The Stratford Murder by Mike Hollow (best thriller novels of all time .TXT) 📗

fingers in the till. It makes me laugh, but I think Joan found it frustrating, having to wait.’

‘So Richard was a bank clerk,’ said Jago.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘Which bank?’

‘The National Provincial, same as me.’

‘In the same branch?’

‘Yes. Why?’

‘You haven’t mentioned that before.’

‘Well, you never asked me before, did you?’ Carol tilted her head to one side, like a schoolmistress waiting for a slow pupil to answer, but Jago was lost in his own thoughts.

‘No,’ he replied eventually. ‘No, I didn’t.’ He took a slow sip of his tea and continued. ‘Now, I want to ask you about another member of the family. You’ve made it clear that Joan didn’t get on terribly well with Audrey, but what about Elsie, her sister-in-law? What was her response to the marriage?’

‘Elsie? I’m not so sure what she felt about it. Surprising, really, because she was just like her dad – spoke her mind, you know. She definitely agreed with his views, too – she didn’t approve of free handouts to anyone. But Joan never said whether she’d had any trouble with Elsie.’

‘I see. And what about Joan’s relationship with Richard? You said you thought they married for love, but it went sour later.’

‘Yes, well, she married Richard, not his family, didn’t she? I think she fell for him hook, line and sinker when they met, and it was all wonderful to start with. Love at first sight, that sort of thing.’

‘Soulmates?’

‘That’s what she thought. At first, anyway.’

‘But not later?’

‘Yes, that’s the thing, you see. Richard might not’ve agreed with his dad about politics or the way he made his money, but Charlie was a strong man, and Richard took after him in that respect. He had a strength of character that Joan didn’t have.’

‘Strength of character? But his sister told us he was naive and indecisive, lacking in ambition.’

‘Elsie said that? Well, like I said, she speaks her mind, but that sounds to me like her dad speaking. Charlie had no time for his son, and she’d think Richard disagreeing with their dad was a weakness, a character fault. She’s never had a good word to say about him.’

‘So what do you mean by Richard’s strength of character?’

‘Well, put it like this – he had ideas about life, knew where he was going. Joan seemed happy just to tag along behind him, and that appeals to some men, of course, but I had the feeling Richard needed someone with a bit more spark of their own. He was what people call self-obsessed, I think, bound up in himself. He always did what he wanted to do and expected her to fall in line behind. I never saw him show any interest in her life. They were all lovey-dovey at the beginning, but after a while it seemed to me he lost interest in her. Joan said that as time went by he stopped showing her any affection, just got on with his own life. She told me once how she really wanted children, but he wasn’t interested. That happens sometimes, though, doesn’t it? A man falls for a good-looking girl and they get married, but then he finds she hasn’t got much depth behind the looks, not much to hold his attention, and the next thing you know he gets the roving eye.’

‘Do you mean he was unfaithful to her?’

‘Oh, no, I don’t think so. But I do think perhaps he could’ve been, if the right woman had come along. I just mean there were things he wanted to do in life, whether or not Joan fitted in with his plans. Some men are like that, aren’t they? Only care about themselves, don’t seem capable of loving anyone else. It was like that when he joined the Territorials, she said. He just decided to do it, and never even discussed it with her.’

‘I see.’

‘Do you really? I sometimes wonder whether any men understand women. I think the thing about Joan was she wanted to be loved. She wanted to have one person in the world that she really knew, deep down, and even more someone who knew her as she really was and loved her all the same. She thought she’d found that in Richard.’

‘But she was disappointed?’

‘Exactly. But don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying it was all Richard’s fault. He was a good man. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say “was” – it’s just that with him being missing for so long I’m beginning to think the worst. He is a good man. He can’t help the way he is, and I don’t think Joan really gave him a chance. If she wanted to marry him she should’ve accepted him as he was and loved him. She might’ve thought she deserved better, but so did he.’

Jago thought he glimpsed a tear brimming in Carol’s eye, but before he could be sure she flicked a finger across it and it was gone.

‘One last question, Miss Hurst,’ he said. ‘You told us before that you didn’t know whether Joan had any men friends, but I got the impression that perhaps you thought she might have. The question I have to ask you is rather delicate, so forgive me, but the fact is that one of the people we’ve talked to about Joan has suggested she might have been having an affair. Was that true?’

Carol looked shocked.

‘No, she wasn’t that kind of girl.’

‘So no men at all?’

She hesitated before answering.

‘Well, in all honesty I can’t say that, but I don’t want you or anyone else to think badly of poor Joan. The truth is there was one man – but only one man. She wasn’t the kind of woman you seemed to think she was when we first spoke.’

‘Who was this one man?’

Carol’s expression suggested she was struggling with how to answer.

‘I don’t know as I should say. I don’t want to betray a confidence. I know she’s dead, but even so, it was her private business.’

‘I’m afraid nothing is private in a murder case,