Tomek shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
‘And that was the only time?’
She shrugged. ‘That he told me about. Doesn’t mean to say it didn’t happen when they weren’t there.’
Tomek cast his mind back to his visits to the Whitaker family home; whether he’d seen anything untoward. The dynamic between Roy and Daphne had switched multiple times. Sometimes Daphne was the one in charge, looking after Roy, and the next it was the other way round. There was no obvious power dynamic or threatening overtone that he’d been able to pick up on. Regardless, he made a mental note to follow up with Anna on it. She’d spent more time with the family; she may have seen or noticed something.
Just as Tomek was about to leave, Rose added, ‘He’s never been physical with me, but…’
Tomek gave her as much time as she needed to continue. This wasn’t the sort of thing that could be rushed.
‘He… he came on to me one time, which I thought was a bit weird.’ She inhaled deeply, as if preparing herself to relive the memory. ‘We were at a family wedding – some distant, second cousin-six-times-removed thing. I didn’t know anyone, and neither did Johnny, but he said he wanted to go because he loves weddings and they’re always a good excuse to have a good time and get as pissed as you want. This was back when he was going through the worst of his drinking problem.’
‘Daphne and Roy told me about that,’ Tomek interrupted. ‘Said that they’d sat him in front of God and got him off the drink cold turkey.’
Rose scoffed. ‘That’s what they wanted to believe, but it didn’t last long. Don’t get me wrong, Johnny was still drinking, but he wasn’t drinking as much. And whenever we went round his parents’ for a meal or event, he was just very good at hiding it and making sure he didn’t get caught – along with everything else, it would appear.’ Rose rolled her eyes and continued with her story. ‘Anyway, about two hours into this wedding, Johnny was already on the dance floor, dancing, talking to anyone and anything that would give him the time of day; I think I saw him talking to a plant at one point. But while Johnny was dancing, Roy came over to me, sat right beside me and put his arm round my back. At first I thought, all right, he’s come over to say something, but when he didn’t move it, I started to get a bit worried. Then he began stroking my arm, squeezing my shoulder. I felt super uncomfortable, and like I couldn’t call out for help. No one else was nearby to come and rescue me: Angelica and Daphne were on the dance floor as well, swinging around with each other. And then he leant into my ear and grunted.’
‘Grunted?’
‘Yeah. Like a sexual grunt type of thing.’
‘Did he say anything?’
She nodded.
‘Yeah. He called me an angel for looking after Johnny the way I had been, and then left. I mean, he was pretty drunk as well, but… I dunno, it just felt weird, you know?’
‘Yeah,’ Tomek said. ‘I know.’
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
He had no idea what was on the television. Some crap that he’d let Kasia put on because she had a load of homework to do on her laptop, she’d told him, and apparently she couldn’t focus unless she had something on in the background. Her teenage mind didn’t like the silence, and her attention span had become so poor from the constant barrage of dopamine coming from her phone that she couldn’t focus on any one thing for longer than a few minutes, which meant Tomek was forced to endure it as well.
He had tried to keep himself busy with errands and tasks, but his mind and body were knackered. His legs ached from the run and his head hurt from the information Rose had given him. As he sat there, staring at the television screen, he’d tossed around thoughts of Johnny and Rose Whitaker in his mind. Of the pool, of the wedding ceremony. Of Roy Whitaker, the esteemed and highly decorated pilot, assaulting one woman and crossing the line with another.
‘Dad, can I have a glass of Coke, please?’
Kasia was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, her laptop resting on her knees. Dangling from her wrist was the new bracelet she’d thanked Tomek for a hundred times. It jangled every time she moved her wrist, clattering into the side of the laptop, making Tomek immediately regret buying it.
‘You know where the fridge is,’ he told her.
She glared at him. ‘I’m busy.’
‘So am I.’
‘I’ve got maths homework to do!’
‘And so do I. Like counting how much your bracelet’s gonna cost me to insure in case you ever lose it.’
Her expression dropped. ‘Funny. Now, can I have a Coke, please? You can get yourself one as well, if you want.’
‘Fucking make the drink myself, while I’m at it, shall I?’ he said as he lifted himself off the sofa.
‘Swearing!’ she called.
Tomek groaned and reached into his pocket, found some loose change and dropped it into a jar. In the past couple of weeks, the two of them had introduced a swear jar. It was mostly for Tomek, who had little control over his mouth at times, but there had been a few occasions where Kasia had been forced to dip into her pockets (which were really his pockets) and contribute some money (which was really his money) to the fund. By the end of it, when it was full, they would no doubt spend it on a takeaway pizza or Chinese, which was more a reward than a punishment, and seemed to negate the point of the swear jar in the first place. But neither of them was complaining.
As Tomek opened the fridge and reached inside for the can of fizzy drink, he felt his phone vibrate. He checked the caller ID before answering.
‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’ he said.
‘You can have all the pleasure in this one, mate,’ Nick replied loudly.
‘Oh.’
‘Because I’m going to get no pleasure from what I’m about to tell you, kid.’
Tomek glanced over at Kasia, who was looking back at him expectantly. He retrieved a can of Coke from the fridge and passed it to her before moving back into the kitchen, where it was quieter and more private.
‘Go on,’ he told Nick.
‘I wanted to give you a heads-up,’ the chief inspector continued. ‘So you can hear from someone you know before it becomes common knowledge. As of tomorrow, Victoria will be taking over as SIO of Operation Butterfly. You will still have a deputy SIO role, but she will be bringing in the rest of the team to assist with the investigation. She’s raised her concerns about how long things are taking and how much of the budget’s been blown unnecessarily on overtime and forensics. She’s worried that it’s all been wasted and managed ineffectively, and on this occasion, I’ve agreed with her. Sorry, it’s a shit thing to tell you on a Sunday, but these things happen, mate. It’s nothing personal. We’re just doing what’s best for the investigation.’
Which he’d been leading. Which he’d been running from the start. It was impossible not to take it personally. He felt betrayed, stabbed in the back. The rug had been pulled from beneath his feet, and he had landed so hard on his arse that he hadn’t heard Nick finish the call. It wasn’t until he heard the tone in his ear that he eventually came to.
‘Everything all right?’ Kasia asked tentatively from the living room.
Tomek’s eyes fell on the swear jar.
