‘Three names,’ said Erika as Moss clicked on the final sound file. It was a recording of a phone call. The phone was ringing, slightly tinny, through the speakerphone. The phone was answered by a woman who announced that she worked for the GDA Student Welfare office. Vicky told the woman that her name was Becky Wayland, and that she was following up on an incident of attempted assault in their Jubilee Road student accommodation, which she had reported back in February 2014. There was a long silence on the end of the phone.
‘Sorry. Why are you calling?’ asked the woman, whose voice now seemed guarded.
‘You see, I reported this to the police, and the Student Welfare office at GDA, and this was four years ago. I heard nothing back…’ There was another long pause.
‘Do you have a crime number?’ the woman said finally.
‘No. I don’t, but I would hope that as this was a serious incident there would be something you could tell me.’
‘This would be a matter for the police, surely?’
‘Yes, but I was staying in the Jubilee Road building when someone broke into my room. There must be a record of this, and a police follow-up? I’ve got the other two names here. Kathleen Barber had a similar experience in the same building in January 2012, and Grace Leith in February 2012 in another student halls building in Hartwood Road near New Cross Gate station. Have you any other reports of incidents?’
The woman on the end of the phone now sounded very flustered.
‘I’m afraid I’ll have to get someone to call you back, and if you have a crime number I’d be better placed to direct your call…’ Vicky gave her numbers and the woman hung up.
‘Better placed to direct your call,’ said Vicky after it ended. ‘What am I? Someone who’s phoning up about the curtains she’s ordered?!’
The sound file ended abruptly.
‘We have dates,’ said Erika. ‘And two addresses of student halls.’
‘The light bulb thing is making me shudder,’ said Moss. ‘Imagine being somewhere where you can’t turn on the light.’
‘And in January and February it gets dark very early,’ said Peterson.
‘We need to run all of these through the system and see what happened to Becky Wayland’s police report,’ said Erika. ‘And see if there are any similar incidents logged – did Kathleen or Grace report what happened?’
38
Later that afternoon, Jasper was released from hospital and agreed to be interviewed at Lewisham Row station.
Erika sat across from him in an interview room, flanked by Peterson and Jasper’s solicitor. Jasper had a bandage on his forehead and a ripening bruise on the side of his head.
‘Why did you run from us?’ asked Erika.
He sat staring at the table, then took a deep breath. ‘I was trying to clock out,’ he said.
‘What does that mean?’
‘Leave. I want to leave. I’m clinging on. And I can’t do it anymore. We’re not going to make rent next month on the restaurant. We’ll miss our fifth mortgage payment for the house. I didn’t know about Vicky when I drove away…’ He shook his head and looked genuinely horrified. ‘Tess found her body?’
‘Yes.’
‘They had their rivalries, as sisters, but Jesus. This will destroy Tess.’ He shook his head and looked down at the table.
‘Do you still want to leave?’ asked Erika.
‘I can’t now, can I?’
‘Where were you between midnight last night when I dropped Vicky off, and this morning when we saw you drive past in the car?’
‘I slept at the restaurant. There’s a room upstairs where I sleep sometimes.’
‘Can anyone corroborate this?’
‘No, but I have CCTV at Goose. I can give you tapes which show me arrive and leave. And it’s on the main high street.’
Erika looked at Peterson. Just because he had CCTV didn’t mean he was there the whole time. She leafed through a file she had on the desk, and reached the page she was looking for.
‘We know you have a criminal record, Jasper.’
‘Who told you?’
Erika didn’t want to tell him that they had to find out from some scally on the Forbes Estate.
‘We have it all in our database. You served eight years in prison for stalking and harassing one woman, and raping another. And you were running a drugs ring inside which put extra time on your sentence.’
‘Have you told Tess?’ said Jasper, his voice hoarse. He was now turning red and shaking.