Dead To Me - [12]

‘No,’ Sean said.

‘OK. I need you to confirm the details you gave yesterday.’ Janet went through his name, DOB and address. No surprises. ‘Thank you. Now, can you tell me how you know Lisa Finn?’

‘She’s my girlfriend.’ He rubbed his palms on his jeans.

‘And how long have you been together?’

‘Couple of years.’

‘Thank you. Now tell me in your own words what you remember from yesterday afternoon.’ Janet sat back in her seat, giving him the floor, giving him space.

‘I went round there about half three,’ he said, ‘went in and she were in the living room and she’s on the floor, like…’

Janet nodded slowly. ‘Yes, keep going.’ She was barely aware of Rachel behind her making notes.

‘She was…’ Sean rocked forward in his chair and back again, shoved his hands between his knees, a comfort pose, a response to the distress, ‘… she was dead, like,’ he said, his nose reddening. ‘I could just tell. And I rang you.’ He choked off the end of the sentence.

‘Thank you,’ Janet said. The atmosphere in the room had changed. Sean’s grief thick in the air. She waited a moment, giving him time to regain his equilibrium. Janet remained composed, neutral, empathetic and professional. This is what all the weeks of interview training had taught her. ‘Now I’m going to go through your statement and ask a little more about it. So we can get a complete picture from you. Is that OK?’

‘Yes.’ He cleared his throat. She saw his shoulders had relaxed slightly, a sign that he was feeling less threatened. Though she knew the process was fluid, his anxiety would advance and retreat as they went back and forth over the memories of him finding Lisa’s body.

‘How did you get to Lisa’s?’

‘Walked,’ he said.

‘Where had you been before that?’

‘At my place, with my cousin Benny – he lives there too. I had to sign on in the morning and then I was at home.’ He bit at his thumbnail.

‘You told me you got to Lisa’s at about half past three. Did you notice the time particularly, Sean?’

‘That’s when I said I’d be there.’

‘Which way do you walk?’

‘Down Garrigan Street,’ he said.

‘Do you remember seeing anyone on the way?’

‘No, just… the school was coming out, on the brow, they finish at quarter past.’

Janet gave a nod. It was good to get some supporting information on the basic facts, something to corroborate what a witness said. So if they got to trial there would be no chance for the defence to play silly buggers, casting doubt on the timeline and jeopardizing a conviction.

Janet made eye contact. ‘I’d like you to think about turning into the avenue: can you remember seeing anyone there?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said.

‘Any cars moving, anyone fetching kids from school?’

Sean licked his lips, shook his head. ‘Don’t remember.’

‘You get to the front door, what then?’

‘I went in.’

‘You have a key?’

‘Yeah, but – well, the latch is broken, so you can just push the door, if you know.’

Janet leaned forward. ‘Lisa didn’t get it fixed?’

‘She was going to tell the landlord. Don’t know if she did. Take them years to sort it anyway.’

‘How long has it been broken?’ Janet said.

‘Few months.’

Good God.

‘You couldn’t tell, like,’ he went on, ‘’cos the door sticks so it looks shut.’

Janet felt a bit sick. Did this mean that Lisa could have been attacked by an intruder? Who what…? Persuaded her to undress, then got her to put a kimono on before raping and stabbing her? Or had an intruder found her half-undressed and attacked her? The broken latch only seemed to muddy the waters. What it did mean was that Lisa hadn’t necessarily invited her killer in, which is what they’d assumed until now.

He bent forward in his chair, hands on his knees, preparing for what was coming. Janet didn’t want him to get too wound-up. Before walking him through the discovery again, the most traumatic part of his evidence, she reeled back a few hours. ‘Had you and Lisa been in contact during the day?’

‘I rang her just after one. She said she’d be back about half three. That’s how I knew to go round, like.’

Janet gave a nod, reinforcing that what he was telling them was helpful, that he was doing well. ‘Sean, do you still have that call on your phone?’ she asked him.

‘Yeah.’

‘Good,’ Janet said. Physical evidence, even though it wouldn’t necessarily prove Lisa was alive at one o’clock, only that someone had used her phone then. The brighter sparks were catching on to how police used mobile phone data in investigations, and tried sending messages after the victim was dead to mislead the police. ‘We might need to keep that for our records.’

‘My phone?’ he said, a little worried.

‘Perhaps, I’ll check with our telecoms people. Sometimes they can copy the information. In case it’s needed in court.’

He signalled his agreement.

‘When did you last see Lisa, before half past three?’ Janet said.

‘In the morning, before I went to sign on.’

‘You had stayed at the flat together?’

He nodded, miserable. His eyes moist.

Janet kept going. ‘Do you know what Lisa was planning to do?’

‘She was heading into town.’

‘For anything particular?’

‘Just shopping,’ he said. His voice rose on the last syllable and Janet wondered if that was to do with his sorrow or if the question itself unnerved him in some way.