Page 23 of The Truth Will Out
“I don’t blame you. Is that where the body was found?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you about it later.”
He grimaced. “Not over dinner, I hope.”
“Maybe we’ll discuss it on the way home instead.”
“Sounds like the perfect solution to me.” He crossed the room to the wardrobe and removed a pair of khaki trousers and a cream short-sleeved shirt. “How about this ensemble?”
“Looks spot on to me. I was going to wear black trousers and a white shirt.”
“You’d look good going out in that.” He pointed at the towel wrapped around her slender body.
“Charmer.”
The dogs thundered up the stairs and bounced into the bedroom. Tilly flung herself at Sam, expecting a cuddle, and then flopped on her back, wanting a belly rub.
“She’s such an adorable girl.”
“I had my doubts if she would slot in. I thought it might have been too soon after losing Sonny to welcome another dog into thefold, but she has proved me wrong. What’s more, Casper loves her to bits.”
“We’re going to be the perfect family in a few weeks, husband and wife with two kids to care for. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
He shuffled his feet. “Umm… we’ve never really discussed the prospect of having children, have we?”
Here it comes, crunch time. After failing IVF five times with Chris, I haven’t really considered going through all that with someone else.
“We will, one day.We’d better get a move on. It’ll take me ten minutes or so to dry my hair and get ready.”
“I can take the hint. I’ll jump in the shower myself.”
Their meal turnedout to be one of the best Sam had eaten in a long time. She couldn’t wait to treat Doreen to Sunday lunch and ended up booking a table for the three of them in a couple of weeks. “She’s going to love it, and they do a smaller roast dinner, which will suit Doreen better.”
“I can’t believe we haven’t been there before. It was sensational, and you’re right, Doreen will love it. Right, now that the evening is over and the dogs have passed out on the back seat, you can tell me about your murder investigation.”
Sam closed her eyes for a second or two. She opened them and faced him. “Do I have to? It might spoil our wonderful evening.”
“Not if you don’t feel like it.”
In the end, she decided to open up to him.
“I’m in shock right now. How awful to lose your life like that after being a caring member of the community.”
“That’s debatable. I’ve had it on good authority from Doreen that his bedside manner was somewhat lacking at times.”
“Do you think a patient killed him?”
Sam shrugged. “I don’t have a clue. It’s going to be difficult to find out who actually did the deed. We’ve viewed the CCTV footage from the surgery and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary around the time he left work on the evening he went missing.”
“I don’t envy you. However, I have every confidence in your ability to figure it out. You always do.”
“Not always. There are a few cases to my name that I’ve failed to close over the years, mainly up in Liverpool, but they still haunt me all the same.”
“I learn something new about you every day.”
“I prefer to keep you on your toes, Mr Wilkins.”
His gaze left the road for a split second, and he grinned. “Oh, you do that all right.”
