Page 97 of First Blood
‘We’re here about your husband,’ Kim said, quietly.
She folded her arms. ‘I have no interest in anything you have to say about that man.’
‘Mrs Lockwood, you’re going to want to hear us out, but you won’t want your children present.’
Her irritation turned to a frown as she invited them in.
Kim followed her to a small kitchen at the rear of the house, where two girls, still in uniform, squabbled over a purple crayon.
The aroma told her the youngsters were waiting for their tea.
All activity stopped as she and Bryant stepped into the small space and, although both looked at them suspiciously, there was a touch of fear in the eyes of the eldest. Kim offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile, but the girl’s expression didn’t change a bit as she looked to her mother.
‘Girls, go and get changed for tea,’ Wendy instructed.
‘Don’t wanna,’ said the older one who had snaffled the crayon.
‘Who are they?’ asked the younger one, narrowing her eyes.
‘I said go upstairs,’ Wendy repeated.
Neither moved.
‘No iPad after tea unless you—’
The woman didn’t need to finish the sentence as the scraping of chair legs filled the room.
‘The threat of no telly used to get the same response from me,’ Bryant said, offering the woman a smile.
She didn’t return it and only when she heard that the continued squabbling was a safe distance away did she speak.
‘What about him?’ she asked.
‘He’s dead,’ Kim answered, not bothering to dress it up.
Wendy’s eyes widened and her hand shot to her mouth.
‘Oh, my G… God… how… when… I mean…’ Her words trailed away as she felt her way to the chair previously occupied by her eldest daughter. ‘I can’t…’
Kim said nothing as she waited for the woman to wrap her head around the news.
‘Please tell me what happened.’
Shock, horror, but no tears, Kim noted. After what she’d learned from Keats she was not surprised. Confident that the woman could handle the truth she continued.
‘I’m sorry to say your husband was murdered, Mrs Lockwood.’
Her face creased into disbelief. ‘No… you’re… that’s not… no,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘I’m sorry but there’s no easy way to say it,’ Kim offered. ‘It was brutal and I wouldn’t want you to hear that from anyone else.’
‘I hated the man but not enough to…’
‘I understand,’ Kim said, meeting her gaze to indicate that they knew about the abuse. ‘But someone hated him enough to make him suffer; but there are other things we need to speak to you about.’
‘Please go ahead. Anything that will help.’
‘You lost everything because of your husband’s actions with taking secret payments to publicise certain venues around the area?’
