Imposition (DI Gardener 5)

“She could sulk for England. It was usually me that had to make the first move.”

“Any enemies?” Reilly asked.

“Enemies?” Robbie Carter’s expression was one of disbelief.

“Yes, enemies. Look at it from our point of view. We’ve listened to everything you have to say and she seems a model citizen. But your house was turned over and your wife is dead as a result. Now, it’s either a burglary gone wrong, or it was someone who had it in for you and used the burglary to hide things.”

Robbie Carter hung his head in his hands. “I really don’t know. I’m not aware of any enemies, or disagreements that were so bad that my wife would end up being killed. I’ve told you everything I know. I’ve also told you I didn’t do it, so why the hell are you keeping me here?”

“We need to be sure, Mr Carter. You might think our job is easy, but it isn’t. Someone out there has burgled your house and killed your wife. We need to know everything about your relationship and what happened that night. Build up her movements, so that we can get a much clearer picture of the person who did this.”

“Like I’ve said, I’ve told you everything.”

“Have you?” Reilly asked.

“Can you shut him up?” Robbie Carter asked Gardener.

“He’s talking about the bruises.”

Robbie Carter’s eyes were intense. “Bruises? What bruises?”

“Your wife had some very serious bruising to her abdomen. It’s possible that it may have a major significance on how she died.”

“I don’t know anything about the bruises. Where were they exactly? How big?”

“You didn’t notice any bruising anywhere?” Reilly asked.

“No, but I only checked for a pulse and put my ear to her lips to see if I could hear any breathing. I didn’t check anywhere else.”

Gardener nodded, made a note. Once he’d finished, he placed the file in the folder and stood up.

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Robbie Carter thought for a moment. “Bruises? They could have come from the accident a couple of weeks ago. She was out with a group of friends. They went for a hack. They were one side of a hedge with a main road on the other. She said something about a car backfiring, the horse reared and she fell off.”

“Did she go to hospital?”

“No. It was only a fall – she’s had a few. She knew how to land.”

“There were no after-effects during the last two weeks?”

“Not really. She was bit stiff for a couple of days.”

“She fell off the horse two weeks ago,” said Reilly. “Plenty of time for the bruises to come out but you still hadn’t noticed them?”

“Why would I?”

“You did have a physical relationship with your wife, I take it? I’m sure you would have noticed.”

“Our physical relationship is our business,” replied Robbie Carter. “But like I said, she’d fallen off the horse, she was a bit stiff for a few days and probably because of that we hadn’t been very physical of late.”

“And not for any other reason?” quizzed Reilly.

“What other reason could there be?”

“You tell us, son.”

Robbie said nothing.