No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (13 page)

“What?” He sat forward in his
chair, his eyes almost dropping onto the table in front of him. “My
God. I don’t believe it. How? Wait a minute, you suspected me of
carrying out such a heinous crime?”

“At first, yes. However, now
I’m willing to believe you had nothing to do with it. I’ll need to
verify your alibi with Mrs. Morgan, of course, but I can’t see you
divulging such a sensitive fact if you were guilty of these crimes.
I will need to ask you to give me a DNA sample, if you don’t mind?
Just to omit you from our enquiries. Will you do that?”

“Of course. Holy crap. That
poor woman,
women
. What a terrible situation. How could
anyone take someone out like that?”

“Indeed, Mr. Hew. And you know
what? Crimes like this are getting more and more prevalent by the
day. Can you drop by the station later on today to give us that
sample?”

“Around sixish. Will that
do?”

“Perfect.”

Sally watched the clock on the
wall of the incident room tick its way around to four o’clock. At
two minutes past four, she took the small file she had created on
the suspect and walked down the stairs to the reception area.
Peeping through the glass panel in the door, she saw Colin Whiting
sitting nervously, awaiting her arrival. Her delay was
intentional—she was eager to observe his reaction while he
waited.

Sally entered the room and
extended her hand for him to shake. He looked at it as though it
were a cobra in disguise, ready to strike. “Mr. Whiting, sorry I’m
late.”

He stood up and shook her hand.
“That’s okay. Can we get this over with?”

“Of course.” Sally turned to
the desk sergeant and asked, “Got a spare constable who can sit in
with us, Sergeant?”

“Will contact one now,
ma’am.”

“Send them through. We’ll get
settled.” She led the way, and Whiting followed her up the hallway
and into Interview Room One. “I’ll be taping the conversation.”

“Why? Am I under arrest?”

“No, it’s a formality. I’ll
just set the machine up. Take a seat.”

He pulled the chair out from
the table and sat down heavily. He folded his arms and stared as
she inserted the tape and waited for the PC to join them before she
announced who was present in the room during the interview. “While
we wait, I’d like to take a buccal swab for DNA purposes. Any
objection?” Sally opened an envelope lying on the desk and removed
a plastic tube.

Whiting fidgeted in his seat
and glared at her. “Why do you need DNA?”

“It’s normal. Nothing to be
alarmed about. It’s more for discounting someone from our
enquiries. Is there a problem?”

His eyes latched on to hers,
challenging her. “Nope, not at all.”

As Sally inserted the large
cotton bud into Whiting’s mouth, the door opened, and a male PC
walked into the room. Sally nodded and motioned for the constable
to stand behind the suspect, against the wall of the
ten-foot-square room. Then she concluded taking the sample and
popped the evidence into the tube, sealed the envelope, and placed
a sticker over the opening, on which she signed her name. “Thank
you.”

Sally said the obligatory words
to begin the interview for the purpose of the tape and opened her
file. “All right if I call you Colin?”

Whiting hitched up one of his
shoulders. “Why not? It’s my name.”

“Good. Now, Colin, first of
all, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for coming in
this afternoon. I felt things were a little awkward when we spoke
at your house yesterday. Can you explain why that was?”

“You’d just told me that my
sister-in-law had died. How did you expect me to react,
Inspector?”

“Fair point. So, can you tell
me the reason you volunteered to come in today rather than discuss
things in front of your wife?”

“Because I don’t like talking
about Gemma in front of Leona. They didn’t really get on.”

“That’s strange. That isn’t the
impression I got from chatting to your wife. Care to tell me why
they didn’t get along?”

His eyes narrowed. Sally
smiled, trying to fend off the glare coming at her in pulsating
surges.

“You’ll have to ask my wife
that. Who knows what goes on in a woman’s mind? I’m told it’s a
very complex muscle.”

“I believe you’re right about
that, Colin. Okay, can you tell me what sort of relationship you
had with Gemma?”

“Like any other brother and
sister-in-law relationship, I suppose. There really wasn’t anything
special to it. I’ll miss her; that’s all I can tell you really. She
was a superb mother to my niece, Samantha, and I’m sure my brother
and his daughter will be lost without her.”

“That’s a great speech. You’ll
forgive me if I think you’re just saying what you believe I want to
hear, won’t you?” Her smile never wavered.

“It happens to be the truth.
I’m not sure I like your tone, Inspector. It’s as if you’re
treating me as a suspect. May I remind you that I have come here
today willingly?”

“Which I appreciate, Colin. The
thing is, my team and I have been doing a little background check
on all of the people concerned in this case, and something
surprising turned up relating to an incident that occurred at a
previous job you held.”

“It was only a matter of time
before that incident resurfaced and the finger started to get
pointed in my direction. Maybe I should have been up-front from the
word go about my conviction. It would have saved you a lot of time
delving through my murky past, eh?”

“Maybe it would have made a
difference. I’ve been told by a member of Gemma’s family that they
walked in on some kind of conflict going on between you and the
deceased. Would you care to explain what that was about?” Sally
intentionally used the word
deceased
, hoping to provoke
further reaction from Whiting.

“And I can tell you exactly who
placed those seeds of doubt in your head—Gemma’s mum. Am I
correct?”

“You might be. Care to
enlighten me as to what the contretemps was about? Just so it’s
nice and clear in this complex mind of mine.”

His gaze dropped to the table.
His clutched his hands and began twisting as he contemplated what
to say next. “Several things really.”

“I’m listening,” she prompted
when he paused.

“Gemma and I used to be close,
very close, in fact.”

“As in you two had an
affair?”

“Yes. But it didn’t last.”

“Why? What went wrong?” Sally
asked, beginning to look at Colin in a different light. He seemed
to be finally showing some true emotion about Gemma’s death, as if
it had just struck him. “Can I get you a glass of water?”

“No. I’m fine.” He sniffed then
let out a large sigh. “I loved her. But it wasn’t
reciprocated.”

Whoa! Well, I hadn’t
expected that bolt of lightning.
“Did anybody else know about
your affair? Like her husband or your wife? Did either of them find
out about it, Colin?”

“No. Gemma and I never told
either of our spouses. It would have ripped the family apart.”

“It’s a pity you didn’t think
along those lines before you began the affair in the first place.
Sorry, ignore me. Go on. Things must have been pretty strained
between you in that case? Being in the same room as each other in
front of the rest of the family, am I right?”

“Yes, but we coped. If you
think I could kill Gemma, Inspector, you couldn’t be further from
the truth. I loved her, and I will continue to love her until I
take my final breath in this world. She lit up a room when she
entered it. There aren’t many people in this life who that kind of
statement can be attributed to, as I’m sure you’ll agree.”

“I agree. If that’s the case,
something has been puzzling me since our meeting at your house
yesterday.”

His gaze met hers again, and a
furrowed brow signified his confusion. “What’s that?”

“You never once asked how Gemma
was killed. Why is that?”

He shook his head and expelled
a huff. “I was devastated. Does the mind always function properly
in such instances, Inspector? I’m sorry I didn’t conform to how
other family members took the news of Gemma’s death. Like I say, I
loved her.”

“I can understand your feelings
in that case. Can I ask who ended the affair?”

“She did.”

“What were her reasons for
that? Because she didn’t love you in return?”

“Partially. She said that
living with the guilt no longer sat well with her. I have to tell
you that Mark and Gemma’s marriage wasn’t the rosiest around. Did
you know that?”

“I’m getting the impression
that there were problems within the marriage, yes. I have to tackle
the case sensitively regarding Mark, as I’m sure you can
appreciate. I will need to bring him in for questioning once things
have settled down and he’s had a chance to grieve the loss of his
wife.”

“I’m aware of that. I just
wanted to be sure that you understood their marriage was rife with
problems.”

“Rife with problems? That bad?
Or is that you having sour grapes?”

“Not at all. Mum has been
intervening in their relationship for the last few months. She’s
threatened to bash their heads together on more than one occasion,
at least once publicly, as far as I can remember.”

“Then I better interview your
mother to see if she can tell me what was at the root of their
problems.”

“You do that. Maybe that will
finally get the heat off me. I swear, I had nothing to do with
Gemma’s death.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I had to
bring you in for questioning. I hope you understand. To be fair,
we’re dealing with another similar incident in which the victim has
survived.”

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me
about this sooner? You’ve led me to believe that I’m your main
suspect. All I’m guilty of is loving Gemma. Did this victim give
you any details about the person who attacked them?”

“No, not yet. She was badly
hurt and is unconscious.”

“But she’s alive, unlike Gemma.
Why hasn’t there been some kind of warning issued about the attacks
through the media? Surely it would be better to warn the women of
Norfolk to be cautious.”

“That’s been taken care of this
morning, Colin. There will be warnings going out over the next few
days. It’s another reason for me to take your DNA today so that you
can be excluded from the second case.”

“I understand. Do you need
anything else from me?”

“Not at this time, Colin. All I
ask is that you remain cooperative with us. It makes our life
simpler if there is less testosterone flying around when we’re
investigating a case.”

“Fair enough. Can I go
now?”

Sally ended the interview and
accompanied Colin back out into the car park. “My advice would be
to lay low for a few days where your family is concerned. Mark will
be hurting over the death of his wife, and if he hears any hint of
what’s gone on between you and Gemma, I dread to think how he’ll
react to the news.”

“I’ll keep my head down as
advised. Any idea when Gemma’s body will be released so that we can
bury her?”

“I’ll check that out for you
over the next day or so. I need to drop your DNA off to the
pathologist anyway. I might do that on my way home, actually. The
last I heard, the funeral home had been in touch about collecting
her body. I’ll get back to you with a definitive answer tomorrow.
How’s that?”

“Thank you. I think the sooner
we deal with Gemma’s funeral, the better, for all our sakes.”

He walked away, leaving Sally
wondering what he’d meant by his last statement. Maybe she had been
wrong to exclude him as a suspect so quickly after all. She nipped
back to the interview room and picked up Colin’s file and the DNA
sample.

Sally intended to make two
stops on her way home that evening: one to Clarissa Morgan’s home
and the other to the pathology department. After dispatching her
team for the evening, she set off on her quest. As she approached
her car, someone called out her name. She twisted to see who was
addressing her.

“Ah, Mr. Hew. Right on time, I
see.”

“As requested, Inspector.”

“Okay, I’ll deal with your DNA
sample before I head home for the evening.” She walked back into
the station alongside him and asked the desk sergeant for another
DNA kit. He dipped under the counter and produced an envelope. “Can
you ask another PC to join me in an interview room for five
minutes, Sergeant?”

“I’ll organise that
immediately, ma’am.”

“Walk this way, Mr. Hew.”

Sally waited for the PC to join
them then went through the same procedure she’d gone through with
Colin Whiting to obtain the sample from Taylor Hew. After
completing that undertaking, she left the building again and
thanked Mr. Hew for turning up on time. Then she placed both DNA
samples on her passenger seat and drove to the pathology
department.

Simon was emerging from his
theatre, still in his uniform, when she walked up the hallway
towards his office.

“Just the man I want to
see.”

“Give me five minutes to get
some decent clothes on first, Sally.”

She nodded.

“You can wait in my office, no
problem.”

Sally sighed heavily as she sat
in the spare chair. It had been a long day already, and she still
had another stop to make before going home. Withdrawing her mobile
from her jacket pocket, she dialled her parents’ home. “Hi, Mum. I
should be home by about seven.”

“Okay, dear. See you
later.”

Puzzled, Sally was still
looking down at her phone when Simon walked into the office,
dressed in civvies.

“What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t got a clue. Just
rang Mum to let her know what time I’ll be home this evening and
received a response that I wasn’t really expecting, as if she was
distant about something. Oh, well, I’m sure I’ll find out soon
enough.”