‘No,’ she said.
‘You’re not in work – is that true?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Claiming Jobseeker’s?’ Rachel said.
‘So?’
‘Can you explain to me how you’ve furnished your flat and paid for a new kitchen on sixty quid a week?’
Shirelle gave a little snort, said nothing.
‘From the proceeds of drug-dealing perhaps?’
‘No way.’
‘We have a witness saw Noel and Neil Perry near the warehouse on the Friday evening. Did the Perrys visit the squat?’
‘Maybe.’ Which meant yes.
‘Did you see them there recently?’ Shirelle hesitated. She must realize, Rachel thought, that she’d be incriminating herself to some extent if she admitted regular visits to Victor and Lydia, even if she stopped short of saying they were buying drugs from her.
‘We’ve got enough to do you for supply,’ Rachel said, putting a bit of pressure on. ‘Well, did you see them?’
The girl didn’t reply.
‘Come on, Shirelle. He was a friend, wasn’t he? Victor. Or are you protecting someone. Was this beating to keep you quiet?’
‘No. Thursday, I seen them,’ she said.
‘The Perrys. What time?’
‘About four, I was leaving the squat.’
‘Not Friday?’ Rachel said.
Shirelle shook her head slowly to the right then left.
‘You see Victor on Friday?’
‘Yes.’
‘What time?’
A pause. ‘Same,’ she said.
‘But not the twins?’
‘No.’
Rachel thought of the stash that the Perry brothers had, more than personal use. ‘Were they dealing, the Perrys?’
‘No,’ she said.
‘Heavy users?’
‘Dunno. Ain’t exactly mates.’
‘They’re racist tossers but they’re happy enough to deal with Victor?’ Rachel said.
‘Hypocrites, in’t they.’
‘And on Saturday you were up on Middleton Road, with a bagful of party poppers. You heard the girl died?’
Shirelle closed her good eye.
‘Not your week, is it?’ Rachel said.
‘It was legal.’
‘That might have been, the rest isn’t. Class As, Shirelle, you can get life for that. You going to do that for Williams? Reckon he’ll thank you for it? Even if it’s accepted you played a lesser role, you’re looking at seven years. What’s keeping you here? Family? We heard you’re on your own. Think about it: new name, new flat, new chance. This all goes away.’
‘I i’nt a grass.’
Rachel had an image of Sharon, the night before, the disgust on her face, disgust at Rachel. The rotten ache of it inside her.
‘They could have killed you,’ Rachel said. ‘You don’t matter, you’re disposable.’
Shirelle didn’t speak.
‘It’s one of the lines of our investigation, whether associates of Williams were behind the murders, Victor’s murder.’
Shirelle’s expression hardened. ‘They weren’t, no way.’
‘You liked Victor, you went out with him, and I thought you’d at least want to see whoever killed him pay for it. Perhaps Victor double-crossed Williams, perhaps he was cutting the product?’