‘Did you go to Vicky’s flat on Monday?’ asked Erika.
He frowned and bit his lip.
‘Yeah. But I just went there. I swear to God.’
‘What time did you arrive?’
‘Around half three.’
Erika and Peterson exchanged glances.
‘Why did you go there?’
He sighed.
‘For… for sex.’
‘With Vicky or Sophia?’ asked Peterson.
‘Sophia,’ he said in a small voice.
‘Did Vicky know?’
He shrugged.
‘I don’t know, maybe, I told you before. We weren’t together anymore, we were just friends, me and Vicky.’
‘How did you know Sophia?’ asked Erika.
‘Through Vicky. They were friends, sometimes…’ He sighed and closed his eyes.
‘Sometimes, what?’
‘Sometimes a bit more than friends,’ he said, looking down at the table.
Peterson leant forward.
‘Clarify that, please,’ he said. Shawn looked up, and was squirming a little with embarrassment.
‘They were involved, sometimes, sexually… Sophia and her sister had a weird relationship. Not sexually,’ he added quickly. ‘But Maria is very conservative. And they share – shared – a small flat. They’d alternate who had the bedroom and who had the couch, and Vicky would let Sophia meet guys at her flat if things were too busy at home.’
Erika sat back, surprised. Although she didn’t know why she felt such surprise. Had she been projecting her own straight-laced Eastern European Catholic upbringing on Sophia, expecting her to behave in a certain way?
‘How often did this happen? Vicky letting Sophia use her bed?’ asked Peterson.
‘I don’t know. A few times. Vicky didn’t exactly sit down and tell me. I just found out about them being close.’
‘How did you find out? I don’t follow?’ asked Erika.
Shawn shifted uncomfortably again in his seat.
‘It wasn’t that Vicky told me as such. I, we, both ended up having sex with Sophia. One time. It was one evening after we finished working on her podcast recording, and we opened a bottle of wine. Sophia came over. She’d had another fight with Maria over something silly, and she wanted company. We had a few drinks…One thing led to another… We all ended up in bed together.’ His voice trailed off, and he looked up at Erika. ‘Am I in trouble?’
‘For having consensual sex? No. Was it consensual between the three of you?’
‘Yes! Yes, of course.’
‘When was this?’
‘It happened a while back, at the end of August, I can’t remember the exact date.’
‘So, what happened on Monday? Why did you go to Vicky’s flat? If you were there to see Sophia?’ asked Peterson.
‘I texted Sophia in the morning. Just asking her what she was up to, and she said that she had the day off and she was due to go to work for a night shift. She asked if I wanted to come over…’
‘To come over for sex?’ finished Erika.
‘Yeah.’
‘And where were you planning to have sex? In Sophia’s flat or Vicky’s?’
‘At her flat. But when I got there, Sophia wasn’t answering her door, so I thought she must be at Vicky’s flat. I crossed the hall and knocked on Vicky’s door, but there was no answer either. I still have a key for Vicky’s flat so I let myself in.’
‘Why did you just let yourself in?’ asked Erika.
‘I thought Sophia might have fallen asleep. We’d just been texting to say that we would meet. And Vicky did let Sophia use her bed,’ said Shawn, the distress showing on his face.
‘And what was inside?’ asked Erika. Shawn’s bottom lip began to tremble.
‘She was lying on the bed… She looked broken. There was so much blood.’
‘You knew it was Sophia, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s why you were surprised when we came to talk to you at your flat and told you it was Vicky’s body that had been found.’
‘They do look alike, I thought I’d made a mistake, it was all a blur. I stood there for a few minutes and then, I panicked and left.’
‘Did you touch anything?’ asked Peterson.
‘No. I closed the door and left.’
‘What time was this?’
Shawn ran his hands through his hair.
‘I can’t remember exactly.’
‘That’s not good enough,’ said Erika. ‘We’re establishing a timeline of who went in and out of Honeycomb Court on Monday afternoon, and if you can’t account for your exact movements…’