Hit and Run by Maria Frankland (best book recommendations txt) 📗

She looks uncomfortable. Whatever she knows about them having an affair, if they were, she probably can’t tell me. I know where Bryony lives, so I must pay her a personal visit. I’ll make her tell me the truth. I have to know.

“I’ve also had his ex-wife on the phone.” DI Green places her pen gently on the notepad in front of her. “Several times in fact. What were relations like there?”

“Not good. Rob had apparently let his daughter down at the weekend when he should have picked her up.”

“Do you know any details about this? Why he’d let her down?”

“I didn’t know of the arrangement.” I can feel the heat rising in my face. “I seem to have been the last to know anything lately. And I found out earlier that he hasn’t been at work for the last month.”

“Really? Where’s his work?”

“Bracken Furniture. He was the Director of Finance.”

“And why hasn’t he been at work?” She’s frowning.

“I’ve absolutely no idea. He’s been leaving each morning as though he’s going to work, so why he’s been lying to me, I’ve no idea. The MD, Phillip Bracken, won’t tell me a thing. Maybe he’ll tell you.”

PC Johnson is writing this down. “We’ll get in touch with him. That could be useful.”

“There’s apparently some sort of investigation in process. It appears Rob was in trouble.”

“Thank you.” DI Green offers me a hint of a smile. She’s possibly pleased at being given something to follow up. “Back to his, Robert’s ex-wife, Denise isn’t it? What do you think are the chances that he might have gone to see her yesterday morning?”

“Well, normally, he would avoid her as much as possible. Apart from when he is picking his daughter up of course. I don’t know. I doubt he would have been there. Simone would have been at school, so I don’t see any reason for him going round.”

“I know we’ve already asked you this, but you have had more time to think about it since we spoke - are you aware of any enemies that Robert might have had? Someone that might be out to get him?”

“Nobody that would want to knock him flying off his bike. Nobody that would have wanted to kill him. You mentioned Bryony before – have you found anything out about her from his phone or computer?”

“I can’t really go into it at this stage, but I can say that we have found one or two interesting things on his computer.”

“Such as?”

“We will let you know as and when we’ve followed things up. One person of interest is listed in your husband’s phone as JT? Any ideas?”

“JT? No. I can’t think of who that would be.”

“A financial connection perhaps? There’s a suggestion of money being owed.”

“By whom?”

“We’re looking into it. If you come up with any ideas on who JT could be, let us know straightaway.”

“I will.” JT. Maybe there was another woman as well as Bryony. I stare down at my hands.

“There’s also a couple of recent texts sent by you, that we would like to ask you about.”

“By me? Which ones?” Rob and I rarely texted each other, apart from to say get some bread on the way home, or I’ve been held up. Not like we did in the early days. I used to live for his messages. My stomach would flip as one came through.

“We’re particularly interested in the money-related messages.” DI Green runs a finger down her page. “There’s three over the last month.”

“Go on.”

“Ten days ago. What about this money then?????” She looks at me.

“Oh, that. It was to do with a shares opportunity he was investing in. I put some money in to increase his investment.”

“What shares opportunity was that?”

“I don’t know too much about it. Much of this stuff goes straight over my head.” I’m not lying. It really does. I know one investment was to do with property - a new shopping complex in Harrogate.”

“What about the other one?” She does that thing of tilting her head to one side whilst waiting for an answer. It’s quite irritating.

“It was to do with some Chinese company or other, something about this cryptocurrency that everyone is jumping on. I wish I’d taken more notice of what he was saying now.”

“So that would explain the other two texts then. Have you paid it in yet? This could change our life. One month ago.”

“I think so.”

“What was your own personal investment?”

“I can’t remember exactly. About thirty thousand.”

“That’s quite a sum to sink into something you know nothing about.”

“Rob reckoned I’d get that back ten times over. And since I’d nearly spent the inheritance I received from my grandmother when she died in 2011, I thought it was worth a go to get some money back.”

“Thirty thousand is more than just a go.” PC Robinson raises an eyebrow.

“Rob knew his stuff as far as the stock market was concerned. He had some sort of adviser or broker as well.” I take another sip of tea and shudder at how awful it tastes. “He handled everything to do with the money. He knew what he was doing.”

“It sounds like there was a lot of trust between you both.”

I’m not sure if DI Green’s words are a question or a statement, so I don’t reply. I definitely trusted Rob with money. Though with other matters, I definitely did not.

“What do you know about this adviser, or broker?”

“Nothing really. To be honest, I would glaze over when he talked about it all. I tried to be interested but didn’t really understand it all.”

“He must have mentioned the name of his broker at some point. You must have some idea of where we could find him?” PC Robinson’s pen is poised over his notebook. “Or can you find out?”

“Or her.” DI Green says.

“No. But there must be something in his messages. You’ve got access to those.”

“You might not have been interested in his financial dealings and connections. But you were interested in the ultimate outcome?”

“Of