Cut You Dead (Dr. Samantha Willerby Mystery #4) - A J Waines Page 0,79
was turning up on my own. As I flicked through the hangers, I found myself looking at clothes differently, now he and I were together. I could sense myself considering outfits with an eye for whether Terry would like them or not. It was ridiculous!
I pulled out a navy-blue suit with a pencil skirt and heard the words ‘too prim’ in his voice in my head. I moved on to a slinky cocktail dress in claret velvet and held it up against me in front of the mirror. I couldn’t hide a smile as I imagined his reaction. A stare, a clearing of the throat, then a low groan as though he was tasting the creamiest chocolate in the world.
I laughed out loud at myself. So much seemed to have changed in such a short space of time. Suddenly this man was in my life full-time. It felt right, it felt completely normal, as if he’d always been there.
On the other hand, it was hard to grasp I was no longer single; I was used to doing everything on my own. Was it dangerous to feel so at home in this new situation? I didn’t want to rely on this ‘being in a couple’ thing; besides, I didn’t really know where our relationship was going.
I put the dress back and pulled out a simple silk blouse and smart trousers. My choice. Without Terry’s voice in my head. No matter what happened between us, there was no way I’d ever be relinquishing my independence.
I pulled on the long jacket over my blouse, added a pearl necklace and swept my hair into a knotted updo. My stomach did a loop the loop when I considered how shocking it would be to discover a huge chunk of it had been hacked off at the collar. Instinctively, my hand went to the back of my neck to check, as I fitted the diamanté clips. What a nightmare it must have been for those innocent women.
59
I still had a few minutes before I needed to leave, so I went back to Lorna’s online file. There was an update: the police had interviewed Larch and a transcript of his recent interview was attached. I hurriedly read on.
There was certainly a cloud hanging over him. It turned out he’d been Charlotte’s former English teacher at school and was ‘happily’ married. Two strong reasons to want to keep his relationship with Charlotte clandestine. Two strong motives to get rid of her if she’d started to demand more or made threats to expose him.
He claimed the secret affair had been going on for two months, during which time he’d never set foot inside Charlotte’s bedsit. Sure enough, there was no DNA match at the scene to contradict this. Nothing. He also had a strong alibi for the narrow time slot when her hair had been clipped; giving a lecture at the University of East London. A note was attached that confirmed his alibi had been checked and it held up; a roomful of students, together with tutors, could vouch for him.
Then there was Larch’s account of the day Charlotte was killed. I flicked through to the full transcript to get a feel for Larch’s own words. It started with Fenway asking him his whereabouts:
NL: I was getting ready to go on holiday. To Guernsey with my family.
DI Fenway: Where were you exactly that day?
NL: I spent nine to five at work, as usual, then I was at home, with my wife and son, from around six thirty. We were packing. Sorting out last-minute things. We caught our flight mid-afternoon the next day.
DI Fenway: On 24 October?
NL: Yes.
DI Fenway: What about late that evening on the 23rd, from say, eight o’clock onwards?
NL: I was at home, like I said. I didn’t go out at all that evening. My wife will vouch for me.
DI Fenway: Okay, so what if you’d gone to bed as normal and then left the house during the early hours? How would your wife have known if you’d slipped out for a while?
NL: [NL laughs] She’d have heard me get out of bed. The dog would have barked. He’d certainly have made a fuss when I came back. My wife’s a light sleeper. She’d have known.
DI Fenway: Okay. Moving on: when did you return from your holiday?
NL: It would have been around the 8 November – I can check.
DI Fenway: We’ll be checking ourselves. When did you hear about the death of Charlotte Walsh?