Allie got out her notebook. ‘We’ll briefly go through the details you told us yesterday,’ she stated. ‘You say you last spoke to Steph at eight fifteen, before she was due to go out for the night with Carole Morrison?’
‘Yes, that’s right. I was working away. I wasn’t sure if I’d be home for the night so I rang to see how she was. If I’m away we usually speak once or twice a day. It’s good to keep in touch, don’t you think?’
‘And what did you chat about?’
‘This and that, but nothing in particular. She said she’d had a busy day; stressed out, she said she was. I remember laughing it off. Steph’s always stressed, according to Steph. She said that she’d fallen out with Kirstie and that she’d stormed off afterwards.’
‘Did she say what the argument was about?’
Terry shook his head. ‘No, but they were always having words. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I have two women in the house. One is a teenager. Most of the time the other acts as if she still is one. There are always lots of hormones and tantrums.’
‘And you left Derby at…’ Allie let him fill in the gap so that she could double check it with her notes.
‘Eight thirty.’
After confirming this, she nodded. ‘And did you come straight back to Stoke yesterday morning?’
‘Yes, although I stopped for petrol while I was on the A50.’
‘Why were you in Derby?’
‘I’m overseeing business. I’m developing an apartment block near the canal side. While I was over there, I caught up with a few associates over dinner.’ Allie wrote down the names again as he reeled them off. ‘It’s always too late to drive home afterwards so I book in a hotel. The Bartley Hotel,’ he added, pointedly glancing down at Allie’s notepad before smiling again.
‘Around what time did you get to your room?’ Allie tried not to look at her colleague but was desperate to see her reaction.
‘I’d say about eleven thirty,’ said Terry.
‘Were you alone?’
‘Yes, I was alone.’ Terry raised his eyebrows slightly. ‘I am a married man, Sergeant Shenton.’
‘I meant did you have a witness to that effect, Mr Ryder. If you had, we could have eliminated you from the enquiry for now.’
‘What do you mean, for now?’ All of a sudden, Terry’s voice hardened.
Allie let a silence invade the room before ignoring the question and moving on.
‘Have you any idea who would want to kill your wife, Mr Ryder? Does she have any enemies, anyone she’s upset lately?’
‘She was always upsetting people but I doubt anyone would have been angry enough to kill her, Sergeant,’ Terry remarked.
‘Does she have many friends?’
‘Only the one. Carole Morrison.’
Allie nodded. ‘Yes, we spoke to her yesterday.’
‘Did she mention that the two of them fell out last week?’
‘When?’
‘It was earlier in the week. Wednesday.’
Allie recalled the two of them on Tuesday night at the charity event. They’d been a bit tetchy with one another but nothing had turned nasty. Maybe they fell out quite often, as some friends did. Still, she made a note of it.
‘And there isn’t anyone else you can think of?’
‘No.’
‘Did she get on with your daughter? You mentioned they’d had an argument.’
‘Yes, they got on as far as daughters and mothers do get on at that age.’
‘Meaning?’
Terry sighed. ‘I think you should ask her that yourself. You did want to see her?’ Terry smiled again as his charm returned.
‘May I go up to her?’
‘Yes, go ahead.’
Sam went to stand up but Allie placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘There’s no need. I’ll see her on my own.’ Leaving her with Terry, Allie was at the door before he spoke again.
‘Did you like the flowers, Detective?’
She turned towards him with a frown. It matched the expression on Sam’s face. Damn the man for bringing them up now, and how disrespectful.
‘I hardly think they were appropriate then, Mr Ryder,’ she told him curtly, ‘and I certainly don’t think they’re appropriate now.’
Kirstie and Ashleigh lay on top of Kirstie’s double bed. They’d seen the detective from yesterday arrive and were waiting for her to summon Kirstie. Jessie J was playing in the background. Kirstie was twiddling her hair around her index finger, her leg over her knee waggling in time to the beat. Ashleigh lay on her side turned towards her, hands underneath her chin.
‘Who do you think did it, Kirst?’
Kirstie sighed. ‘I don’t know. I bet she had loads of enemies. I hardly ever saw a good side to her.’
‘She wasn’t all bad.’
‘You didn’t have to live with her.’
‘I know, but as mums go, she gave you a fair bit of freedom.’
‘You reckon?’ Kirstie disagreed. ‘She’d ground me at any opportunity. And she wanted me to stop seeing Lee. There was no way I was doing that.’
‘I thought it was your dad who doesn’t want you hooking up with Lee. Why doesn’t he like him?’
‘It’s something to do with the families. He’s told me over his dead body will he allow me to be involved with a Kennedy. He says he’s bad blood and not good enough. But he seems to forget that he came from the Marshall Estate and look how he turned out. Didn’t do him any harm. I mean, look at this place.’
‘So it has nothing to do with your mum, then?
‘Course it has. I bet it was her who put him up to it. She could never see me getting more attention than her.’
‘I wonder if they’ll find out who it was soon. Most murders get solved in the first forty-eight hours.’
‘You’ve been watching too much telly, girl.’
‘According to the telly,’ Ashleigh shrugged a shoulder, ‘they say it’s usually someone she knows.’
Kirstie looked at her as if she had two heads. ‘I hope you’re not suggesting it was me!’
‘Don’t be mental. I didn’t mean you! I was thinking more of someone that your dad knows.’
‘Or mixes with?’
Ashleigh nodded.
‘It had crossed my mind.’
‘What will the police ask you?’
‘They’ll want to know who’s been here lately. Where we were when it happened. What mum’s been up to, things like that, I suppose. Listen, Ash. You need to say that I was with you on Friday night.’
‘What?’ Ashleigh raised her head slightly from the pillow. ‘Oh, no fucking way.’
‘But if you say I was with you, then they won’t know I stayed with Lee. My dad will go mad if he finds out.’
‘I can’t lie to the police!’
‘I’d do the same for you.’ Kirstie tried for the guilt trip.
‘I wouldn’t ask you to,’ Ashleigh replied sharply.
‘Please,’ Kirstie begged. ‘It’s shit enough living here at the moment without me and dad falling out. Please!’
Ashleigh relented. ‘Okay. But that’s all I’m saying. Don’t ask me to lie about anything else.’
‘I won’t.’
Ashleigh shuddered involuntarily. ‘I can’t believe your mum’s dead, Kirst. I mean, it’s too weird. What are you going to do without her?’
‘I don’t know,’ Kirstie replied truthfully. ‘But things are going to be different from now on, aren’t they?’
‘You’ll have to be strong for your dad.’
‘Are you mad?’ Kirstie snapped. ‘Do you really think my dad gives a shit that she’s dead? He’s probably glad to see the back of her.’
‘Is that true, Kirstie?’
The girls looked up to see Allie standing in the doorway.
‘Can I come in?’ she asked, when no one spoke.
Kirstie nodded but wouldn’t meet her eye. Ashleigh sat wide-eyed, her skin reddening. Allie knew better than to ask Kirstie the same question as before. She
was bound to deny what she’d said or try to cover up the insinuation. Instead she tried to side with them, show them she was not the enemy.
‘How are you holding up?’ she asked gently. It was a stupid question, really, but what else could she start with? She stepped a little further into the room and closed the door. The pink curtains and rug, stripy pink and white wallpaper and shocking pink duvet cover surprised her. Apart from the Playboy logo on the bed, the room was totally different than the image Kirstie liked to give out. It showed a glimpse of her vulnerable side.
‘I’ve been talking to your dad,’ Allie said.
‘Questioning him, more like.’ Kirstie sat up and folded her arms.
‘Yes, I was actually. It’s part of the investigation. I need –’
‘It isn’t him, you know. They used to argue all the time but my dad would never do that to my mum. And besides, he wasn’t here. So you’re barking up the wrong tree. You should be out there trying to track down the real murdering bastard, not sitting in here drinking coffee.’
Allie ignored the jibes but couldn’t help wondering why Kirstie was so tenacious about putting her point forward, especially after what she had just said. She moved a little nearer and took a chance sitting on the end of the bed. When she wasn’t told to get off, she started her questioning.
‘Where were you on Friday night?’
‘I was at Ashleigh’s flat, wasn’t I, Ash?’
Ashleigh nodded slightly.
Allie took out her notebook and wrote this down. ‘Your address, Ashleigh?’
‘Why would you want to know that?’ snapped Kirstie.
‘Routine. I need to check this out.’
‘I live off Ivy Road, in those new build flats. 27 Bramble Gardens.’
‘And you were there from what time?’
‘About half eight, Ash?’ Kirstie looked at her pointedly. Ashleigh nodded. ‘And I left about nine in the morning.’
‘And you stayed in all night?’
‘Not all night. We went to The Victoria on the Square.’
‘Just to The Victoria on the Square?’
‘Yes, we had a drink first and we went out – about ten, Ash?’
Ashleigh nodded again. Still she wouldn’t meet Allie’s eye.
‘What time did you get in?’
‘How the hell should I know?’ said Kirstie. ‘We were bladdered.’
Despite wanting to slap Kirstie’s legs and tell her to be a good girl, Allie noted down her hostility. Grief could make people act irrationally but she wondered if there was any grief to be had. Kirstie seemed only to feel sorry for herself. Someone should teach her some manners.
‘Ashleigh, can you remember?’
As Ashleigh shook her head, it was obvious to Allie that she was holding back on something. She stood up.
‘Thank you for your time, ladies.’ She handed them each a card. ‘If there’s anything you need to talk to me about or tell me, any tiny detail that you think might help, call me.’
‘Thanks.’ Kirstie took it from her and, without looking at it, threw it onto the bed.
Allie smiled at them both before locking eyes with Kirstie. ‘A word on your own, please.’
Kirstie sighed loudly and shuffled to the end of the bed. ‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she told Ashleigh and followed Allie out onto the landing. She stood like an insolent child, one foot in front of the other, arms crossed in defiance.
Allie moved her head forward a little. ‘Look, unless you want to get your best friend into trouble, quit messing around. I can see that Ashleigh is worried about something. So I’ll ask you once again, while you’re on your own. Did you stay at her flat on Friday night or were you with Lee Kennedy?’
At the mention of his name, Kirstie gulped. She looked down at her feet. ‘I was with Ashleigh,’ she said quietly.
‘You’re quite sure about that? Because if I find out you’re lying, I’ll want to know what you’re covering up.’
‘I’m not!’
‘Are you sure?’ Allie probed. ‘I can –’
‘I was with Ashleigh,’ Kirstie snapped. ‘Why won’t you believe me?’
‘Because I know you’re not telling the truth.’ Allie paused for a moment. ‘I just don’t know why yet.’
Kirstie held Allie’s gaze for a moment before sighing. ‘Okay, okay. I was with him. But you mustn’t tell my dad. He’ll kill me.’
‘Go on,’ said Allie, thankful that she was getting somewhere at last.
‘We had a row, me and Mum, before she went out,’ Kirstie told her, omitting the part where they’d hit each other. ‘I knew that Dad wouldn’t be coming back so I stayed the night with Lee.’
Allie took out her notebook. ‘What time did you get there?’
‘About sevenish.’
‘And what time did you leave?’
‘About half nine the next morning.’ Kirstie chewed on her bottom lip. ‘You won’t tell him, will you?’
‘And you were there all night?’
Kirstie nodded. ‘We had a takeaway and a drink in the house.’
‘And then what?’
‘We… we had sex.’
Allie frowned. ‘I meant did you go out at all?’
‘Oh!’ Kirstie blushed immediately. ‘No.’
‘So you were together all night?’
‘Yes! But please don’t tell my dad.’
Allie walked off, leaving Kirstie in suspense. Of course she wouldn’t mention anything to Terry unless he asked and then she wouldn’t lie. And didn’t he have enough to think of at the moment without worrying about his wayward daughter? Seriously, what on earth was she doing hanging around with Lee Kennedy?
Allie was barely out of sight of The Gables before she was parking up the car again to question Sam.
‘What did you think of the wonderful Mr Ryder?’ She turned towards her.
‘My God, he’s hot.’ Sam fanned her face with her hand. ‘He had me blushing.’
‘Why?’ Allie gasped. ‘What did he say?’
‘That’s just it. I don’t think he said that much. It was the way he looked at me. It’s like he… like he’s undressing you with his eyes. And not in a perverted way.’
Allie threw Sam a weird look then laughed as she realised she was winding her up.
‘There’s definitely something about him,’ Sam agreed. ‘But he’s not my type.’
‘I should think so,’ Allie said, sharper than she’d anticipated. ‘You’re married.’
‘So are you! But I can see how women fall at his feet. He has a certain magnetism. You do need to be careful, though.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Despite you wanting to see my reaction, he only had eyes for you.’
‘Don’t be absurd.’
‘I’m telling you, he followed your every move. Even when you were upstairs, he was watching the door for you to reappear.’
‘That’s his guilty conscience, if you ask me.’ Allie batted away the comment. ‘He’s worried what we’ll find.’
‘Maybe.’ Sam shrugged. ‘Still, I think you should visit him on your own next time. He’ll be better when it’s just the two of you. And what did he mean about the flowers?’
‘Oh,’ Allie rattled off the first thing that came into her head, ‘some arrangement that I nicked off the table last week.’
‘You stole flowers from a charity do?’ A look of disbelief crossed Sam’s face before she laughed. ‘Ha! Nice one, Sarge!’
‘Not a word,’ Allie warned Sam, thankfully knowing that she could trust her colleague not to say anything.
Sam crossed her heart with her finger.
Allie smiled then. Her secret was safe, even though it was a lie.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Shaun knew it was only a matter of time before he had a visit from Phil. In fact, he wouldn’t put it past him to be watching from the shadows for the police to come and go. He knew they’d be there to question Carole. He thought he would have been round firs
t thing on the day of the murder and, for once, had been glad to get up to Terry’s for a couple of hours even though the atmosphere had been tense. He’d hardly slept the previous night, getting up at four thirty after Carole told him off for fidgeting and looking out of the window. So although his nerves were shot and he was dreading the outcome, it was almost a relief when he noticed him crossing the road, coming towards The Orange Grove that afternoon.
‘Hold the fort for a while?’ Shaun said to Carole as he walked past her towards the door. ‘I’ve got business to sort out.’
‘What sort of business?’
‘Nothing for you to worry about.’ He held up a hand to acknowledge Phil as he came through the door.
Phil pointed to the stairs. ‘A word.’
As they went from her view, Carole stopped folding up napkins. What the hell was going on? Phil Kennedy was visiting far too many times for her liking. She had never seen so much of him in ages. And he hadn’t said a word about Steph. Even without mentioning the affair, all three of them knew her. He could have said something in general conversation.
What was Shaun up to with him? Kennedy only visited when he was after something. Suddenly she froze. Please God, Shaun hadn’t borrowed any more money. Or even worse, was just about to. She went to the bottom of the stairs, but fear of what Phil might do stopped her from going up. She’d have to wait until he’d gone and collar Shaun instead. Besides, she had enough on her plate looking after Terry without worrying about him.
Shaun followed Phil up the stairs and then showed him into the living room.
‘You have more bottle than I gave you credit for,’ Phil said.
Shaun gulped. He couldn’t speak. His mouth had gone dry, his lips were sticking together and he could feel sweat erupting in tiny pinpricks over his brow.
‘You kept that rage deep within there.’ Phil prodded him firmly in the chest.
‘It’s best kept in there most of the time,’ Shaun replied.
And in that split second, he realised there was no going back. He’d made the biggest mistake of his life. If not with Phil Kennedy, it would be Terry Ryder. If not with Terry Ryder, it would be the police. If not with the police, Carole would most probably murder him. He was well and truly screwed.
‘What happened to the knife I gave you?’ Phil interrupted his thoughts.
Taunting the Dead (DS Allie Shenton) Page 18