‘I know you were, Dad.’
‘She planned the garden, you know.’
‘You never told me that.’
‘She did. When we moved into this house, the entire garden, the back garden, was just a greensward, a swathe of grass, could play a game of cricket on it. That’s why I won’t leave this house, not just because her ashes are scattered here, but because this garden is her design.’
‘Well…’ The young man watched a swallow loop and swoop.
‘She was heavily pregnant, couldn’t do anything except sit and read, and one day at the kitchen table she designed the garden. Reduced the lawn to half its original size, planting a privet from left to right with a gateway set in it, a potting shed and an orchard beyond the privet, and a waste area with a pond in the very bottom. The first apple trees were planted to coincide with your arrival, at least Jenn saw that. She used to walk with you amongst the saplings. Took me fully five years to complete it to her design.’
‘The trees are as old as me then? Thirty years.’
‘The oldest ones are, apple tree saplings are quite expensive and so we…I had to plant the orchard over time.’
‘Still, you ought to have found someone.’
‘Oh, I have.’ Hennessey smiled at his son. He relished his company.
‘Well, all the secrets are being exposed this evening. This is news.’
‘It’s a recent development. Still new.’
‘Tell me about her.’
‘She’s a professional woman, divorced, three children who are old enough to know that their mum needs a partner and are not possessive of her. They’ve welcomed me into their family-I help out with the homework, and the like. Love it. She has three children, a high-powered, demanding job, a horse and two rabbits, so we’ve worked out that I come eighth on her list of priorities.’
Charles Hennessey smiled. ‘You haven’t lost your dry sense of humour, Dad. I think that has carried you through.’
‘Probably has.’ Hennessey glanced up at the crimson sky.
‘Magnificent sunset.’
‘Isn’t it.’
‘Tell me about Mum.’
‘What can I say…a lovely, lovely woman…all she could do was give of herself, nurture things, husband, son, a garden, house plants…she just gave and gave and gave, and all she seemed to want in return was to see that the things she gave to thrived. That was all the reward she wanted.’
Thursday morning
…in which a suspect is quizzed and a double life is exposed.
The twin spools in the cassette tape recorder spun slowly, silently. The red light glowed.
The date is Thursday, the eleventh of June, the time is ten-fifteen and the place is Micklegate Bar Police Station in the City of York. I am Chief Inspector Hennessey. I am going to ask the other people in the room to identify themselves.’
‘Detective Sergeant Yellich.’
‘Nathan Samual of Samual, Samual & Kileen, solicitors.’
‘Tim Sheringham.’ Said in a resentful, surly manner.
‘Mr Sheringham, you have been arrested in connection with the murder of Mr and Mrs Williams.’
‘So I understand.’
‘Did you murder Mr and Mrs Williams?’
‘No.’
Hennessey looked at Sheringham, such sudden long shots had paid off before. ‘Thought you’d say that.’
‘Did you know Mr and Mrs Williams?’
‘No.’ Sheringham smiled. ‘I didn’t know them.’ He emphasized the word ‘them’.
‘Did you know Mr Williams?’
‘No.’
‘Did you know Mrs Williams?’
‘Yes. Very well indeed.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean sexually. I knew her sexually. We had an affair. She enrolled at the gym. Things went from there.’
‘I see. How long did you know Mrs Williams?’
‘About two years, maybe longer. I didn’t keep a diary.’
‘When did the relationship finish?’
‘Last week.’
‘Why did it finish?’
‘Because my wife was getting suspicious.’
‘How did Mrs Williams react?’
‘As you’d expect.’
‘Mr Sheringham, I’ve been a police officer for many years, pretty well all my working life, and I have learned not to expect anything. So, how did she react?’
‘Badly. She threw a tantrum. Screaming about the place.’
‘The place?’
‘Her little house.’
‘The house or the bungalow?’
A pause. Then Tim Sheringham said, ‘The house.’
‘Did she threaten to tell your wife?’
‘Probably. She was angry. I didn’t really listen. She was angry because she’d spent a lot of money on me. I was her “boy”. She bought me gifts and meals in upmarket restaurants. I showed her a good time. I gave her a good time. She gave me money and things.’
‘She gave you money?’
‘Yes. She bought my body. Why not? Men do it all the time. And anyway, wouldn’t you want my body if you were a fifty-something woman with a drunkard for a husband?’
Hennessey didn’t reply.
Sheringham smirked. ‘I suppose you wouldn’t really understand that, not being married and all, I mean, would you, Chief Inspector? You know the first time we “did it”, it was at the bungalow. He came home earlier than expected, in a taxi, entered the house and curled up on the sofa, drunk as a lord. We just carried on and then went for a meal. He wasn’t aware of anything going on at all. She told me that had been the first time she’d done “it” for many years, she said she had a lot of catching up to do.’
‘And you helped her catch up?’
‘Well…yes. Is there anything wrong with that? Look, I am not a Christian but that doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy. She had money, she could afford it.’
Hennessey said nothing, but the word ‘credit’ crept into his mind. ‘You didn’t always spend time with her at the bungalow?’
‘No. We met at a house her husband had had built. They had money. I told you. We started to use the house as soon as it was complete because she thought her neighbours were getting suspicious.’
‘And she didn’t take it too kindly when you broke it off?’
‘Like I said, very unkindly. I mean, I was her possession, she’d take me to restaurants not just to buy me a meal, but to show me off. She used to enjoy the envious looks she’d get from other women.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘We went away once…a weekend…a hotel near the coast. Not actually on the coast itself, that was too near bed and breakfast land for her…but just inland, a mile or two inland from Scarborough. She paid.’
‘She would by the sound of it.’
‘Well, she’d have to, the gym is paying its way but only just and anyway, my wife and I have a joint account, I couldn’t hide spending money on Amanda. I’m in trouble as it is. I don’t know how I’m going to explain this.’
‘How did you explain the weekend away to your wife?’
‘Said it was a business trip. Anyway, we were not married then. I enjoyed it, we were both something on the side for each other, that was part of the fun…but she was getting too indiscreet…showing me off too much…I felt it was getting dangerous…coming to the gym very frequently. Daily almost, so I blew her out.’
‘Then what did you do?’
‘Got on with living my life. Running the gym.’
‘So why did you go back to the bungalow after she and her husband had been murdered?’
Sheringham glanced at Nathan Samual, who said, ‘Can you explain that question, Chief Inspector?’
‘I’d be happy to. Your affair, Mr and Mrs Williams were murdered, their home was ransacked. We know that the house was sanitized after the murder, but we got a fingerprint from the bathroom.’ Sheringham caught his breath.
‘Remembering something, Mr Sheringham?’
‘I’m not saying anything.’