Let the Dead Speak (Maeve Kerrigan #7)

DERWENT: How did she seem?

NORRIS: She was a bit on edge. I felt I was in the way. I – well, I got annoyed with her.

DERWENT: How annoyed?

NORRIS: I didn’t shout or anything.

DERWENT: Were you physically violent?

NORRIS: I didn’t hit her, if that’s what you’re suggesting. I was hurt that she wanted to stop seeing me. I was angry with myself for not being strong enough to end it. I didn’t want it to stop. We were in her kitchen, drinking wine, and I said I’d go. I was in a bit of a huff.

DERWENT: Was that the end of it?

NORRIS: No. She apologised. And then we kissed. And then – then she – um – she performed a sex act on me.

DERWENT: A sex act.

NORRIS: Oral sex.

DERWENT: That’s surprising, considering the conversation she’d initiated about breaking up with you.

NORRIS: Things progressed. Obviously.

DERWENT: But she’d told you she didn’t want a sexual relationship.

NORRIS: I know. And I would never have forced her.

DERWENT: What did she say afterwards?

NORRIS: Nothing. I mean, she laughed it off.

DERWENT: She laughed.

NORRIS: She told me she thought I should get home. She said she’d see me soon. And I left. That was the last time I saw her.

DERWENT: You said you saw her on Friday evening.

NORRIS: Yes. That’s right. Standing in her window. When I say it was the last time I saw her I mean it was the last time I saw her to speak to.

DERWENT: Right. So not the last time, in fact.

NORRIS: I suppose not.

DERWENT: Did you watch Kate, Mr Norris?

NORRIS: Watch her?

DERWENT: Did you go to the house on Constantine Avenue without her? Did you go there when you knew she had visitors?

NORRIS: No.

DERWENT: The thing about Harold Lowe’s property is that it’s behind Kate Emery’s house. There’s a very good view, isn’t there? If I was spying on someone who lived in that house, it’s the ideal location. You said you were obsessed with her. Did you watch her?

NORRIS: No.

DERWENT: Did you fantasise about her?

NORRIS: No.

DERWENT: Did you resent her for rejecting you?

NORRIS: No. Not at all.

DERWENT: When my colleague interviewed you, you said she had male visitors. You’d noticed them. You implied that you disapproved. Was that because you were jealous?

NORRIS: It was her life. I had no claim on her.

DERWENT: You see, I can imagine you needing to see what they did when they went into the house. I can imagine you needing to watch them through the windows. I can imagine Kate not getting round to closing the curtains, so you had a grandstand view of all the men she wanted to touch her. She didn’t want you, even though you were just as good as them.

NORRIS: I didn’t watch.

DERWENT: You saw them arrive. You imagined what they were doing. You watched. It made you even more obsessed. And then, finally, you’d had enough. You’d risked everything for her and she didn’t want you. She invited you round to her house, but not for sex, not like the other men. She wanted to break up with you. She gave you oral sex out of pity, to shut you up.

NORRIS: [inaudible]

DERWENT: It meant nothing to her, did it? It meant everything to you. You’d broken your marriage vows and she didn’t care. You betrayed your faith for her.

NORRIS: No.

DERWENT: You were hurt and embarrassed.

NORRIS: No.

DERWENT: You went away and instead of feeling better, you felt worse. When Chloe went to stay with her father, you knew Kate was alone. You wanted her to respect you, not laugh at you. You wanted her to be as passionately attracted to you as you were to her. You’re a handsome man. Why didn’t she want you?

NORRIS: [inaudible]



Derwent leaned into the room. ‘Well?’

I took off the headphones. ‘Remind me never to let you interview me. How many times did you make him cry?’

He shrugged. ‘You play, you pay. If he didn’t want to talk about getting sucked off in his neighbour’s kitchen, he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.’

‘That was nice. Romantic.’

‘A special moment,’ Derwent agreed.

‘He was very forthcoming, wasn’t he?’

‘Wouldn’t shut up. The whole confessional thing. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.’

‘That’s Catholics.’

Derwent shrugged. ‘Same difference. Talking seemed to make him feel better about it.’

‘In fairness, he couldn’t deny the condom.’

‘Nothing like a bit of DNA to make people feel chatty.’

‘Of all the things to forget about, that’s a big one. If he killed her, he made her body disappear without a trace – you’d think that would be a lot harder than remembering to clean up after yourself.’

‘If it hadn’t been for the dog we wouldn’t have gone near Harold’s house, though. Going back to clean up would have been riskier than leaving it alone.’ Derwent sounded distracted. ‘Go back to disposing of the body.’

‘What about it?’

‘I think he had to have help. She’s an adult woman. At the very least he had to carry her through two gardens and along an alley. He needed a car. He needed to find a place to put the body – somewhere that was so well chosen, we haven’t found it yet. And he needed to clean the car out.’

‘There was no trace of Kate in the car,’ I reminded Derwent. ‘They’re looking at it again, but either he did a great job or it wasn’t that car.’

‘So he could have had an accomplice.’

‘I think he’d have needed one.’

‘Morgan Norris?’

‘It’s possible. I wonder if he knew his brother had had sex with her too.’

‘He said he didn’t when I asked him. I wouldn’t want to be Morgan when he gets home.’

‘They obviously have very similar taste in women. Or they compete for them. Did you know that Morgan and Oliver’s wife had a thing before she got together with Oliver?’

‘A thing?’

‘According to Morgan, it was all very innocent, but I wouldn’t necessarily believe anything he says.’ I stretched. ‘I did notice they were at ease in each other’s company. I suppose she wouldn’t have let Morgan stay in the house for so long otherwise, Christian charity or not.’

Derwent checked his watch. ‘Burt’s doing a press conference in a minute. Want to come and watch?’

‘I want to finish Oliver Norris off.’

‘That’s what Kate Emery said.’

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