‘Why would he think he could incriminate you?’
‘You don’t know Brendan. It all started ages ago, before Mike and I got married. Brendan was always hanging around, pestering me. I tried to discourage him. He wouldn’t listen. I didn’t want to say anything to Mike and cause problems within the family, although I think Gemma his wife picked up that something was happening. He just wouldn’t be put off. If anything, he got more blatant. This was the family I was marrying into. I loved Mike and I really liked his family. Apart from him.’ She sighed, put her hands against her eyes, let them drop. ‘I felt sorry for Gemma. How could I tell her? I didn’t know her that well and I was really worried that Mike’s parents would realize something was wrong.’
She looked across to Traynor. ‘I apologize for not being honest with you, Will. I think you guessed that there was something stopping me from talking. Remember me telling you how Mike pulled the car over when we got to that awful street? That he told me something was wrong with it?’ She took a breath. It sounded like a sob. ‘I had no idea what was going on. I told him to just keep moving. Get us away. He wouldn’t.’ They waited; watched her struggle to hold herself together. ‘That’s when he told me.’
‘Told you what?’ prompted Watts.
‘That he had agreed to help Brendan because Brendan owed a lot of money to some people who had sold him drugs. They were threatening him. His business was in difficulties. Mike said that Brendan was coming to stage a hold-up and take our valuables, that he would claim on our insurance and give the money to Brendan. He told me that he’d already given Brendan twenty thousand pounds but he needed more and there was nobody else he could go to for help.’ She shook her head. ‘That’s one of the things I loved about Mike. He wasn’t a worldly sort of person but he was very caring. I just couldn’t understand his insistence earlier that evening that I wear my diamond earrings to go to dinner. I only ever wore them on special occasions, but I agreed because it seemed important to him. Whoever Brendan owed that money to, it must have been a huge amount.’ She stared ahead. ‘I trusted Mike. I thought we had a relationship that was open.’
She bowed her head. ‘Brendan arrived. He got inside the car, took everything from us and … that’s when it all changed and turned into a nightmare,’ she whispered. ‘I could see that Mike was uneasy. There was something about Brendan. The way he looked. His manner. He drinks a lot but I didn’t smell any alcohol on him. It crossed my mind that he’d taken drugs. I turned to pass the handbag to him. He took it from me.’ She looked up at Traynor. ‘What I told you about the touching was the truth. It was like it was an afterthought on his part. Something he did because he thought he could … I told you about it because I just couldn’t keep it to myself any longer. Brendan has no morals. Like I said, he was always hanging around, sly with his hands. I should have said something. Made a fuss. I didn’t … because it was really nice to feel part of a large family. But I swear I knew nothing about it until that evening when Mike told me.’ She looked up at them. ‘After the touching, that’s when he fired the gun. At Mike. The sound of it, the smell … and then he leant forward, pointed it at me. I just … sat there. Waiting. Listening to Mike moaning. Knowing it was my turn.’
Despite her ravaged face, Watts wanted more. ‘Why were you at Forge Street earlier this evening?’
She looked at him, tears flowing unchecked. ‘Brendan phoned me when I was in the hospital – told me he’d taken one of the earrings from my bag and left it somewhere at that place for you to find. That it would incriminate me. I asked him how that was possible. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I was so worried. You don’t know Brendan. He’s a liar and a horrible, evil person. I wanted to go to the place and look for it but I knew the police were there, and I wasn’t well enough. When I began to feel a bit better, I was too frightened to leave the house. I told myself that Brendan was lying, like he always does, but when Will told me that one of the earrings was missing, I knew I had to find it. I couldn’t stand the stress of waiting, worrying that it had been found, wondering what Brendan had planned, how he was going to make things bad for me. I was desperate. He said that that earring could send me to prison for killing Mike.’
Watts got to his feet. ‘I want you to wait here, Mrs Lawrence.’
They left her with an officer and went to a nearby room. Watts closed the door, his voice low. ‘We have to get this right, Traynor.’
‘We will.’
‘Your theory’s holding up?’
‘Yes.’
Watts paced, frowning. ‘This is about money. Money and murder.’ He looked up at Traynor. ‘You know Molly Lawrence’s mother pretty well?’
‘I’ve met her, talked to her, so yes, I suppose I do.’
‘I need you to phone her. Ask her about any life insurance that Mike and Molly Lawrence have.’
Traynor glanced up at the wall clock. ‘It’s very late. Or very early. I’ll need to tell her who wants to know.’
‘Do that. We need that information, soon as.’
Traynor got out his phone. The door opened.
‘Sir?’ Watts’ phone rang. He reached for it and
