Murder Mile

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jane sat next to Simmonds whilst he carefully read through the notes of the interview. It was painstakingly slow, and Simmonds hardly said a word, apart from the odd question where he had difficulty reading what Jane had written. Eventually he had signed and dated each page. Jane stood up, closed the interview book and went back to the opposite side of the desk.

She glanced at the custody officer, about to ask him to take Simmonds to the cells.

‘Tell me, how do you feel when a guilty man isn’t convicted by a jury?’ Simmonds asked softly.

‘I’ve never had a case like that.’

Simmonds smiled. ‘There’s always a first.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ Jane asked.

‘You’re the detective — you tell me.’

‘I’m not interested in your silly games, Mr. Simmonds. You pretend to be a good, upstanding citizen who cares about other people, but we both know it’s all an act. You pretended to be shocked when I told you Helen Matthews had been murdered, but you already knew because you’d killed her. You even asked how Simon was and offered your help. I think your behavior is beneath contempt.’

He didn’t seem fazed by her damning indictment. ‘I meant it about Simon. I lost my own father at a young age. I know the pain and heartache the boy must be going through.’

Jane was incensed. ‘I don’t think you do. The officer here will take you back to your cell.’ She picked up the interview book, ready to leave.

‘Please hear me out.’ Simmonds kept his face lowered as he took a deep breath.

Jane was surprised to see that he actually seemed distressed. The troubled look on his face was certainly unlike anything she had observed whilst Moran had been interviewing him. She sat down slowly.

‘My father was killed in the war whilst fighting the Japanese,’ Simmonds resumed. ‘And my brother died in a motorcycle accident aged seventeen. My mother never spoke about their deaths. Without her strength and love I wouldn’t have got over my brother’s death or been a successful dentist. She was so proud of everything I achieved. She took great delight in telling anyone she met that I owned my own dental practice in Harley Street.’

‘I read that you bought her the house in Peckham.’

Simmonds smiled. ‘It was the happiest I’d ever seen her when she moved in there. But I’ll never forget the sound she made when they came to tell her my brother had been killed. It was a horrific accident. He was virtually decapitated. My poor mother had to go to the mortuary to identify him. He was the light of her life and it broke her heart. I don’t honestly think she ever got over losing my brother, and it made her overprotective of me.’

‘Did you keep the house because of your mother?’ Jane asked, thinking about how the bedroom was like a shrine to her.

‘In some ways, yes. As my success grew I was able to develop a lucrative private practice, and eventually buy the property in Harley Street. But my beloved mother always encouraged me to help people less fortunate than myself and I knew setting up my dental practice in Peckham would have pleased her, so that’s what I did. I took great care of my mother, and spent many hours cooking her favorite dishes for her and putting them in the deep freeze, so she didn’t have to go shopping.’ He looked at Jane. ‘As you discovered, of course.’

‘Did you ever live there with her?’

He looked puzzled. ‘No, I had an extremely busy private practice to run, so it made sense to live in the Harley Street flat. But I saw her at every opportunity.’

Jane realized he must have started the Peckham clinic after his mother had died. She felt like saying his mother would be turning in her grave if she knew what a monster he had become, but managed to bite her lip. She didn’t want to alienate him when he seemed to be opening up to her.

‘How did your mother die?’ she asked.

‘She was a munitions worker during the war, handling cordite and sulfur all day, which fatally damaged her lungs.’

Jane decided to turn the screw a little. ‘In some ways you have been more fortunate than the families of the murder victims, though. You know how your mother died. She also lived long enough to witness your success.’

‘Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”’ Simmonds intoned.

Jane didn’t understand what point he was trying to make. ‘Very profound, Mr. Simmonds. But it does beg the question: are you a good or evil man?’

He closed his eyes. ‘I am both... Please, dear God, I need to talk to you, Jane.’

She took a deep breath. ‘Did you commit the murders?’ she asked quietly.

It was a moment before Simmonds opened his eyes. He looked at the PC, then slowly turned to Jane. ‘I need to speak to you alone. I want to make a confession.’

Jane could feel her heart beating fast. She turned to the PC. ‘Please wait outside.’ She remained sitting for a few moments after he was gone, then leant forward. ‘Did you commit the murders?’

He nodded. ‘I want to tell you what happened, and why.’

Jane was stunned. She wondered if Simmonds was still playing mind games, but the tortured expression on his face seemed to tell her otherwise.

‘I’ll need DCI Moran to be present.’

He shook his head. ‘No. I don’t want Moran or any other officer in the room. Otherwise I’ll tell you nothing.’

Jane knew that police regulations advised another officer should be present when a murder suspect was interviewed, but it was not actually a legal requirement under the Judges’ Rules of evidence. She opened the interview book and clicked her ballpoint pen.

Simmonds leant over and put his hand on the book. ‘No notes.’

‘Legally I’m required to take notes, otherwise your confession may be ruled inadmissible in court,’ Jane told him.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything, then make a handwritten confession myself.’

‘How do I know you’ll do that?’

‘Because when you hear what I have to say, you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.’

Jane felt she was in a catch-22 situation. Reluctantly, she closed the interview book and put her pen down.

‘The first thing I need you to know is that I’m not a child molester,’ he began. ‘I swear I never abused Simon Matthews.’

Jane nodded. ‘But did Helen Matthews, his mother, think you had?’

Simmonds took a deep breath. ‘Yes, that’s why she came to see me at my Peckham surgery.’

‘Do you recall what date that was?’

‘Friday the sixteenth of February.’

‘What time?’

‘Late afternoon or early evening. I’d finished with my last patient and was tidying up when the doorbell rang. Helen stormed in, shouting and accusing me of sexually abusing Simon. I told her it was lies, but she didn’t believe me.’

‘Did she say why she thought you’d abused Simon?’

‘She said he’d told her he didn’t like me touching him. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he would say that.’

Jane nodded. As much as she disliked the thought, she knew she’d have to be sympathetic to keep Simmonds talking.

‘I think that Simon was bullied at school about his braces. It’s possible Helen misconstrued what he told her, and she decided to confront you.’

‘She never mentioned anything to me about him being bullied.’

‘Did she mention anyone else expressing concerns about Simon being abused?’

‘Yes. Helen only suspected there was a problem because Simon’s teacher told her she thought he was being abused.’

Jane raised her biro. ‘Would that teacher be Eileen Summers?’

‘I’m sorry, I need to explain everything in the order it happened. As I was saying, I reminded Helen that she’d always been present when I treated Simon, so her accusations couldn’t be true.’

‘If that was the case then why didn’t she believe you?’ Jane asked.

‘I pleaded with her to realize it was absurd and she eventually calmed down. We then went into the waiting room to continue the discussion.’ Simmonds paused and took a deep breath before continuing.

‘Helen was sitting on the sofa. I asked her if she’d told anyone else about Simon, or had been to the police. She thought my questions implied that I was guilty, so she stood up and said that was exactly where she was going. She started to walk towards the door... I don’t know what came over me.’

He looked at the floor then put his head in his hands. ‘Oh my God, Oh my God... I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, but now I relive the moment over and over. I snatched a curtain tie and followed the poor woman into the hallway. She had her back to me and was about to open the front door. Something came over me... I wrapped the curtain tie round her neck and pulled hard...’

‘David, the cord round Helen’s neck was tied in a slip knot. Can you explain how you had time to tie it if you were acting on impulse and didn’t know what you were doing?’

‘I did that after she was dead, then cut the tassels off, so it wasn’t obvious it was a curtain tie.’

Jane kept her voice quiet and encouraging. ‘I see. So what happened next?’

‘She was struggling and kicking. I pulled her to the ground and somehow she ended up face down on the hallway carpet. I knelt on her back and tightened the cord... Eventually she stopped moving.’

Jane recalled Professor Martin saying that the killer had knelt on Helen’s back in order to stop her getting up or struggling. It seemed Simmonds was telling the truth.

‘I didn’t mean to kill her. I was frightened that a sexual abuse allegation would destroy my career. I had this terrible sense of panic and didn’t know what I was doing.’ He sighed. ‘I was standing over her. I couldn’t believe what I’d done... It was all like a bad dream. Then the doorbell rang. It kept ringing and ringing. Then I heard knocking on the window and her voice asking over and over if I was there.’

‘Did you know who the woman was?’ Jane realized she would be a valuable witness.

His reply came as a shock.

‘It was Sybil Hastings. She knew I drove a Mercedes, which was parked outside, and all the lights were on in the surgery and hallway. I was worried that if I didn’t answer the door she might think something had happened to me and call the police.’

Jane leant forward. ‘Wait a minute — wasn’t Helen Matthews’ body still in the hallway?’

Simmonds was getting impatient. ‘Yes, yes. I had to quickly drag her body into the surgery, out of sight.’

Jane encouraged him to continue. ‘OK, you’re in a terrible state of panic. So then you let Sybil Hastings in?’

‘Yes. She kissed me on the cheek, then asked if I was dealing with a patient. I said no—’

‘Sorry, did you say she kissed you?’ Jane interrupted. She thought it strange that Mrs. Hastings would greet him in that way if she suspected him of child abuse.

‘I wasn’t just her dentist. We were friends... She always greeted me with a kiss.’

‘Then what happened?’

‘Sybil looked upset. She said that she’d received a distressing phone call whilst she had been on duty at the Samaritans on Thursday evening. I told her I was running late for a dinner engagement and asked if we could discuss it at another time. “No,” she said, “this can’t wait.”’

Jane was sure the distressing phone call was from Eileen Summers. She realized she needed to chase up the documents section at the lab to see if they had examined the indented writing Lawrence had recovered from the Samaritans call sheet. She thought about Simmonds having a conversation with Mrs. Hastings whilst the dead body of Helen Matthews was in his surgery, only a few feet away.

‘What was the distressing the phone call about?’ she asked.

‘Sybil said she’d had a call from a concerned teacher, who thought a young pupil of hers was being sexually abused. And she could hardly believe it, but she said the abuse was being carried out by a dentist in Peckham.’

‘I’m trying to keep up with you, David. Are you saying you killed Sybil Hastings because she suspected you’d abused Simon Matthews?’

Simmonds looked offended and shook his head. ‘No, no, no. Sybil didn’t think I’d abused him. She never thought for one minute the teacher was talking about me. I’m her grandchildren’s dentist. They adore me.’

Jane was confused. ‘So why had Mrs. Hastings come to see you?’

‘I’m trying to make this as clear as possible, Jane. You have to listen to what I’m saying. Sybil Hastings had come to me because she wanted to ask me if there was any dentist in Peckham I thought might be capable of such a monstrous act. I told her I would make some discreet enquires and get back to her, and then if necessary we could go to the police together. She thanked me and got up to leave.’ He ran his hands through his hair.

‘So Sybil Hastings was murdered after she left your Peckham practice? Who by?’

Simmonds slowly looked up. His eyes were cold. ‘I never said she left.’

Jane wondered if he was starting to play mind games again. ‘If you’re saying you killed her, then why? Sybil Hastings didn’t suspect you of anything.’

‘She suddenly heard a noise coming from my surgery. I realized in an instant that Helen Matthews must still be alive. Before I could stop her, Sybil opened the surgery door and saw Helen lying on the floor. She was struggling to breathe and trying to remove the cord from around her neck.’

Simmonds took a sip of his water.

Jane couldn’t begin to imagine the sheer terror the two women must have felt at that moment in time. She wondered if Simmonds was deliberately pausing to see if the horror of what he was describing was upsetting her. She was determined not to show it.

‘You must have been panic-stricken.’

‘You have no idea. I was hysterical. I... picked up a dental chisel and stabbed Sybil. She was screeching and waving her arms as she backed away into the waiting room. Then she stumbled and fell to the floor. I will never forget what I did next... She lay there looking up at me and I couldn’t help myself, I just kept stabbing her.’ He raised his right arm and made several quick stabbing gestures.

Jane could hardly believe Simmonds was admitting to brutally murdering two women, with no emotion in his voice. It was as if he considered himself to be the victim, and his actions had been forced on him by the predicament he had found himself in. Before Jane could say anything, he continued.

‘I went back into the surgery. Helen was on her stomach, dragging herself towards the door. I was forced to pull the cord tighter around her neck until I was sure she was dead. I don’t think you can believe what a nightmare situation I found myself in, suddenly having two dead bodies to dispose of. I had to compose myself and think what to do next. I found Sybil Hastings’ car keys in her pocket. I looked out of the window and could see that she’d parked it outside the surgery. I waited until after midnight when there was no one about, then I carried Helen Matthews’ body to Sybil’s car and put her in the passenger seat. I went back and got Sybil’s body and put it in the boot. It was a tight squeeze because she had a thick fur coat on, but I was now working on automatic pilot. I had decided that I would dump Helen Matthews’ body in Bussey Alley, then drive out to the Kent countryside to hide Sybil’s body in woodland and set her car alight with a can of petrol I’d already got from my own car. After I’d dumped Helen’s body, I discovered the Allegro had a flat tire and I panicked. A man was walking past the car, so I decided to just leave it where it was. I went back to the surgery, cleaned up Sybil’s blood, then drove home to Harley Street.’

Simmonds had spittle forming in the corners of his mouth. He wiped it with his forefinger and suddenly seemed disinclined to continue.

‘Did you rape or sexually assault Helen Matthews before you killed her?’

He glared at Jane. ‘No, I did not. I’m not a rapist. I had to protect myself. I needed to make it look as if someone else had raped her. She was already dead when I scratched the inside of her thighs and ripped her clothing. And I obviously did a good job of it, because all the headlines reported that a rape victim had been found in Bussey Alley.’

After everything he’d just described, the pride in his voice was unmistakable. Jane’s desire to physically assault him was almost overwhelming. She decided she needed a break to compose herself.

‘Please excuse me, Mr. Simmonds, I need to take a break.’

‘I hope you’re not using it as an excuse to tell DCI Moran or your colleagues about our conversation. I’ve got more to tell you and if you come back with anyone else I will deny everything.’

‘I’m not going to tell Moran. If I did, he’d stop the interview,’ Jane said, knowing that she still needed Simmonds to tell her about how he killed Eileen Simmonds and Aiden Lang.

She walked to the door and asked the custody PC to enter the room until she returned. She quickly went into the ladies’. Having to listen to Simmonds’ litany of horrific assaults had really shaken her. She washed her hands and splashed cold water over her face. She took several deep breaths, then checked her appearance in the mirror.

‘You can do this.’ She gripped the edge of the basin. ‘Get back in there, Tennison.’ She stared in the mirror at her ashen face. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to hear what Simmonds was going to tell her.