who got it from Sharon, right?’
‘Yes, that’s what he said.’
‘They buy it, release pictures; so when did this note roses are red, violets are blue shit come in?’
‘Day the article appeared.’
‘Go back to that silly little cow Sharon. She lied about this; see if she is lying about anything else.’
Anna was almost out of breath by the time she reached the top of the stairs. Either it really was a long way up or she was getting out of shape.
‘It’s open,’ came Sharon’s singsong voice.
Anna found Sharon in the kitchen, wearing yellow Marigolds.
‘I couldn’t face the dirty dishes any more, so I been doing the housework.’
Anna smiled; the kitchen did look a lot cleaner.
‘We need to talk, Sharon.’
‘Whatever. They come yesterday and took all her bedding and things from her wardrobe.’
Sharon pointed to the cards left on the table by the forensic team, pinned to a neatly written list of all the items removed. ‘I said they could take whatever they wanted; I mean, I don’t want her stuff and I don’t really know what to do with it. And with no rent from her, I’ve got to find someone else.’
‘Ah, so that’s the reason for the house cleaning,’ Anna said.
‘Yeah, well, want the place to look nice, and no way am I going to say to a prospective tenant that the previous girl that shared with me was murdered. So, I don’t want her stuff. They took a lot, even her dirty laundry, but there’s still drawers full, and that old suitcase.’
‘Is there no one she knew that would want her things?’
‘I don’t know anyone.’
‘But you still have her photographs?’
Sharon blushed and began to wash down the draining board.
‘Sharon, you said that you did not give that photograph to the press. It’s very important, because if you did…’
‘I didn’t sell it,’ she said, rinsing the cloth.
‘But you did give it to Kenneth Dunn. Sharon, please stop wasting my time.’
Sharon folded the dishcloth and hung it on the cooker rail, refusing to look at Anna.
‘Sharon, this is very important. It may not seem as if you are withholding evidence, but I need to know exactly what happened.’
Sharon sat down. ‘All right, I know him. He’s done some snaps of me: a couple for a magazine called Buzz. He works up in Kilburn at a Radio Shack part time until he gets his career as a photographer off the ground. I just bumped into him by accident: I didn’t arrange it; it was just a coincidence. We got talking and I told him about Louise, you know, what had happened to her, and we came back here for a coffee. I showed him some photographs and… I didn’t think it would matter.’
Anna said nothing.
‘Nobody told me not to do anything with them, and I’d already given you a whole lot. Anyways, Kenneth said he could get me some publicity as well, so I let him have the one of Louise with the flower in her hair and some pictures of me.’
‘Did you give him anything else?’
‘No, he gave me fifty quid. He said he only got a hundred, so we split it.’
‘Did you tell Kenneth Dunn about the marks on Louise’s mouth?’
‘No, no I didn’t, I swear I didn’t. I haven’t told anybody about them, I swear before God.’
‘Did you give anything else to the journalist?’
‘No, I never met him.’
‘Has anyone called you, wanting to talk about Louise?’
‘Only calls I’ve had are about the advert in Time Out; in fact, I’ve got a girl coming round this afternoon, so could you get Louise’s stuff out, because I don’t want it? It might sound awful, getting someone to move in, but I got to pay the rent and Louise owed me for a month.’ Sharon smoothed her skirt with the back of her hand. ‘She was always on the scrounge. She’d say “can I borrow five quid?”, and I’d always have to ask for it back. She was always short of money, and she wouldn’t buy groceries, she’d just eat my stuff. It wasn’t just food: she’d take my Tampax and nail varnish