Grant kept sipping water from the paper cup in front of him, his twitchy fingers getting worse. ‘Not really but I’m okay to go on. I just want this over with.’
‘How did the tissues with Jennifer Bailey’s blood get into your cabin bin?’
Shiny beads of perspiration formed at his forehead before dribbling down the side of his face. He wiped them away with his sleeve. ‘I was there.’
‘And you crashed into Jennifer Bailey and took your wife, Annabel Braddock.’
‘No.’ He slammed his hand on the desk.
‘You had a tracker on your wife’s phone. You’d know exactly where she was.’
‘Of course. You know it all, don’t you? I don’t know why you’re asking me if you know everything. I was there, okay? But I didn’t take my wife and I didn’t run anyone over. You have my car. It was left at the gym. I didn’t crash into anyone.’
Gina stared at him, hoping a moment’s silence would crack him further. His Mercedes had been parked near the boatyard and it did have a dent in it. He was lying again. That car was now with forensics and there had been signs of a struggle and blood in the boot. ‘Tell me what happened then, from the beginning.’
He bit his lip and continued, ‘I’d been with Taylor at the cabin all day. We were meant to stay for the weekend but something snapped in me. I felt like I shouldn’t be there and I didn’t want to be there with her. It was like hanging out with a teenager and all I wanted was the comfort of home. She was wasted and I was finding it annoying so we bickered a bit and she stormed off into the bedroom a bit worse for wear.’
‘Worse for wear?’
‘Plastered. Drunk. She’d thrown up a couple of times. Once on the other cabin’s doorstep. The people staying there were really fed up with her and her music and I was getting embarrassed. It hit home when the woman said that my daughter was causing a nuisance. I knew I’d made the biggest mistake of my life by making her all those stupid promises about us being together, moving into a place of our own. I wanted out.’ He played with his fingers, linking and unlinking them.
‘And.’
‘I got in my car and drove away. All I wanted was for all the noise and chaos to stop for a minute. I parked up on the roadside and sat there. Before long, I was drawn to my phone. I missed home and I knew Annabel was out with Jennifer so I checked Instagram. She hadn’t put any photos up. It was then that I used the app. I wanted to know where she was and I know it was wrong but I could see that she was on Cleevesford High Street. I knew which route she’d take home, it was the one we’d taken on foot many times. I headed that way in the hope that I could give them a lift back to the house and go back home. Even though I was in the spare room, it was better than staying for a minute longer with Taylor. When I got there, I saw Jennifer in the road bleeding. I pulled up, ran out and began dabbing at her with some tissues I had in my car, then I panicked. I thought she was already dead so I got back in my car and drove away.’
‘Which car were you driving?’
‘My Volvo. I haven’t used the Merc in ages.’
Gina felt her stomach clenching. ‘You didn’t think to call an ambulance?’
‘I thought she was dead. I had blood on my hands. I’d had one beer at the cabin. I wasn’t over the limit but still. It was stupid and I panicked.’
‘And where did you go after that?’
‘Back to the cabin. I went out on the decking, disposed of the tissues in the bin and cleaned myself in the hot tub. After about an hour, I left and stayed in my car. I thought and thought about what I should do, then I decided to act as if nothing had happened. I normally go to the gym on Sunday mornings and I had my gym bag in the car. I went to the gym. I…’ He went silent and remained still with his mouth open.
‘You what?’
Wyre sat back as they waited for him to continue.
‘I heard on the news that Annabel was missing. I heard about the hit-and-run and I had to get out. That’s when I knew you were looking for me too. I regretted being at the scene and not calling it in and I knew I was in trouble. After pacing the streets for a while, I then went to the café to grab a coffee and think. Then I saw you lot turn up so I ran. Eventually I escaped over the back gardens on Langley Road. That’s when I found the open shed. I went in and I stayed there, too scared to come out.’
‘How did you get back to the boatyard, to respond to the message that you thought was from Annabel?’
‘I had cash on me so I called a taxi. The taxi dropped me off by Bidford Bridge. I walked the rest of the way. I didn’t know whether the driver might recognise me at a later point and I didn’t want him to know exactly where I was going. It took me about twenty minutes to walk the rest of the way, along the river. When I approachedFreedom, my boat, I kept calling Annabel in the dark but she didn’t answer. Next thing I know I’d been struck and then I woke up in that box. Everything after was a drugged-up haze.’
‘Who knew you had a boat and who knew where it was?’
‘Everyone. My friends, my brother. Annabel’s friends, her family, all my colleagues, people at the pub. She probably told that teacher she was having it away with at the school. Her dad never approved of the boat but he knew where I kept it.’
‘That’s a long list. We found your car at the boatyard. It has a dent in the bonnet consistent with the injuries that Jennifer Bailey has received. There is a smear of blood on the car, we will soon know if it’s a match to her blood. It’s looking highly likely that the vehicle you kept in your garage was used to hit Jennifer. We also found traces of blood in the boot.’
‘What! I told you, I haven’t used that car for months. Someone else had to have been driving it. It wasn’t me. Check with the taxi company. I got dropped off in a taxi. Wait. The driver asked me if I had a good night and he asked me where I’d been. I snapped at him, telling him to mind his own business. Rude, I know. But he’ll remember me because of that.’
‘What taxi firm did you use?’
‘Cleevesford Private Hire. There was a sticker on the door. Check with them.’
