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

the boys get settled, Rachel will sell up and move somewhere smaller. Gerry left her that option. No matter what you think of her, Ms Hogan, she’s considered the feelings of those boys every step of the way.”

“So, she’ll get away with murder. I might have known. Another man blinded by her good looks.”

“We follow the evidence, Ms Hogan,” said Blessing. “No matter how much you want it to be the case, there’s nothing to suggest that Rachel Cummins had anything to do with your brother’s death.”

“DC Umeh is correct,” said Gus. “We keep probing for the truth in this case. Everyone we’ve spoken to paints the same picture of Gerry Hogan. Either they’re all lying, or he really was a saint. I’ve been at this game for a long time, Ms Hogan. It’s rare for me to fail to spot a crack in the different accounts that people provide. Why would Nick Barrett lie about a man who was his only real friend? Why would Rachel Cummins lie about the man she loved? Now you, Ms Hogan. You don’t have a high opinion of Gerry’s best friend, Nick. You think even less of Rachel. However, your account of everything that Gerry did from his schooldays to the day he died matches what we’ve heard from the others. Ever since I started looking into this case, I’ve been searching for a person, an event, an argument, something that might have lit the fuse that led to Gerry getting shot. Where else is there is his life left to look?”

“You’ll never shake my belief that that woman was behind it, Mr Freeman,” said Belinda Hogan.

She stood and waited. Gus realised Belinda believed this meeting would serve no useful purpose. He decided there was little point in asking her further questions. They needed to meet with Sean Hogan and then get back to the office to check on the Hub's progress. The truths he sought had to lie somewhere.

Gus and Blessing walked into the hallway in silence. Belinda Hogan opened the front door and watched them set off towards the river bridge. After they disappeared around the corner, she entered her lounge and picked up her mobile phone.

“Sean? It’s Auntie Belinda. Hello, darling, how are you? Watch yourself this afternoon. The police are intent on a cover-up again. They’ll write off your father’s murder as a mystery they couldn’t unravel, and we’ll never know the truth.”

  CHAPTER 10

“I can see why you walked out on her, guv,” said Blessing.

“We had little choice, Blessing,” said Gus. “I thought it best to avoid antagonising her further by saying we might be back with more questions.”

“Is it possible that everyone is lying, guv?”

“I don’t think so,” said Gus. “You get a feeling for a witness in the first few minutes of meeting them. Nobody I’ve spoken to this week struck me as trying to hide something. I accepted Nick Barrett’s words as gospel. Rachel Cummins also seemed an honest person to Luke and me. As for Belinda Hogan, well, she’s evenly balanced with a chip on both shoulders. Her parents started the descent into the bitter woman she is today. I wonder what the customers at that bank where she worked thought of the eighteen-year-old cashier that greeted them with a smile every morning? A decade later, she was housebound with an ailing mother. Then a light shone in her life. Sean and Byron needed a nanny so that Evelyn could continue to pursue her career. After Evelyn’s death, Belinda expected Gerry to rely on her even more; instead, he did his utmost to be father and mother to the boys. Belinda’s hopes got crushed after Rachel and Gerry met. Losing Gerry was the final straw.”

“Belinda ignored your point about the money Gerry left her, didn’t she, guv?”

“I don’t think the money was the issue, Blessing,” said Gus. “I expect Gerry told her about the will he made after Evelyn died. He wanted to make sure of the boys' future in the event of his death. They were only eight, and six, at the time of that car crash.”

“Belinda would have been their parent and guardian until they reached the age of majority,” said Blessing.

“That situation changed when Gerry met Rachel, but Belinda wasn’t to know.”

They reached the station car park and got into Gus’s car. Gus eased the Focus into the lunchtime traffic and drove towards Trowbridge.

“Isn’t this the wrong way, guv?” Blessing asked.

“It will be simpler to stay close to Bradford-on-Avon,” said Gus. “We need to be at the Hogan company offices by two o’clock. I’d prefer to pop into town for a snack, and we can continue to mull over the case while we make our way back. We’ll pass the Hogan house on Trowle Common going this way. I’ll point it out to you.”

Gus hoped that Blessing enjoyed the type of snacks that Gregg’s offered.

He needn’t have worried. As Gus drove them back towards Bradford, Blessing set the ball rolling.

“You’ve handled more murder cases than I have, guv,” she said. “Do you know what would help in this case?”

“A miracle?” asked Gus.

“Perhaps. All the people I want to speak to are dead. Nick Barrett told you everything that happened while he and Gerry Hogan were at university or on that trip to Australia. You believed him. I want to ask Gerry if what his friend said was accurate.”

“Well, we might be able to speak to other students,” said Gus. “Or a few of the girls Gerry knew in Australia.”

“Then there’s Evelyn. She knew Gerry best. They were married for twenty years. If there were something iffy about Nick’s story, she would point it out. Evelyn knew Belinda for the longest time, too, so she could put you right if there were gaps in her sister-in-law’s account.”

“I can see where