Light seeped through the glass panel on the side of the door and the woman answered. Her long, brushed back fringe bobbed over the sides of her short hair as she removed her black-framed glasses and placed them on her head. ‘Hello.’
‘DI Harte and DS Driscoll. We were hoping we could talk with you.’
She nodded slowly and opened the front door. ‘I’ve just got Joshua to sleep, so if we could speak quietly, that would be great.’
‘Of course.’ Gina stepped onto the mat and wiped her feet.
‘Shoes off, I’m afraid.’
Gina and Jacob balanced on the tiny mat as they fought with their zips and laces. Mrs Swinton’s house was a far cry from Eveline’s. There was no clutter anywhere. Shiny wooden flooring led the way to the lounge. A tiny log burner filled the corner of the room and each log looked like it had been perfectly stacked. Gina sat on the two-seater sofa next to the copper pipe industrial lamp, allowing her gaze to be drawn to the crackling log on the fire.
‘So, how can I help you?’ Mrs Swinton sat in the peacock-coloured chair and crossed her legs.
‘First of all, I’ll start by saying that we’re sorry for your loss.’
‘Don’t be.’ The woman’s angular features made her look quite stern and her lack of emotion added to it.
Gina cleared her throat. The woman in front of her didn’t need or want sympathy.
Jacob took out his notebook.
‘Mrs Swinton, can you tell us a little about your relationship with Alexander Swinton?’
She nodded. ‘It’s Nicky, please. I’m in the process of reverting back to my maiden name too. The less my son and I associate with the troubles of my now ex-husband, the better. For the purposes of us talking now, I’m still Swinton. Alex was my biggest mistake. I don’t know what I ever saw in him. He was nothing more than a controlling drunk. Of course, I didn’t see it at the beginning. He was funny, daring and, dare I say it, full of bold romantic gestures. I kept trying to make it work but he kept letting me down. His mother will tell you how he’d changed when he got the job at the medical supply factory but he hadn’t. I gave him an ultimatum. Stick at a job or you’re out.’
‘What happened then?’ Gina felt her face flush on the one side as the fire roared.
‘He didn’t get made redundant like she thinks. I told him to tell her that because I didn’t want Eveline to be upset. She’s so sensitive to the little things. I think, deep down, she was on tenterhooks, waiting for him to screw up. He’d been a difficult child and that continued into young adulthood. Anyway, he’d already had a warning for turning up at work stinking of booze and he did it again. They sacked him.’ Nicky clasped her hands in her lap and stared at the fire. ‘Can I get you both a drink?’
They shook their heads. Gina wanted a hot drink more than anything, but she didn’t want to disturb Nicky Swinton’s flow. ‘No, thank you.’
‘That’s when things got really bad. It was mid to late last year. He became impossible to live with. His anger would scare Joshua. He’d put his fists through doors and he even flung a plate at me. He used to disappear on benders for days at a time and one time, when he was gone, I went through his things in the garage and found all the debt letters. Mostly short-term, high interest loans. There were credit cards that had been maxed to the full. I panicked and called him over and over again but he didn’t answer or come home this particular time. He must’ve guessed I’d found them. That’s when the bailiffs called and they took my car. The only thing we’d bought in his name was the car. They took the TV too as that was in his name. I tell you something, it felt like the end of the world that day.’
‘Must have been worrying times.’ Gina tilted her head to one side.
‘They were. It wasn’t all bad. The house was in my name. I bought this house before we met and I never added him to the mortgage – I will be forever grateful for that. I worked hard before I even knew him and I’ve almost paid the mortgage off. If I’d added him to the paperwork, all this,’ she held her palm out, ‘would have been used to pay off his debts and Joshua and I would have nowhere to live.’
Gina fidgeted in the seat and tried to create a small gap between her and Jacob as their legs pressed together. This wasn’t a settee that a person was meant to lounge on, more style over substance. ‘What happened when he eventually came back?’
‘He was on something and I knew the problem was bigger than drink. He looked vacant and demanded to come in when he saw all his belongings bagged up on the drive. I’d changed the locks and that fuelled his anger even more, then I told him what had happened with the bailiffs and that I was so fed up of being let down. He pleaded for another chance. I couldn’t put myself or our son through any more and, if I’m honest, I’d fallen out of love with him – that’s if I ever was in love with him. He left.’
‘Did he come back after that?’
Nicky nodded. ‘Many times. He’d turn up at any hour. He scratched my new car. He’d shout through the letterbox and generally make a nuisance of himself. I rammed a broom handle through the letterbox into his stomach. He didn’t come back after that.’
After all Nicky had been through, she still managed to defend herself with such confidence. ‘Did you ever report this?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t want the fuss. Eventually he stopped coming so as far as I was concerned, it was all over. I picked up my life and rebuilt it. I’m still short on cash, but we manage. I had to get extra work for a while. Things improved and they continue to do so.’ For the first time, Nicky smiled.
‘What is it you do?’
‘I’m the purchase manager at Arkel Bond Engineering over on Cleevesford Industrial Estate.’
The heat was taking all the moisture from Gina’s sore lips. She unbuttoned her coat before she began to sweat.
‘Did you know that Alexander was back in Cleevesford?’
Nicky Swinton stood and walked over to the fire. She drew the poker, opened the little window and prodded the log. ‘Yes. I saw him.’
