‘Why didn’t you take your husband’s lawyer?’ Isaac asked.
The woman was as he remembered: short, attractive, and easy on the eye.
‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
‘We’ve spoken to Gabbi. She’s updated us on your life in the Philippines, and your subsequent time in England. Is it, as has been said by her, difficult in this country?’
‘No. We have been happy. I have a good husband, a good life.’
‘According to your friend, your husband controls you. Is that true?’
‘No, not Ian.’
‘What other names does he use?’
‘I don’t know. He’s self-employed. I don’t enquire, not a wife’s prerogative.’
‘There are many who would disagree with you on that,’ Larry said.
‘They never grew up hungry, barely enough money for shoes.’
‘But now, your husband makes sure that you have both food and footwear.’
‘He does.’
‘In the Philippines, you did things that you’re not proud of.’
‘I survived.’
The woman was proving difficult, putting up an impenetrable barrier between her and the truth.
‘Why were you at Mary Wilton’s? We know that you sold yourself there.’
‘Then why ask? I did what was necessary.’
‘Your husband?’
‘We had had an argument. I was doing it to spite him.’
‘A drastic action.’
‘He reminded me of what I had once been. I regret it.’
‘Or you had no money.’
Isaac changed tack. ‘We know that you were in Kensal Green Cemetery by the grave where Amanda Upton died.’
‘I often visit cemeteries, look at the dedications on the headstones.’
The woman, friendly at the house in Holland Park, was anything but in Cardiff.
The legal aid said nothing, just took notes in pencil on a notepad he carried. Isaac could see that he was going to be close to useless for his client.
‘Do you prefer Analyn or Leni?’ Larry asked.
‘Analyn is fine.’
‘Analyn,’ Isaac said, ‘you are either frightened or incredibly naïve. I’m not sure which, but I suspect the first. Am I correct?’
‘I didn’t kill anyone, nor did I do anything criminal.’
‘That is probably true. The house in Godstone, the BMW. Why were you there with Gareth Rees, Gabbi’s first husband?’
‘He’s a friend of Ian’s. He asked me to check it out with him.’
‘It was you that took the BMW and drove it back to London.’
‘It was.’
‘That car was subsequently used by Gareth Rees and your husband to meet with a gang of young criminals. Your husband paid them to kill Hector Robinson, Janice’s father. Why?’
‘Why I drove the car?’
‘The car is not the question. Janice Robinson’s father, why was he killed?’
‘I never knew him, barely knew her. I can’t say I liked her much.’
‘Why? She wasn’t doing anything that you weren’t doing. And according to Gabbi, you and she did much worse in Manila.’
‘That’s the past. Neither of us intended to do it forever, but Janice did.’
The legal aid looked up. ‘You have no evidence against my client. You are putting words into her mouth.’
Isaac ignored the man; he had no time for poorly performing professionals.
‘Let’s be honest here,’ Isaac said. ‘We know that Gareth Rees is violent and that he had killed in the military and in Canning Town. We can prove Canning Town, but we can’t prove that he killed Amanda Upton and probably Janice Robinson. What we believe is that your husband and Rees are involved in the selling of weapons overseas. Some of those trades may be approved by the government, some might not. The case against Rees is watertight for murder, but against your husband, we don’t have a lot. He may still walk free.’
‘I hope so.’
Isaac knew it to be true, what he had just said. What crime could they pin on Naughton? The man had organised Hector Robinson’s death, but who would give evidence. Certainly not Gareth Rees, not unless he was placed in an impossible position. And definitely not Conroy’s gang of hoodies. Even if one could be found to testify, what creditability would he have? A competent defence lawyer would have the evidence thrown out in an instance. Naughton was the organiser; Rees was the doer.
‘If Rees is free, what do you think he will do about Gabbi?’ Isaac asked.
‘If he is capable of violence, although he never touched her when they were married, he might do something,’ Analyn said.
‘And if we manage to prove that your husband has been manipulating the murders, removing those who could possibly jeopardise his freedom, what would he do?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘You are married to Naughton; you know him better than anyone else. You may even love him.’
‘I…’
‘Love or like, hatred, whatever. It doesn’t matter. What is of more importance is what will happen to you and Gabbi. Think about it. Janice Robinson is killed because she had heard something at Mary Wilton’s. We are certain that Rees killed her, but we can’t prove it. Cathy Parkinson, we’re not sure about. And then there’s Janice’s father. What’s he got to do with it? Someone who might start causing trouble. And then three gang members. One of them because of Gareth Rees, the other two through a word in the right ear, a rival gang.’
‘But why did they kill so many people?’ Analyn asked.
‘The military mind, trained to kill silently in difficult and dangerous countries. Discretion, paying someone off to keep quiet, doesn’t work as well as ensuring the person is dead. If Gabbi gets up in a court and damns her husband, if the woman with the video in Canning Town testifies, what then? What will happen to them? What will happen to you? We can’t protect you indefinitely. If either of them goes free, then it’s on your own head.’
Analyn sat still for some time
