‘She doesn’t like Ashley very much, does she?’
‘I’m sorry, Inspector, but what does this have to do with anything?’
‘You left her for Ashley?’
He had the grace to colour and blink rapidly for a few seconds before nodding. She remained silent, waiting for more detail.
‘We were deeply in love, me and Gemma. We were happy for a long time. We managed to keep going for four years despite the two-hundred-mile distance between us, but when we got back together, something had changed. More for me than for her. Gemma thought we’d just fit back into place like the two pieces of a jigsaw we’d always been, but it was as though my edges had frayed. It was nothing huge. I just didn’t feel that tight fit any more.’
‘She said you were going to get engaged.’
‘She’s right, we were. I’d bought the ring and then carried it around for months. At first I conned myself that I was just waiting for the right time to pop the question, that I wanted it to be perfect. Eventually, I realised I was putting it off because something had shifted. It wasn’t until I met Ashley that I knew that much as I loved Gemma, I was no longer in love with her.’
‘Were you unfaithful?’
He thought for a second. ‘Physically no but emotionally probably. I knew I was falling in love with Ashley long before I ended things with Gemma. Despite everything, I didn’t want to hurt her, but the feelings just weren’t there any more. But why does any of this matter? It was years ago.’
‘It still matters very much to Gemma. She’s been sending hate messages to Ashley ever since.’
He sat back in his chair with an open mouth.
And for him the hits just kept on coming.
‘I’m assuming you didn’t know?’
‘Not a clue. Why would she do that?’ he asked, rubbing his forehead.
‘She blamed Ashley completely for your break-up. You were the innocent party who stood no chance against Ashley’s manipulations. She just hasn’t been able to let you go. Do you know if your wife ever saw these messages? They’re pretty bad.’
‘She would have told me,’ he said.
Just like she told you about the baby she was expecting, Kim thought. Seemed there were secrets in even the best of marriages.
‘You don’t think… I mean… that Gemma could have…?’
‘We’re not ruling anything out. I can’t share the actual content of the communications, but threats were made against Ashley’s safety.’
‘Jesus Christ.’
‘I’m sorry. I know this must all be a shock to you. By the way, where were you planning on going?’ she asked as Bryant followed Ava back into the room.
‘My sister’s house in Scotland. Just for a few days. It’ll do her good,’ he said, nodding towards Ava, who had nestled into the crook of his arm.
‘That’s a lot of luggage for a couple of days,’ she observed.
He shifted in his seat. ‘Ah well, with kids you can never take too much.’
The unease in her stomach was growing, and it was the man’s behaviour that was tapping the warning bell. He was lying to her about something. She didn’t know what, and more importantly she didn’t know why.
‘It’s not usual for the family of recent victims to leave the area. We’d prefer if they remained where we can update them.’
‘Are you saying I can’t go?’ he asked as tension filled his face.
‘I’m afraid so,’ Kim answered.
Until this moment, she’d had no real reason to think that Daniel Reynolds’s name needed to move up on the suspects’ board, but now she wasn’t so sure.
She thanked him for his time and headed to the car.
