Page 46 of The Truth Will Out
Bob did as instructed, and they followed her up the narrow hallway. By the look of things, this flat was a comedown from the home she had shared with her husband.
“This is temporary until the house is sold. Then I get fifty percent of the pot, which will enable me to at least put a substantial deposit down on another house.”
“Glad to hear it. Would you mind if we take a seat?”
“As long as you’re not expecting a drink. I’ve run out of milk. I need to go to the supermarket later.”
“Don’t worry, we’re fine.” Sam waited for her to sit and then hit her with the news. “I’m sorry to have to inform you, but yourhusband’s body was found first thing this morning.”
“His body?” After a slight delay, she asked, “Are you telling me he’s dead?”
Sam nodded. “Yes. I know you’re separated. I was wondering if you could tell me whether his parents are alive, or if he has any siblings you think should be informed.”
“No. He was an only child. He told me his parents died when he was in his twenties.”
“Ah, I see. And are there no other distant relatives you can think of who we should inform?”
“No. He was a bit of a loner. Didn’t get on with his family and saw them as leeches. I got the impression he thought the same of me, come the end.”
“Is that why you split up?”
“Yes. There comes a point in one’s life when you need to put your foot down and think of yourself. The trouble with Stephen was, I suppose you’d call him self-absorbed. He spent years living on his nerves, working all sorts of unsociable hours for that damn council. He didn’t enjoy his job; he did it because he had to.”
“Was he on any medication?”
“Yes, he was. Don’t ask me what type. He kept it from me. The shutters came down years ago. We should have separated back then. It was foolish of me to stay in the belief that he might change.”
“Do you think the fact that he was on medication has changed him over the years?”
“Hard to say. He was always a difficult man to read, even before we got married. Maybe I should have considered that before our wedding day. You know how it is; you tend to put all the doubts you have about your partner to one side…”
“Just to have a wedding day?”
“Yes. Now that I’ve said it out loud, I realise how shallow that sounds. Sorry.”
“There’s no need for you to apologise.”
“I suppose I should ask how he died.”
“I can’t go into details, but what I can tell you is that we’re treating his death as suspicious.”
A hand slapped against her chest, and she let out a gasp. “Does that mean he was murdered? Who? Why?”
“It does. That’s what we need to find out. I appreciate how difficult and possibly awkward this is for you, but is there anything, anything at all, you can tell us that you think might help?”
“What would I know about someone wanting to murder him? Yes, I admit I’ve often felt the need to do it over the years, but going through with it would have been a different kettle of fish. Oh my… do you think it was to do with his job?”
“What makes you say that?” Sam asked, her interest piqued.
“I got the impression that he did a lot of work out of hours.”
“Such as?”
“You know, there were always a lot of meetings to attend in the evenings. I asked him time and time again what they were about and why they needed to be held out of hours.”
“And what was his response?” Sam asked, finally sensing they were getting somewhere.
“He told me he was doing these people a favour. They seemed to be always too busy to see him during the day.”
