His impatience was unsettling, and she wondered if his focus would return when she revealed the other reason for her visit.
‘Our witness seems to think Ashley was giving him money.’
He nodded. ‘She was. It’s why she never wanted to see him. He’s a lazy bastard with fifty reasons why he can’t get a job. He’s always asking her for cash.’
‘Why did she give it to him?’ Kim asked.
‘Because one thing he does seem to be able to do is make babies. He has three kids, all under seven years old. He gives her the sob story that the kids need nappies or milk or that the electric is being cut off. She only thinks about the children.’
‘Is he envious?’ Kim asked. Ashley had lived in a nice house and had a good job. If he’d been less fortunate in life, she could understand a festering resentment.
‘He has no time for Ashley, and he’s never sent Ava so much as a birthday card. She wouldn’t know him if she passed him in the street. The only person Warren ever cares about is himself.’
‘Any violence between them?’
He hesitated before nodding. ‘A long time ago now. He said something unkind about Ava. She slapped him, and he pushed her to the ground.’
Given that information, Kim had to wonder why Ashley entertained his begging at all. She wouldn’t have been reaching into her purse to bail him out, but she also understood that blood ties were complicated things.
‘They were close when they were kids,’ Daniel said, reading her mind. ‘Everything changed when they left school. Ash enrolled at college, and Warren went on benefits while looking for work. He thought he was going to be able to walk into a well-paid job straight out of school. Ash had realised she needed some qualifications behind her. He got into construction work, but that was the problem: it was work, bloody hard work, and he didn’t care much for it. He got comfy on benefits, and as the years passed, the gap widened between them. He became resentful that she had money in her pocket and he didn’t. Instead of trying to change his own fortunes, he decided he was entitled to payouts.’
Kim nodded her understanding, knowing there was little else to glean from him on the subject of his brother-in-law. There had been no love lost between Ashley and her brother, but there had been violence. She was glad she’d instructed Penn to investigate further. For now, she had other news to share.
‘Daniel, would you mind sitting down for a minute?’
This time his glance at the clock was followed by a pointed look at his wrist.
‘Just for a minute,’ she insisted.
He fought the irritation from his face and did as she’d asked.
‘You may not be aware, but Ashley was pregnant.’
‘Wh… what?’ he said, his mouth hanging open.
‘I’m so sorry, but we think she was almost three months.’
His head dropped into his hands.
‘She hadn’t told you?’ Kim asked.
He shook his head. ‘We’ve had two miscarriages in two years, both before the three-month mark. She would have kept it from me until the danger time had passed and…’ His words trailed away as something hit him. ‘She said she had a surprise for me but that it wouldn’t be here until the weekend. Maybe that’s when…’
‘She was going to tell you,’ Kim finished for him. That timeline would make sense.
His gaze fixed on the distance. ‘She’d always dreamed of giving me… never mind,’ he said, blinking away the tears in his eyes.
Kim guessed he’d been about to say she’d dreamed of giving him a son, but after seeing his love for Ava, she suspected he wouldn’t have cared. She saw no value in telling him it would have been a boy.
She studied him closely as he seemingly sought to come to terms with his loss. She hated that a part of her had to wonder if Ashley had concealed the pregnancy for other reasons. Perhaps she’d been having an affair and the child wasn’t his. Maybe he’d found out about it. Much as she wanted to believe that the quintessential happy family did exist, she had to remember that his wife had been brutally murdered and that he’d been trying to leave the area.
His grief appeared to be genuine, but it was possible for him to be distraught even if he’d been the cause of it.
‘We spoke to Gemma,’ she said, still watching him closely.
The expression that sprang to his face told Kim he gave a lot less thought to Gemma Ross than she gave to him. It had taken him a couple of seconds to remember who she was.
‘Why?’ he asked.
