He wiped his nose. ‘I don’t know, two or three times maybe… She fell to the floor and was rolling around moaning. I suddenly realized what I’d done and begged her to forgive me… but she screamed that she’d report me to the police and have me arrested. Some of the money had scattered on the floor so I picked it up, and I was so disgusted with what I’d done that I told her she could have it. But she said nothing, went limp and just lay there curled up in a ball.’ He paused, then shaking his head he said repeatedly, ‘I thought I’d killed her.’ Jane watched as the man broke down, sobbing wretchedly.
Bradfield waited for him to regain some composure, feeling little sympathy for George Collins; he should have controlled himself and never have hit Julie Ann, but it never ceased to amaze him how people could turn on those they loved the most. To make matters worse Collins had never even considered trying to call an ambulance, instead going into the living room and pouring himself a brandy to calm his nerves.
‘Julie Ann was clearly not dead, so what did you do?’ Bradfield asked, masking his revulsion for the man in front of him.
Mr Collins continued in a pained low voice, ‘I suddenly heard the front door slam and ran back into the hall. I couldn’t believe it. She’d gone, leaving the few notes that had fallen out of the envelope on the floor. She’d taken the rest of the money and her rucksack was gone. When I realized I rushed outside, but she was already running off down the road.’
‘Did you chase after her?’
‘No, I had nothing left in me to go after her, but I wish to God that I had. I had never raised a hand to her before that day and I am totally ashamed of what I did.’
‘Did you hear from her again?’
‘No, but I now know for certain she only came here looking for money that day. She faked being unconscious and I felt betrayed as everything she said was lies, even the fact she was pregnant. It wasn’t until you told me at the station that the pathologist discovered she really was pregnant that I knew she’s told me the truth about that. I wish to God I’d never played golf that day, then I would have taken the money back to the office safe and there would have been nothing for her to steal except the housekeeping.’ Collins’ grief had turned to anger.
Bradfield tapped his notebook. ‘So you say she took her rucksack. Was there anything she left in the box room that might help us?’
‘I don’t know, I just removed the padlock so my wife wouldn’t know Julie had been here and threw the hypodermic needle and some dirty clothes into the bin, then shut the door.’
‘She definitely never tried to contact you again?’
‘No, I swear to you. And my wife was away and has no knowledge of Julie being here. I am too ashamed of what I did to tell her. The first time I knew any more about what happened to her was when you came here to tell us she was dead. I have been consumed with guilt and worst of all I never got the chance to tell her how sorry I was and that I still loved her, no matter what.’ Jane watched as Collins started sobbing again, his head in his hands.
‘On the day and evening before her body was discovered, where were you?’ Bradfield asked quietly and calmly.
‘Where was I? Surely you don’t still think that I could have had anything to do with her murder?’ Collins looked up, surprised. ‘I was at work and afterwards I was here with my wife all night. We actually had our neighbours over for dinner, so you can ask them to verify it.’
‘I will do that, Mr Collins. Exactly how much money did she take?’
Collins stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket.
‘It was about £2,000, well, minus the notes she left behind, which I think were maybe about a hundred.’
Bradfield let out a slow whistle. ‘New notes?’
‘They were sequentially numbered £5, £10 and £1 notes. Whenever possible I always use the same teller and ask for the cash like that as it makes it easier to count off and check the individual pay packets are correct. I had to go back to the bank on Friday morning to withdraw more cash. The teller was surprised to see me and she asked if there was a problem. I didn’t tell her what had happened, but said that I’d had an unfortunate situation and she jumped to the conclusion I’d been robbed. She gave me a list of the serial numbers for the notes I had withdrawn.’
‘Do you still have it?’
Collins looked confused.
‘I think so. I came home with it in my pocket.’
‘I would like a copy of the serial numbers, Mr Collins.’
‘Will it help your investigation?’
‘The fact that your daughter had so much money makes her vulnerable and may be another motive for her murder. There wasn’t a penny on her when we found her body and she obviously didn’t have an abortion. I doubt she blew two grand on heroin in just over a week, but the serial numbers may help us to trace Julie Ann’s movements after she left here, and hopefully trace the person who killed her.’
