LITMIR.BIZ

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not exactly commitment-free.’

      ‘No, and the less said about my family, the better. It’s not exactly a positive thing that I don’t have much to do with them.’

      Not for the first time, I wondered about Fiona’s family. She rarely mentioned them, apart from her gran and a brother who she liked, but who I got the impression wasn’t her only sibling. I vowed to get to know her better. But now wasn’t the time. Rachel Thornton was waiting to give a statement.

      ‘Have you met Craig’s wife?’ Fiona asked.

      ‘Yes, at that gruesome barbecue Richard organised, after he’d been on a course about how to make us all bond. I admit I may have made assumptions about her based on the quantity of make-up she was wearing. What’s her name again?’

      ‘Tamsyn. I think she’s actually alright. And I’m sure she has a point, but Craig needs to pull his weight on the case, doesn’t he? Kids or no kids. She can’t expect him to act like he’s got a nine-to-five job.’

      He’d pull his weight alright. His desperation to undermine me would ensure that.

      I looked at my watch. ‘Right. I’m interviewing Rachel Thornton. Craig was supposed to be doing it with me. Can I give you a shout if he’s had to go home?’

      ‘Sure.’

      I set off towards the interview room, and as I was passing through the reception area, I saw Craig’s wife shooing a child towards the door. She looked up, saw me, and gave a bright smile. ‘Meg! Hello.’

      Thank God I’d asked Fiona for her name. I smiled awkwardly. ‘Tamsyn.’

      ‘I wanted a word actually, if that’s okay.’

      Oh God. ‘I’m just on my way to an interview now. But . . . ’

      ‘It’ll be quick.’ She moved closer. She looked like she’d recently applied foundation and lipstick. How did these women find time? The child had plonked himself on a seat and was looking at his phone and swinging his legs, in a way which made him appear both engrossed and pissed off at the same time. ‘I’ve said it’s okay for Craig to stay late tonight, in the circumstances, but I was going to ask you if you could maybe go a bit easier on him?’

      I took a step back. ‘Sorry?’

      ‘He’s been working late a lot and I need him to do more with the kids, and the pressure seems to be coming from you.’

      Had he been working late? I didn’t remember much of that. I didn’t know what to say.

      Tamsyn lowered her voice. ‘He wants to impress you.’

      Now I was in some kind of parallel universe. ‘Right. I don’t think I’m putting pressure on him but I’ll bear it in mind. I’d better go. Sorry. Nice to see you.’

      I smiled at a point above her head and scarpered.

       *

      The light flickered overhead, emphasising the deep, February blackness outside. We were in our oldest interview room – the only one that had been available – and it was rich with layers of unidentifiable smells which no amount of cherry disinfectant could remove. We couldn’t even leave suspects in there because it had too many ligature points.

      Rachel Thornton perched on the edge of her chair, bouncing her knee and tapping her fingers on the table. There was a tension in her upper body that seemed set into the bones, as if she’d been anxious for so long it had become part of her structure.

      She’d got a lawyer in, as some people always did – midrange, I guessed. Not super-smug and shiny, and with a rather unfortunate mole on his chin, but not actually downtrodden.

      ‘We have a few more questions for you,’ I said. ‘And we need to get you to sign a statement for us.’

      I had to focus on the interview, but couldn’t get Craig’s wife out of my head. Was any of what she’d said true, or was Craig making it up for his own reasons? I knew for sure he wasn’t trying to impress me.

      Rachel’s gaze darted between Craig and me. ‘Why’ve you asked me to come in here? Can you not imagine how I feel? And I don’t want to leave Abbie for long. She’s distraught.’ She seemed very different from earlier – as if she’d moved past her initial shock and into defensive mode. When she mentioned Abbie, I saw a lioness protecting her cub.

      ‘It’s important for us to move quickly,’ I said. ‘We realise it’s difficult for you, but the first forty-eight hours are vital. We want to find who did this to your – ’

      The lawyer butted in. ‘We’re very unhappy about your actions this morning.’ He stared aggressively at me.

      I jerked upright. ‘Sorry?’

      ‘We’re considering a claim for police brutality.’

      ‘You’re what?’

      Craig visibly perked up. He looked from me to the lawyer and back again.

      ‘It’s clear you used unnecessary force against my client. You pushed her to the ground, causing injury to her arm and hip.’

      A wave of anger swept over me. ‘Let’s get it on record, shall we, that I used reasonable force to attempt to prevent your client compromising a crime scene. In retrospect, I clearly didn’t use enough force, because she has indeed compromised the crime scene, making it harder for us to catch the perpetrator. And incidentally, she punched me.’

      The mole twitched. He clearly hadn’t known about the punch. ‘We reserve our position. I’m just putting you on notice.’

      I took a breath and turned to Rachel. Was this coming from her or from her overpaid lawyer? I decided to ignore it for now. ‘When did you last speak to your husband?’

      Her face showed a moment of confusion. Why wasn’t I saying more about the brutality accusation? Then, ‘Last night, from Mum’s phone.’

      ‘And how did he seem?’

      ‘Okay, I think. Maybe not quite himself?’

      She seemed almost embarrassed. I assumed the police brutality thing had been the lawyer’s idea.

      ‘Not quite himself in what way?’

      She was still bouncing and tapping feet and fingers, and had angled herself towards the door as if planning to make a run for it. She looked brittle and light, as if you could push her and she’d topple over. ‘I don’t know. He’s been a bit secretive recently, and angry with me for no reason. Complaining about me working too hard, that sort of thing.’

      It sounded like the familiar story of the angry adulterer – finding fault with his wife so he could feel better about his own behaviour.

      ‘What job do you do?’ I asked.

      ‘Accountant. It can be busy sometimes but he was being unreasonable.’

      Her voice was one-dimensional. She was hiding something, but this wasn’t at the heart of it.

      ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I noticed a window open in your bedroom. Is that normal?’

      ‘I can’t sleep with the window shut. Phil complained at first but now he’s the same.’

      ‘And, we were wondering, it looked like someone had taken a shower soon before we arrived at your house this morning. Was that you?’ I spoke casually as if it didn’t really matter. Of course she knew it did, but sometimes if you got the tone right, they’d subconsciously follow your suggestion, and things would pop out before the conscious mind caught up.

      Rachel wasn’t falling for it, but she was giving me something anyway. A flash of electricity. She stopped both the leg and finger tapping, and her eyes were wide. ‘No. Of course not. I didn’t get back until after you arrived. Maybe Abbie had one.’

      Abbie

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