of damp and crumbled tissues in front of her. Her solicitor, Aaron Lodge, to his credit, sat stone-faced as he straightened up his papers and smoothed out the disclosure statement that Ramouter had handed him an hour ago.
“I didn’t do anything,” Uliana burst out before Henley and Ramouter had taken their seats.
“Wait,” Aaron said firmly.
“But—”
“Uliana. I explained how this works. Just wait,” said Aaron as he picked up his pen and made a note.
“Right, let’s start, shall we?” Henley said. She pressed record on the monitor, then sat back and watched Uliana as Ramouter went through the caution. Uliana looked even worse than when she’d met her at her flat. The gravity of the situation had stripped her of any confidence that she may have had.
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” said Uliana the second that Ramouter had finished the caution. “I didn’t kill him.”
“You said the exact same thing when you were arrested,” said Ramouter. “And according to the custody record, you said it again when you were booked in.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t kill him.”
“You keep saying that, Uliana, but there are two facts staring at me which make me question whether you are telling me the truth,” Ramouter said calmly.
“I wouldn’t lie.”
“But you have lied, Uliana.”
“About what?”
Henley was constantly amazed by a person’s ability to convince themselves that they would never get caught, that the tangled strings of their lies would never be unraveled. She pulled a single sheet of paper and placed it in front of Uliana.
“What is this?” Uliana asked, picking up the sheet of paper with trembling fingers. “I don’t understand.”
“That is a streamlined forensic report which gives a breakdown on the forensic evidence that was found on Caleb Annan’s body,” Ramouter explained.
“I didn’t touch his body. I saw him on the floor, and I ran.”
“That report tells us that your vaginal fluid was found on Caleb Annan’s boxer shorts, his penis and groin area. Your vaginal fluid was also found on the sofa in his office.”
“That information wasn’t disclosed to us,” said Aaron as he took the report from Uliana’s hand. “I’m stating for the record that I specifically asked you about the form of the DNA and you failed to disclose that to me.”
Henley could hear the slight quiver in Aaron’s voice as he spoke.
“You had sufficient disclosure,” said Henley. “The disclosure statement which you read and signed, Mr. Lodge, clearly stated that DNA belonging to Uliana Piontek was found on Annan’s body and on the crime scene.”
There was a brief moment as Aaron read the statement. To her credit, Uliana kept a poker face until Aaron leaned over and whispered in her ear. Her face paled.
“Carry on,” said Aaron.
“That vaginal fluid is a 99.9 percent DNA match for you,” said Ramouter.
“I... There must be a mistake.”
“There’s no mistake.”
“Maybe someone put it there.”
Henley caught Aaron’s eye as his pen paused on the page.
“Someone put it there?” asked Ramouter without a sense of mockery. “Your DNA?”
“It could happen.”
“We’re not dealing with hypotheticals here,” said Ramouter. “No one planted your DNA on Caleb Annan.”
“No one is trying to set you up,” said Henley. “If there’s an explanation for your DNA being found on Caleb Annan’s body then you need to tell us. He’s dead and you’re not. Right now, you’re in the unenviable position of being the one and only person accused of murdering him,” said Henley.
Uliana wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve.
“You’re only...” Henley pulled the custody record sheet toward her. “You’re twenty-one in June. A sentence for murder isn’t really a full life sentence. Best case scenario, the judge might set a tariff of maybe twenty-five, thirty years.”
“Tariff. What does that mean?” Uliana asked as she looked across at Aaron for reassurance.
“It means that you will be fifty years old before you’re eligible for parole,” Ramouter said.
Henley didn’t think that it was possible for Uliana’s face to get any paler.
“Fifty,” Uliana whispered.
“If you’re lucky,” said Henley.
“We know that you had sex with Caleb Annan,” said Ramouter. “Which means that you were with him just before he was murdered, or you were the one who murdered him. So, which is it?”
“It wasn’t...it wasn’t me who... I didn’t do anything.” Uliana leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. It was well over a minute before she spoke again. “I was there. The Monday night.”
“I know that this sounds a bit pedantic, but I need you to be clear as to where exactly you were,” said Ramouter.
“In the church.” Uliana bent forward and cradled her head in her hands.
“Why were you there?”
“Caleb called and said that he wanted to see me.”
“Why did he want to see you? The cleaner.”
Uliana sat up, leaned toward Aaron and whispered. “It’s fine. Tell them.”
Henley couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy when she saw the fear and anxiety on Uliana’s face.
“He wanted to see me. We...were involved,” Uliana said quietly.
“In what way were you involved?” asked Ramouter.
“We were sleeping together.”
“You were in a relationship.”
“No, no. Not a relationship. We were just seeing each other.”
“And how long had you been seeing him?”
“About four months. It wasn’t long after I started working there. He told me that he liked me and that I was special. He had a way of convincing me that it was a good thing.”
“So, you were sleeping with him for four months.”
Uliana nodded.
“You’re going to have to answer; for the tape,” said Aaron.
“Sorry, yes,” said Uliana.
“And where would you have sex?”
Uliana took a breath. “The first time was at the church, in his office, but I would usually meet him at a hotel. We did go to a flat in Wapping once.”
“Uliana,” Ramouter said gently, “Caleb Annan was a married man with two children.”
“He told me that his marriage was over and that he was only staying because of the kids.”
“Did you ever suspect that Caleb may have been involved with other women?”
There was a flash of confusion in Uliana’s eyes. “What are you talking about? What did Nicole tell you?”
“Nicole?” Ramouter asked as he looked across at Henley. “Your friend who used to clean for Caleb?”
Uliana nodded slowly.
“We haven’t spoken to Nicole yet.”
“You haven’t?” Uliana asked quietly. There was no mistaking the look on her face. She had realized that she had begun to dig a hole for herself.
“No, we haven’t,” said Henley. “What do you think Nicole would have told us?”
Uliana bit her lip.
“Uliana, when we first spoke to you, in your flat, you said that we didn’t need to talk to Nicole,” said Henley.
“I don’t remember saying that.”
Henley pulled out her notebook from the file on the table and flicked through the pages until she stopped at the one with the top left corner turned down. “Here we go. ‘She will know nothing.’ That’s the note that I made. Why didn’t you want us to speak to Nicole?”
“It’s nothing.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” said Henley. “I’m going to ask you again. Why didn’t you want us to speak to Nicole?”
Henley could hear the gentle whirring of the air-conditioning system as she waited for Uliana to answer.
“He was sleeping with Nicole,” Uliana said eventually. She lowered her head. Her voice was barely audible.
“Uliana, you’re going to have to speak up,” Henley said firmly. “And it’s not going to help you if you keep things to yourself because, one way or another, we’re going to find out.”
“When did you find out that Caleb was sleeping with Nicole?” Ramouter asked.
“I started cleaning the church in September,” said Uliana. “Nicole had stopped working there in August, I think. Caleb and me...we started seeing each other in October. It was about a week after I started back at uni.”
“How did it start? You and Caleb, I mean,” asked Ramouter.
“He told me to come in early one morning.” Uliana’s voice dropped as she kept her gaze focused on the recording monitor. “I was waiting for him to open the church.”
“He didn’t give you a set of keys?”
“Not straightaway.”
“OK, so he told you to come in early?”
“Yes, it was just me and him. He was nice and was asking me about my course, my family and then, when I was cleaning his office, he closed the door and he kissed me. He told me that I was special and that he liked me.”
“And what did you do, when he kissed you?”
“I told him no at first, but then...” Uliana leaned back against the hard bench and looked straight at Ramouter. “I kissed him back and I let him touch me.”
“Was that it?”
“Yes, we didn’t have sex because he suddenly stopped and told me that it was wrong and that he was sorry. He then gave me some money to apologize.”
“He gave you money?” Ramouter asked. “How much did he give you?”
“A hundred pounds. He knew that I was struggling with money.”
“When did you start sleeping with Caleb?”
“Maybe a week or two later. It was just me and him in the church, and we had sex in one of the meeting rooms upstairs.”
“But you said that you never went into the meeting rooms. I asked you specifically if you’d ever gone into those rooms and you said no,” said Ramouter. “Why did you lie?”
“I... I don’t... I’m sorry,” Uliana said. She began to pull at the few strands of her hair.
“How often were you sleeping with Caleb?”
“Every week. He gave me a set of keys after about three weeks.”
“Did you always have sex in the church?”
“No. That only happened once and we had sex in his car a few times but he would usually call or text me at night and give me the address of a hotel.”
“Did Caleb give you any more money or gifts?”
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry,” Uliana said. She turned her face toward the wall and began to cry.
“Maybe we should have a short break,” said Aaron as he gave Ramouter a resentful look. “You can see that she’s upset.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m OK.” Uliana sniffed as she pushed herself farther into the corner, somehow making herself look even smaller and more vulnerable.
“Did Caleb pay you each time that you had sex?” Henley asked.
“I’m not a prostitute,” Uliana shouted out.
“Inspector Henley is not suggesting that,” Ramouter said gently. “But you do understand that she has to ask?”
“I don’t care,” Uliana said. “She’s trying to make me look like a...but I’m not. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“OK, let me ask you another question. Let’s go back to Nicole,” said Ramouter. “When did you find out that Caleb had been sleeping with your friend?”
“It was just before Christmas,” Uliana said. “Caleb wanted to see me before I went back home to Lithuania for Christmas. He said that he had a present for me. He told me to meet him at a hotel on Tower Bridge Road and... Nicole was already there.”
“What was Nicole doing when you arrived?” Ramouter asked.
“She was in bed,” Uliana said. Her voice broke and she began to cry. “He threatened to fire me if I left and that he would tell the police that I’d stolen money from him. Which wasn’t true.”
“What happened after Caleb threatened you?” asked Ramouter.
“I joined them. I did it, but it only happened once.”
“Did Caleb ever hurt you or force you to have sex with him?” Henley asked gently.
“He didn’t force me, but he did...he hurt me.”
“I’m sorry,” said Henley. “But I’m going to have to ask you how Caleb hurt you?”
“Sometimes he was just...rough, and he would squeeze my neck. Once, he left a bruise, but it wasn’t every time,” Uliana said hurriedly. “I don’t think that he meant to hurt me.”
Henley wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t the first time that she’d seen a victim of sexual assault almost apologize for their abuser’s behavior. Being so disempowered could lead to undeserved thoughts of self-blame.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Uliana,” said Henley. “He took advantage of you.”
“I kept thinking that maybe I said the wrong thing or sent mixed messages.”
“No, you didn’t,” Henley said firmly. “Move on,” she whispered to Ramouter.
“So, tell us what happened on Sunday night. What time did you arrive at the church?” asked Ramouter.
“Caleb texted me about 8:30 p.m. and told me to come.”
“Was that usual? For him to text you on a Sunday night like that? It didn’t ring any alarm bells for you?”
“Not really. He said that he was sending an Uber for me. I think that I arrived at the church at about 9:15 p.m.”
“And how long were you with him?”
“Maybe forty-five minutes. I left just after ten in another Uber.”
“Did you leave through the back or the front of the church?”
“The back, but the car was waiting for me on the main road, on Deptford Broadway.”
“Did you notice anything when you left?”
“Not when I left, but I had to go back. I realized that I’d left my phone. So, I asked the driver to turn around. When I went back there was a car parked next to Caleb’s.”
“Can you describe the car?”
“It was silver. A small one. I can’t remember the make. The back door was already open, and I went to Caleb’s office.”
“Can you remember what time this was?” asked Henley.
“I’m not too sure,” said Uliana. “Maybe ten past ten. I remembered that my sister called me when I was getting back into the cab.”
“Did your sister call you on the same phone that the custody sergeant took from you when you were booked in?”
“Yes.”
“Same number? You haven’t changed the sim card?” asked Henley as she pushed a pen and notepad toward Uliana.
“No. It’s the same. No changes.”
“Do we have permission to go through your phone to check that what you’re telling us about the phone calls is true?”
“Yes,” Uliana replied as she released an exhausted sigh.
“Good,” said Henley. “Write the pin number down.”
“What did you see when you went back?” Ramouter asked once Uliana had completed her small task.
“I heard Caleb arguing with a woman in his office. I went to leave but the door opened, and Caleb came out.”
“How was he?”
“Angry. He shouted at me. I told him that I had forgotten my phone. And then she came out.”
“Who came out?”
“His wife. Serena Annan.”
Henley looked across at Ramouter as Uliana started to cry again. She asked, “Are you sure that it was Serena Annan?”
Uliana nodded.
“I need a yes or no from you,” Henley said softly.
“Yes. It was her.”
“Did she say anything to you?”
“Leave. She gave me my phone and told me to leave.”