Page 158 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Ja,’ said Max. ‘Sex toys and vigs and so on.’
‘Right,’ said Robin. She turned to Gretchen. ‘I suppose the police asked you about all of this?’
‘Yes,’ said Gretchen.
‘And about Sofia’s love life?’
‘Yes,’ said Gretchen reluctantly. ‘She was popular.’
‘She vos always viz men,’ said Max. ‘Everybody knows det.’
‘Did she have a particular boyfriend?’
‘Not – no,’ said Gretchen. ‘I don’t think so.’
Had Gretchen been this shifty with the police, or had her halting speech been put down to shock, or faulty English?
‘Did Sofia ever tell either of you she felt threatened, or worried, by any of the men who visited her OnlyFans site?’ Robin asked.
‘She voss enjoying the attention. She vossn’t vurried,’ said Max.
‘So you never saw Sofia with a man with dark, curly hair?’ Robin asked Gretchen, but Max answered for her again.
‘Gretchen has already said no. She’s tolt the police everything she knows.’
‘I don’t know everyone Sofia met,’ said Gretchen. ‘I told the police so. It’s like Max says. There were lots of different men.’
‘Did you ever know her to steal anyth—?’
‘No,’ said Gretchen.
‘Are you sure?’ said Robin.
‘She could… forget to return things,’ said Gretchen uncertainly, ‘but that’s not like robbing somebody’s flat.’
As friendliness was getting Robin nowhere, she decided a change of tone was warranted.
‘Why did you agree to meet me, Gretchen?’ she asked, no longer smiling.
‘Because – I wanted to know what it was all about,’ said Gretchen.
Robin could hear the strain in her voice. She could also tell that Max was itching to spirit his girlfriend away from this dangerous woman, to regroup, to think out their next steps. Robin decided a bluff was the only way to go.
‘Gretchen, our agency’s got good police contacts. The police already know Sofia was hanging around with a man who had dark, curly hair. That’s how we connected Sofia with the pair who robbed the flat in Newham. I think you know who that man is, and I think you know Sofia was with him, the weekend she was killed.’
‘How could Gretchen know who Sofia vos vid?’ said Max angrily. ‘She vosn’t dere.’ He stood up. ‘Lass uns gehen,’ he said to his girlfriend.
Gretchen half-rose.
‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to inform the police I believe you’ve deliberately withheld information,’ said Robin.
Gretchen fell back into her chair as though her legs wouldn’t support her weight. Max stooped to hiss in his girlfriend’s ear.
‘Du solltest mit einem Anwalt reden!’
Robin, who’d taken three years of German at school, seemed to remember the word ‘Anwalt’ cropping up while learning the names of various professions. At her boyfriend’s words, Gretchen’s face crumpled. Hiding it in her hands, she began to sob.
‘Ich hätte es sagen sollen!’
