Chapter 58
Fifty-Eight
It was almost five before Kim was given the okay to interview Joe Butler.
His sudden need to see a doctor due to chest pains had delayed questioning, both to her and his lawyer’s annoyance.
After a diagnosis of mild stress, Joe had been declared fit to talk.
Kim had taken no chances and had insisted he be offered something to eat and drink before she had a crack at him.
She was sure she was not going to have an easy time with Joe Butler, unlike she’d had with Lena Hubbard.
She entered the interview room with Bryant at her side. She nodded a greeting to Mickey Fisher who, despite his name, was not a sleazy underworld mobster guy. He was a decent lawyer who protected his clients but wasn’t particularly obstructive.
‘Inspector,’ he said.
‘I trust you’ve been made comfortable and that you’re feeling better now,’ Kim said pleasantly to Joe.
‘Can we just get this over with so I can go home?’ he asked.
‘Formalities first, Mr Butler,’ Kim said, pleased that he’d already shown his first hand. He was growing impatient.
Good. She could work with that.
She slowly opened her folder and began to read the pages within. She already knew what they said, but she heard his foot start tapping against the leg of the table.
Mickey Fisher took out his phone and turned away from his client. Kim knew from experience he was playing Tetris. Bryant quietly inspected his nails. The only tension in the room was emanating from Joe Butler.
‘Okay, let’s get started, shall we?’ she said at last, maintaining a neutral expression to his glowering rage.
She was in no rush. By her reckoning, she was about to tie up her second major case of the week and still make it home in time to take Barney for a good long walk.
She switched on the tape, introduced those present and cautioned Joe for the second time.
‘So, Mr Butler, can you start by telling us where you were lunchtime yesterday?’
The man looked to his lawyer, who nodded without glancing up from his phone.
‘I was at the Dog and Duck pub.’
‘And who did you meet there?’ Kim asked.
Again, he looked to his lawyer, who repeated the nod.
Kim knew he wasn’t being lazy. She was presenting indisputable facts. Fisher knew there were witness statements, photos and an audio recording to prove he was there.
‘I met a woman.’
‘Was that woman Nadine Cowley?’
Joe nodded.
Kim pointed at the tape recorder meaningfully.
‘Yes.’
‘And this was with a view to having a sexual encounter?’
Fisher glanced her way. She couldn’t prove what had been in his head.
She rephrased. ‘The two of you had exchanged text messages that would indicate there was a sexual attraction?’
Mickey Fisher nodded again.
‘Yes,’ Butler answered.
‘During the course of your conversation, you learned that you’d been duped, and the woman was a honey trapper?’
‘Yes.’
‘You discovered that Nadine Cowley had no interest in you sexually, that she had been deceiving you and the whole thing was a lie.’
Hesitation, as though he was going to argue that point.
‘Mr Butler, Nadine Cowley admitted that to you, didn’t she?’
‘Yes.’
‘You were extremely angry with her?’
‘Inspector,’ Fisher warned her.
‘The witness statement claiming your client was standing over her and shouting in her face would indicate his anger.’
Fisher looked mildly annoyed but returned to his phone.
‘And the microphone she was wearing recorded the fact that you threatened her.’
Creases of confusion appeared in his face. ‘I’m not sure I actually—’
‘Oh, you did, Mr Butler. I can read you word for word what you said, if you’d like me to.’
‘No, thank you.’
‘You then stormed from the pub in a fit of rage?’
‘I did,’ he admitted.
‘And then what happened?’ Kim asked.
Fisher put down his phone then as she fully expected him to. Now they were on dangerous terrain. No audio and no witnesses and no proof he’d done anything wrong.
‘I sat in my car for a few minutes to cool down.’
‘How many minutes?’ Kim asked.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Were you still in your car when Nadine Cowley left the pub?’
‘No. I never saw her again.’
‘You were raging at this woman. She had the power to destroy your life. You’re telling me you just drove away?’
‘Yes.’
‘And half an hour later, her body was discovered at the back of that exact building.’
‘It wasn’t me.’
‘You expect us to believe that?’
‘I didn’t do it.’
Fisher was watching her closely.
‘So, you went straight home?’
‘I did.’
‘And then what?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Did you confess to your wife?’
‘No.’
‘Why not? You knew you’d just been caught attempting to cheat. Why didn’t you tell her? Get it off your chest straight away? Shape the narrative?’
‘I was thinking about it.’
‘Or did you think there was no need to tell your wife? That Nadine Cowley wouldn’t be talking to anyone?’
‘No comment,’ Butler said after Fisher tapped his arm.
‘So, you went straight upstairs pretending to be ill?’
‘I needed to think.’
Kim consulted the written statement from Lucinda Butler. ‘Apparently, you got straight into the shower before even greeting your wife. She came up to check that you were okay.’
‘I felt dirty.’
‘You weren’t trying to wash off some other kind of—’
‘No comment.’
Kim decided to change direction. His clothes and shoes had been bagged for tests, and they’d have those results soon enough.
‘Sunday night, nine o’clock. Where were you?’
‘At home with Lucinda.’
‘Ah, that’s not what she says,’ Kim said, moving to the third page of the woman’s statement. ‘She says she made a mistake and that she went to bed early and doesn’t remember you coming to bed.’
‘Sh-she’s lying,’ Butler said, even though Fisher had tapped him on the arm. ‘Can’t you see that? She’s angry with me and just wants to get back at me.’
‘She’d implicate you in murder just for revenge?’
Fisher coughed.
Kim felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, but there was nothing more important than what she was doing right now.
‘Ultimately, we have two women who had angered you and are now dead. Can you explain that?’
‘No comment.’
‘You have nothing else you want to say?’
‘No.’
‘Mr Butler, I am arresting you for the—’
‘No, you’re not,’ Bryant said, holding his phone in front of her face.
‘Oh shit,’ she said and rushed out of the room.