Page 48 of Their Burning Graves
Ben was already opening the doors that led into the waiting area and crossing the floor towards Heather. Amy went into the empty interview room and held the door open so Ben could bring her in.
Heather’s eyes were wide as she looked at the table with a single chair on one side and two opposite. Amy was smiling at her instead of wearing her usual frown and Ben realised that she was trying to put Heather at ease. Amy trying out charm, he never thought he’d see the day, perhaps Des’s death had got to her even more than he’d realised. He pointed to the lonely chair.
‘Please take a seat, thank you so much for coming to see us so fast, Heather. I’m Detective Sergeant Ben Matthews and this is my colleague, Detective Constable Amy Smith.’
Heather nodded. She took the offered seat, and he noticed she kept her hands folded under the table.
‘I’ve never been in a police station.’
Amy nodded. ‘Lucky you, we seem to live here.’
Heather side-eyed Amy, unsure of whether she was being serious or not.
‘Luke is very angry with you. Was it you two that came to the house?’
Amy glanced at Ben, and he knew she would be wondering what was going on but she kept quiet.
‘I’m sorry about that, I came with another colleague, Morgan.’
‘He said I shouldn’t come here, that I needed a lawyer if I was going to speak to you.’
‘Have you got a lawyer?’
She shook her head. ‘No, why would I need one? I haven’t done anything wrong.’
‘We only wanted to ask you some questions. I think Luke got offended, does he normally get so upset or lose his temper so easily?’
Heather looked down at her hands, then lifted her head.
‘Sometimes, it depends on what he’s being asked.’
‘Did he tell you what we asked him about?’
She nodded. ‘He said you accused him of having an affair with Sally Lawson, that your colleague was presumptuous.’
Ben was surprised that Luke had told his wife this. Maybe he wasn’t having an affair.
‘I’m sorry he felt that way, it’s hard working any investigation, but a triple homicide is difficult from all angles. Do you think he was having an affair with Sally?’
Heather let out a long sigh. ‘In my head, I would say no he would never do anything like that especially not with a neighbour but…’
Ben nodded in encouragement.
‘I know that he liked her, a lot. He talked about her all the time, and he always wanted to invite them over for drinks, go out for dinner with them, then he’d always want to sit next to Sally. I think he has, or had, a huge crush on her. I don’t think she felt the same way about him though, and I don’t believe anything happened between them or at least I hope it didn’t.’
‘How do you know?’
‘She told me. She said that she was sorry but she couldn’t be around Luke because he was too touchy-feely, and it made her feel uncomfortable. He’d invited them around for drinks that night – I had no idea – but she’d said no. I was mortified, and Sally said she couldn’t cope, especially when he did it in front of me and David. She said it was embarrassing, and she didn’t want to upset me but thought I should know that was the reason they wouldn’t be accepting any more invitations.’
Amy was the one sitting with her mouth open now. She closed it quickly then asked. ‘How were you with this? I mean that’s disrespectful to you, as his wife, and to David, did you have it out with him?’
Heather shook her head. ‘I wanted to, I wanted to tell him he was a disgrace, that he should pack his bags and get out, that he had gone too far this time.’
‘But you didn’t?’
‘I went for a walk to clear my head, when I got home; I’d been to get my hair cut and blow dried that day at Sally’s salon. She told me when she was washing my hair and I just wanted to die of shame. To be told by someone you consider a friend that they don’t want to see you any more because your husband is the world’s biggest creep is humiliating. I was fuming with him and wanted to have it out with him, but I wanted to think clearly about the whole situation. I have Ava to think about. I don’t work – it’s Luke that brings in the money – so I went out. By the time I came home it was time to pick Ava up from her friends, and Luke insisted on coming with me. I have no idea why, he doesn’t usually bother, but I think he could tell something was wrong. We walked out of the house, and I noticed the flames in the window of Sally’s house and well, you know the rest.’
Ben was frantically scribbling down what Heather had told them. He looked up.
