Page 18 of Murder in Shades of Fire and Ash

“I didn’t need to. I knew where he was, who he was with. He knew where I was and what I was doing. That’s how it was, Charlie. We weren’t in each other’s pockets, texting all the time. I knew he loved me, and he knew I loved him. Our relationship might be a bit unusual, but that doesn’t make me a murderer. We had what we both wanted. We werehappy.I had no reason to hurt him.”

This was vintage Patsy, stating the facts, and expecting to be believed. And despite Ravensbourne’s words of warning, he did believe her. Which meant he had to prove it, by finding out who had killed Unwin and making a case so strong that even Houdini couldn’t escape it.

While they’d been talking, the water from the hose pipe had stopped. Tom appeared from the back door, carrying two tall glasses filled with ice and something pink. He put them down in front of the bench and got Charlie’s phone from the pocket of his shorts.

“I don’t know whether you want to have a drink before or after you answer this,” he said, holding out the phone. “It’s not stopped.” As if to prove Tom right, the phone began to ring.

14

Sunday evening

It was the Clwyd Police Press Officer. “The Chief Constable wants to make a statement,” she said. “He needs to know the latest information about the murder of DC Unwin.”

“I’m not the SIO,” Charlie said. “Contact Chief Superintendent Kent, or DI Ravensbourne.” He knew as he spoke, that the Press Office would have already done just that. They had. Charlie moved away from the bench to stand next to the house.

“DI Ravensbourne is not available, Chief Superintendent Kent suggested I talk to you.”

Thank you very much Chief Superintendent sodding Kent.

She continued: “I understand that Alun Evans, MP, will also be making a statement, and that you have already spoken with him, and the family of Josh Unwin. You really are the best person to brief me.”

“What do you want to know?” Charlie asked tiredly. He could ring Kent and ask for guidance, or try to contact Ravensbourne, or he could get it over with and follow his inclination — which was to say as little as possible.

“Can you confirm that DC Unwin was murdered?”

“We are treating it as a murder enquiry, yes.”But anyone could have told you that.

“Is there a relationship between the arson attack on the shop where the body was found and the murder?”

You tell me.

The questions continued, pointlessly asking Charlie things he didn’t know, until he lost his temper.

“Look, Unwin was a colleague. We found him this morning and we’ve hardly had time to draw breath since.We don’t know anything yet. Not about Unwin, not about the fire, not about nutters on social media.”He calmed down enough to apologise, and say he had to go back to work, but she was relentless.

“It would be super-helpful if you could be part of the press conference,” she said.

“It would be even more helpful if you would let me get on with my job,” Charlie said and ended the call. Whatever Ravensbourne said, he would eat and then go back to the station, if only to make a list of all the things they still had to do. But first, he needed to ask Patsy a question and then ensure she was being looked after. He went back to the bench and picked up his drink. A sip told him it contained a lot of alcohol, so he put it down again. His head was fuzzy enough already.

“Can I ask you about something,” Charlie said.

Patsy nodded. “Anything, if it helps.” He noticed that her glass was almost empty. Good, it might help her get some sleep.

“Unwin’s sister said that you had, I quote, found out about his other women …” He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence.

“I had all this with the Chief Super. There weren’t any other women, and if there were, I wouldn’tfind out, Unwin would have told me. We’d havetalkedabout it. Non-monogamy doesn’t mean sex with everyone you meet.”

On paper, perhaps. Charlie didn’t want to quiz Patsy about Unwin’s alleged habit of propositioning members of the HQ staff, but he channelled his inner Ravensbourne.

“You do know Unwin had a bit of a reputation …?” he asked.

Patsy blushed red with anger. “According to whom? Don’t answer that. I know. Eddy and Will. Because Unwin liked them both, and he flirted with people he liked. Big fucking deal. He thought I liked Eddy, which I do,as a friend. We talked about it and Unwin backed off. Only Eddy got all bent out of shape, and he won’t let it go.”

Tom coughed, loudly and artificially. Charlie looked up as Eddy’s tall figure stepped out of the back door and came over to the bench.

“I’ve been looking all over for you. Mam insists you come back to ours,” he said to Patsy. His tone left no room for argument. Eddy reached out his hand to help Patsy up and put his arm around her shoulders. He looked at Charlie. “I’ll be in first thing,” he said.

Charlie watched them leave. He felt Tom’s presence and turned. “I have to go back to work,” he said. “I’ll get some sleep there later.”

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