Kevin sat with his eyes screwed shut as his solicitor packed her briefcase.
Sixty-four
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2019
Dee
They’ve put me in the interview room with a young copper and a cup of weak tea while they go and get Elise. I’ve told them I’ve got something to tell them. About Liam.
It shouldn’t take long. He’ll confess. He’s right at the tipping point. And then they’ll charge him.
Look, it’s got to be done. Some people might say I’m throwing him under the bus but I’ve got to think about me and Cal. Liam is dragging us down. I can’t have him around our child, bringing drugs and the police into our lives like this. I can quietly move away now. No one will blame me for making a fresh start. Maybe I’ll try Devon or Cornwall. It’s pretty down there. I can find a new place and begin again.
I wonder when they’ll arrest Dave. I’d give anything to see Doll’s face when they do.
When Elise and DS Brennan come in, Elise looks dog-tired. Her eyes are sinking. She’s overdoing it.
“Mrs. Eastwood,” Elise says like she doesn’t know me. Well, that’s fair. She doesn’t really. “I understand you want to help us with our inquiries relating to the drugs circulating at the festival.”
I’m sweating and I can feel my hair sticking to my head. I wonder if Elise has noticed.
I take a deep breath and she leans forward.
“Liam helped Dave Harman get hold of the ecstasy,” I whisper. Like I don’t want to say. “From an old mate in Brighton to get Pete Diamond into trouble. And that poor girl nearly died.”
Elise looks at DS Brennan.
“Mrs. Eastwood, how do you know your husband was involved?” Brennan says.
“By accident. I found out he’d gone to meet that scumbag Spike Jefferies in Brighton. Spike was always bad news. They knew each other back in the day when Liam was into drugs—when we first got together. But . . .” I close my eyes. Take it slowly. . . . “But Liam told me he’d done Dave a favor by putting him in touch with Spike and helping him buy a hundred Es. Dave was going to give Liam some work if he helped him close down the Diamond Festival. He got Liam and Ade to smuggle the drugs into the event. They were going to plant them on Pete and call the police. But it all went wrong when Ade and his girlfriend took one.”
Brennan writes it all down.
“Do you know where the rest of the drugs are now?”
“Under our dog’s kennel in the yard. I heard Liam telling someone on the phone. I haven’t touched anything.”
Well, it’s almost true. I had to check they were there after I heard Liam telling Dave he’d hidden them last night. I had to be sure before I went to the police. But I wore my rubber gloves.
“I won’t be a minute, boss,” Caro says as she skips out of the room, and I expect she’s gone to arrange for Liam and the ecstasy to be picked up.
I’m ready. I made sure Cal was at his babysitter Jenny’s before I came in.
“I’m just going to talk to the police about something,” I’d crouched down to say to him. “Nothing to worry about. I need to help them and then I’ll be back and we’ll go to the beach and get an ice cream. Okay?”
Cal hadn’t looked convinced but Jenny told him he could play on her laptop.
“Twenty minutes’ screen time only, Cal,” I’d said. I don’t let him play those horrible video games.
* * *
—
Elise is looking at me hard.
“We will need you to make a formal statement about your husband’s activities and all the information you can give us about Spike Jefferies.”
I hesitate, dig my nails into my palms and blurt, “I can’t. Liam and Spike will know it was me who shopped them, won’t they? They’ll come and find me. I’m frightened about what Liam would do.” And I touch the old bruise on my face.
“Has your husband hurt you?” Elise says carefully, and I look away. “Has he?” And I nod.
“Look, it’s essential you give your statement. This was a very serious offense. You do see that, Dee?”
I’m Dee now. And I nod again.
“But you may need to go and stay with someone. Is there family who could help?”
“No, they’re all dead.”
“I’m sorry. Friends?”
I shake my head. I need to think. “Can I have a glass of water?” I say.
After I’ve sipped the cup of tepid water brought in by the young constable, I say, “There’s something else.”