‘Good. If they find out later that you lied here today, they will have a clear motive.’
‘It is a motive, you know that,’ Jess said.
‘People have murdered for less.’ Michael Wrightson hoped his sister-in-law had seen sense. He was sure she had.
***
Ninety minutes after exiting the interview room, Isaac and Farhan returned.
‘Interview recommenced 5. 55 p.m.’ Isaac said.
‘My client wishes to make a statement,’ Wrightson said. Isaac hoped it was not a confession.
‘Miss O’Neill, you are aware of what you are saying?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then please commence.’
‘Charles Sutherland was a thoroughly despicable man.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Farhan felt the need to speak. He could see why Isaac was drawn to her. Even in a moment of sadness, which was etched on her face, she was still lovely. He wanted to put an arm around her and tell her it wasn’t all that bad.
‘Please allow my client to make her statement,’ Wrightson said.
‘Charles Sutherland,’ she repeated the statement from the start, ‘was a thoroughly despicable man. I can only feel intense hatred towards him. His death did not cause me any sadness. On the contrary, I was relieved and pleased to hear that he had met an unpleasant fate. The question as to why I feel relief, and why I hated him so much, is for me to explain.
‘I came from a sexually abusive and violent childhood. It is something that I do not talk about. I do not want to speak about it now. On the advice of my legal representative, Michael Wrightson, who also happens to be my brother-in-law, I am making this statement. I am well aware that what I am about to tell you would form the basis for murder.
‘I must state here and now, that I was not involved in the murder of this man, although the person who did kill him has my gratitude.
‘As a child with a stepfather who treated the female children as his personal property for his obscene sexual gratification, I am well aware of what constitutes abuse and improper behaviour. My stepfather died when I reached the age of fourteen, early enough for me to forget the horrors of what he inflicted on me and my sister, Michael’s wife. Even Michael does not know the full extent of what transpired in that evil house, and never will. My sister still suffers some lasting effects. For me, I have completely adjusted, never forgotten, but it has not caused me anguish since about my sixteenth birthday.
‘Since then, there have been several men in my life, good men, who have always treated me with the greatest respect. Let me come to Charles Sutherland.
‘Two weeks before his leaving the programme, I went to see him in his dressing room. It was late at night, sometime after 10 p.m. and I don’t believe anyone else, apart from the two of us, were out at the production lot. I wanted to discuss his part and the script change for the next day. I would often do that with the other members of the cast, even with Charles Sutherland, so there was no reason for me not to go and see him.
‘I found him in his room, drunk, from what I could see. I did not realise that he had been snorting cocaine until he became insistent that I take some with him. He was in an unusual mood, even for him.
‘He became more demanding, trying to force me, attempting to grab me and to make me have a drink with him, to lighten up. I tried to leave the room, but he locked the door and put the key down the front of his trousers. He was baiting me to take the key from him. I was in a state, and at that moment, I saw my stepfather there. I kicked at him, attempted to hit him. I shouted at the top of my voice, but no one responded. The more I reacted, the more excited he became. I’ve seen him before in a similar situation, but now it was extreme, and I was on my own.
‘He came at me, grabbed me by my shoulder and threw me on the ground. He ripped off my blouse, started fondling me, and all the time I was screaming. He tried to pull off my skirt, but I managed to take control of the situation and kneed him in the groin with all the force I could muster. He collapsed in agony. I quickly regained the key and left. That’s the end of my statement.’
Nobody spoke for some time. Wrightson was the first. ‘You must understand that what Miss O’Neill has told you is of great embarrassment to her. It is clear that she is distraught and should be excused from further questioning.’
‘Agreed. Interview concluded at 6.20 p.m.’ Isaac said.
Jess left in tears with Michael Wrightson supporting her. Isaac wanted to rush up to her, put his arms around her, and kiss her, but he did not.
‘It’s a good enough motive for murder,’ Farhan said after she had left the building. Isaac did not answer.
Chapter 17
Angus MacTavish was not pleased when Richard Goddard phoned to make an appointment. He relented when told that confidentiality in relation to Charles Sutherland’s death and Marjorie Frobisher could not be guaranteed. He was also concerned that she had been confirmed alive four weeks after her disappearance.
As usual, they met in MacTavish’s office in Downing Street. ‘Detective Superintendent, what have we got here?’ MacTavish asked. He was not friendly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘This Frobisher woman still remains hidden from sight, and then we have a failed actor threatening to sound off to a magazine about something earth shattering. What’s going on?’
‘I think that is a question you could answer.’
‘What do you mean? Are you suggesting I’m involved?’
‘Not personally, but you know more than I
