‘No.’
‘Did she ever leave any of her work at the restaurant? Notebooks with things she was working on? USB keys or CDs with recordings on them?’
Jasper raised an eyebrow.
‘No. Why?’
‘She was recently working on an episode about a serial attacker. He was harassing young women, and young students at Goldsmith’s Drama Academy. Did Vicky know about your conviction?’
‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. His face was becoming angry again.
‘No to the podcast episode she was working on, or no to Vicky knowing about your conviction for rape?’
‘No to both. I told them, Tess and Vicky, that I got done by the taxman for fiddling the cash in one of my restaurants, laundering money, you know?’ he said.
‘You served eight years in Belmarsh. That’s a harsh prison.’
Jasper tilted his head up and winced at the pain in his head.
‘See? That’s how harsh it was,’ he said, tracing his finger over a long, thin, white scar which was tucked under the length of his jawbone. ‘This nearly killed me. I needed twenty-six stitches and six pints of blood transfusions. The doctor said that if the knife had sliced me an inch lower, it would have hit a major artery and I’d have bled to death.’
Erika was tempted to say that his attacker had a problem with accuracy, but she resisted the urge.
‘Why were you attacked?’
‘Drugs. I owed money to someone on the outside. They got someone on the inside to deal with it. Happens a lot inside.’
‘I thought you were selling drugs inside?’
He nodded.
‘I did. I got sick of being the monkey, I decided to be the organ grinder.’
‘Do you still take drugs?’ asked Erika.
The solicitor leant forward and went to object, but Jasper put up his hand. ‘It’s okay. No. I don’t do that shit anymore.’
‘How well do you know Vicky’s boyfriend, Shawn?’ Erika asked.
Jasper blew out his cheeks, having to think about that question. ‘I know him well enough to have a pint with, but I don’t think him and Vicky were close anymore.’
‘What about Vicky’s neighbour, Sophia?’
Jasper shook his head.
‘No, I really didn’t know her. Vicky had mentioned her once or twice in passing, along with the other sister, but that was it. Apart from vaguely knowing Henrietta, I didn’t know any of them. I never really went there, to be honest.’
‘What about Vicky’s neighbour, Charles Wakefield?’ asked Erika. She looked closely at Jasper. He sat back and rubbed his hands together. Erika noticed for the first time how stringy and wiry his arms were. He wasn’t muscular, but he looked to have real body strength.
‘Who? I said, I don’t know anyone there,’ he said, narrowing his eyes.
‘He works as the unofficial caretaker at Honeycomb Court. He’s a close associate of Henrietta.’
‘Oh, the caretaker. Yeah, I know of him. I had to deal with him, ages ago, to let the boiler man in when we bought the flat. He’s a bit odd. I’ve always thought he’s a bit of a fag – that he’s gay.’
‘What makes you think that?’ asked Peterson.
Jasper shrugged. ‘The way he dresses. When I gave him the key he was wearing a fucking trilby and mincing around.’ He put a hand gingerly to his bandage and then examined his palm for any signs of blood. ‘What does he have to do with all of this?’ he asked. Erika could see he was growing tired and restless.
‘Vicky ran from the crime scene to stay with her lecturer from drama school. Cilla Stone. Do you know her?’ she asked.
‘No. I’ve heard enough about her though. Cilla this, Cilla that. Vicky was a big fan of hers.’
‘Did you or Tess think to contact Cilla? Check she was there?’
‘No. We thought Vicky was dead, then she wasn’t dead, and now…’ For the first time Erika could see what seemed like genuine distress from Jasper. ‘Jesus. I just don’t know how Tess is going to cope. It’s bad enough that she thought Vicky was dead once and now after finding her, she’s gone again.’ He sat back and rubbed at his forehead. ‘Do you have any other questions you want to ask me, officers? I’m here voluntarily, but now, I’d like to leave and go and comfort my wife.’
‘We need that CCTV from the restaurant, if you can arrange that to be sent over as soon as possible,’ said Erika.
40
‘Do you think he’s a flight risk?’ Erika asked Peterson as they watched Jasper from the window as he climbed into his solicitor’s Jaguar in the car park.