Lynda La Plante: Blood Line

Tina started to cry, pressing her hands to her eyes. She said that as soon as she had returned she knew something terrible had happened because Silas Douglas was there and so was Sammy.

‘They grabbed hold of me, really terrified me, and they wanted to know where the board was and where the money was, but all I kept asking was where Alan was. I kept on saying that I didn’t know what they were talking about and Sammy slapped me around. He really hurt me.’

Tina was shaking as she described them pushing her into the bathroom where Alan was in the bath, tied up, gagged and covered in blood with the bedsheet under him.

‘Was he alive?’

‘No, he was dead. He had this terrible gash over his face and head and they must have been beating him because there was blood everywhere.’

She went on to describe how she couldn’t stop crying, repeating over and over that she didn’t know what they were talking about, but did eventually tell them that the board was in the garage. They still didn’t leave and instead they began to clean up the mess, making her help them wipe down the walls in the bedroom. Sammy had cut out a section of living-room carpet to cover the bloodstain in the bedroom.

‘They said if I talked to anyone or told anyone, I would end up the same way as Alan. They got rid of the bloodstained sheet and pillowcases, and I made up the bed again so it looked as if nothing had happened. They were there all night, questioning me and mopping up, and the following morning they said I had to go and buy more bleach, which I did.’

‘Where was the body?’

‘I don’t know. I never saw what they did with him.’

‘Did you tell them about the money in the locker at your salon?’

‘No. They said I had to go to work as normal, that they would finish cleaning the flat. They were still there cleaning up when I got home, and then they told me to go and buy an axe in the morning so they could split open the surfboard which was still in the garage. They were worried about anyone seeing them take it out, so wanted to wait until it was dark.’

‘And they remained inside your flat all this time?’ Anna asked, incredulous.

Tina nodded. ‘I thought they were gonna kill me. I was terrified that someone would think I’d done it, so that was why I took the axe back.’

‘And you just continued to go to work at the salon during all this?’

‘Yes. It was unreal because the flat looked back to normal. It was all clean and neat, and it was as if it had never happened.’

She sniffed and Anna passed her a tissue.

‘Oh God, then Sammy left and it all kicked off.’

‘What happened?’

‘Silas. I came home from work and Sammy wasn’t there but Silas was still inside the flat and I thought he was going to kill me. He said the surfboard had been split open and it was empty.’

‘So Sammy took the surfboard from your garage?’

‘Yes, like I said. What I told this bastard Silas was that maybe Alan had picked up the wrong one. They were all decorated with customised stuff. Then he asked about the money again.’

She started to cry once more, sniffing and wiping her cheeks with the sodden tissue.

‘He said that he would teach me a lesson and that if I was lying he would keep on coming back. He dragged me into the bedroom. I wouldn’t even go in there because of what had happened and he raped me – the bastard raped me.’

‘Did you tell him about the money?’

She gritted her teeth and shook her head.

Anna took a few moments to digest everything they had just been told, but Tina continued.

‘Alan’s father kept on calling and asking about him and where he was, and in the end I said to him that I didn’t know and that I thought he’d left me. That’s when he contacted Missing Persons and then you came round. That’s the God’s honest truth about what happened.’

‘All right, Tina. You’ve really explained a lot, but one thing I can’t quite understand is the fact that two men stayed in your flat and, as you said, removed a body and a surfboard from your garage, and yet nobody saw or heard anything.’

‘You come in there at night and there’s no one around. Most of the tenants go to bed at nine, they don’t ever go out even. There’s also a fire exit that leads into the back area and you could come and go that way. As I’m on the ground floor nobody would see you.’

‘But they must have had vehicles to move the body and drove in and out with a surfboard.’

Tina shrugged and said that however they came and went, she never saw what they drove or how they got the body out.

‘Did they dismember Alan’s body?’

‘I don’t know. I wasn’t there.’ Her voice was shrill.

‘Have you taken the money out of this locker you say you used?’

‘No, I just left it locked up at the salon. It’s my money. Alan give it to me – it’s mine.’

Anna decided that they would continue to question Tina the following morning and that she would remain in custody overnight in the holding cell.

‘But I told you everything. I’VE TOLD YOU.’

‘We need to check out your statement, Tina. Mr Hyde, do you have anything to say, as it’s obvious your client has withheld vital evidence.’

‘Because I was scared they’d kill me. I was raped, for God’s sake! You can’t keep me here.’

Hyde stood up and said quietly that it was within the law to hold her. Tina looked as if she was going to create havoc again, but instead she crumpled and sobbed, repeating over and over that it wasn’t fair as she’d done nothing.

By the time Tina was taken back to the cell, Anna had already organised an arrest team for Silas Douglas. Langton had been waiting for her in her office.

‘Owe you an apology?’ he said quietly.

But she didn’t feel elated, only exhausted from the lengthy interrogation.

‘Maybe I owe you one. Bloody Silas Douglas was here and questioned at his car wash – he’s got long red hair tied in a ponytail; we all screwed up. I didn’t even notice what colour because he had this skull scarf around his head. Now to make matters worse, I think we might have lost Mr Douglas.’

‘What about Sammy Marsh?’

‘I would say that Mr Douglas had a hand in his murder, but that will be over to DCI Williams. Let’s just hope we can pick him up.’ Anna sighed.

‘Did you believe everything she said?’

‘Funnily enough I do, but it’s hard to conceive that they were able to murder and probably torture Alan Rawlins in her flat and no one heard or saw anything, let alone how the hell they got his body out without anyone seeing them do it. He was a big guy.’

‘Stranger things have happened,’ Langton pointed out.

‘I guess they have, but if you don’t mind I’ve got a lot of sorting out and double-checking to do before we have another interview with Tina Brooks tomorrow.’

He stood up and ruffled his hair, then lightly touched her cheek.

‘Good work, Travis. Your instincts always were that this case was connected to drugs and you’ve proved me wrong.’

‘Not altogether. You always maintained it was connected to Tina, but if I hadn’t gone on the trail to Cornwall we wouldn’t have been privy to so much information. I did make a big error with Silas Douglas.’

‘You may be able to verify the rape if you pick him up.’

‘If – and I would say he was also responsible for ripping the Mercedes apart, looking for the drugs.’

Langton looked puzzled.

‘It was a car Alan Rawlins was working on for his boyfriend’s twenty-first birthday,’ Anna explained.

‘Ah yeah.’ He nodded.

She was eager for him to leave, but he still hovered with his hands shoved into his trouser pockets.

‘Anything else?’ she asked.