A Genuine Mistake Ted Tayler (e ink epub reader .TXT) 📖

Evelyn wanted to use the National Park commission as a stepping-stone to her returning to Australia with her family. Evelyn wanted the boys to love Australia as much as she did, and when the two of them spoke over the phone, Evelyn had said that Gerry’s business was changing all the time. More and more of the business took place online. Evelyn couldn’t see why Gerry couldn’t operate just as easily in New South Wales as he did in West Wiltshire.”

“Thanks, Luke,” said Gus. “As one door closes, another one slams in your face.”

“We’re running out of loose ends, guv,” said Luke.

Fifteen minutes later, Blessing and Gus were in the lift and heading for the car park.

“Nissan Micra, or Ford Focus, guv,” said Blessing.

“I know where we’re going, Blessing,” said Gus. “It’s not that I don’t trust your driving.”

“If you say so, guv,”

Gus drove them into Bradford-on-Avon and found a parking space after a five-minute wait.

“Busy here today, guv,” said Blessing.

“We’re due at Ms Hogan’s house in around ten minutes,” said Gus. “We’ll walk, as it’s such a pleasant morning. This car park is always busy. We’ve hit a changeover period for mothers and toddlers and the public at the indoor swimming pool over there.”

“It’s a town with a long history, by the looks of it. This bridge over the river, for a start.”

“Built by the Normans,” said Gus. “Although they were here long after the Romans.”

“I don’t suppose that’s a surprise, guv. Bath is only a few miles away.”

“How do you think this case is going, Blessing?” asked Gus.

Blessing stopped on the bridge and looked into the River Avon below.

“Rather like that duck, guv,” said Blessing. “Drifting.”

  CHAPTER 9

 

 

Gus quickened his step. Five minutes later, they reached Barton Orchard.

“Very nice,” said Blessing. “What d’you reckon, guv, three-quarters of a million?”

“Quite likely,” said Gus. He rang the doorbell.

Belinda Hogan answered and invited them into a small anteroom off the hallway.

Belinda was now sixty-three years old, two years older than Gus. He’d seen photographs of Gerry and understood why he had been so successful with women. It was plain that the woman who sat opposite him this morning was Gerry’s sister, yet there was a certain sadness in her eyes and a pinched look around the mouth that was unattractive. Perhaps Rachel Cummins was right.

“What progress have you made?” demanded Belinda.

“Don’t you want to see our credentials first?” asked Blessing. “When we’ve established who we are and why we’re here, then Mr Freeman will ask the questions. That’s the way these things work. I’m sorry if you were mistaken.”

Gus waited for the reaction. He didn’t know what to expect with Blessing. She was as quiet as a mouse most of the time, and then without warning, she exploded.

Belinda’s lips moved, but no sound came out.

“I’m DC Blessing Umeh,” said Blessing, “and here’s my warrant card. My boss is Mr Freeman, a consultant with Wiltshire Police. We’re reviewing your brother’s murder case from May 2012. This week we have spoken with Mr Barrett, a solicitor friend of your brother, and Ms Rachel Cummins, Gerry’s partner at the time of his death. I should advise you that Mr Freeman is interviewing your nephew, Sean Hogan, at two o’clock this afternoon.”

“I wish you had come to me first,” said Belinda. “Nick Barrett is a fool, and that Cummins woman knows more about Gerry’s death than she’s admitting.”

Blessing sighed. Gus thought she was going to give Belinda Hogan both barrels. Time to intervene.

“Good morning, Ms Hogan. Perhaps we can start again. Our task is to discover the identity of your brother’s killer. The way I intend to do that is to ask those who knew the victim best what they remember of him. Something they tell me will explain why Gerry became a target. Everyone we’ve interviewed so far has repeated the same things they told DI Kirkpatrick and DS Bennison in 2012. Gerry was honest, hard-working, a good father, a faithful husband, a keen sportsperson. Gerry didn’t have an enemy in the world. I don’t believe that’s a person who gets shot in the head on his doorstep, do you? If Gerry was the complete opposite of those things, then, yes, it’s understandable that he’d attract the attention of someone who thought the world would be a better place if Gerry Hogan left it.”

“Gerry was all of those things,” said Belinda. “A good man.”

It was the first time Gus had seen any sign of genuine emotion.

“You described Nick Barrett as a fool,” said Gus. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nick trailed behind my brother like a faithful puppy,” said Belinda. “It was pathetic when Gerry was in his early teens. It was far worse when they were at university and afterwards.”

“Did you see much of them when they studied in Bristol?” asked Gus.,

“They didn’t live on campus,” said Belinda. “Gerry stayed here most of the time, and Nick lived at their home out at Turleigh.”

“That’s close to the town, is it?” asked Gus.

“Two miles from this house, out towards Winsley,” said Belinda. “They both had cars and took it in turns to drive into Bristol.”

“What were you doing?” asked Blessing. “You were three years older than Gerry and Nick. Had you been to university?”

“My parents needed me here at home,” said Belinda, staring into her lap. Her hands twisted the handkerchief she held. Blessing felt sorry for the wretched piece of blue cloth that matched the colour of the woman’s blouse.

Gus could tell that was when the light had faded in this woman’s life.

“Did you and Gerry arrive late in your parents’ life?” he asked.

“My mother, Jean, was forty-one when I came along. She and my father, Peter, had almost given up hope of having a child.