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

“Rachel Cummins told us that there was an instant attraction between her and Gerry,” said Gus.

“Huh! She saw a meal-ticket. Gerry was a widower who ran his own firm. She made a few phone calls, asked her clients for information, and discovered Gerry Hogan had money and property. Gerry was vulnerable. An old fool hypnotised by a young, firm body.”

“Things must have changed for you when Rachel moved in with Gerry?” asked Gus.

“They had changed already, Mr Freeman,” said Belinda. “Sean was thirteen and Byron eleven. They didn’t need their Auntie Belinda as much. Gerry never left them alone at weekends. They went everywhere together—Football, cricket, rugby, stately homes, country parks, and the seaside. Oh, and there was the snooker, too, even before Byron became so good. They played all the time at home and then attended matches at various venues around the country whenever they could.”

“After Rachel moved in, Gerry extended the kitchen and added the gym,” said Gus. “Did you ever get to see those improvements?”

“That Cummins woman would never invite me over,” said Belinda. “I didn’t go there more than a handful of times when Evelyn was alive, but I saw what Gerry had done to the place. I often dropped in after Evelyn died because the boys had so many things at the house. They didn’t like my small TV when they had satellite TV at home. I didn’t have the computer games they enjoyed either. You know what teenagers are like these days.”

“Not in a domestic situation,” said Gus. “I meet them when they’ve broken the law.”

“You never had cause to visit Trowle Common while Rachel lived there?” asked Blessing.

“Why did I need a reason?” asked Belinda. “Gerry was my only brother. Sean and Byron are my nephews. No, Rachel turned Gerry against me.”

“Let’s turn our attention to May the sixth 2012,” said Gus. “Where were you that night?”

“I was here watching TV. Alone, as usual.”

“When did you hear Gerry was dead?”

“Not on Sunday evening,” said Belinda. “I didn’t hear until almost lunchtime on Monday.”

“Rachel found Gerry’s body outside the house at a quarter to seven,” said Gus. “Her screams brought Sean and Byron to the door.”

“Typical of the woman,” said Belinda. “They should never have been allowed to see their father like that. They had already had to suffer the trauma of losing their mother.”

“Rachel told Sean to call the emergency services,” said Gus. “Nobody called you, Gerry’s only blood relative?”

“The police stood by until the paramedics had left and then got the body moved to the morgue. It was too late to do much more that night. A DS Bennison phoned on Monday to arrange to speak with me. She told me the terrible news and took my statement.”

“That’s still a long time, Ms Hogan,” said Gus. “I wonder why Sean or Byron didn’t call?”

“No doubt Rachel Cummins put a stop to it. The poor things must have been traumatised. They needed their Auntie Belinda, just like they did after their mother died.”

“When did you meet with DI Kirkpatrick?” asked Gus.

“The female detective who first phoned me was more sensible. She understood what I was going through. Her boss, however, didn’t listen to a thing I said. I told him on Tuesday evening to look more closely at Rachel Cummins. She must have paid someone to shoot Gerry. Now you’re looking into the murder again and making the same mistakes. I suppose she has you wrapped around her little finger, too, just like she had Gerry. Who benefitted from his death? As soon as that woman had persuaded Gerry to alter his will, that sealed his fate. It stands to reason.”

“Let’s consider those points one at a time, Ms Hogan,” said Gus. “John Kirkpatrick checked into Rachel Cummins and everyone else that had links to Gerry. I’ve not met a hired killer yet who does a job without payment. They checked Ms Cummins’s bank account, looking for evidence of bank transfers or cash withdrawals of large amounts. They found nothing. We’re taking a fresh look at Gerry’s death, but we’re not religiously following the same lines of enquiry that Kirkpatrick and Bennison followed six years ago. Rachel Cummins gets treated in the same way as any witness. We don’t have favourites, nor do we give anyone a free pass.”

“That’s as maybe, but there’s no getting around the will,” said Belinda.

“You asked who benefitted,” said Gus. “Well, you did, Ms Hogan. You received the sum of two hundred thousand pounds, I believe? Gerry recognised the love you had lavished on his boys whenever the need arose. That bequest allowed you to improve your annual income. The monies held in trust for Sean and Byron are due on their twenty-fifth birthday. No doubt that will be welcome news for Sean if he’s thinking of getting married to Clare. What a great start to their married life. Byron is attempting to hit the heights in a profession where he can travel thousands of miles to play in a tournament, only to lose in the first round and earn nothing. Both boys will need a place of their own one day. Gerry set them up to receive a tidy sum when they were old enough to use it wisely.”

“Gerry left her the house,” said Belinda. “That’s an awful lot of money for just five years keeping a middle-aged man happy.”

“You haven’t stepped inside that home for years, Ms Hogan,” said Gus. “Gerry kept Evelyn’s studio locked. Nothing was ever to be touched. He added the sunroom and games room at the rear for all the family, but two rooms on the ground floor were Evelyn’s domain. Rachel never goes there. Every time she steps outside the front door, the nightmare returns. I doubt that Sean and Byron will ever erase the memory of their father sprawled on the gravel that night. When