31

Extract from an interview with Ingrid Lewis (IL) conducted by DS Kyle Cooper and DC Phil Roberts. Audio only. No visual. No solicitor present. Miss Lewis is under arrest and under caution.

KC:	Right, so you’ve been arrested because we have some new information that unfortunately puts you in the frame as a suspect.
IL:	I find that hard to believe.
KC:	And you’ve waived your right to free and independent legal advice.
IL:	I am a lawyer. What is this new information? I must say, I’m looking forward to hearing it.
KC:	Let me just take you back to the night of the fire, three nights ago. Can you remember what you were doing that day?’
IL:	I’ve told you this before.
KC:	Tell me again.
IL:	I was waiting for a jury to come back in Kingston Crown Court. I was there from nine in the morning until just after four. Then I came back to the house. I got changed. I put a load of washing on. I called my best friend. I think – yes, I booked the car in for a service because I’d driven to Kingston and it was making a weird noise on the way back. A grinding sound. I thought there was something wrong. I rang Mark to ask him if he needed the car later in the week or if I could book it into the garage. He had a dinner to go to – a work thing. That’s why I was on my own. Then I had something to eat – beans on toast, if you’re wondering – and went out to the local cinema. It must have been half past seven when I left the house.
KC:	Did you put the alarm on?’
IL:	Yes.
KC:	Did you lock the door?
IL:	Of course. I checked all the doors. I’m very careful. You know that. I’ve told you about John Webster and what he’s been doing—
KC:	Let’s just focus on the night in question. What film did you see?
IL:	North by Northwest. They have a Hitchcock season at the moment.
KC:	And what time did you leave?’
IL:	I left at twenty to ten.
KC:	Did you go straight home?
IL:	Yes. I walked.
KC:	You weren’t scared to walk around late at night.
IL:	No, I was. But I don’t like taxis or buses either. I’d rather be on the street. That way I can run away.
PR:	[inaudible]
KC:	Did you want to say something, Robbie?’
PR:	No. Sorry. Carry on.
IL:	I went back to the house. I saw a fire engine turning into our road just before I got there and I thought, I hope that’s nothing to do with us. You know how you always think that …
KC:	I do.
IL:	Well, this time I was dead wrong. I came round the corner and I saw the house.
KC:	Did you know it was your house?
IL:	I thought it was, but I hoped it wasn’t. [crying]
KC:	Do you want a minute? Because—
IL:	No, but a tissue …
KC:	Are you okay to keep talking?
IL:	Yes.
KC:	Let’s get back to it. So you saw the house. What else?
IL:	Um, the street was busy. There was a cordon. Everyone had come out to look at the fire and the firefighters. The police were keeping the crowd back. I said it was my house and they didn’t believe me at first, and then the ones on the cordon let me through and sent me to another police officer. I’ve forgotten his name.
KC:	It’s okay, I’ve got it.
IL:	Yes, you would. Sorry. I’m trying to remember.
KC:	Take your time.
IL:	They asked if there was anyone in the house and I said no, because I thought Mark was out. I told them Mark had a dinner. But then they said that he was there, and that he’d been in the house. I thought – I thought he’d been in the house when it caught fire. I didn’t know he’d gone in.
KC:	Did you talk to him about why he went in?
IL:	Not – not exactly. He said – he was worried. He wanted to see if – if I was there. Or the cat. I think he just – he could see the way the fire was burning, that we would need to get whatever valuables we had. Um. Passports, computers. That kind of thing. My work things. My wig and gown – but actually they were in the car. You can ask him about why he went into the house.
KC:	I have.
IL:	Oh. Well, I’m just telling you what he told me. And I didn’t know where he was. [inaudible] I was – well, I was—
PR:	Of course.
IL:	And it was a police officer who took me to the ambulance where he was. He had been in the house. He had inhaled smoke. They took him to hospital after that. But he was released a few hours later.
KC:	What did he say when he saw you?’
IL:	He cried. They’d told him there was a body in the house. He thought it was me.
KC:	What did you think?
IL:	I thought it might be John Webster. I hoped.
KC:	You hoped he burned to death?’
IL:	Look, you don’t understand.
KC:	Explain it to me.
IL:	Forget it.
KC:	I’d like you to tell me more though.
IL:	I just thought if he was burning down our house and he got caught in the fire that would be fair.
KC:	Fair?
IL:	You have a full account of what John Webster has been doing. I know you do. That was my initial feeling about the body. And then they said it was a woman and I was upset, as you might imagine.
KC:	Why were you upset?
IL:	It’s an awful way to die.
KC:	It is. She was trapped in your bedroom.
IL:	[inaudible]
KC:	They found her under the bed.
IL:	I don’t want—
KC:	No, I’m sure.
IL:	—to think about it. I can imagine it. I knew her. I liked her.
KC:	Did you?
IL:	I didn’t know her very well. She seemed sweet. Young.
KC:	How did you meet her?
IL:	She’s the receptionist at Mark’s recording studio.
KC:	And what was she doing in your house?
IL:	I have no idea. None.
KC:	Flora Pole was your husband’s employee, wasn’t she?
IL:	Yes.
KC:	She was twenty-three.
IL:	Something like that.
KC:	Exactly that. Very young.
IL:	I don’t know how she got into the house. I’ve been wondering about that.
KC:	She let herself in.
IL:	How? She couldn’t have. She’d never even been in our house before.
KC:	I’m going to show you some messages now and I’d like you to read them out loud.
IL:	What kind of messages?
KC:	Emails.
IL:	Okay. This one is addressed to Flora at her company email address and it says ‘Please don’t wear that skirt to work any more. It’s distracting. I want to put my hand up it.’ It’s not signed. Who sent it?
KC:	The messages were from an anonymous email account, but the account comes back to Mark.
IL:	Mark? My Mark?
KC:	Yes.
IL:	That’s not possible.
KC:	Can you read the next one, please?
IL:	It says, ‘When I saw you this morning I wanted to bend you over the desk and have you. Do you know how hard it is to behave normally around you? Do you know how hard I was?’
KC:	And then read her reply.
IL:	Hold on …
KC:	Okay?
IL:	I just – that’s a bit— right, I’m okay. This one says ‘I wish we could be together. This is driving me insane. I know we can’t take the risk of getting caught at work, but I’d do anything to be with you.’
KC:	There were other messages from a mobile phone number. We were able to look at both sides of the conversation. I’m going to show you a printout of some of the messages.
IL:	Was she sending him pictures?
KC:	Yes.
IL:	Naked pictures?
KC:	For the most part. Very graphic images.
IL:	Do you have them?
KC:	Yes.
IL:	Can I see?
KC:	I don’t think that’s appropriate.
IL:	What if it’s not her?
KC:	It’s her. Here’s another conversation from four days ago. As you can see, Mark is asking her to come to your house. He gives her the alarm code and tells her he’ll leave her a key. Did you buy a ticket to the film that night or earlier in the week?
IL:	Earlier in the week.
KC:	Did you discuss it with Mark?
IL:	Yes.
KC:	So he knew you were going out.
IL:	Yes.
KC:	And he told you he was going to be out.
IL:	Yes.
KC:	But he arranged to meet Flora in your house.
IL:	I – yes. I don’t know.
KC:	You had no idea about Flora and Mark being in a relationship.
IL:	A – no. But I don’t call this a relationship. A flirtation, maybe.
KC:	It was clearly sexual. The pictures – arranging to meet …
IL:	What did Mark say about this?
KC:	You’ll have to ask him.
IL:	I don’t really want to speak to him.
KC:	Are you all right, Miss Lewis?
IL:	Yes. No. I’m going to be sick.
KC:	Interview suspended at 5.14 p.m.
KC:	Interview resumed at 5.29 p.m.
KC:	Did you know he was planning to leave you for her?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you confront her about it?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you threaten her?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you know she was going to be at your house that evening?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you tell her you were going to be out?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you start the fire?
IL:	No comment.
KC:	Did you kill Flora Pole?
IL:	No comment.