Going through someone’s smartphone when you don’t know what you’re looking for could take weeks, Cross had discovered. There was so much data, so many photos, emails, texts, call records, browser records. But if you knew what you were looking for, it could be found in minutes, so by the time they were back at the MCU the voice memo recording of the meeting on Flick’s phone had been tracked down. They sat in the office and listened. It was always odd hearing a deceased victim’s voice for the first time. Disconcerting but also incentivising at the same time.
‘I’m recording this, do you mind, Gerry?’ Flick asked. Her voice was lighter than Ottey had expected.
‘No, of course I don’t. Is that a bruise? On your forehead?’
‘Yes. I tripped over one of Daisy’s toys. I fell awkwardly because I had her in my arms,’ Flick replied.
‘It looks painful. Have you had it looked at?’
‘No. Haven’t had time. I think it looks worse than it is. Would you like a coffee?’
‘That would be lovely, thank you.’ She could then be heard filling the kettle and getting out a couple of cups.
‘If you’re here to persuade me to drop my claim you’re wasting your time,’ she said nervously.
‘I am, of course, and you knew that when you let me in. I just hope maybe you’ll listen to me for a little and if I don’t change your mind, know that you will have my full support at the tribunal.’
‘Okay, but I’m not promising anything,’ she replied as an invitation for him to continue.
‘Well, I am, dear. I intend making full restitution to all the girls affected and where possible offer them employment.’
‘They won’t come back and work for Danny. No way.’
‘He won’t be there anymore. I’m going to move him to our head office, well out of the way. He won’t be allowed back at the laundry. I’ll be running that now. He will also make a full public apology and acknowledgement of his behaviour and undertake some form of therapy.’
‘That could lead to the police making charges, though, couldn’t it?’
‘Quite possibly.’
‘Then why would Danny agree to it?’
‘Because he won’t have a job nor a place to live if he doesn’t.’
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely. On my honour.’
She thought about this for a moment then something discomfited her.
‘I still find it hard to believe you didn’t know, Gerry,’ Flick said. There was a pause.
‘He’s my son, Flick. Maybe I didn’t want to accept it.’
‘And look where that’s got us. I’m sorry. I’m very grateful for what you’re trying to do,’ Flick went on.
‘You shouldn’t be grateful. None of this should have happened and of course I have to take some responsibility.’
‘You looked the other way,’ Flick said. He didn’t answer. ‘You have no idea what it’s like going to work feeling sick to the stomach. Not knowing what he might do that day. And the worst part was that we didn’t have a choice, with our history. We were trapped.’
‘I know.’
‘I don’t think you do, Mr Stokes. We were terrified of that man. Your son. Absolutely terrified. Some of the things he did and said. It wasn’t right.’ There was the sound of a young child stirring over a baby monitor.
‘That’s Daisy.’
‘Oh, I’m glad she’s woken up. I’ve brought something for her.’
The meeting continued pretty much exactly as Gerry had described it. Flick became more warm and friendly, having made her feelings clear. They drank their coffee. He could be heard playing with Daisy. During the meeting everything he’d laid out to them that afternoon was, indeed, said. At the end of the meeting, Flick thanked him and said that he’d given her a lot to think about and could she call him the next day? He was delighted.
To Cross it all sounded genuine. It didn’t sound like she was making an excuse for it or making up a story. What it did mean, though, was that the bruise had occurred before the overdose and could be ruled out. Whoever killed her hadn’t struck her in order to administer the morphine, which made things a little more complicated. It also confirmed that Gerry Stokes had told them the complete truth.
It was strange for Ottey to hear Flick’s voice. Evidence of the deceased always affected her in this way. It touched her emotionally to hear the victim alive. Cross had no such feelings. He just listened to it factually, impersonally, trying to glean as much information as possible from it.
*
They went back into the interview room. Danny Stokes now had the look of someone who was tired and worried. Cross felt that this wasn’t a sign of guilt, by any means. In circumstances like these, suspects realised that the situation wasn’t just going to go away, guilty or not, and it had a grounding effect on them that could almost be heard. Cross organised his files carefully on the interview desk, as Ottey set up her laptop. They then played the entirety of his father’s meeting with Flick, all twenty-five minutes of it, without interruption or comment. When it got to the end the two detectives said nothing. Danny looked up expectantly, waiting for a question. None was forthcoming. Danny caved first.
‘What?’ he said.
‘Your father was going to sack you from the laundry business,’ Cross said. There was no response. ‘Compel you to make a full, public admission.’
‘And put you behind a desk at head office where you could hopefully do no more damage,’ Ottey added.
There was a slight scoff from Danny which seemed to imply ‘as if’.
‘Well, it was either that or no job at all and no penthouse flat. Or did I misunderstand?’ Ottey asked. ‘Not to mention the possibility of the police taking an interest.’
Danny made no reply but the shifting in his seat acknowledged the uncomfortable truth of it all.
Ottey then replayed the part of the conversation where Flick specifically said how frightened she was of Danny and what he might do. Danny said nothing. Then Cross spoke up.
‘This tape provides us with motive and evidence that Flick perceived you as a threat.’
‘At the risk of repeating myself, you cannot place him at the scene,’ said the lawyer.
‘Not as yet, no,’ said Cross. ‘But that isn’t always necessary. Murderers have become much more adept at leaving no tracks forensically these days. So judges often take a view on whether they have to be placed at the scene for a guilty verdict. Other evidence comes into play, and the evidence we have seems to be becoming more and more compelling as we go on.’
‘You can’t prove I was there, because I wasn’t, and that’s not going to change,’ said Danny.
‘As my colleague says, it’s possible we have enough as it is,’ said Ottey. ‘Perhaps now is the time to come clean and hope the judge may look favourably on that when it comes to sentencing.’
For the first time Cross thought that Danny looked genuinely concerned.
‘I’d like to speak to my lawyer,’ he said.