Page 41 of Wanting Daisy Dead

Transcript from The Killer Question Podcast

Tammy : Hey guys, welcome to the final dinner.

Hope you’re all enjoying your pre-dinner drinks.

We chose the Gin Daisy cocktail for obvious reasons.

Because he arrived late, Alex Jones hasn’t had the opportunity to take part and tell us his side of things.

Do we really know him? What was his relationship like with Daisy?

How does he feel about his friends and former housemates?

So, we’ve prerecorded an interview with him so he can share his perspective.

Hey Alex. Now, we just want to clear a few things up – for our listeners, mostly. On more than one occasion this weekend, you’ve been referred to by your old housemates, and yourself, as a ‘junkie’. Is this true?

Alex : Nah, I was just a dealer who dabbled a bit. (Alex gives a faint laugh.) I never had a problem with drugs.

Tammy : Okay, so we’ve cleared that one up. Now, you and Daisy met on the day she went missing?

Alex : Yeah, yeah we did.

Tammy : Wanna talk about it?

Alex : It was talked about in court – nothing to see here.

I bumped into her in Exeter city centre and she seemed a bit lost. So I took her for pizza, and we talked.

She’d told me she was pregnant a few weeks before, and the baby was David’s.

‘I’m meeting him tonight in Exmouth,’ she said.

‘We’re going to talk about the baby, and what we’re going to do. ’

Tammy : Okay, and did she seem nervous? Happy? Unsure? What was her mood?

Alex : Yeah, I’d say happy about the baby – but a little nervous and uncertain about David’s intentions. She hoped he’d just agree to be with her, but she knew he’d been upset about her supposedly telling his wife, and she worried he’d blame her for losing his family.

Tammy : Yes, because after Louisa received the letter about the affair she went straight into divorce mode.

Alex : Apparently, yes.

Tammy : We also revealed earlier today that you loaned Daisy a lot of money during her first year, which she never paid back. Was this mentioned at the lunch?

Alex : No. Look, I didn’t expect the money back. For God’s sake, it was Daisy – she never had any money.

Tammy : Did Daisy’s death affect you, Alex?

Alex : Of course it affected me, Tammy. What kind of person do you think I am?

Tammy : Sorry, it’s just—

Alex : I loved Daisy, and her death sent me into a spiral. I still wonder even now if there was something I should have said or done that day that might have made a difference.

Tammy : You were the last to see Daisy, weren’t you?

Alex : Yes, of all of us here – but the last person to see her was her killer.

Tammy : That wasn’t you?

Alex : No, no it wasn’t. I had no reason to want Daisy dead! (Silence for four seconds.) Apologies if I snapped at you then, I just feel guilty ... like I should have protected her, I dunno.

(Sound off, as there is a four-second pause in the recording.)

Tammy : So, you told your secret on arrival yesterday – that you’ve done time in prison.

Alex : Yeah. I earned a lot of money dealing drugs at uni.

Something I’m deeply ashamed of now. I didn’t understand the implications.

I was just trying to make money, and I will always feel bad for that.

There are no excuses, but I had no parenting, no moral code, if you like.

I was young and poor, and my childhood spent in children’s homes wasn’t exactly inspirational, and though I got into uni, I still found it hard to shake the other side of me.

If I hadn’t had that short stint in prison for drug dealing, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Tammy : And where’s that, Alex?

Alex : Well, Tammy, I’m happily married to the love of my life, I have a fascinating career, and I’m involved in charity work, which is what I love. And despite being a bit snappy today – apologies again – I’m a lot calmer and less anxious about life these days.

Tammy : You earn a lot of money. But you don’t use it to buy cars and houses, you use it to help people?

Alex : Yeah, I’ve set up several charities. I guess I’m trying to redeem myself – for the mistakes I made selling drugs when I was younger.

Tammy : Now, back to Daisy ... You say when you met up for a pizza that day, you talked about the baby. Did she explain that, at the time, there was some question over the paternity of that baby?

Alex : I ... No. It was David’s, she’d presumably worked it out and was sure.

Tammy : Really?

Alex : Oh yes, but David was still angry with her, and she was scared he was about to reject her once and for all. This would be devastating emotionally, but also she couldn’t afford to bring up a baby alone.

Tammy : So she was definitely going to have the baby, even if David didn’t want to get back together?

Alex : Yeah. You know, I think people might be surprised at that.

Daisy sometimes gave the impression she just wanted to party, but she was so much more than that.

She wanted a home, a family; she and Maddie and I didn’t have traditional family units, so we envied our rich friends with en-suite student bedrooms and two parents.

We thought the grass was greener. I guess we all wanted the white picket fence, and Daisy wanted her child to have a better life than she’d had.

That’s why she’d told Dan that the baby might be his.

Tammy : And Dan bought this?

Alex : Yeah, he totally thought it was his. She knew it was wrong, but his family were wealthy, and Dan would look after her and the baby financially, and give them a good life. She told me she would marry him or do whatever was necessary for the baby if David rejected her.

Tammy : Do you think she had feelings for Dan too?

Alex : No, she said she could never love someone like Dan, she was just playing him. What can I tell you, Tammy? Daisy was a survivor, and she used what she had to get by. As for Dan, he’d used enough girls in his time, and now someone was using him – it’s only what he deserved.

Tammy : And what about you, Alex? You said earlier you loved Daisy. Were you in love with her?

(Silence for five seconds.)

Alex : Yeah. In a way, but I saw her completely for who she really was.

By that I mean I understood and accepted her flaws because she was a hustler, like me.

I didn’t like that about her, but I also didn’t like that I sold drugs.

We just did what we did. But, in the end, I believed in her and me.

I knew we could both be fixed, and we would thrive if we found someone who made us feel safe. But not each other.

Tammy : Teresa, Daisy’s mother, has told us that Daisy talked of you fondly in her calls home. She respected and trusted you. Is that because you saw beyond Daisy’s beauty and appreciated her talent and intelligence?

Alex : I’m glad to hear that – I didn’t know she talked about me to her mum.

So many people used Daisy: David played with her, Lauren stole her work, Dan used her in his usual way, and Georgie – well, she was so messed up she’d have done whatever Dan asked of her.

I’m glad Daisy knew she could trust me and felt I was there for her.

Tammy : Did you try and advise her on her situation over pizza that day?

Alex : Yeah, I did. I said I thought she was being unfair to Dan. I mean, even he didn’t deserve that. Besides, his father was a piece of work, and may have demanded a DNA test to prove the baby was his. But she wasn’t listening, she only wanted my approval.

Tammy : And when she didn’t get it, was she angry with you? Did she hate that you’d called her out?

Alex : No ... I think I know where you’re going with this. I’m not answering any more questions.

(The recording is silent for seven seconds.)

Episode ends.