Imposition (DI Gardener 5)

The SIO finally turned and addressed them. “Thanks for coming in guys. I know we’re less than twenty-four hours in and you’ve only had eight hours in the field but hopefully we’ve picked up something useful.”

“I have now,” said Reilly, his hands around a steak slice.

“Bet you didn’t see this, Irishman,” said Dave Rawson, parting his jaws for a jam and cream filled Devonshire split.

“I did, but it’s bad for me.”

There was instant uproar around the room. “Since when did that stop you?” shouted Bob Anderson.

“When you’re getting older you need to look after yourself better.”

“You mean Laura thinks you should,” said Gardener.

Reilly shot him a glance. “You’re my commanding officer, so you are.”

“Meaning what?”

“You should be backing me up, guiding me, looking after me.”

“Fucking hell,” shouted Rawson, giggling. “A pet Stegosaurus would be easier to look after.”

“And train,” added Gardener.

“Don’t think there’s much difference, myself,” said Anderson.

Reilly put his steak slice down. “You can go off people, you know.”

“What makes you think we haven’t?”

“Okay,” said Gardener. “Now we’ve amused ourselves at Sean’s expense, let’s see if we’ve found out anything useful.”

He tapped the whiteboard and pointed to the heading, Neighbours.

“Anyone have any news?”

Sarah Gates spoke up. “Me and Bob have covered these. As you know, there’s only four houses in Swansea Court so there were only three neighbours to talk to. None of those were up so late that night so they couldn’t offer anything.”

“They didn’t hear anything?”

Gates shook her head. “No.”

“Have any of them noticed anything different about the comings and goings at the house? Any guests they don’t recognise?”

“Not really. The Carters pretty much kept to themselves,” said Gates. “Of the two, they felt they knew her better than him, despite the fact that it was his house originally.”

“Why was that?” Reilly asked.

“S

he was more willing to talk. If they saw her out in the garden, she was more approachable than him. She would stop and speak.”

“All they got out of him was a nod and the odd word. They didn’t find him unsociable, just quieter,” added Anderson.

“Interesting,” replied Gardener. “According to him she was a typical Aquarian: only spoke when she had to and didn’t bother wasting words on people. No sense of humour.”

“Maybe he was mixed up, talking about himself,” said Rawson.

“Not sure about that,” said Reilly. “He had plenty to say to us.”