to Marta again, then spoke to me. ‘No. We are neighbours. He knows everyone round here.’
Dan raised his eyebrows at me.
‘OK. Last few questions – did your husband have any arguments recently?’
‘Ne.’
‘Anyone unhappy about you two opening the soup shop?’ She’d dodged my question about how things had been difficult for them recently.
Marta spoke to her sister in a low voice. Then to me, she said, ‘She can’t think of anyone. If she does, we’ll call you.’
‘I’ve almost finished. Mrs Ulbiene? It’s very important. Who might want to harm your husband or your business?’
Indra glanced at her sister for a cue. Marta was shaking her head from side to side.
‘I’ve answered. I don’t know.’
I didn’t believe her but there was something else I needed to ask before she clammed up. ‘OK. This is the last question. I’m so sorry. There’s no easy way to tell you this. We found a woman with your husband. They were curled round each other on what looks like was a bed. Do you know who the woman might have been?’
‘No idea,’ came her quick response.
Shock was written all over Marta’s face.
‘I don’t want to answer any more questions. I’m tired. Could you leave me now, please?’ Indra flashed me an angry expression. ‘Nurse. Nurse.’
‘Of course.’ I bundled my notepad into my bag. ‘An officer will come later today to take a formal statement from you. You will be asked to provide details of all the people your husband had fall-outs with, and anyone you think might want to harm him or you, or your business.’ I placed my contact card on the bedside table. ‘I’m sorry, but you will also be asked about the woman in the fire. If you remember why you rang 999, please call me. I hope you feel stronger soon.’ I turned to Marta and said gently, ‘Could I have a word, please?’ I gestured for her to follow me towards the ward exit and the lobby area where the lifts were.
Marta placed her hand reassuringly on her sister’s arm for a moment. ‘Nebus ilgas.’ She tailed me across the ward, dragging her boots on the linoleum and tutting loudly, in case we hadn’t got the message that she was pissed off with us.
Once we were out of earshot, I turned and faced her. ‘I understand that you’re concerned about your sister, but two people are dead, and you were hindering a murder investigation back there. Given you brought things to a halt, perhaps you can help us with the information we need? Do you know who might have had it in for your sister and brother-in-law?’
‘No.’
‘How about just Simas?’
She snorted contemptuously and her eyes narrowed a fraction. ‘That’s a completely different question. Lots of people. Simas was a piece of shit but love is blind – and my sister has always loved him.’
‘“Piece of shit” in what sense?’
She did an unzipping gesture at the level of the flies on her jeans, and I felt my heart sink.
‘Do you know who the woman in the fire is?’
She opened her hands wide. ‘Could be anyone. If he burnt in that place, it’s what that bastard deserved.’
‘Has he been unfaithful to your sister before?’
Disgust forced air out of Marta’s mouth. ‘Many times. She should have left him but it’s not easy when you’re from a country like ours. This shop, and the baby, were supposed to be their “new start”.’ She made a quotation mark gesture with her fingers as though she never believed it was going to happen, and they were empty words.
‘We have some photographs of the bodies in the fire. Could you look at them for me, please? I’m afraid they aren’t pleasant, or particularly good quality, but until we can see Artem, or persuade Indra to look at them, you’re the best person to identify them.’ On my phone, I brought up a cropped image of the man lying cupped round another person, and showed it to her. ‘Is this your brother-in-law?’
‘Jėzus Kristus.’ She turned away, doubling over, her hand over her mouth in revulsion. ‘Tai virsta.’ She staggered away from me. ‘Yes, that’s him. That bastard. I’m glad he’s dead. Except my sister will continue to suffer because of him.’ She lurched and stumbled around the lobby area and beat her fist on the lift door several times, muttering agitatedly in Lithuanian.
‘Marta, are you certain that’s Simas in the image?’
She spun round. ‘Yes. I recognise the stud in his ear and the watch. Indra gave them to him for Christmas. Spent far more on him than he was worth.’ She took her phone from her jeans pocket and swiped it into life. ‘Here. Look. This was at Christmas.’ She scrolled through the images and showed me a photo of Indra and Simas around a table, plates loaded with food. Crackers and wrapping littered the tablecloth. They both wore paper hats, and he had his arm round his wife’s shoulders. The watch was clearly visible. She scrolled to another image, one that showed Simas’ face and ear. ‘See. It’s white gold with a diamond.’
‘Are those images date stamped?’
‘Yes. Look.’ Beneath the images, location, time and date were shown.
‘Could I get copies of them, please?’
‘If you’ll let my sister have a bit of time to come to terms with losing everything before you show her these.’ There was an edge to her voice, as though she was used to having to negotiate.
I felt the pressure in her words and let it float for a moment. ‘Marta, I can’t commit to a timeframe, but I give you my word that we won’t put Indra through any unnecessary distress. It’s in your sister’s interests that the murders are solved. She can’t claim on her insurance until the investigation is over.’
‘People always promise us things.’ She said it in a sarcastic, sing-song-y way and disengaged her glance. ‘ . . . and they’re always lies.’
I’d seen the wariness in Marta’s eyes when we were on the ward, but this wasn’t just that. Beneath the sarcasm was a quiet rage. And beneath that, something else lay, like a rumble of distant thunder. ‘Is there a reason why your brother-in-law might have been sleeping in the spare room rather than his own bedroom?’
She used the back of her hand to blot the tears from her eyes. ‘The spare room is his way of pretending it didn’t matter. He could shag whoever he liked as long as he didn’t do it in their bed.’
I was absorbing what she was telling me. ‘Was Indra OK with that?’
‘Of course not.’ She flashed an angry glance. ‘He promised he wouldn’t do it anymore, and then did it again and again.’ She muttered now. ‘Some men should have their dicks cut off at birth.’
‘Marta, do you recognise the woman in the photo? Or have any idea who it might be?’
She glanced at the image again and quickly shook her head. ‘I don’t recognise her but he could’ve just met her. Indra knows how I feel about Simas, and when they decided to make a fresh start in Brick Lane, she said she wasn’t going to discuss him with me anymore.’
‘OK. I appreciate that you may not feel sympathetic towards the woman in the fire, but someone is likely to be searching for her. Indra may know who she is. If either of you do, we can inform the woman’s next of kin. Also, her identity may provide vital clues on who might want to set the shop on fire, and why.’
‘I get that.’
‘Good. And to be clear – when my officer comes, we will need to interview your sister alone.’
She opened her mouth to protest and clamped it shut.
‘We will need you to give a