‘I am, but what’s that got to do with my sitting here?’
‘You’ve told us that there’s incriminating evidence,’ Gwen Hislop said.
‘Constable, open the case,’ Larry said.
Bradley followed instructions and withdrew a small notebook, the type that could be bought in any newsagents.
‘Is this yours?’ Isaac asked as it was placed on the table between the two police officers and the interviewee and his lawyer.
‘What use is this to you?’ Mason said. Isaac noticed he was becoming more agitated.
‘Please answer the question.’
‘It’s mine. I still prefer to write key details down, notes of meetings that I’ve had, people I’ve met. Nothing wrong in that.’
‘As you say, nothing wrong. But that’s not what we’re talking about, is it?’
‘Get to the point,’ Gwen Hislop said.
‘Don’t worry. Your sister’s sitting upstairs with Sergeant Gladstone, no doubt enjoying a cup of tea.’
‘Mr Mason,’ Larry said, looking straight into the eyes of the man opposite, ‘we held your wife due to circumstantial evidence. She had been the closest to Colin Young/Barry Montgomery, and she had consistently lied to us. She told us that she had not been in Hyde Park, and then that was found to be false. She told us that she did not know where the murdered man lived, but she did, even knew his true name, though she never found out that the woman she had seen him with was his sister. She has lied and cheated through this entire investigation, while you, Mr Mason, have played the indignant husband, upset about your wife’s affairs, dismissive of our charges against her. Did you think of her and what she was going through?’
‘We’re lost over on this side of the table,’ Gwen Hislop said. ‘Is this a character assassination? You’ve released my sister so you can focus on her husband?’
Isaac picked up the notebook and turned to the back page. ‘Is this your handwriting?’ he asked, showing it to Mason.
‘It’s my notebook.’
‘That wasn’t the question.’
‘Very well, it’s my writing.’
‘There’s a map here with a date in the top corner.’
‘It was a demonstration in one of the countries that I visit.’
‘Which one?’
‘That’s confidential.’
‘We’ve checked it against a map of London. It’s Hyde Park, isn’t it?’
‘I can’t remember any weapons being fired there, can you?’
‘Mr Mason, before we continue, let me ask you a question, although I can’t be sure of an honest answer.’
‘This is a farce,’ Gwen Hislop said. ‘If this is the extent of your proof, then I would suggest that you end this interview and allow my clients to go back to their home.’
Isaac ignored the lawyer, maintaining his focus on Mason. ‘Do you love your wife? Or was the touching scene in the cells put on for the uniform to duly report to us?’
‘Admittedly Christine could get up to mischief occasionally, but she’s been a good wife, a good mother.’
‘The difference was that this time she would have left you for another. A dalliance, such as she has had from time to time, is one thing, but Christine was in love with a younger man. You couldn’t compete, you knew that. You had contacts who could keep a watch on her, advise you of her indiscretions. You’re living the good life overseas, and you don’t want it jeopardised, but now, there’s something about to derail it.’
‘If you have evidence, present it,’ Gwen Hislop said.
‘Very well. It is a map of Hyde Park in the notebook, a cross marked where the Peter Pan statue is, an outline of the Serpentine, the lake that vaguely forms the shape of a snake.’
‘That’s not what I drew,’ Tony Mason said.
‘It is. And the writing is in code, or should I say Arabic. Do you speak the language?’
‘A few words, that’s all. I always have a translator with me.’
‘But you can write it?’
‘Some, but what’s the point here? If my wife is free, I should take her home.’
‘I would agree,’ Isaac said, ‘but there’s more, isn’t there, Mr Mason?’
‘Not that I know of.’
‘Constable Bradley has an Egyptian wife. He’s been studying her language for a few years, not getting too far by his own admission. He has translated what he can in the notebook, the damning parts anyway.’
‘Industrial espionage is rife.’
‘I don’t think so. If you are travelling to Arabic countries, then where’s the advantage in using their language? It was your clumsy attempt to hide the fact that you’ve been well aware of what your wife’s been up to.’
‘I’m subject to security checks at the highest level. I needed to know if Christine was going to impact on that, or if I could be subjected to blackmail and coercion.’
‘You’ve known about your wife and the dead man for some time. It’s all in the notebook. It will be translated by someone qualified for it to be acceptable in a court of law.’
‘It’s not all in Arabic.’
‘The date and the time at the top of the map are.’
‘It was the date that Christine was there looking for the man.’
‘You admit to that now?’
‘I was not there. I was overseas.’
‘And if you were visiting countries which England has sanctions against, yet still does business with, especially weapons, would it be possible to falsify a passport entry? Or did you travel to wherever, then catch a plane back to France, and then another passport, another name, and you re-entered England, committed murder and left?’
‘The date and time?’ Gwen Hislop said.
‘It’s in Arabic, but Constable Bradley understood what was written,’ Larry said. ‘It’s the date and time of the murder. You, Mr Mason, killed the man because you knew that the relationship was becoming serious, more than you could deal with. It was either concern about the life you were living or concern that your possession, namely
