No Hiding Place: An edge of your seat mystery/thriller. (DI Sally Parker thrillers Book 2) (8 page)

Colin took the hint and sat
close to his wife and the dog, which stirred for a mere second then
went back to sleep. “I’m glad you’re both at home. Can I ask if any
members of your family have contacted you today, Colin?”

He frowned and nervously
glanced sideways at his wife. Leona tapped his leg with the palm of
her hand. “Answer the inspector, love.”

“Sorry, no. No one has rung me.
They know better than to do that when I’ve worked a shift the night
before. Why?”

“Okay, then unfortunately, I
have some bad news for you.” Sally deliberately paused for a few
seconds, waiting for Colin to react in some way, but all she saw
was the man wince when Leona’s hand tightened around his thigh.
“This morning, Gemma Whiting’s body was found not far from her
home.”

Colin’s eyes widened, and his
mouth dropped open while Leona gasped and covered her own gaping
mouth with her hand. “What? Was she involved in an accident?” Colin
asked, finally recovering his voice.

“No. We’re treating her death
as suspicious… murder. Due to the injuries she sustained.”

“Murder?” Colin stood up and
walked over to the bay window. Glancing out, he added, “I can’t
believe it.”

“It’s true, I’m afraid. Were
you close?”

He turned to look Sally in the
eye and curled his lip. “She was my sister-in-law, for fuck’s sake.
Of course we were close.”

“You might want to control that
tongue of yours. There’s no need to swear at the inspector,” Jack
warned.

Colin mumbled an apology then
turned back to gaze out the window again. Jack shrugged at Sally,
unsure whether to force the man to take a seat and listen or
not.

“Please, take a seat, Mr.
Whiting. There are a few questions I’d like to ask you,” Sally
ordered.

Colin glanced sharply over his
shoulder. “
Me
? Why do you want to ask
me
questions?”

“It’s what we do during an
investigation, Mr. Whiting—question people. Please take a seat. I
don’t particularly like talking to a person’s back.”

He huffed out an impatient
breath and reclaimed his seat next to his wife. Sally watched the
reaction between the husband and wife for a moment as Mrs. Whiting
stroked the back of her husband’s hand, only for him to pull it out
of her reach.

“Perhaps you can tell me if
Gemma ever confided in either of you?”

“Confided? About what?” Leona
asked, her fingers twisting the fabric of her trousers on her
thigh.

“Perhaps she intimated that she
feared someone. Did she ever say that she felt her life was in
danger at all?”

Colin frowned. “No. Is that
what you think? That someone has been stalking her?”

“We’re merely trying to build a
picture, Colin. So far, your brother and Gemma’s mother have given
us a few leads to chase up.”

Colin’s hand touched the right
side of his face, then he coughed to clear his throat. “Maybe you
could make us all a coffee, darling?” he asked his wife.

She scowled at him, but when
she looked at Sally, her scowl quickly vanished. “Excuse my
manners, Inspector. My husband’s right; I should’ve offered you a
drink. Tea or coffee?”

“We’ll both have a coffee. Milk
with one sugar, thank you,” Sally replied, looking at Jack for his
approval. He nodded his acceptance.

Leona left the room and closed
the living room door behind her. Sally winked at Jack and said to
Colin, “Is there a reason you just asked your wife to leave the
room, Mr. Whiting?”

His cheeks reddened, and his
shaking hand scratched the side of his face before he buried his
head in his hands. Sally and Jack glanced at each other, and she
gave him a knowing nod. Sally changed seats and sat on the sofa
beside Colin. “What is it, Colin? You can tell us,” she urged
softly.

His head hung low, and he shook
it. “I can’t believe she’s dead.”

“Yes, it’s a tragedy. When was
the last time you saw Gemma?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“At the family barbecue?” Sally
enquired.

His eyes narrowed when he
looked her way, and his hands clenched together. “It might have
been.”

“Either it was, or it wasn’t,
Colin. Which is it?”

“Yes,” he mumbled.

“Right, do you want to tell me
what went on that day?”

“Mark and Gemma invited
everyone to their place for a family barbecue. We had the usual
burgers and hotdogs and a few chicken wings. I can’t remember what
drinks were on offer. I stuck to cans of lager, if that helps.”

The glint that had appeared in
his eye unnerved Sally.
He’s toying with me. I’ll let him play
for a second or two, if that’s what he wants.
Sally smiled.
“Sounds like fun. I love a good barbecue myself, especially in the
height of summer. Don’t you, Jack?”

“Can’t beat it, boss. Nothing
like a good old family barbecue to while away a Sunday afternoon.
Not keen on me doing all the work, though. That’s the only downside
to barbecues in my house.”

“Oh, I thought men were usually
in their element, tossing bangers around and setting fire to the
burgers. How about you, Colin?”

He shrugged and replied, “I
don’t go in for all that cooking lark myself, with or without a
barbecue to hand.”

Sally inclined her head. “But
you’re a baker, aren’t you?”

“Precisely. I cook for a
living. I don’t intend partaking in it during my leisure time, as
well.”

“I see. I suppose I can
appreciate your line of thinking there. I always thought men
reacted differently when cooking on a barbecue. Maybe you’re the
exception…”

“Is there a point you’re trying
to make with all this drivel, Inspector?” he asked, expelling an
impatient breath.

“Well, what I’m leading up to
is this: a little birdie told us this morning that at this very
barbecue, you were seen having some kind of confrontation with the
deceased. Would you care to enlighten us about that?”

He wrung his hands. “It was a
simple misunderstanding; that’s all.”

“About what?” Sally asked.

“Something that happened
between us.”

“I’m listening, Colin. We need
to know what this is in reference to.”

“Why? So you can add me to your
list of suspects? I’m innocent, I tell you.”

“Prove it. Tell me what the
confrontation was about that day?” Sally probed.

He fell silent when Leona
returned with a tray of drinks. “Is everything okay?” she asked,
her eyes firmly set on her husband’s dubious posture when she
placed his mug of coffee in front of him on the table.

“Fine. Everything is just
dandy. Are there any biscuits in the house, Leona?”

His wife tutted, and after
placing the tray of drinks on the table, she wafted out of the room
again.

“I’d rather not discuss this in
front of her, if you don’t mind.”

“Why? Do you have something to
hide? An extramarital relationship perhaps?”

“No,” he snapped. “I’d just
rather mine and Gemma’s relationship remained private.”

“Ah, but I’d rather it was out
in the open, Colin. If you had a relationship with the victim that
we should be aware of, then you need to be honest with us. Of
course, if you’d rather we interviewed you down at the station,
that’s fine by me.”

“Jesus, you’re like a bloody
Rottweiler with a bone.”

“That’s true. The sooner you
realise that, the better. Now what is it to be?” Sally glanced at
the door when she heard Mrs. Whiting’s footsteps in the
hallway.

“I’ll come down the station. If
Leona found out about this, she would take a knife to my
knackers.”

“Nice phraseology, Mr. Whiting.
Shall we make arrangements for you to pay a visit to the station
tomorrow then?”

“No, it’ll have to be sometime
next week.”

Sally shook her head. “It’s
either tomorrow or here and now. I have a murder investigation to
conduct, with a murderer out there on the loose. I’d call that an
urgent matter, wouldn’t you?”

Leona entered the room again,
holding a plate of biscuits.

As Sally stood up with the
intention of returning to her original seat to make room for Leona,
Colin whispered, “Four o’clock, tomorrow.”

Once seated again, Sally nodded
at Colin, accepting the time he’d suggested, and continued asking
general questions about the family. “Maybe you can tell us what
Gemma and Mark’s relationship was like?”

Leona picked up her mug and
settled it between her hands. “They have their ups and downs, like
we all do, I suppose. That’s right, love, isn’t it?” she asked her
husband.

“More downs than ups in their
case, I suspect, Leona—unlike us, of course.”

Sally wondered if he was trying
to deliberately cast aspersions in his brother’s direction.
“Thanks, we’ll note that down. When you say more downs than ups,
are you telling me that in your eyes their marriage was in
trouble?”

Leona gasped. “No. I wouldn’t
put it as clear-cut as that, Inspector.”

“What about you, Colin? I’d
love to hear your perceptions of your brother’s marriage. Care to
divulge what you feel about it?” Sally asked, smiling.

“They love each other. Mark
would do anything to ensure Gemma was happy. Yes, they had the odd
spat, but I never once felt their marriage was problematic. What
did Gemma’s mum say about it?”

“That’s between me and her. I
don’t usually pass personal information around like that, sorry.
That’s why we insist on questioning as many people as we can in
cases such as this. If nothing else, it helps us to form a picture,
sometimes a multi-faceted picture, of events leading up to a
victim’s demise.”

“I understand that, Inspector,
but surely no one in this family would ever dream of hurting Gemma.
She is… I mean she
was
such a kind person and loved by a lot
of people.” Leona took a sip from her mug.

“That’s often the case, Leona.
It seems most of the cases that cross my desk are accredited to
people of a nice disposition. I’d say it comes out at a
seventy-five to a twenty-five percent ratio.”

“Really? That does surprise me.
Can you tell us how Gemma was killed? Sorry, if you’ve already
discussed it while I was out of the room.”

The woman’s obvious question
heightened Sally’s suspicions towards Colin. Why hadn’t he asked
the same question in his wife’s absence? Sally’s focus remained on
Colin when she answered his wife, “I’d rather not go into specific
details right now, as the cause of death is yet to be determined by
the pathologist, who is performing the post-mortem today.”

“I see. Does she have to have
one of those?” Leona shuddered, almost spilling the contents of her
mug in the process.

“It’s procedure. A post-mortem
is a vital part of the puzzle in building a case against an
assailant. You’d be surprised the clues we can pick up from
examining a corpse. Most pathologists call the victims ‘silent
witnesses’ for that very reason. We should know more by
tomorrow—that’s when our investigation will truly begin. For now,
we’ll go about making general enquiries, asking friends and
relatives of the deceased if they know of any recent arguments or
falling-outs the victim might have had with anyone.”

Leona looked thoughtful for a
moment or two. “I see. I can’t really tell you if Gemma had fallen
out with anyone lately. I wasn’t that close to her, not like Colin.
I suppose working odd shifts gave Colin the chance to pop over
there for a chat, more than I managed anyway.”

Colin stared at his wife
aghast. “Hardly, love.”

“Oh, come on. Lately I know
you’ve been working a lot of overtime, but you used to pop over
there quite often. He loves playing with Samantha, you see. We
haven’t been blessed with children of our own.” She held her mug
with one hand and reached out her other hand to touch her
husband’s. “We’re going through fertility treatment now.”

Colin’s eyes rolled up to the
ceiling. “Yes, love. That’s in its infancy, Inspector. We have a
long way to go before they enrol us on the scheme. Plus, there’s
the matter of trying to find the money to fund all the treatment,
of course. Five grand is a lot of dosh for an ordinary couple like
us to stumble across.”

“I understand. Have you been
trying for a baby long?”

Leona’s eyes moistened. “About
three years now. They’re not sure what the problem is, but Colin
working different shifts to me could be the cause of it. At least
that’s what the doctor seems to be suggesting.”

Colin patted his wife’s knee.
“All right, love. Stop talking about it. You know how upset you get
when you think about the subject.”

Leona sniffled. “You’re right.
I’m sure we’ll get our own little one soon enough.”

Sally studied Colin. The caring
way he patted his wife’s knee was a vast comparison to the way he’d
been moments earlier when he was alone with her and Jack. The man
was a real Jekyll-and-Hyde character if ever she saw one.

“I hope that works out for you
both soon, Leona. Okay, I think we have enough to be going on with
for now. Mr. Whiting, would you mind showing us out?”

Colin walked ahead of Sally and
Jack and opened the front door. He looked over his shoulder before
he spoke, “I’ll drop by the station tomorrow then.”

“Four o’clock. I’ll be in
reception, awaiting your arrival with anticipation, Colin. Can’t
wait to hear what secrets you have to unveil.”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing
major, I can assure you. But then, if it gets me off your hit list
of suspects, then it’ll be worth the inconvenience of coming to the
station.”

“I’ll see you at four tomorrow.
Look after your wife, Colin. I think she’s suffering more than she
is letting on about her infertility, by the looks of things.”

“Don’t worry, Inspector. I’m
well aware of how fragile my wife is.” With that, he shut the door,
putting an end to the conversation.