‘She wasn’t my type,’ said Sherratt, with a smirk.
‘Ah. I see.’
Hitchens turned over a few sheets of paper. They were interview reports. He read a few paragraphs, taking his time as the tapes whirred.
‘According to Mr Graham Vernon,’ he said at last. ‘That’s Laura’s father, Lee, your former employer. According to Mr Vernon, you had been pestering his daughter. Trying to chat her up, he says. Ogling her. Spying on her in the house. Following her around. And, he says, you tried every chance you had to touch her. And that your attentions were unwelcome.’
‘It’s not true,’ said Sherratt, before Mr Nunn could decide whether to shake his head.
‘Why would Mr Vernon say things like that if they weren’t true?’ asked Hitchens, raising his eyebrows.
‘He’s weird,’ said Sherratt dismissively, as if it needed no further explanation. His eyes began to roam around again. He studied the clock on the side wall as if wondering how long he had to last out.
‘Weird, how?’
‘Well
‘Weird because he didn’t like you pestering Laura?’
‘No comment.’
‘Did it make you angry that he thought you weren’t good enough for his daughter?’
‘No comment.’
‘You were just the gardener after all, Lee. A servant. And
not a very good gardener, by all accounts.’
y o o ‘ j
There was a flash of anger in Sherratt’s face now as he glared
o o
at Hitchens. ‘I worked hard,’ he said sullenly. ‘I’m as good as them. Why shouldn’t I be?’
188
‘Did Laura look down on you too?’
‘You what?’
‘Did she treat you like a servant. Lee?’
‘She was a stuck-up little cow.’ Sherratt looked defiantly at his solicitor. He was starting to get more confident now. Tailby saw the change in his manner and tapped Hilchens’s leg. It was time for him to come in, to change tack.
‘Some of these stuck-up cows like a bit of roucrh, don’t
i to ‘
they, Lee? They’re desperate to get it from a proper man, aren’t they?’
Sherratt turned round to face Tailby, a knowing leer slipping on to his face before he could think of controlling it. Nunn
o
coughed and shook his head several times.
o
‘I bet you’re the man to give it to them, aren’t you, Lee?’
‘Chief Inspector, I don’t think that is a relevant question.’
‘Did you have sex with Laura Vernon?’
“I didn’t,’ said Sherratt.
‘Just a bit of heavy petting, then.’
‘No.’
‘So how would you describe your relationship?’
Sherratt leaned across the table. The veins stood out in his neck as his chin jutted forward. ‘I told him already. We didn’t have one.’
‘But you met Laura when her parents didn’t know about it, didn’t you?”
‘No.’
‘So her parents did know about it?’
‘What? No, I never met her.’
‘But you’ve already said, Lee, that you met her during the course of your job at the Mount.’
‘Well … yes.’
Even the solicitor was looking confused now. Tailby leaned forward.
‘Now we’ve cleared that up, would you like to clarify your other statement?’
