Outside Looking In - Michael Wood DCI Matilda Darke Thriller

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of some kind of marital dispute.’

      With the amount of work she had to do Matilda should have sent Rory to the hospital alone with Martin but she wanted to go herself. Rory was right, this was a domestic case and if the mystery woman was Lois Craven then the question of what she was doing with a married man would arise. If she was having an affair, who knew about it? Did Martin know? Did he commit the attack? His reaction to seeing his wife unconscious in a hospital bed could be pivotal. She needed to see this for herself.

      On the drive to the Northern General Hospital, Matilda allowed Rory to take the wheel while she sat in the front passenger seat and Martin Craven in the back. She had angled the rear-view and side mirrors so she could glance at his expressions. He sat poised in the centre of the back seat, his hands firmly clasped in his lap, fingers twitching. He looked worried; his eyes were wide and staring and he was biting down on his bottom lip. It was clear he was nervous about what he was going to find.

      The doctors in Intensive Care were not happy about the intrusion from the police. Their main duty was to the well-being of their patient. A nurse with a frosty attitude led them to the private room but would not allow them to enter.

      ‘She is unconscious and in a critical condition. She’s lost a great deal of blood and is at a high risk of infection. Until she is assessed later by a consultant I cannot allow anyone unauthorized to enter. I’m sorry,’ she added as an afterthought when she saw the tears in Martin’s eyes.

      The woman in the bed was hooked up to all kinds of machines. Wires and tubes were coming out of her nose, mouth and hands. Her head was heavily bandaged and there was thick padding to the left side of her neck. Matilda looked through the window at her without emotion. She looked as if she was sleeping and Matilda guessed she was not feeling any pain. At this stage it would be best if she remained in this condition.

      Martin Craven banged on the window with fists squeezed so tight together they were almost blue. He let out an unnatural sound like a wild animal caught in a trap. Rory caught him just in time as he fell to the floor while several nurses ran to attend to him. Matilda stepped back. On the night she returned home from the hospital after her husband died she had made exactly the same noise. Almost one year ago to the day.

       ELEVEN

      By the time of the evening briefing at 6.30 the backgrounds of Kevin Hardaker and Lois Craven had been established. Matilda stood at the top of the room in front of the whiteboards and looked at the half dozen officers assembled.

      Matilda opened the briefing and quickly handed over to Aaron while she sat back and took it all in. She needed to know what everyone had been working on.

      ‘Kevin Hardaker is forty-three-years-old, married to Alice who is forty,’ Aaron began, pointing to their respective photographs on the boards. ‘They’ve been married for thirteen years and have two kids, Warren is ten and Milly is seven. Kevin worked for Currys as a sales manager. Supposedly, he’s been playing tennis several times a week after work for many years. However, according to his tennis partner, Jeremy somebody, can’t remember his surname, they stopped about six months ago. Kevin has been having an affair with Lois Craven, also a member of the same tennis club, for a little over a year. Six months ago is when it started getting serious and the tennis stopped.’

      ‘Did Alice know about the affair?’ Matilda asked.

      ‘No.’

      ‘Are we sure?’

      ‘DC Glass is pretty convinced and I thought the same when I spoke to her,’ Scott said, looking up from his pad.

      ‘Is DC Glass still there?’

      ‘Yes, I think so.’

      ‘If Alice Hardaker doesn’t need him, get him back here. We need all the help we can muster.’ Scott nodded. ‘What about this Jeremy somebody? Did he know about the affair?’

      ‘Yes he did. He didn’t know Alice very well, he only met her a couple of times, but he felt guilty about keeping Kevin’s secret.’

      ‘Not guilty enough though,’ Matilda said to herself. ‘What’s his alibi for the attack?’

      ‘He was in a restaurant with his wife. I’ve seen the receipt,’ Aaron said. ‘Two hundred quid on one meal.’

      ‘Blimey, they had more than a Big Mac then,’ Rory said.

      ‘OK. Has anyone spoken to Kevin’s colleagues at Currys?’

      ‘Not yet.’

      ‘That’s the next job. Let’s move on to Lois Craven.’

      ‘Lois Craven is forty-one-years-old. She’s married to Martin. They celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary later this year. They’ve got three children; Jack is eighteen, Anna is fifteen, and Thomas is eight. Lois is an office administrator at the Sheffield College and Martin is a medical rep. He frequently works away. Now, according to her colleagues Lois started the affair with Kevin because she was bored. Martin’s always away and two of the kids look after themselves, she only had Thomas to contend with. She was bored with playing the happy housewife and mother and wanted some excitement while she was still able.’

      ‘Well, she sounds like a lovely woman,’ Matilda said with a hint of anger. She immediately thought of James. Matilda would have relished the opportunity to find out what a bored housewife was like. Lois should have been content with what she had. ‘What’s Martin’s alibi for the attacks?’

      ‘He was at home. All three kids can corroborate that. So can a neighbour, a Mrs Blanchford,’ Scott said.

      ‘How does she know?’

      ‘She went round about half past eight to borrow some foil. Apparently her son is making a robot for school and she’d run out. She went next door, stayed for a few minutes then went back home. She said everything was as it always is. Nice robot too.’

      ‘What are the neighbours saying about them as a couple? Are they well liked?’

      Scott flicked a few pages in his notepad. ‘The Hardakers’ neighbours were shocked by Kevin’s death. I didn’t mention the affair but just asked about what they were like as a family. Apparently they were very happy. They often went out together, weekends away, etcetera, and they always invited the neighbours around for the kids’ parties. They seem like the perfect couple.’

      ‘There’s no such thing as the perfect couple,’ Rory said while rummaging through Sian’s snack drawer. As usual, Sian was keeping her eyes firmly glued on the young DC; making sure he didn’t take advantage.

      ‘What about you and Amelia?’

      ‘Like I said, there’s no such thing as a perfect couple.’

      Matilda looked at Rory with a frown.

      ‘OK, what about the Cravens’ neighbours?’ she asked, bringing the conversation back to topic.

      ‘They keep themselves pretty much to themselves,’ said Rory flicking through his notebook. ‘One neighbour said they heard arguing a few times but nothing too serious.’

      ‘When was the last argument?’

      ‘He didn’t say.’

      ‘Go back and find out. Try and find out as much as you can. How private are we talking here? Do they mingle with their neighbours, exchange Christmas cards, or do they pull up the drawbridge at night? How did you get on with the ANPR?’

      Rory turned on the laptop and asked Aaron to turn off the lights. He then asked Scott to pull down the white screen covering the whiteboards. His laptop now acted as a projector.

      ‘OK, so, the ANPR has picked up eight images of Kevin Hardaker’s car as it travels from his place of work at Heeley to where he ends up on Clough Lane. As you can see, the first picture shows Mr Hardaker sitting behind the wheel

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