Left You Dead

35

Alec Butler sat in the tiny, sound-proofed observation room adjoining the interview room in the Brighton custody centre. The DC was watching the proceedings on the monitor, relayed from the single overhead CCTV camera next door.

Having agreed their interview strategy with Grace, Norman Potting and Jon Exton sat on one side of the modern rectangular table, opposite Niall Paternoster, who looked haggard and unshaven, his hair dishevelled, and his solicitor, who had a notebook in a tired leather folder in front of him.

The first interview, last night, had been to establish Niall’s accounts that he had already given to the police. This second interview would continue obtaining Niall’s account, and covering points that had been raised during the investigation to date. A mixture of garnering information and gently probing aspects of the suspect’s story.

Niall was dressed in the regulation police tracksuit which appeared at least one size too big for him. His solicitor looked like he’d slept in his clothes, as he always did.

Alec Butler’s personal opinion of Legal Aid on-call solicitors, already starting from a low base, had descended to even lower depths after the recent discovery that one of Brighton’s most prominent ones had secretly been a major county lines drug dealer.

Touching the screen in front of him to start the interview, Potting glanced up at the clock on the wall. ‘It is 9.43 a.m. Detective Sergeant Norman Potting and Detective Sergeant Jon Exton interviewing Niall Paternoster, under caution, in the presence of his solicitor, Joseph Rattigan.’

They each introduced themselves for the benefit of the recording.

‘Niall,’ Exton began, ‘last night we went through in some detail your account of the movements of you and your wife over the last weekend, leading up to her disappearance at Tesco on Sunday afternoon. This interview will continue dealing with those details and we also need to ask you some additional questions. Can you tell us about where you and Eden were on the weekend of Saturday the twenty-fourth of August?’

Paternoster cleared his throat to compose himself. ‘I’d had an overnight taxi fare from Manchester and didn’t get home until about 10.30 a.m. so I showered and went to bed. I stayed in bed until about 4.30 p.m. Eden had been out to lunch with a work colleague. We stayed in for the rest of the day. On Sunday we spent the day in the garden, I moved some plants, Eden mowed the lawn. I think I washed the car in the afternoon.’ He hesitated. ‘In the evening I listened to some music and Eden was watching episodes of Criminal Minds, some FBI profiler thing she liked.’

After a brief silence, Potting asked, ‘Niall, during the search of your house following your arrest last night, blood was discovered on your kitchen worktop and on the floor area beneath. How do you account for that?’

‘I already explained that to the two officers who came to see me yesterday morning, after I called the police to report my wife missing,’ he replied. ‘I told them I’d cut my hand on a potato peeler when I was rummaging in a kitchen drawer for the bottle opener. I was frustrated because my wife never puts anything back in the right place.’

Potting continued. ‘Was your wife with you when you cut your finger — as you mentioned — on the potato peeler?’

Ignoring a cautionary look from his solicitor, he responded, ‘No, she wasn’t with me. How clear do you need me to make it? Eden got out of my car in the Tesco car park at around 3.15 p.m. on Sunday and vanished off the face of the earth. I tried to open a bottle when I got home, you know, to calm my nerves — I was sort of angry and worried about her at the same time — and I cut my finger. I did not squirt blood over my wife as she wasn’t there.’

Potting waited patiently for him to calm down. Then he asked, ‘Can you run through the account that you gave to the police regarding Eden’s passport?’

Paternoster recounted his explanation about the passport to the officers. He also confirmed that he did not know the whereabouts of her mobile phone.

The two detectives then asked him a number of questions about his and his wife’s friends and relatives and their community ties. He told the officers about Eden’s work and office colleagues. Once that part of the interview had concluded, Potting turned to him. ‘Niall, during the initial search last night at the house, forensic officers found a T-shirt hidden behind a bathroom inspection plate in your en-suite. Early examination of the T-shirt revealed what appeared to be some blood spots and a tear.’

Paternoster gave a convincing performance of looking mystified. ‘I’m sorry, I’ve absolutely no idea what you are talking about.’

‘You weren’t wearing one of your wife’s T-shirts when you cut your finger, by any chance, or used it to wipe the blood away?’ Exton asked.

Niall looked at him quizzically. ‘Why would I have done? She’s about four sizes smaller than me. No, no way. Maybe she fell over running and cut herself.’ He frowned. ‘Look, if you think I killed her you’re completely mistaken. I loved her, for God’s sake. I’ve been in financial shit since my business went bust — she’s kept us afloat. Do you people seriously think I would have killed the gravy train when I was down on my luck?’

Both detectives stared at him levelly. Then Exton said, ‘Is it correct that when the two officers attended yesterday morning, they asked you about your wife’s passport? You went to get it, then told them it had gone from its usual place?’

Ignoring another warning glance from his solicitor, he said, ‘Yes, correct.’

‘Giving the officers the impression that she had taken it with her, wherever she had gone?’ Exton continued.

‘Yes — well — that was my conclusion. Why else would she have taken it?’ Paternoster replied.

‘We’re not here to speculate,’ Exton said, giving Rattigan an exaggerated smile. ‘We are trying to establish facts. You have repeatedly maintained that your wife has disappeared. Certainly, it would be logical if she had disappeared that she would take her passport with her. Would you agree?’

Rattigan looked like he was going to object to that, but then leaned back in his chair and let it go.

Exton went on. ‘Niall, do you have any explanation for why your wife’s wedding ring, engagement ring and passport were discovered by our Forensics Team last night? They were concealed underneath a bedroom floorboard.’

He shook his head, looking numb. Neither Potting nor Exton could read his expression. Then, anger rising, he said, ‘I — you — you found — you found WHAT? Her wedding ring and passport?’

Rattigan leaned across to his client and spoke quietly. There was an exchange of nods.

‘Can you explain these items, Niall, and the hidden T-shirt?’ Exton pressed.

Niall looked at both detectives. ‘No comment.’

Rattigan made some notes, looking relieved. ‘I have advised my client not to answer any more of your questions until I have spoken to him again. I suggest we reconvene this afternoon,’ he said.

Norman Potting leaned forward and placed a finger on the control panel to terminate the second interview.