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

sons had planned for the evening. If Gerry knew the man well, he might have invited him indoors. Then there’s the conversation itself. Gerry was a financial professional. Did this casually dressed stranger want advice on which ISA to use or which stocks and shares were worth a look? Was everything Gerry Hogan dabbled in strictly legal? Few professionals conduct business on a Sunday evening. Did Gerry step outside away from the house to chat with the man? Maybe he didn’t want Rachel to hear what they said.”

“You’re right, of course, Freeman,” said the ACC. “The time lag between the doorbell ringing and the discovery of the body left things open for conjecture. DI Kirkpatrick treated the entire episode as being an extended argument between Hogan and the killer. That may have been remiss of him.”

“Kirkpatrick could have got it right,” said Gus. “We’ll need to explore both avenues. The two men could have had a brief conversation, and then the man left. Sean didn’t shout for his father to remind him of the time until six forty-five. There was plenty of time for someone else to approach the property in the twelve or thirteen minutes that elapsed between Gerry arriving at the open door and the discovery of his body. We can’t know how long that gap was without finding the man who rang the bell at six-thirty.”

“If there was another man,” said the ACC.

“Nothing is ever straightforward, is it,” said Geoff.

“I’ll take the folder back to the office,” said Gus. “Somewhere in the volumes of material that they gathered, there has to be a clue as to motive. Who wanted Gerry Hogan dead, and why?

  CHAPTER 2

Gus drove left the London Road car park without further ado. There was no chance of a brief conversation with Vera and Kassie today. Geraldine Packenham was standing on the far side of the room outside Rhys Evans’s office, keeping watch.

When he drew up behind the Old Police Station, Gus took another look at the passenger seat's weighty folder.

“Who was Gerry Hogan?” he asked.

Gerry Hogan was born in the Royal United Hospital, Bath, on March the fifth, 1958. His parents were Peter and Jean Hogan, whose daughter, Belinda, had arrived three years earlier. The family lived in Bradford-on-Avon, a small town of around nine thousand people located six miles from the Roman city of Bath. Gerry attended Christchurch Primary and later Fitzmaurice Grammar schools. His headteacher at Fitzmaurice remembered him as well-mannered, good-natured, and intelligent.

Nick Barratt, a close friend throughout their schooling, remembered Gerry as a focused individual. Gerry had his goals mapped out from an early age. No way was he the sort of lad who’d get caught underage drinking, shoplifting, or getting involved with the wrong crowd. Gerry did his utmost to steer clear of trouble. After school, he went to Bristol University to study for a Business and Finance degree. He graduated in 1980 and, after a gap year in Australia, joined the newly formed Hargreaves Lansdown company.

Gerry met his first wife, Evelyn, a wildlife photographer, while on his travels. It was a whirlwind romance. The pair got engaged only weeks after meeting on Bondi Beach. When Gerry returned home to Bradford-on-Avon to start work, Evelyn stayed on in New South Wales to complete an assignment at the Macquarie Pass National Park. One month later, she flew into Heathrow Airport and lived with Gerry and his family in Bradford-on-Avon until their registry office wedding in early 1982.

Evelyn continued her career in the UK, accepting commissions closer to home. She made regular trips to West Wales, Richmond Park in London, the Cairngorms in Scotland, and the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast. The couple bought a place in Clifton, Bristol that suited them, both for its proximity to Gerry’s job and transport links for Evelyn, but also for the nightlife they enjoyed as a young professional couple.

A decade later, Gerry wanted to branch out on his own and find a family home closer to his parents. They had fallen in love with the Trowle Common property at first sight. It altered somewhat in the next ten years as Gerry’s business prospered and Evelyn stopped travelling long enough to give birth to Sean and Byron. They extended the property to one side and at the rear. The sunroom was Evelyn’s choice on the ground floor. The games room to the side of it was Gerry’s pick for somewhere he could spend what free time he had with his boys.

Evelyn had transformed the spare bedroom into her studio. She explained to Gerry that the direction of the window made a huge difference in light quality. North-facing windows always have soft light because the sun never directly shines through them, while South-facing windows should expect to have direct sunlight for a good portion of the day. Gerry knew why his wife couldn’t resist that dig. Evelyn missed the Australian sunshine.

Sean and Byron were aged eight and six and attending Fitzmaurice Primary in Bradford-on-Avon when Evelyn decided she’d exhausted the most lucrative assignments the UK could offer. The wanderlust was tough to get out of her system. Gerry’s business was going from strength to strength, so he let Evelyn fly back to Australia for a month with his full support. She returned to the Macquarie Pass National Park to follow up on the work she’d carried out back in 1981.

Macquarie Pass is a five-mile-long section of the Illawarra Highway passing through the National Park. The pass links the town of Robertson to the coastal town of Albion Park, where Evelyn rented an apartment.

The pass descends via a narrow roadway with several single-lane sections. It’s mostly two lanes with double lines showing no overtaking. This roadway section is very steep and contains many hairpin bends, resulting in buses and trucks needing to back up on some curves. The pass was notorious for accidents, and they required drivers and motorcycle riders to be cautious. After heavy rain, the Macquarie Pass