Frozen Grave

Chapter 24

‘Mr Ellerman?’ Willis walked in first, followed by Carter. ‘I am Detective Constable Willis and this is Detective Inspector Carter.’

‘I’ve been sitting here for half an hour. I understood this was just an informal interview?’ He was irritated.

‘It is, Mr Ellerman,’ answered Willis. ‘We thought you’d want to keep this as discreet and private as possible. So, in here is the best place to take a statement from you. We won’t keep you longer than necessary.’

Ellerman shifted in his seat, impatient. Carter stayed quiet.

‘Okay, well let’s get on with it. What do you want to ask me? The officer who asked me to come in said it concerned Olivia Grantham.’

‘Yes – I’m sorry to inform you that Olivia Grantham was killed – we think she was murdered.’

‘No… how terrible… How did it happen?’

‘We don’t know why but she walked into a derelict building in Shadwell, where she was attacked. Where were you last Sunday evening?’

‘Sunday? I already told the officer on the phone; I was at home in Richmond. Poor Olivia.’ He rubbed his forehead with his fingertips.

‘Have you got someone who can verify your whereabouts?’

‘Yes. My wife; but I’d rather not involve her.’

‘Were you close to Olivia?’ asked Willis.

‘I wouldn’t say we were close.’

‘How long had you known her?’

‘We met a few months ago, I think it was. Maybe even as much as twelve months. We didn’t see one another often.’

‘When was the last time?’

‘Probably three weeks ago.’

‘And how was that?’

He shrugged. ‘Fine. She seemed okay – same as usual.’

‘Usual?’

‘Yes.’

‘What was usual for her?’

‘Well – you know… maybe a little obsessed with work, but not depressed or anything.’

‘Where did you meet that last time?’

‘I think it was at her flat.’

‘Which is where?’

‘Brockley. I think.’

‘What was your relationship with Olivia, Mr Ellerman?’

‘We were friends. I told you.’

‘Was it a platonic freindship?’

‘We had a physical friendship.’

‘You were lovers?’

‘On a casual basis, I suppose so.’

‘How did you meet?’

‘We met online.’

‘Where online?’

‘An adult-friend-finder service called Naughties. It’s a site for finding sexual partners. It’s an honest way of hooking up with a stranger for sex.’

He looked across at Carter. Carter sat opposite him and smiled politely but still said nothing.

‘Would you say your relationship with Olivia was just sexual?’ asked Willis.

‘Yes.’

‘You never went to dinner? You didn’t spend time with one another? You didn’t ring her for a chat – ask her how her day was?’

‘We may have had dinner. We liked the friendship we had. It was enough.’

‘Is that unusual for someone meeting on this type of site, to have dinner, to form a relationship? To become friends outside the bedroom? Isn’t it dangerous to become attached? I thought the whole idea was that you meet, have sex and then walk away without forming a bond.’

‘No, not necessarily. It’s a starting point sometimes.’

‘So you formed a bond with Olivia?’ Willis asked.

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘I want you to think clearly, Mr Ellerman,’ she continued. ‘We have phone records of Olivia’s dating back five years. Your messages appear on them in the last two years…’ She opened the file on the table and took out the page so that Ellerman could see the heading: Messages sent and received between Olivia Grantham and JJ Ellerman.

‘There are many times that it appears you met one another. You talked to one another for nearly an hour sometimes. And you know what strikes me, Mr Ellerman? There seems to be a proper relationship between you.’

‘Nonsense. It was just phone sex.’

‘In one text message she mentions her investment. What does she mean by that?’

‘No idea.’

‘Could it have something to do with your Spanish company – Hacienda Renovations?’ asked Carter, speaking for the first time.

Ellerman looked from one detective to the other. He watched Carter turn the page in the file and pull out the printout from Companies House.

‘Am I under investigation? I was told this was an informal interview. I want a lawyer here if you persist in cross-examining me.’

‘We only want to build up a better idea of her life, Mr Ellerman. I’m sure you will want to find out what happened to Olivia,’ Willis said. ‘After all, she was a friend at least, wasn’t she?’

‘I told you, she was just someone I met for sex.’

‘Did you tell her about your Spanish renovations company?’ asked Carter.

‘I might have done.’

Ellerman shifted in his seat. He was sweating. A bead had begun to trickle down his temple.

‘Did she invest in any of your businesses?’

‘I can’t remember. I don’t think so. What does that matter, anyway?’

‘Everything matters, Mr Ellerman. Everything helps us to build a picture of her life.’

‘Did Olivia know you were married?’ asked Willis.

‘Yes, of course. I don’t lie about things like that. Look, I have absolutely had enough. I demand to be allowed to leave now. You’ve had quite enough from me and I feel very threatened by your line of questioning.’

‘I understand,’ said Carter. He looked up at Ellerman and smiled politely.

‘We’re really hoping that we don’t have to ask you to come in again, so we are being as thorough as we can be this time.’ He turned to Willis: ‘Detective Willis, is there anything else you’d like to ask Mr Ellerman before we thank him for his cooperation and send him on his way?’

‘There is one more question.’ She scanned down her notes. ‘Did Olivia mention that she was seeing someone else or had just begun a new friendship?’

‘No.’

‘Have you any idea who she might have been meeting on Sunday evening?’

‘No. I’ve said – I don’t have any idea. Can I go?’

Ellerman got up. Willis was scanning through the phone records again; she stopped halfway down the second page.

‘Sit down, please. Do you have another mobile number that you use?’

‘No, I don’t.’

‘Not even a back-up one that you keep for emergencies?’

Ellerman shook his head, annoyed. ‘I said – no.’ He sat back down heavily in his chair. ‘I’ve told you all I want to say.’ He stared straight ahead, his arms folded across his chest.

‘Okay. Thank you for your cooperation,’ Willis said, closing the file. ‘I have to ask you not to leave the country and to be available for us to talk to you again if necessary. Is this the best number to get you on?’ Willis read the number from the sheet pinned to the file.

‘Yes. I don’t want my wife bothered.’

‘I am sure you don’t,’ said Carter.

‘It’s not like that – it’s just that she has been depressed. I want some reassurance from you that she won’t be bothered.’

‘No guarantee – as Detective Willis said, Mr Ellerman, please keep yourself available and make sure that we can locate you easily enough and then that shouldn’t be a problem.’

After the first set of interviews, Willis and Carter headed back to the Dark Side.

Robbo was at his desk, engrossed in sorting the images from the crime scene. Pam was at hers. Hector was out of the office. ‘How did the interviews go?’ Robbo looked back and forth between Carter and Willis for an answer.

‘We interviewed four men who had some kind of encounter with Olivia Grantham. Only JJ Ellerman is of serious interest. The other three have watertight alibis. They only saw her once each.’

Willis went to sign in to Hector’s empty workstation.

‘What was Ellerman like?’ asked Robbo. Pam stopped her work to listen to the reply.

‘He’s a smart-looking man.’ Carter looked towards Willis to confirm.

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘He cares a lot about his appearance. He keeps himself in good shape but he looks frayed around the edges. He sweats a lot. He is arrogant and thinks he’s cleverer than he actually is.’

Carter smiled.

‘Exactly – couldn’t have put it better myself. He looks down his nose at the world. He is Mr In Control. Selfish, self-absorbed and ruthless.’

‘Nice guy then; can see you two warmed to him.’ Robbo smiled. ‘What did he say about his relationship with Olivia Grantham?’

‘He said as little as he could get away with,’ answered Carter. ‘He definitely didn’t want to talk about the fact that he might have been fond of her. But he admits they went to dinner, they had a friendship besides just sex. But he didn’t seem to really care that she was dead. He certainly wasn’t that shocked by it. Do we know any more about him, Pam?’

‘I think I’ve found him on seven dating sites so far,’ said Pam. ‘On three of them he has his photograph; it’s a version of the photo on his website, taken at the same time by the look of it. He describes himself as someone slightly different each time – his age is always between forty and fifty. His height varies, interests always include classic cars and his income is always huge. That seems to be the key for him – he is how much he earns. He wants everyone to know. In each of the adverts, he uses the same line: self-made man, used to luxury.’

‘Except he doesn’t earn it any more,’ said Carter. ‘What about the classic cars?’

‘He still has those. He has four altogether. A Porsche is amongst them. That’s been SORNed as has a Ferrari. Two cars are taxed and on the road. They are registered to his address. He must keep the Porsche and Ferrari somewhere else.’

‘It costs a lot of money to keep a car in perfect condition,’ said Robbo.

‘What about the Spanish Hacienda company, Pam?’ asked Carter. ‘Have you found anything else on it?’

‘Not yet. Do you want me to contact the Spanish police in the area?’

‘Hold fire with that. I think we’ll follow up the interview with a home visit, just to keep the pressure on Mr Ellerman.’