Preface to Murder by M Morris (best books to read for success .txt) 📗

He looked at her in surprise. ‘I do.’

‘And does that include a key to the kitchen door?’

‘Yes.’

‘And also the door in the garden wall at the back?’

‘Yes.’ He looked at her warily. ‘Why is this important?’

‘We have reason to believe that the person responsible for killing your mother used a key to enter the property through the garden door, and then through the kitchen door.’

‘I thought you said they broke in.’

‘New evidence suggests that the glass in the kitchen door was broken on the intruder’s way out, to make it appear as if they had forced an entry. That would explain why your mother didn’t wake up. As a light sleeper she would almost certainly have heard the sound of breaking glass if she’d been alive when the glass in the door was smashed.’

Daniel’s brow wrinkled as he processed the new information. ‘That makes sense. But what does that have to do with me? You surely don’t think I had anything to do with my own mother’s death?’ He looked to his lawyer for support but the man gave nothing away.

At a nod from Bridget, Jake took up the questioning. ‘Where were you on the night that your mother was killed?’

‘I was in London. That’s where I live.’ A surliness had entered his voice and Bridget sensed a growing reluctance to cooperate.

‘Can anyone confirm that?’

He thought for a moment. ‘I don’t think so. No.’

‘What about your girlfriend?’

‘She was away for a couple of days on a training course.’ He thought for a moment. ‘But I was at work until late on Thursday. The end of the tax year is always a hectic time and I didn’t leave the office until gone eight o’clock. I was back at my desk by seven the next morning. You can ask my boss.’

‘We will,’ said Bridget. ‘But if you don’t mind me saying, that doesn’t account for your whereabouts at the time that your mother was killed.’

‘And what time was that?’ asked the lawyer.

‘Between eleven in the evening and one in the morning.’

‘Well, I went to bed at about eleven,’ said Daniel. ‘Who can possibly provide an alibi for the time when they were asleep?’

‘Someone whose girlfriend wasn’t conveniently away for the night,’ suggested Jake.

Daniel shook his head angrily. He jerked out his hand and this time the rest of his tea sloshed over the desk.

Bridget waited patiently while Jake went to fetch more paper towels. When the mess had been cleared up, she asked, ‘How long would it take for you to drive from your home in London to your mother’s house in Oxford?’

‘It depends on the traffic,’ said Daniel, his arms now folded against his chest.

‘In the middle of the night, with light traffic.’

‘I’m not in the habit of driving to my mother’s house in the middle of the night.’

‘An hour and a half?’ suggested Bridget.

‘About that.’

‘So a round trip of three hours.’

The lawyer leaned forward. ‘Are you suggesting that my client drove to Oxford in the middle of the night in order to murder his own mother?’

‘I’m simply trying to establish whether your client can provide any evidence to exclude that possibility. And it would seem that he can’t.’

‘My client is not obliged to prove his innocence, as you well know, Inspector.’

‘Of course.’

‘So if you have no further questions, I am going to ask that you allow him to leave.’

Bridget glanced at Jake. ‘No further questions for the moment.’

Daniel stood up, scraping his chair noisily against the floor. ‘I have to say that this was a complete waste of time. Did you really learn anything useful from this interview, Inspector?’

Bridget regarded him calmly. ‘I learned that you are in possession of a full set of keys to your mother’s house, and that you are unable to provide an alibi for the time of her murder.’

He glared at her, fury etched on his face. ‘You’ve had it in for me from the start, haven’t you?’

‘Not at all,’ said Bridget. ‘I’m simply following the facts.’

The lawyer took Daniel by the arm to try to lead him from the room, but he shook him off. ‘You want the facts? Well, try this. My father’s a fool when it comes to my mother. While she was alive, he was blind to her faults and always made excuses for her. Even now she’s dead, he still refuses to believe what everyone else knows.’

‘And what’s that, Daniel?’

‘That she was a selfish, self-centred woman who thought the whole world revolved around her, and was really only interested in other people if they could be useful to her or if they made her feel good about herself. All those causes she went after – her politics and her campaigns – they were just a way for her to bolster her ego and make her feel superior to everyone else. Well, in my opinion, she got what she deserved. She finally came up against someone who didn’t think that her life mattered very much at all.’

He stopped, breathless. His lawyer once again tried to draw him from the room, but Daniel wasn’t done yet.

‘Louise was never fooled by my mother. Oh, I know she always did her best to be civil to her, for Dad’s sake. But she saw right through her. She saw what a callous manipulative bitch my mother was.’

‘How can you know that?’

‘Because she told me! And do you know what else? Poor Louise has been trying to compete against my mother the whole time she’s been married to my father. He talks about her all the time, you know. Diane this, Diane that. Do you know the real reason my parents got divorced?’

‘What?’

‘Dad always wanted more children, but after I was