Chapter 18
Eighteen
‘Do you think Daniel knew she was pregnant?’ Bryant asked once Kim ended the call from Penn.
Kim shook her head. ‘If he did, he’s a bloody good actor.
The only person he was grieving yesterday was Ashley.
If he’d known, he would have said that he’d lost a child as well.
She wasn’t far gone, so maybe she’d not long found out and was waiting to share the news once it was safer,’ Kim said, although the cynical part of her mind had to wonder if there was another reason Ashley hadn’t shared the news.
So far the woman was whiter than fresh snow, but was there a chance that Daniel wasn’t the father of her baby?
‘We gonna swing by and share the news with him?’ Bryant asked as he pulled into a parking space.
‘Not information that we need to share before tomorrow. He’s going through enough managing his own and Ava’s loss.’
‘Fair point,’ he said, switching off the engine.
‘And at the minute I’m more interested in what our granny-batterer has to say for himself,’ Kim said, getting out of the car.
The property was a small semi-detached bungalow. The driveaway was no-nonsense tarmac with a ramp and railings leading to the front door.
She hadn’t made it too far along the path before she heard the music. She felt instant sympathy for the folks on the other side of the party wall.
After the third time of banging on the front door, the music abruptly stopped. The door opened to reveal the male she assumed to be Robbie Steele.
Judging by his expression, he hadn’t yet grown the street smarts to recognise them as police.
As Bryant took out his identification and introduced them both, she took a moment to appraise him.
He matched her five feet nine height exactly. His dark brown hair rested on shoulders covered by a black tee shirt bearing the face of Ozzy Osborne, the singer who had been shrieking through the walls a moment ago.
He appeared to be a couple of stone over his ideal weight but wore it well in decent jeans.
‘Nice shoes,’ she observed, nodding at the Fendi trainers which had probably set him back a few hundred quid.
‘Thanks – present from my gran.’
Kim couldn’t help wondering if his gran had knowingly bought him the expensive trainers.
‘Is she in?’ she asked.
‘Nah, she’s at the eat and bleat club.’
‘The what?’
‘The old folks’ centre. They have something to eat then moan the afternoon away.’
‘May we come in?’ she asked, willing to afford him every normal courtesy for now.
‘What’s it about?’ he asked, stepping back.
The door led straight into a hallway that had rooms on either side. She followed him into a small sitting room with space for only the bare minimum of furniture. He took a seat in the centre of the two-person sofa, making it impossible for both her and Bryant to sit down.
She lowered herself onto the single armchair while her colleague positioned himself in the doorway.
‘You’ve been posting some interesting stuff on social media lately,’ she said, not asking the questions she wanted to but keen to hear his answers all the same.
‘Free country, isn’t it?’
‘You like that kind of stuff, Robbie – men hitting women?’
He looked uncomfortable as he shrugged. ‘It’s funny.’
‘You think so?’ Bryant asked.
‘Some of it,’ he said, looking between them, probably doing a mental checklist of what he’d posted.
‘You got a thing against women?’ she asked.
He shook his head. ‘No, not really. I mean, some are stuck-up, some are teases and some just need a man to—’
‘Robbie, I suggest you stop there before you have me thinking you’re not a very nice young lad.’ She was willing to bet that he was a follower of Andrew Tate or some other chauvinistic idiot.
‘Have you met many women that you felt needed a good slap?’ she asked.
He shrugged.
‘How about Ashley Reynolds?’
His face darkened, and the anger exploded before he had a chance to keep it in check.
‘Interfering bitch and a liar as well.’
‘We heard she was pretty good to you. Getting you placed with your gran and keeping you out of the care system.’
‘Just doing her job. She never cared about me.’
‘That’s not true. She cared about you a great deal. Why else would she have kept an eye on you long after she should have closed your file?’
‘Cos she’s a nosey cow,’ he said, looking every inch the belligerent teenager.
‘Did you think that about her before she accused you of stealing from your gran?’
‘Gran likes to give me money,’ he said, looking defiant.
‘Does she always have a choice?’ Kim asked pointedly.
‘Is that what this is about? That bitch already tried to involve the cops once and that didn’t work out well for her.’
Kim stiffened. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘She got taken off the case. Probably got a bollocking as well after my gran complained about her interference.’
His voice dripped with triumph.
‘Did you get her to complain?’
‘Mighta done,’ he said with satisfaction.
‘And is she the kind of woman that needs a slap now and again?’
‘You’ve been talking to her, haven’t you? That bitch is still trying to get to me even though she’s off the case.’
‘I didn’t hear you deny it,’ Kim said.
‘It was a false allegation, and she had no witnesses.’
His words convinced Kim that he was guilty of the accusations Ashley had levelled at him. He’d used far too many words when a simple ‘no’ would have sufficed.
‘Did it happen once or more than once?’ she asked, now on a mission to aggravate him.
‘I don’t have to—’
‘Where were you between the hours of nine and ten last night, Robbie?’
‘I was here with Gran, why?’
‘Any witnesses?’ she asked sarcastically.
He shook his head, but colour was seeping into his face.
‘Only that’s the time when a woman you were very angry with was murdered just a couple of miles from here.’
‘Wh… what?’
‘Ashley Reynolds was stabbed in the heart, and we’re struggling to find many folks who loathed her more than you did.’
‘You can leave,’ he said, standing.
‘Why don’t you want to talk to us any more, Robbie?’ Kim asked, following him into the hallway.
He opened the front door, and Bryant stepped out. Kim grabbed it and slammed it, leaving her colleague outside.
In one movement, she had the boy against the wall with her arm across his throat.
‘Now listen here, you little bastard. I’m not convinced you’re as despicable as you’re making yourself out to be, but I do believe you’ve been a thieving little shit and put your hands on your grandmother.
I’m telling you now that I’m gonna be keeping an eye on you.
But my eye won’t be like Ashley’s. I’m gonna find the eat and bleat club, and I will persuade your gran to testify against you if you so much as look at her the wrong way.
She saved you from a very different kind of life, you ungrateful little twat.
‘This is your only warning. You’ve got the time to get your head straight, but if you don’t, you and me are gonna be seeing a lot more of each other. Do you understand?’ she asked, pushing her arm into his throat.
He spluttered and nodded.
She let go. ‘And feel free to report me… but you’re gonna have one big problem.’
She paused as he rubbed at his neck.
‘You ain’t got no witnesses.’
She opened the front door and let herself out.
Bryant was waiting for her at the end of the path. ‘Dare I ask what that was all about?’
‘Nothing you need to know,’ she said, approaching the car. ‘And get ready for a miracle to occur because for once in your life, I’m about to prove you right.’