‘I can check on that,’ said Erika.
‘Check on that,’ repeated Maria with a snort. ‘I’m not asking you to check if my burger is cooked. This is my sister’s body!’
Erika cringed at her use of words.
‘I’m sorry. I assure you that I will make enquiries.’
Maria took a deep breath and composed herself.
‘My parents run a restaurant. They can’t take long from work, we want to know when we can arrange for her body to be repatriated.’
‘I promise you I can check on this with the coroner’s office and make sure that they know about your circumstances,’ said Erika. She didn’t know if they would release the body any time soon due to the complexity of the case. ‘Maria, we need to talk to you about a few things. Can we please sit down?’
Maria nodded and perched on the end of the small sofa. Peterson sat on the other end and Erika leant against the kitchen counter. She told Maria about Vicky’s death, and what had happened. Maria closed her eyes and bowed her head, shaking it from side to side.
‘Do you think it’s the same person who killed Sophia?’
‘We don’t know yet. We’re still waiting for the results of some forensic evidence to come through. Can I ask you some more questions?’ asked Erika.
‘What else do you want to know? I have told you and your colleagues everything that I know, over and over. I have things I have to do,’ she said. Erika noticed that there were ingredients for baking out on the kitchen counter and an ancient recipe book was open to a picture of a plaited bread.
‘This is very important.’
Maria put her hands up in the air and then gave a resigned nod.
‘What did you know about Sophia’s friendships here in London?’
‘We know the same people from our medical course, but we don’t socialise. We study.’
‘We understand that you’ve both been working at different hospitals. Did Sophia mention anyone else that she’d met? New friends…’ Erika watched her carefully before adding, ‘A boyfriend, perhaps?’
Maria’s head snapped up at the mention of this.
‘Sophia had no time for that. We are here in London on a grant. We have very little money for anything other than food and travel.’
Peterson looked at Erika and gave an imperceptible shake of his head. Erika changed tack.
‘Did you know what Vicky Clarke did for a job?’
‘She was an actress, no?’
‘Yes. And she also had a podcast, like a radio show.’
‘I know what a podcast is,’ said Maria with a withering look.
‘Do you know if Sophia took part in this podcast?’
‘Took part. How?’
‘Vicky sometimes hired actors to play people on the recording. Did Sophia ever talk about doing a recording for her?’
Maria shook her head.
‘No. She was a trainee medical student. She wasn’t an actress.’
‘Vicky told us that she knew both you and Sophia.’
‘We knew her as a neighbour, yes.’
‘Did you ever go over and socialise with her?’
‘I didn’t. No.’
Erika took a deep breath.
‘Maria. When we spoke to Vicky, she told us that she and Sophia had grown very close as friends… And on a couple of occasions their relationship became… sexual.’
Maria stared at her. ‘What? You come to my flat and say that about my sister, who isn’t here to defend herself? No. No. I’ve seen how you people work. You try to say shocking things to provoke a reaction from me!’
‘No, Maria, I’m not saying this to provoke a reaction. Vicky was very upset at Sophia’s death, and she told us this information because she thought it would help find the person who did this—’
‘What did Vicky know about Sophia being killed? She ran away and left my sister’s body!’
‘And we need to know why Sophia was in Vicky’s flat. She told us that she let Sophia use the bed in her flat, for when she met a man she wanted to sleep with.’
‘That’s enough!’ shouted Maria, standing up. Her fists were clenched and she had fury in her bird-like eyes.
‘Maria, please. We need to ask you these questions,’ said Erika, shocked at Maria’s reaction to her sister having a sex life. ‘There is a man at the hospital who works as an orderly and he was having a sexual relationship with Sophia. His name is Reece Robinson.’
‘Enough! I know she was a whore!’ yelled Maria. She lunged at Erika and landed a hard slap on her face. Peterson jumped up and restrained Maria, pinning her arms behind her back. It was a hard slap and for a moment Erika saw stars. She watched as Maria fought against Peterson’s grip, and gave a blood-curdling scream. ‘Fuck you! Let me go!’ It made Erika ask, was this grief or rage coming from Maria? The two were often connected, but calling Sophia a whore and hitting a police officer was an extreme reaction, especially from someone who was about to take an oath to do no harm.