Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
‘So, you’re okay with Woody’s instructions?’ Bryant asked once they were in the car.
‘Contrary to public opinion, I can take direction from my superior officer even when it’s against my better judgement.’
‘And I could fly to the moon if only I had a pair of wings,’ Bryant answered.
She said nothing as he began the short drive to Daniel Reynolds’s house.
It felt much longer than twenty-four hours since she’d met the man for the first time.
She wondered how those hours had passed for him.
On a practical level, she knew he had identified the body, but on an emotional level, was he any closer to acceptance of the finality of the situation?
Had their child stopped looking at the front door waiting for her mum to come home?
These and many other questions were in her mind as they headed towards their destination.
Had Daniel known that Ashley was pregnant? If so, why had he not mentioned it? Was there any possibility that Ashley had kept it secret because he wasn’t the father?
When delivering the news, she would be again watching his reaction very carefully. She knew he was fearful of something. She just didn’t know what.
‘Hello, hello, what’s going on here?’ Bryant said, pulling up in front of the Reynoldses’ drive.
Daniel stood at the rear of his car, boot open, moving stuff around to make room.
‘Going somewhere?’ she asked as they got out of the car.
‘Y… yeah, just wanted to, er… get away for a few days,’ he said, closing the boot.
Ava appeared, pulling a pink suitcase covered in butterflies.
‘Just leave it there, sweetie,’ he said, taking her hand and leading her back inside.
Kim said nothing as she followed, but her curiosity was piqued. Even more questions entered her head about this man. Where was he going just one day after his wife had been murdered? And why?
The first thing she noticed as she entered was just how tidy the house seemed to be. His shoes left imprints on the freshly vacuumed carpets. The surfaces were clear, and no toys littered the space.
The kitchen was pristine, and a rubbish bag was tied off ready to be put out.
He stood in front of the sink and folded his arms. Kim detected a slight difference from the previous day. Yesterday, everything about him had been open. He had made no effort to hide his grief. Today, there was a hint of impatience, a guarded demeanour, almost like his priority had shifted.
His manner made a seed of suspicion grow in her gut.
‘We just need to ask you a couple of questions,’ she said, nodding towards Ava.
‘Sweetheart, go check your room.’
‘I got everything, Daddy, just like you—’
‘How about Paddington? Did you get him from your bed?’
‘I don’t want to—’
‘You have a Paddington?’ Bryant asked with wide eyes. ‘No way.’
‘I do too,’ she said, heading out the room.
Thank goodness she had a partner who could appeal to people of all ages. Even so, his ability to keep her occupied would be limited. Understandably, the girl didn’t want to be too far away from her father.
‘Dan, I want to ask you about Ashley’s brother.’
He stiffened immediately. ‘Has he contacted you?’
She shook her head, wondering why he would think that he had.
‘We understand he intercepted Ashley on her way home from netball a couple of weeks ago. Did you know about that?’
He nodded. ‘She told me. That’s why I kept offering to go and pick her up, but she wouldn’t hear of it.’
‘We have a witness who says it looked pretty heated between them.’
‘They don’t get on,’ he said, stealing a glance at the clock above her head.
His impatience was unsettling, and she wondered if his focus would return when she revealed the other reason for her visit.
‘Our witness seems to think Ashley was giving him money.’
He nodded. ‘She was. It’s why she never wanted to see him. He’s a lazy bastard with fifty reasons why he can’t get a job. He’s always asking her for cash.’
‘Why did she give it to him?’ Kim asked.
‘Because one thing he does seem to be able to do is make babies. He has three kids, all under seven years old. He gives her the sob story that the kids need nappies or milk or that the electric is being cut off. She only thinks about the children.’
‘Is he envious?’ Kim asked. Ashley had lived in a nice house and had a good job. If he’d been less fortunate in life, she could understand a festering resentment.
‘He has no time for Ashley, and he’s never sent Ava so much as a birthday card. She wouldn’t know him if she passed him in the street. The only person Warren ever cares about is himself.’
‘Any violence between them?’
He hesitated before nodding. ‘A long time ago now. He said something unkind about Ava. She slapped him, and he pushed her to the ground.’
Given that information, Kim had to wonder why Ashley entertained his begging at all. She wouldn’t have been reaching into her purse to bail him out, but she also understood that blood ties were complicated things.
‘They were close when they were kids,’ Daniel said, reading her mind.
‘Everything changed when they left school. Ash enrolled at college, and Warren went on benefits while looking for work. He thought he was going to be able to walk into a well-paid job straight out of school. Ash had realised she needed some qualifications behind her. He got into construction work, but that was the problem: it was work, bloody hard work, and he didn’t care much for it.
He got comfy on benefits, and as the years passed, the gap widened between them.
He became resentful that she had money in her pocket and he didn’t.
Instead of trying to change his own fortunes, he decided he was entitled to payouts. ’
Kim nodded her understanding, knowing there was little else to glean from him on the subject of his brother-in-law.
There had been no love lost between Ashley and her brother, but there had been violence.
She was glad she’d instructed Penn to investigate further. For now, she had other news to share.
‘Daniel, would you mind sitting down for a minute?’
This time his glance at the clock was followed by a pointed look at his wrist.
‘Just for a minute,’ she insisted.
He fought the irritation from his face and did as she’d asked.
‘You may not be aware, but Ashley was pregnant.’
‘Wh… what?’ he said, his mouth hanging open.
‘I’m so sorry, but we think she was almost three months.’
His head dropped into his hands.
‘She hadn’t told you?’ Kim asked.
He shook his head. ‘We’ve had two miscarriages in two years, both before the three-month mark.
She would have kept it from me until the danger time had passed and…
’ His words trailed away as something hit him.
‘She said she had a surprise for me but that it wouldn’t be here until the weekend. Maybe that’s when…’
‘She was going to tell you,’ Kim finished for him. That timeline would make sense.
His gaze fixed on the distance. ‘She’d always dreamed of giving me… never mind,’ he said, blinking away the tears in his eyes.
Kim guessed he’d been about to say she’d dreamed of giving him a son, but after seeing his love for Ava, she suspected he wouldn’t have cared. She saw no value in telling him it would have been a boy.
She studied him closely as he seemingly sought to come to terms with his loss.
She hated that a part of her had to wonder if Ashley had concealed the pregnancy for other reasons.
Perhaps she’d been having an affair and the child wasn’t his.
Maybe he’d found out about it. Much as she wanted to believe that the quintessential happy family did exist, she had to remember that his wife had been brutally murdered and that he’d been trying to leave the area.
His grief appeared to be genuine, but it was possible for him to be distraught even if he’d been the cause of it.
‘We spoke to Gemma,’ she said, still watching him closely.
The expression that sprang to his face told Kim he gave a lot less thought to Gemma Ross than she gave to him. It had taken him a couple of seconds to remember who she was.
‘Why?’ he asked.
‘She doesn’t like Ashley very much, does she?’
‘I’m sorry, Inspector, but what does this have to do with anything?’
‘You left her for Ashley?’
He had the grace to colour and blink rapidly for a few seconds before nodding. She remained silent, waiting for more detail.
‘We were deeply in love, me and Gemma. We were happy for a long time. We managed to keep going for four years despite the two-hundred-mile distance between us, but when we got back together, something had changed. More for me than for her. Gemma thought we’d just fit back into place like the two pieces of a jigsaw we’d always been, but it was as though my edges had frayed.
It was nothing huge. I just didn’t feel that tight fit any more. ’
‘She said you were going to get engaged.’
‘She’s right, we were. I’d bought the ring and then carried it around for months.
At first I conned myself that I was just waiting for the right time to pop the question, that I wanted it to be perfect.
Eventually, I realised I was putting it off because something had shifted.
It wasn’t until I met Ashley that I knew that much as I loved Gemma, I was no longer in love with her. ’
‘Were you unfaithful?’
He thought for a second. ‘Physically no but emotionally probably. I knew I was falling in love with Ashley long before I ended things with Gemma. Despite everything, I didn’t want to hurt her, but the feelings just weren’t there any more. But why does any of this matter? It was years ago.’
‘It still matters very much to Gemma. She’s been sending hate messages to Ashley ever since.’
He sat back in his chair with an open mouth.
And for him the hits just kept on coming.
‘I’m assuming you didn’t know?’
‘Not a clue. Why would she do that?’ he asked, rubbing his forehead.
‘She blamed Ashley completely for your break-up. You were the innocent party who stood no chance against Ashley’s manipulations. She just hasn’t been able to let you go. Do you know if your wife ever saw these messages? They’re pretty bad.’
‘She would have told me,’ he said.
Just like she told you about the baby she was expecting, Kim thought. Seemed there were secrets in even the best of marriages.
‘You don’t think… I mean… that Gemma could have…?’
‘We’re not ruling anything out. I can’t share the actual content of the communications, but threats were made against Ashley’s safety.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
‘I’m sorry. I know this must all be a shock to you. By the way, where were you planning on going?’ she asked as Bryant followed Ava back into the room.
‘My sister’s house in Scotland. Just for a few days. It’ll do her good,’ he said, nodding towards Ava, who had nestled into the crook of his arm.
‘That’s a lot of luggage for a couple of days,’ she observed.
He shifted in his seat. ‘Ah well, with kids you can never take too much.’
The unease in her stomach was growing, and it was the man’s behaviour that was tapping the warning bell. He was lying to her about something. She didn’t know what, and more importantly she didn’t know why.
‘It’s not usual for the family of recent victims to leave the area. We’d prefer if they remained where we can update them.’
‘Are you saying I can’t go?’ he asked as tension filled his face.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Kim answered.
Until this moment, she’d had no real reason to think that Daniel Reynolds’s name needed to move up on the suspects’ board, but now she wasn’t so sure.
She thanked him for his time and headed to the car.
‘Wait one minute,’ Kim said as her colleague started the engine. She wanted to see the effect of her warning.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Daniel appeared with a jacketed Ava. He buckled her in the front passenger seat and then took the wheel.
He started the car.
Kim watched with interest as he seemed to be taking the time to weigh his options.
After a couple of minutes had passed, he switched off the engine, got out, opened Ava’s door and began to empty the boot.