“Even if he were to use a weapon?”
“Let me tell you about my husband. He lives in the moment. He does things out of impulse and out of anger, but that anger never lasts long. He lashes out at whatever or whoever is nearest and then it’s done. My problem is, being his wife, I’m the thing that’s nearest all the bleeding time.”
“What about your children?”
Janet turned her head away to the window again and said nothing. For a moment Joseph wondered if he’d hit a nerve. Whether Alfie had hurt the children. He turned to look at her, prepared to make an impassioned plea to tell him all and he would find a way to help her and the children get free, but as he did, he saw her hand resting on her belly. The awful dilemma she faced dawned on him.
“You’re pregnant?” he asked.
She didn’t say anything.
“Is it Gerald’s?”
She sobbed once, then breathed hard, holding it in for a moment, forcing herself to find composure. “I guess I’ll know that when the bleeding thing comes out. Won’t be any hiding it if it is.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she squeaked, the resilience gone from her finally. Now she cried.
*
Joseph pulled the car over a couple of streets before the school, parking with his side against the pavement, keeping her from passers-by. She stared out of the window as she cried. It took her a good minute or so to regain her composure.
“Well, I hope this was all worth it for you?” she said when she could speak again. Joseph didn’t know what to say. She looked at him for a moment, then shook her head. “You know, you do me a favour. You find who killed Gerald. He was a good man, and he really didn’t deserve to die. He might have been a rogue, but he had a heart bigger than any man I’ve ever met before. He would have been so excited to know he might have been a dad and I know, I know, that he would have done all he could to make sure I was looked after. He would have protected me from Alfie. He would have made sure me and the kids, all the kids, had a chance. He would have made it all right and now he’s gone. So, you do me a favour and find the bastard who did it. But I tell you now. It wasn’t Alfie. He’s a lot of things, but the thing he is the most is a coward.”
With that said, she slipped out of the seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of his car, leaving Joseph alone, with his theory about Alfie Scott all in tatters.
12.
The next two days had been their days off. By the time they returned to the office, the investigation had taken on the feeling of routine that came every time they were immersed in a case. Leads had been established. Some had been all but eliminated, such as his theory on Alfie Scott. Others had barely even begun to be substantiated, such as the Tommy Jay line of enquiry. At least that line of enquiry showed some promise. So much made sense. Criminality. Money. Power. A ruthless prime suspect. Yet, even with all those pieces, the picture remained unclear. They still needed the final link that helped it make sense. Conjecture wouldn’t win in a Crown Court. Proof, however, would.
Ray had once more beaten Joseph into the office, sitting at his desk, sleeves rolled up, papers in hand as he scoured through the reports.
“Morning,” Joseph said as he took his jacket off, hanging it from the coat hook in the corner of the room.
“G’morning,” Ray replied, not looking up.
“Anything come in over the weekend?” Joseph asked hoping something had been found during the search of the docks. A vital piece of evidence that had been hidden from view. As he looked at Ray’s face, however, he knew the answer before it came.
“I’m afraid not. Still where we were when we left last week.”
“That’s a shame,” he sighed as he sat at his desk, contemplating where he should pick up himself.
“Not to worry, still early doors. We’ll get the fizzer.”
Joseph rapped his fingers on the wooden frame of his chair, conscious that he hadn’t started to do anything productive yet. “Is there anything you’d like me to do?”
“Sort out a car. I’d like us to get over and speak to her at some point.”
“There’s no need. I already did it,” Joseph said proudly.
His pride did not last long.
“Why didn’t you say so?” Ray’s tone was not one of gratitude.
“I caught her on the way to pick her kids up on Friday. I gave her a lift.”
“You gave her a lift? You didn’t think that speaking to a potential key witness in a murder enquiry might be better done in a more formal setting?”
“I didn’t know if she’d come,” he offered as explanation. He knew that Janet feared her husband and with good reason.
“Why on earth would she not?”
Now there was no turning back.
“Well, he beats her, I think.”
“What makes you think that?” Ray clearly knew Joseph was holding something back.
“I heard it.” Joseph’s voice trailed off like a naughty child admitting to a misdemeanour. “Thursday night. I went around, like you said. Alfie was there. He wouldn’t let me talk to her.”
“You told me she wasn’t in? What happened?” Ray sounded concerned now.
Joseph squirmed like a child in school admitting to forgetting their homework. “When I left, I heard shouting. When I saw her after, she had a big welt on her face,” he admitted.
“You didn’t think to go in there and stop him?”
Joseph said nothing. The fear of that night came flooding back to him, amplified as Ray glared at him.
