have anything to tell us?’ Anna asked.
Tina shook her head.
‘But you must have known it was there. The bed had been moved, a section of carpet had been cut out from under it and then replaced by a piece cut from beneath your living-room sofa.’
‘I told you – Alan spilled a bottle of wine so he must have cut out the section of the carpet. He was always concerned what money the landlord would try and get out of us if we damaged anything. We were saving to buy a place of our own.’
‘So did Alan subsequently insert the section cut from the lounge under your bed to cover the bloodstain?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.’
‘How do you explain it then?’
‘He must have done it when I was at work.’
‘Miss Brooks, if we discover that the stain is in actual fact Alan’s blood, how do you explain that?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe he had a nose bleed, something like that.’
‘But surely the section of the carpet being cut out from beneath the sofa would have occurred sometime before you say he might have had a nose bleed. You claim that he spilled a bottle of wine – when did that occur?’ Anna asked.
‘A while ago, maybe a few months.’
‘So when did he cut out the section of the carpet?’
‘I don’t know. As I just said, it could have happened after he had a nose bleed.’
‘Did you cut the section of carpet beneath the sofa?’
‘No.’
‘When did you notice it had been done?’
‘More or less when you showed it to me.’
‘Why did you order new carpet?’
‘Because I want to move and the landlord would make us pay for any damage. I tried a bottle of carpet cleaner but it wasn’t much good.’
‘When did you order the new carpet?’
‘A week ago. It was on special offer.’
At this point Jonathan Hyde intervened. ‘We appear to be going around in circles, Detective Travis. Surely until this stain discovered beneath the bed is actually verified as being Mr Rawlins’s blood, I can see no reason to continue this line of questioning. My client has told you she was unaware of its existence and she did not cut any of the carpet herself.’
‘Could you explain why you purchased a considerable amount of bleach shortly after Mr Rawlins went missing?’
Tina sighed. ‘I told you why. I use a lot of bleach in the salon because it cleans up the spilled hair-dye and we’ve got black and white lino tiles.’
‘The bleach container in your salon is a different make to the ones you purchased from Asda.’
‘They were on special offer so as I was there I took the opportunity and bought them. I kept one at the flat – the rest I used cleaning up the salon.’
Hyde shook his head, saying to Anna, ‘This is really all conjecture. Miss Brooks has explained why she purchased the bleach, for her salon, and some to use at her flat.’
‘Was it not an attempt to clear away the bloodstain?’
‘No, it wasn’t, because I didn’t even know it was there!’
‘But you must have been aware that the bed had been moved – moved to cover the offending bloodstain.’
‘I never noticed. Sometimes when I hoover I move it or Alan does. We try and keep the place immaculate because it’s rented.’
‘So you admit that you move the bed to hoover?’
‘Yes, I just said so.’
‘It’s exceptionally heavy, with two drawers beneath the frame for storage. Did you get any help when you say you moved the bed?’
‘Well, if I did, Alan would help me.’
‘So you have not moved the bed for some time?’
‘No, not that I can remember.’
Paul knew they were getting nowhere. He had remained silent watching Anna work over Tina, but it wasn’t bringing a result. Mr Hyde obviously felt the same way as he tapped the table with his pen.
‘I feel that my client has answered your questions and to be honest, unless you have proof that Mr Rawlins is deceased and not as Miss Brooks claims missing, I think she has assisted your enquiries to the best of her ability. If you have nothing further to add, I suggest that we terminate this interview.’
Anna really had no alternative. She closed her file and thanked Tina for her cooperation, but warned her that she might well want to interview her again when she got the blood results from the lab. She also made it clear that her flat was now a possible murder scene and she should make arrangements to stay elsewhere until the tests had been completed. Paul took Tina and Jonathan Hyde to the reception while Anna remained in the interview room, irritated because she knew she had perhaps jumped the gun. However, she hoped that putting Tina under pressure might produce a result as by now the woman must be aware of the seriousness of the findings in her flat.
Anna found Paul sitting on a chair facing the incident board.
‘That was a bit of a waste of time,’ he said.
‘Maybe, but it might put the skids beneath her. Tomorrow we’ll go over to the lab and see what they have for us.’
‘I tell you what we need – a body.’
‘You think I don’t know that?’ she snapped.
‘Question is, where the hell is it?’ Paul went on. ‘If he was killed in the bed she couldn’t have carried him by herself. He was a big guy, muscular, and must have weighed at least seventeen stone.’
‘I know.’
‘Which means she would have had to have help. The other scenario is, whilst she was at work someone else entered the flat, killed him and moved the body before she got home.’
‘I don’t buy that. Are you saying that this other person cut out the carpet, laid it under the bed, moved the body and she didn’t know about it?’
Paul shrugged. ‘I dunno, but if the blood
‘Not
‘Well, until we are positive there’s not a lot we can move on with.’
‘I’ll see you at the lab first thing in the morning.’
With that, Anna went into her office. She wrote up the report of the interview, but felt disinclined to contact Langton. Tina was obviously her prime suspect. Although she had thought about Michael Phillips being a part of it, they had not a shred of proof that he was involved.
Anna used the wine and sleeping tablets combination to get another good night’s sleep. She did make herself an omelette the next morning, but hardly touched it. By nine she was waiting at the forensic lab in Lambeth for Paul to arrive. Meanwhile work was still continuing at Tina’s flat as the team searched every inch for further bloodstains and any evidence that Alan Rawlins was murdered inside the bedroom. Tina had given the address of Donna Hastings, the girl she was staying with until she could move back into the flat.
Whilst waiting, Anna went over and over in her head the possible scenario. There was no sign of forced entry, so did Alan know his killer? Whatever had occurred in the flat must have been very traumatic. It was possible that Alan had been bludgeoned whilst leaning over the bed. Had it been an argument that got out of control? Or was it a planned murder?
To dispose of a body was no easy feat. She surmised that Tina would have had to have help, but if it had been some argument that resulted in murder, why not call the police and explain that it was an accident? The financial gain for Tina was the seventy-odd thousand in the joint savings account, plus Alan’s life-insurance policy.
