The first Ash hears of it is on Heart North Devon radio. It’s the main news story. He’s driving home from work, brain-dead after a bad night’s sleep followed by a tedious day of meetings, conference calls, emails and an unusually high number of complaints from irate customers, and he nearly ploughs into the back of the car in front of him when he hears the newsreader’s opening sentence:
‘The man arrested in connection with the murder of eighteen-year-old Joshua Knoll has died in police custody.’
Ash turns up the volume and listens attentively to the rest of the bulletin, making an effort to concentrate on the road at the same time.
‘Harry Tomlinson, an early career teacher at South Lydacombe, an independent secondary school on the edge of Exmoor, was found dead in his cell this morning,’ the presenter continues. ‘He is thought to have had a previously undetected heart condition.’
The newsreader goes on to recap the circumstances of Joshua’s murder, but there’s no more about Tomlinson himself. Ash turns off the radio. He’s reeling, his mind spinning with questions. What does this mean for them? For Iris? Is this good or bad news? Ash feels only a tiny pang of guilt for instantly thinking of his own family without considering the impact of this young man’s untimely death on his loved ones. Roly had told him that Tomlinson was a ‘shady hallion’ and a ‘bad article’. Ash had got the gist.
He tries to think it through. It would have been far better if he’d been convicted – or if he’d at least confessed – before his heart packed in. Ash doesn’t believe Tomlinson killed Joshua Knoll for a second, but perhaps now everyone will assume he did. In which case, with a bit of luck, Tomlinson can take the fall and this whole nightmare will finally be over for Iris, even if the real killer remains at large.
He looks at the dashboard clock. He’d like to call Carla, but she’ll be busy right now with the kids and Dandruff. Ash refuses to refer to them as Carla’s family, even in his own head, because he feels that he himself is part of Carla’s family.You had your chance, Ash. You blew it. Anyway, Carla needs to patch things up with Dandruff, which means Ash needs to take a step back, give them some space.
So instead of calling Carla, he makes a slight detour to call in at Roly’s, although he’s not sure if Roly will be home yet.
As luck would have it, Roly is outside, leaning against the front door, vaping. Ash parks the car and strides up the driveway.
‘A step in the right direction, right?’ Roly says, waving the e-cigarette at Ash as he approaches.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘That I was quitting fags?’
‘No, you moron! That Tomlinson had kicked the bucket.’
‘Check your phone much, do you?’
‘Not while I’m working, no.’
Ash has two phones – one for work; one for friends and family. Carla and the kids are the only people who have both numbers. Ash has never been into social media or played games like Candy Crush. His phone has never been glued to his hand. He spends far too much time as it is in front of a computer screen at work; he doesn’t feel like downgrading to a phone screen at the end of the day. He spends a lot of time with his laptop in the evenings as well, checking for Iris’s video. He pulls his personal mobile out of the inside pocket of his jacket. A missed call and a text from Roly. Same from Carla. He glances at one text, then the other – both about Tomlinson, predictably – clicks off the silent mode and pockets the phone. He’ll text Carla later and tell her to call him when she’s free.
‘Is what they’re saying true?’ Ash asks. ‘That he died in his cell?’
‘Yes. The post-mortem confirmed it. Dilated cardiomyopathy.’
‘What’s that in layman’s terms?’ Ash asks.
‘Some sort of disease of the heart muscle, apparently.’
‘So, what happens next?’
‘There will be an inquiry.’
That’s not what Ash meant. He meant what happened next for his family. For Iris. ‘Oh, God. I hadn’t thought about that. You won’t get into any trouble, will you?’
‘Not me, personally, no. But I think we’re all in the clear on this one. Tomlinson didn’t declare any health problems. No one could have foreseen he might, you know, die.’
‘Don’t suppose he confessed with his dying breath, did he?’ There’s no hope whatsoever in Ash’s voice.
‘Sorry, mate.’
‘So what happens now?’
Roly shrugs and vapes at the same time. It looks comical and Ash might have laughed if they’d been talking about something more trivial.
‘Dunno,’ Roly says. ‘It’s not my case anymore, as you know. I hope this is the end of it and that things will go back to normal.’
Ash isn’t sure he knows what normal looks like anymore. ‘You think he was guilty?’
