‘Interview with Doctor Alex Moore…’
Alex straightened her skirt and coughed gently.
Hunt nodded to her.
‘Doctor Moore, can you tell me in your own words your routine on Tuesday the fourteenth of July?’
‘Well, I’ve checked my work notes and—’
‘Sorry to interrupt, but can we start from when you woke up?’
‘Oh. Of course. Jeremy wasn’t in bed when I woke. He was asleep in the pool house. He’s been doing that for a long time.’ Alex clasped her hands together and cast her eyes down. ‘I left him to sleep because I was in a rush. I fed the kids, then I left for work.’
‘Did you have any communication with your husband at all?’
‘No. My car was blocked in, so I took his.’
‘Carry on.’
‘I had a full day of clients and I didn’t hear from Jeremy all day. When I came home, my car was back so I had to park in front of it. I remember it was around seven in the evening.’
‘Do you know where he was?’
‘He was in the pool house, but I was cross he hadn’t spoken to me all day so I didn’t go out there.’
‘But you knew he was in there?’
‘Yes.’
‘Alone?’
Alex looked up.
‘As far as you know?’
‘I presumed he was.’
‘And the children?’
‘I said goodnight to them around eleven. Ewan was already asleep. Lydia was in the bath listening to music and James was out at a friend’s overnight. The lights in the pool house were still on.’
‘Did you tell your husband you were going to bed?’
‘No, I locked up and went to bed. I figured if he didn’t want to talk to me in four hours then he wouldn’t begin at eleven at night. I gave up.’
‘And did you hear anything after that?’
‘No.’
‘As far as you recollect, had you noticed the blue wooden coat stand missing before then?’
‘No.’
‘So when did you notice it gone?’
‘The next day when I went to check on him.’
‘Tell me about the morning of the fifteenth of July.’
‘I got up early, because I heard James being dropped off. Jeremy wasn’t in bed when I woke up, so I checked the pool house. He’d slept in there again.’
‘Can you describe his appearance? Anything out of the ordinary?’
‘Well, he was naked under some towels. But I was worried about him because I smelled bleach. I thought he might have been sick.’
‘Where were his clothes?’
‘I don’t know. They weren’t in the laundry when I got home.’
‘Did it not strike you as odd?’
Hunt waited as the doc collected herself. It was a tough gig, implicating one’s husband in such a crime. Even for the doc.
‘I’m used to it, I guess. Jeremy is, erm… Not well.’
Hunt passed her a box of tissues and she took one.
‘Indeed. What about when you received the news of Monika’s death, did his behaviour not raise any red flags?’
‘When my friend Tony Thorpe told me Monika had gone missing and he’d last seen her on that Tuesday night, I had no reason to suspect my husband’s behaviour or connect the two.’
‘And was it that Wednesday, the fifteenth, when you noticed the coat stand missing?’
‘Yes. It was usually in the pool changing rooms. There were towels missing too. I assumed he’d used them to clean up the mess. We argued about the coat stand, but he can’t remember things during blackouts.’
‘Is this it?’ Hunt showed a photo from the CCTV footage from the tip, as well as a copy of the photo Alex had taken when she’d first ordered the stand from France.
‘Yes.’
‘Has your husband ever been violent?’
The doc stared at him and he felt wretched having to put her through this. She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
‘Yes. He has, when we’ve argued about Monika.’
‘When was that?’
‘Many times.’
‘When you discovered the photos on your shared computer, what did you think?’
‘I thought it confirmed that he was obsessed with her, but she rejected him.’
‘Did you witness this?’
‘Yes.’
‘And the paper he wrote, entitled “Chosen Suspects”, and the use of your confidential client files?’
She was back on familiar territory and gathered her composure.
‘In my opinion, Jeremy fantasised about being published and celebrated. It reads like an academic study. Like somebody constructing a crime scene.’
‘And in this paper, he creates a scenario where a murder occurs and the two suspects most suitable for the crime – in his opinion – could potentially be clients of yours?’
‘Yes. I knew he read my client notes, but I had no idea what he wanted the information for. I changed my passwords as soon as I found out.’
‘And the conclusion of the paper, for the record?’
The doc coughed and took a deep breath.
‘How to get away with murder. Only somebody suffering from clinical narcissistic personality disorder would believe such a thing possible. Add to that a brain addled and confused by addiction… Sorry, this is very difficult for me.’
‘Take your time.’
‘It was obviously planned for a long time.’