A Genuine Mistake by Ted Tayler (miss read books txt) 📗

at the front of the house with comfortable chairs and a wide-screen TV. A corridor between the lounge wall and the games room wall led to the original building's right-hand extension. There Gus and Luke found a dining room and another small living room.

“We ate in the kitchen more often than not,” said Rachel. “The extension was more Evelyn’s domain. She and Gerry ate here, and Evelyn read in the smaller room or watched TV while Gerry and the boys watched sport.”

“You have changed nothing at this end of the house?” asked Gus.

“I rarely come here,” said Rachel. “Why would I?”

She led them upstairs to the large landing and pointed to the far end. Gus could see what she meant when she said the boys were a distance from the bedroom that she and Gerry shared. The family bathroom was half the size of the entire floor area of his bungalow. The master en-suite was on the right-hand side of the corridor, next to one bedroom.

“That’s Byron’s room,” said Rachel. “Sean’s is on the opposite side, next to Evelyn’s studio.”

“You haven’t altered that either?” asked Gus.

“I’ve never set foot inside,” said Rachel. “Gerry wanted it kept as it was when Evelyn flew to Sydney. Sean and Byron never asked for the key to open the door.”

“Were you never tempted?” asked Luke.

“Never,” said Rachel.

“I understand Gerry’s reaction,” said Gus. “My wife dropped dead with a brain aneurysm almost four years ago now. I was in Swindon Crown Court, watching criminals face justice. They were men involved in a case I’d worked on before my retirement. After the guilty verdicts, my old team wanted to take me out to celebrate. I arrived home in a taxi, late at night, thinking I’d creep in to bed next to Tess and apologise for getting drunk when I saw her in the morning. I found her on the kitchen floor with her hands covered in flour where she’d been baking. There was nothing anyone could have done. The doctor told me that Tess was dead before she hit the floor. Even if I’d been home that day, I couldn’t have saved her. It took me a long time to come to terms with my loss. No doubt, it was the same for Gerry. I took Tess’s newer clothes and accessories to charity shops and the other stuff to the tip. I’ve held on to a handful of items that help keep her memory alive. Perhaps when Gerry was here, alone, he sat in that room, and Evelyn returned to him.”

“He never said a thing to me,” said Rachel.

“That’s understandable too,” said Gus. “Gerry found you, and after five years, was ready to move on with a new relationship. However, there were two of you in that relationship, not three. Gerry would take care not to say Evelyn would do it this way, or Evelyn wanted that shrub to stay where it was. You avoid the east wing because that was Evelyn’s domain. You didn’t suggest converting the studio into your gym rather than go to the expense of extending the west wing to make the kitchen larger and house your gym on the ground floor.”

“I take it you’ve had a similar experience?” asked Rachel.

“After Tess died, I spent months in our bungalow alone. We had only just moved from Downton, near Salisbury, where we both worked for years. I didn’t have friends to talk to, and I would have been miserable company if I had. I found my way out of the darkness in time, with the help of one villager and books Tess left lying around that I’d never had time to read. When the opportunity arose to work with this team six months ago, I thought long and hard whether it was what I needed. I took a chance, and not only was I working again, but I socialised. I found someone who had a similar effect on me as Gerry had on you. We’ve not lived together that long, but I’ve moved those few things of Tess’s that I kept twice so far, and we’ve never sat down to talk about Tess in any detail. Her climbing roses on the bungalow wall are crying out for TLC, but Suzie wouldn’t dream of suggesting she did something to them.”

“That was how Gerry behaved,” said Rachel. “What was in the past stayed in the past. I never felt able to raise the subject of Evelyn’s lingering presence in the house. The layout of the rooms, the style of decoration all bear the stamp of a well-established, successful wildlife photographer. It was classy ten, fifteen years ago, but it’s dated now. Gerry and the boys preferred to wrap themselves in Evelyn’s creation. It helped keep her alive. Although Gerry loved me, and the boys accepted me, I could never make the place my own.”

“Why didn’t you sell up and move?” asked Luke. “It’s too big. Sean and Byron will never come back here to live full time.”

Rachel looked at Gus.

“You can tell him.”

“I haven’t left my bungalow, have I, Luke? Even though Suzie has moved in, there’s no question of us going anywhere either. Ms Cummins has stayed here because the location suits her personal trainer career. Also, she feels a duty to Sean and Byron to keep the house until they decide to get their own homes. Most of all, it’s because every room that she utilises in the house helps her keep Gerry’s memory alive.”

Luke nodded. Rachel Cummins gave Gus a brief smile.

“If we thought something in Evelyn’s studio might offer a clue to Gerry’s murder, would you let us have the key?” Luke asked.

“I’ll fetch the key from the kitchen,” said Rachel, “but I won’t go in with you if you don’t mind. It doesn’t feel right.”

Gus stayed on the landing while Luke and Rachel went downstairs.

Why had