Manton Police Station
In attendance:
DI Dominic McCoy
DCI Aisha Butt
DI McCoy:Amelia, or would you prefer Mimi?
Amelia Rhodes:Mimi. Please.
DM:OK, Mimi. Thank you for coming in, of your own volition.
AR:I’ve been wanting to say something for ages. For months. So long. But … I was too scared.
DM:Scared of what, Mimi?
AR:Scared of … It’s hard. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s Scarlett. She’s got this kind of … power?
DM:Can you explain a little what you mean by that?
AR:I just mean … I don’t know. She just has this way of making you think that you’d be nothing without her. It’s like, being with her is amazing and exciting, but there’s always the threat that she would cut you out, just like that, if you displeased her. So you just never wanted to displease her.
DM:When did you first meet Scarlett Jacques?
AR:At Maypole House. When I was sixteen. We were both doing Art A level. And Textile Design. So we were in a lot of the same lesson groups.
DM:And had you known her before that?
AR:[doesn’t reply]
DM:Could you say yes or no, please? For the recording?
AR:No. I’d never met her before. But we hit it off, like, immediately. She was just, kind of, exciting to be around. Everyone wanted to be friends with her, and she chose me. And once Scarlett had chosen you, you were hers for life. Or that’s what it felt like. I mean – all of us, me, Ruby, Jayden, Rocky – we all followed her to Manton. We could have gone to other colleges. Especially Jayden and Rocky – they were, like, geniuses, Jayden could have got into the Royal College and Rocky got a place at the London College of Fashion. They were so talented. But they went to Manton. Because that’s where Scarlett went. It’s kind of lame, really, when you think about it. When you look back on it. But she just had this way of making you feel as if your life would be meaningless without her. Not in anything she did. She never did anything bad. Just in the way she made you feel … I can’t explain it. It’s weird. Like she needed you. But also like you needed her more.
DM:And so, going back to the night of 16 June 2017. Please can you tell me, in your own words, exactly what happened.
AR:Erm, from, like, the pub?
DM:Yes. Start at the pub.
AR:It was a Friday. We all met up at the Swan & Ducks. In the village. Just a fun, normal night. The whole crew. Plus Scarlett’s ex, Liam. We all sat outside, had a few drinks. Then Scarlettwent in to get a round and she didn’t come back. So we went in to find her and she was sitting with them. With Tallulah and her boyfriend. Really weird atmosphere. Really tense.
DM:As far as you were aware, was there anything going on between Scarlett and Tallulah?
AR:Kind of. Yeah. We used to talk about it, their friendship. It seemed strange. Like, I don’t want to sound horrible, but Tallulah just wasn’t like … us. You know? She was very quiet, dressed very, like, ordinary. She was nice and everything, but I never really understood why Scarlett wanted to hang out with her. Then Ruby said she saw something, in the college grounds, the two of them holding hands when they thought no one was looking and then after that we assumed that something was going on, or something had gone on. But she never told us and we never saw anything else. So, you know …
DM:And then, at the pub?
AR:Yes. So, we all ended up sitting with them and we all got quite drunk. Then Jayden, Rocky and Roo all left; Roo’s dad was coming to pick her up and Jayden and Rocky were lodging with Roo. So it was just us and Liam, and then Lexie came over too and she drove us over to Scar’s house …
AR:[pauses]
DM:Carry on.
AR:Yeah. Sorry. So, erm … we went back to hers and we had beer and smoked some draw and played in the pool and then Zach and Tallulah went indoors and I went in a bit after, to go and charge my phone, and I could hear raised voices from the snug off the kitchen and I peered through a gap in the sliding door and I saw Zach kind of manhandling Tallulah. They were having a row. Zach was saying to Tallulah that he’d been going to ask her to marry him, I think. And then he threw the ring at her. I stopped watching then, backed away and then went to charge my phone but there were no Android chargers in the kitchen and I had one in my bag upstairs in Scar’s room, so I went up there to get it. It took me a while to find it. So then I came back down with the charger and I was still on the stairs … and I heard …
AR:[pauses]