You always say what I want to hear. I want you to be sorry. I want change, if not for me, for our children. They need a mother who’s present, not one who’s in a drunken daze, dribbling and waffling on about rubbish while she lies around stinking of sweat and puke. It scares them, did you know that? When you were drunk every day, it was me who lay with them while they cried. You won’t remember – you were in a drunken stupor through it all.’
A tear welled up in her eye. ‘You’re right. I’ve been a bad wife, a bad mother and a bad friend. I should call Marcus again, see how he’s getting on.’
‘Yes, you should. They’re your friends and that’s what a friend would do.’ He slapped the worktop with the tea towel and threw it on the draining board before stomping out and slamming the back door. She listened as the back gate bounced on its hinges. He’d gone out and she knew he wouldn’t be back for a while.
She grabbed her phone and saw the seven missed calls from Marcus and called back.
He answered on the first ring. ‘What took you so long? I haven’t heard from Penny for another night. Something’s badly wrong. What do I do?’
She stood and stared out of the window, watching a car pass by, then a woman walking her dog on the other side of the road. ‘How would I know? She’s done this before after an argument. Maybe you should just back off and give her a bit of time to cool down.’
‘With what happened to Alex! You’re telling me to sit on this? Normally she’d have called me by now after one of her walk outs.’
‘Look, I don’t know what you’re meant to do. Do whatever. All I’m saying is it isn’t the first time she’s left you for a few days after an argument. She’s probably pitched up at a Holiday Inn in a huff and she’s making you sweat it out. That’s the most likely scenario. Call the police if you want, tell them everything. Tell them whatever. I’m fast losing the will to live.’
Silence filled the room and Marcus didn’t reply. He ended the call. She slammed her phone on the worktop and placed her freezing cold fingers over her hot throbbing head. With all that went on last night, she needed a lie down, maybe then she’d have the energy to deal with the mess she’d caused but it was all getting too much. She ran the tap and began washing the grime off her trembling hands, watching the brown water turn clear. She’d gone back to a special place and sat there, hoping that the ghosts of the past would finally stop coming, but they didn’t. They were just getting started. She craved a drink, needed one. Blotting out the memories was all she wanted to do.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
‘Right, we’ve been through our findings at the squat and I’ve uploaded the notes from our talk with Maurice Dullard onto the system.’ Gina drew a line from the photo marked up ‘squat’ to the edge of the board in green pen. ‘Who was at the house talking with Alexander Swinton, and did they have anything to do with his murder? If not, did they know anything about the woman who our nuisance teen, Logan Jones, heard talking to him? Also, do we still have anyone watching the house in case this person comes back?’
PC Smith nodded. ‘We have someone parked just on the edge of the street, keeping an eye on it. As soon as anyone enters the building, we’ll get word.’
‘Good.’ Gina checked her notes. ‘Maurice Dullard, Alexander’s drug counsellor, mentioned that Alex thought he was being followed by a woman. Along with the report by his wife, Nicola Swinton, that she saw someone she thought to be a woman following him last Monday evening, I feel that this mystery woman is the key to solving the case. Just as a matter of following up on everything, has anyone contacted Spencer Burrows, Logan Jones’s victim? It is possible that he saw something too.’
O’Connor scratched his ear and leaned forward. ‘Yes, he confirmed that he and Logan are best buddies again and that they always fight. He wasn’t able to tell us anything about Alexander Swinton. He says he wasn’t with Logan near the squat so he had nothing to add.’
‘Okay, great work. Make sure you follow up on the gang of