Imposition (DI Gardener 5)

Gardener made a note and continued. “Does your wife normally go to gigs with you?”

“Sometimes. She’s seen and heard it all before. Same songs, same order, different clubs, it’s how we work.”

“We?”

“Musicians. We can’t learn new numbers for every gig.”

“Okay,” pressed Gardener. “After having shouted out her name, there’s no answer, so you go upstairs and find her dead, or dying. You panic. You’re frightened: you’ve never been in this situation before. What next?”

“What do you mean, what next?”

“What did you do next?”

“I’m not sure.” Robbie Carter put his head in his hands again.

“You’re not sure?” repeated Reilly. “You must know what you did. You know what you didn’t do, and that’s call an ambulance.”

“Okay, okay,” said Robbie Carter, testily. “I’m trying to think. I guess I must have gone downstairs.”

“Did you use the bathroom?”

“The bathroom?”

“Yes. Did you use the bathroom? Did you feel queasy, want to throw up? Did you need the toilet?”

“No. As far as I can remember, I just went downstairs.”

“Did you see the bathroom as you went past?”

“What the hell are you two getting at?”

“Simple question,” said Reilly. “You didn’t use the bathroom but could you see inside? It’s not that far from the bedroom and you have to pass it on your way down the stairs.”

“I didn’t take any notice, for God’s sake. My wife was dead, the bathroom was low on my list of priorities.”

“The wife you didn’t call an ambulance for,” said Reilly. “Yes, we remember. Were you in a rush?”

“Probably. I was panicking – still didn’t know what to do.”

“You didn’t rush into the bathroom, or knock into anything on your way past?” Gardener asked.

“No. For fuck’s sake, how many times? What’s so special about the bathroom?”

“Someone had left it in a mess. All the shelves had come down. A cabinet that should have been on the wall was on the floor, along with smashed glass, toiletries... you name it.”

Robbie Carter’s eyes widened. “What happened?”

“That’s what we’re trying to establish,” said Gardener. “What happened next, after you’d

gone downstairs?”

“Well, that’s when I found out the place had been turned over.”

“So you hadn’t actually been anywhere after you’d loaded the gear into the house and before you went upstairs?”

“No,” replied Robbie. “The two rooms at the front of the house were in darkness.”

“Do you keep your musical gear in front of the front door?”