Impression (DI Gardener 4)
Page 120
“He seemed very calm about it all.”
“He’s always been very level-headed.”
“Sounds like he was too calm to me,” said Reilly. “To be sure, if my daughter had gone missing, I’d have turned Leeds upside down to find her.”
“Your husband seemed to take everything in his stride. Maybe he knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That he wasn’t Chloe’s father.”
Sally Summerby’s eyes grew very wide. “Gareth does not know. He’s not t
he sort of man who could live a lie. He’s a Christian, for God’s sake. If he found out, I think it would kill him.”
“Not necessarily. I thought Christians were supposed to forgive.”
“Then again,” said Reilly, “maybe he really does live his life by the Good Book, and he’s decided it’s an eye for an eye.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sally Summerby.
“Come on, young lady. You’re not that stupid, and neither are we. Maybe your husband found out about your infidelity and decided to take the law into his own hands.”
“Even the score with Barry Morrison,” added Gardener.
“Are you saying my husband killed the taxi driver?”
“We’re looking for motives here,” said Gardener, “and he certainly has one.”
“So, what motive would he have for killing the other three?”
“We don’t know… yet. We haven’t got to the bottom of the investigation.”
“I can tell you now, Gareth is not your killer.”
“How do you know?” Gardener asked. “The man is a born-again Christian, which tells me that he is hiding something from his past. Most of them are. How do you know your husband is not the killer?”
She stood up again and slammed her hands on the table. “I just do.”
“And you don’t think he’s capable of abduction either?”
“Abduction? What, you think he’s taken my daughter somewhere, held her hostage?”
“Funny you should use the term ‘my daughter’, and not ‘our daughter’.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t,” replied Gardener. “Do you use the term regularly at home?”
“No.” Her reply was defensive and quick. “Oh, I see what you’re getting at. You think I keep saying ‘my daughter’, and he’s read something into it. Yes, I may have said ‘my daughter’, but it’s just a figure of speech.”
“He may not see it like that. As you said, he may have read something into it. Have you ever noticed a time when he’s been different with Chloe? Lost his temper over something puerile? Is he the kind of father that regularly treats his daughter and then stopped, suddenly acted different toward her?”
“Look, I’m telling you, he believes he is Chloe’s father because I’ve given him no reason to think otherwise. He has not abducted our daughter, and he is not your killer.”
“Okay,” replied Gardener. “Let’s assume he isn’t. We still need to find someone with a motive, and the only other person in the frame is you.”
“Me?”