Chapter 54
FIFTY-FOUR
JACK
‘Did you know your wife was alive, Mr Conley?’ DI Blake asked.
A knot of dread tightening like a hard fist inside him, Jack shook his head hard. ‘No,’ he stated categorically.
He tried to process. Couldn’t. He felt as if he’d been hit by a sledgehammer. How was this possible? There’d been no sightings of Natalia. No hint she was alive. Nothing. What the fuck was she doing here? His thoughts flew to Evie.
Blake looked him over, clearly unconvinced. ‘Kara’s well-off, isn’t she?’ she asked.
Jack blinked at her in incomprehension. ‘What the hell has that got to do with anything?’ he responded angrily.
‘I was just thinking…’ she paused to shuffle through the paperwork in front of her, annoyingly, ‘it was fortunate that you met someone so quickly.’
He stared at her in disbelief. ‘You have to be joking.’ The knot of tension in his stomach twisted itself tighter as he realised where this was leading. ‘You think that my becoming involved with Kara was planned?’
Blake fixed him with a long, cold stare. ‘Why was your wife there in the car park when Imogen fell, do you think?’ she asked.
‘I have no idea,’ Jack answered tersely.
‘One can’t help wondering why she would be interested in her. Why she would know of her movements, unless perhaps she’d been following her. Or you, perhaps?’ she continued, scanning his eyes, obvious accusation in her own.
Jack said nothing. He was trying very hard to hold on to his temper.
‘It does lead one to hypothesise that Natalia could only have been interested in Imogen because she believed that you were.’
He lost it. ‘I have no fucking idea why she would have been interested in Imogen’s movements. I didn’t even know that she was alive. Now, am I free to leave or do you have any more time-wasting questions to ask me when you should be out there looking for Kara?’
She continued to study him, her expression impassive. ‘Just one or two, if you wouldn’t mind.’
Jack felt his jaw tense. ‘Would it make any difference if I did?’ he shot back.
‘Were you in the habit of cheating on your wife, Mr Conley?’ she asked anyway.
‘What?’ He squinted at her warily. Where the hell was this going now?
‘I asked you whether you cheated on your wife,’ she reiterated. ‘Whether you might have had an affair. It might explain why your wife would have felt so depressed. Jealous, even.’
‘No, I was not in the habit of cheating on my wife,’ Jack grated.
Frowning, Blake glanced at her notes. ‘There was some indication on your phone that you might have done.’
Jesus. The WhatsApp message. He felt his stomach go into freefall.
‘If you’re talking about a message I received a while back, the one and only message I can think of,’ he said, ‘it was from someone who was a mutual friend to both Natalia and myself and also a counsellor. As such, she was trying to help us. I recall that around that time, my wife was having one of her episodes, making me reluctant to leave her on her own. I think I responded accordingly.’
‘“Too risky.”’ The detective quoted from her notes, then looked coolly back at him. ‘Were you having an affair with Imogen Taylor?’ she asked. ‘Your mother-in-law seemed to think there might have been something between you.’
‘For fu…’ Lina. He might have guessed. He pressed his thumb and forefingers hard against his forehead.
‘Were you involved with her, Mr Conley?’ the detective pushed.
‘No, I was not.’ Jack banged the flat of his hand against the table.
She looked unimpressed. ‘Did you encourage her in any way?’
‘She was sixteen.’ Jack eyed the woman levelly. ‘My daughter’s best friend. Do you honestly think I would do something so despicable to either of those girls?’
‘I don’t know,’ she replied, holding his gaze. ‘I have no idea what your predilections are, Mr Conley. I’m only interested in ascertaining the facts.’
He tore his gaze away. ‘You have them,’ he said, standing abruptly. ‘Now, if you have nothing to back up the ridiculous allegations of someone who’s clearly struggling with dementia, I’m leaving.’