Fatal Witness (Detective Erika Foster #7) (59)

‘You didn’t know he was a convicted rapist. And he’s telling us that he didn’t stay at the house.’

‘Come on, James! That’s pending the results of some crappy CCTV cameras at Goose. I should have checked the family out sooner. What if Vicky was close to finding out who this serial attacker was in the student halls, or she found out it was Jasper?’

‘That’s a big leap without any other evidence.’

‘But it’s a question we should ask.’

‘Yes, but he’s also one question away from walking out. Erika, he’s here voluntarily with a fancy schmancy solicitor,’ said Peterson. He put his hand on her arm. ‘I hope I’m not talking out of turn here.’

Erika put her face in her hands and rubbed her eyes.

‘No, of course not. You’re right, I need more evidence. It just burns that his solicitor thought I didn’t have the right to bring up Jasper’s past convictions for violence against women!’

‘It’s relevant, but Jasper’s done his time for that,’ said Peterson. He put his hands up in the air. ‘I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying, he didn’t get away with it.’

‘He got six years! That’s nothing in a seventy-five-year life expectancy. It’s taken me longer to save up for a bloody deposit to buy my house,’ said Erika.

‘And what’s your point?’

‘Surely saving up for a mortgage deposit shouldn’t take longer than a prison sentence for rape.’

Peterson shook his head and smiled.

‘I think we should file that last comment under “white privilege”.’ Erika looked up at him, and felt mortified. ‘I’m kidding,’ he added with a smile. ‘There should always be room for a bit of black humour, otherwise we’d go crazy.’

Erika shook her head. ‘You can’t joke about that,’ she said, with a small smile.

‘I can. And we’re friends now, aren’t we?’

Erika sighed and looked at him. Is that what they were now? Friends. She hoped so. The thought of him not being in her life in some way filled her with dread. She had a fleeting image of him with Fran, lying in their new bed. She shook it away.

‘Of course,’ replied Erika. ‘Thanks for pulling me back.’

‘As my mate Leon always says, sometimes, you’ve gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself,’ he said with a grin.

‘You don’t have a mate called Leon.’

‘I could. And if I did, I’d remember those wise words.’

There was a moment of silence between them.

‘Seriously, James, I just don’t like the similarities between that podcast episode Vicky was working on and what he went down for. Vicky was scared of someone… And Jasper says he’s broke, and he was going to skip the country, but he’s rocked up here with a very expensive solicitor. It’s all very fishy.’

‘Let’s get back inside and work on him, before he gets fed up and leaves,’ said Peterson. ‘Softly softly.’





39





‘Could we please talk about your relationship with Vicky?’ said Erika. They were back in the interview room, and Erika felt she’d regained control of her emotions. Jasper was sitting hunched over, with the flat of his palm on the side of his head, just below the bandage now spotting with blood. He still seemed in shock from the morning’s events.

‘She was my sister-in-law,’ he said.

‘And she was your tenant. You own the flat at Honeycomb Court with your wife?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Have you always worked in the restaurant business?’

‘I’ve always been a restaurateur. I owned three in the past, around the West End.’

‘Why don’t you own them anymore?’ asked Erika.

‘One went under and I sold the other two when I was convicted and sent down. I used the proceeds to start Goose, back in 2013.’

‘When did you buy the flat in Honeycomb Court?’

‘Around the same time. The owner is an old acquaintance of my family.’

‘Henrietta Boulderstone?’

‘Yes. She’s owned the building for years, and one of the apartments came up for sale. Tess persuaded me to have Vicky as our tenant. She’d just left drama school and needed her own place in London.’

Erika paused. The connection to Henrietta Boulderstone had thrown her a little; everyone involved in this case seemed so closely intertwined.

‘Was Vicky aware of your financial troubles?’

‘I didn’t have financial troubles until two years ago…. But to answer your question, yes, I’m sure Tess told her.’

‘Why have you been having money worries?’ asked Peterson.

Jasper sighed and looked to his solicitor.

‘I really don’t understand how any of this is relevant to the sudden and devastating loss of my client’s sister-in-law?’ said Mr Semple.

‘We’re just trying to build a picture of the family,’ said Erika.

The solicitor nodded and sat back in his chair.

Jasper cleared his throat. ‘Two years ago, I decided to expand Goose. I remortgaged our house to buy the shop next door. We planned to close for eight months. The first set of builders screwed us around, and then quit. By the time we found another, the reopening was delayed by six months, which kill… which affected our income.’