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

he felt the need to unload his personal experiences on Rachel Cummins? In front of Luke as well? Was it this place? Gus shook himself. Just because the original building Gerry Hogan had transformed had stood for four centuries, it didn’t mean it held magical properties.

Luke trotted upstairs with the key a minute later.

“It’s okay, Luke, no rush,” said Gus.

“That was for Rachel’s benefit, guv. In case she asked again if I wanted to join one of her classes.”

“Do you expect to find anything in here?”

“It would be daft not to look, guv.”

Luke opened the door, and he and Gus stepped inside. Luke closed the door behind them.

The room was light and bright, with windows on two sides. Examples of Evelyn’s work, her certificates, and her and Gerry’s wedding photographs covered the wall adjoining Sean’s bedroom.

“It smells musty in here, guv,” said Luke. “I think that confirms nobody has been here for the last six years.”

“A shame,” said Gus, “because it’s a splendid room for a photographer or an artist. What else did Evelyn keep here, I wonder?”

Luke started opening drawers on filing cabinets. Gus sat at Evelyn’s desk and rifled through letters and papers.

“No sign of a diary or letters that Evelyn kept from Gerry,” said Gus.

“We’ve only got Rachel’s word that Gerry didn’t remove stuff from Evelyn’s belongings before she appeared on the scene,” said Luke. “If we found just one item to take with us for our meetings with Sean and Byron, it could help.”

“What did she keep in the filing cabinets?” asked Gus.

“Correspondence with magazines and newspapers around the world, guv. Folders filled with photographs that Evelyn published over the years. She won or got nominated for many more awards than you would think by looking around the room. She hung her certificates on the wall, but not her awards. I wonder why?”

“Many people are modest about their accomplishments, Luke,” said Gus. “The ones who make the most noise are usually the ones that have got most to be modest about.”

“We didn’t enter the main bedroom,” said Luke. “I remember seeing photos downstairs of Gerry, Evelyn, and the boys when they were young. Perhaps an album covering the births and the boys as toddlers would be along the corridor?”

“Take a quick look, but be quiet, Luke. We’re in danger of outstaying our welcome. Everything is here is what I expected to find. If Evelyn had secrets hidden in a diary, she must have taken them with her to Australia. When the police recovered her personal items from the accident or her rented room, they might have dropped them off at her parents before Gerry flew out.”

Luke padded along the corridor as quietly as he could and returned a few minutes later.

“I found several photo frames in a drawer that probably stood on the dressing table in the past, guv,” said Luke. “There was a large album chronicling the first eighteen months to two years for each son.”

“Is that normal?” asked Gus.

“I would say so, guv. I reckon typical behaviour is for parents to capture every new event in their child’s life, and then year on year it becomes more of a chore, and later on, there are fewer landmarks to immortalise in living colour.”

“Here’s Luke with his first car, his first pint, and his first summons,” said Gus. “Taken shortly after his seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth birthdays. I didn’t realise what joys I’d missed.”

“Did you find a clue while I was gone, guv?”

“A letter from a wildlife conservation charity based in New South Wales offering Evelyn a senior position. The lure of the wild might have been greater than Gerry thought. He was happy for Evelyn to return to Australia for a month to carry out this commission at the Macquarie Pass National Park. Maybe she was planning on staying there for good.”

“Would Nick Barrett be likely to have got wind of that?” asked Luke.

“Not sure,” said Gus. “It’s too late to get Neil to ask him this morning. We can ask the sons whether they knew that their mother had itchy feet. They might have sensed the distance growing between their parents. They were only eight and six, so they were too young to spot such things, though.”

“It’s something new, guv,” said Luke. “There’s been no sign there was tension in the marriage. How could it relate to what happened in 2012?”

“I’m just checking the letter heading, Luke,” said Gus. “The date of the job offer precedes the trip by three months. Maybe the National Park retrospective was Evelyn’s way of getting the itch out of her system. I can’t find a copy of a letter accepting or rejecting the job offer here.”

“I’ll make a note of the details, guv. If the charity is still functioning, we can ask which way Evelyn Hogan jumped. How it could have any link to Gerry’s murder, I can’t fathom.”

“We’re swimming in treacle,” said Gus. “Come on, let’s get out of here. If we stay any longer, our host will wonder if we’re angling for a lunch invite.”

“Don’t mention food, guv,” said Luke. “I’m feeling peckish.”

“I’ll drive back via Bradford Road and find County Way, Luke.”

“Gregg’s, guv?”

“Our warm ovens are waiting for you, Luke. You know it makes sense.”

“We can enjoy our hot snack on the drive back to the office, and Neil won’t be any the wiser.”

“He shouldn’t back yet, Luke. His meeting with Nick Barrett wasn’t until eleven-thirty.”

They walked downstairs. Luke tapped on the kitchen door to return the door key.

“Did you find anything useful?” asked Rachel.

“Too early to tell yet, Ms Cummins,” said Gus.

“It was good to meet you, Mr Freeman,” said Rachel, “I hope you finally find Gerry’s killer.”

“It won’t be for lack of trying, Ms Cummins,” said Gus.

Gus and Luke walked