Clean Cut by Lynda La Plante Page B

you want a coffee?’
    ‘No, thank you. I had this station’s brew when I was last here.’ Griffith opened his briefcase and took out a notebook; then, from his pocket, a slim gold pen. ‘Right, now you are Detective Inspector Anna Travis.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘As you know, Arthur George Murphy is my client. All I’m here for is to get a few things cleared up, for me to pass on to his barrister.’
    Anna said nothing. Griffith stared at his empty page then wrote the date, checked his wristwatch and noted down the time.
    ‘You visited Mr Murphy’s sister, a Gail Dunn, now calling herself Gail Sickert?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And she gave you a photograph?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘This photograph was subsequently used to identify Mr Murphy’s associate, Vernon Kramer.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Which then led you to his residence, where my client was staying.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘He was subsequently arrested, and charged with the murder of Irene Phelps.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Did you at any time talk to Mr Kramer?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Were you present at Mr Murphy’s interrogation?’
    ‘No.’
    Griffith made notes and then tapped the page. ‘Very fortunate discovery, wasn’t it?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Without this photograph, you might not have been able to trace my client.’
    ‘Possibly.’
    ‘And, as you must be aware, my client admitted to the murder and rape of Mrs Phelps.’
    ‘Yes.’
    Griffith now tapped his teeth with the pen. ‘And you are aware that Vernon Kramer is being charged with harbouring a known criminal and perverting the course of justice?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Unpleasant duo.’
    ‘I’m sorry?’
    ‘I said, unpleasant duo–but then, we do what we have to do.’
    Anna remained silent.
    ‘Mr Murphy is now claiming that Vernon Kramer was a party to the murder of Irene Phelps.’
    Anna sat back. No one had been told this.
    ‘I doubt if I believe him,’ Griffith added, ‘but I nevertheless have to make enquiries, as the defence will automatically want to either use this or dismiss it as fabrication.’
    ‘As far as I am aware, Mr Murphy admitted to the murder and at no time made any mention that he had an accomplice,’ Anna told him. ‘Again, to my knowledge, there was no DNA or forensic evidence to prove that Mr Kramer was also in Mrs Phelps’s flat.’
    ‘So you would say he is lying?’
    ‘I would say that, yes.’
    ‘Can I ask how you obtained the photograph of Mr Kramer and Mr Murphy?’
    ‘Murphy’s sister, Gail Sickert, gave it to me.’
    ‘Did Mrs Sickert also give you Vernon Kramer’s name?’
    ‘No, she did not. She said that she couldn’t recall his name, just that he spoke with a Newcastle accent and had visited her on one occasion some months past.’
    ‘So you were not aware that Mrs Sickert had, at one time, had a relationship with Mr Kramer?’
    Anna shook her head, stunned. ‘No! In fact, she appeared to resent the fact that her brother, Mr Murphy, had brought him to her home. She didn’t like her brother, nor, for that matter, did she want any kind of contact with him. She implied that he had molested her when she was a teenager.’
    Griffith spent a few moments writing and then turned the page. ‘So you didn’t think it strange that she would keep this photograph of her brother, who you say she implied molested her? Why keep a photograph of him and his friend?’
    ‘I have no idea.’
    ‘You see, Detective Inspector Travis, I have been told a slightly different version of events: that, whilst Mrs Sickert was out of the room, you took this photograph without permission.’
    Anna slapped the table with her hand ‘That is a total lie. I was given the photograph.’
    ‘Do you have a witness?’
    ‘No, I don’t. Mrs Sickert gave me that photograph; I never even asked her if she had one. She volunteered it and searched through a drawer, then she handed it to me. Your client, Mr Murphy, must have got to her or something. Whatever you are trying to do regarding the photograph is really