Little Boy Blue

91

‘Not up to my usual standard. But pretty damn good in the circumstances, wouldn’t you say?’

Samantha offered her nails to Helen, clearly pleased with the few cosmetics items she’d managed to source.

‘Very nice,’ Helen told her, keeping her temper in check. It had taken the best part of twenty minutes to pull Samantha up from the cells, but the interval had done little to calm Helen. Jim Grieves had put Paine’s time of death as somewhere between 10.30 p.m. and 6.30 a.m. the following morning. Notwithstanding the fact that Paine died slowly, Parker’s presence at the docks at 10 p.m. meant it was more than likely that someone had visited Paine’s flat after her.

‘I want to keep myself looking my best. You never know what’s around the corner, do you?’

Her tone was teasing and playful.

‘Absolutely. But I don’t want to string this out any more than we have to. I expect you’re anxious to get home.’

Samantha shrugged, disappointed with Helen’s response. Was she expecting – hoping – for more aggression from Helen?

‘You’re right. It doesn’t do to leave my babies alone for too long.’

‘Quite.’

Samantha’s dolls were in fact all in evidence bags at Meredith’s lab. Surely Samantha would have guessed that, so was this yet another game? Helen looked down at her file, leafing casually through the pages, saying nothing. She could see in her peripheral vision that Samantha was twitchy and ill at ease, as if this exchange was not going as she’d hoped.

‘I’d like to clarify a few details about your night with Max Paine.’

‘Of course.’

‘We talked a little about “The Phoenix” last time.’

‘Got your juices flowing, did it?’

‘I want a little more detail about what you got up to specifically,’ Helen demanded, ignoring Parker’s jibes.

‘A lady never tells.’

‘Was it straight S &M or something more exotic?’

‘The latter.’

‘Details, please.’

‘Restraint and suffocation. I want total control.’

‘And how do you achieve that?’

‘Force of personality.’

‘What about the restraints? Do you ever use hog ties, for example?’

‘Of course.’

‘Have you ever used them front ways on? Securing the hands to the ankles so the back is bent forwards?’

‘Yes, it’s more painful that way.’

‘Did you do that to Paine?’ Helen said, looking Parker directly in the eye.

‘Yes,’ she replied, refusing to be intimidated.

‘Did you use any other restraints?’

‘Tape, leather – I was very thorough. I wanted every inch of that boy to be covered.’

‘And can I ask what time you left Paine’s flat?’

‘I honestly can’t remember.’

‘Roughly.’

‘Around eleven, I suppose.’

‘And then you went home.’

‘As I’ve said before, yes.’

Helen sat back in her chair. She had won this battle but lost the war and suddenly felt drained of energy. Her sincere vows to bring Jake’s killer to justice seemed a mockery now.

‘Why are you lying to me, Samantha?’

‘I’m not.’

‘You didn’t leave Paine’s flat at eleven, you left much earlier and headed straight down to the docks for some rough trade.’

‘That’s bullshit.’

‘We’ve got you on CCTV so there’s no point lying. Is that how you got those bruises? Things get nasty in that van, did they?’

‘I was with Paine,’ Samantha insisted.

‘Yes, but he was fine when you left him.’

‘I’ve told you what happened, how he died -’

‘You’ve recycled the details of Jake Elder’s death. Max Paine died in a Zentai suit, with his arms tied backwards in hog ties. You tried hard, but you were wrong on pretty much every detail.’

‘You’re lying.’

‘Did something similar happen at the Torture Rooms? Why were you leaving in such a state? Did someone reject you, push you away?’

Samantha hesitated too long, giving Helen her answer.

‘I thought so.’

‘This is bullshit.’

‘You know, this is a first for me. I’ve never had a suspect who’s so keen to be charged with a double murder. You’ve been wasting my time, haven’t you, Samantha?’

‘You’ve got it wrong,’ Samantha said, now visibly flustered.

‘No, you’ve got it wrong,’ Helen said, rising. ‘We’re done here.’

Helen stabbed off the tape and walked to the door, pausing as she opened it.

‘Good luck, Samantha.’

Then, without waiting for a reply, she left.