‘They’ve already contacted me,’ Eloise said in the same small voice. ‘DC Evans phoned me yesterday evening.’
‘Oh, I see. And what did you say?’
‘I said Jacob was here and gave them the time he left.’
‘And you didn’t say anything else?’
‘No.’
Relief flooded through her. ‘Thank you, thank you so much. I am grateful.’
‘Don’t be. I didn’t do it for you or him, but for me. I’m trying to forget what happened, erase it from my mind, and if I told the police I’d have to make a statement and it would all come back to me. I couldn’t cope with that. I’m barely coping now. I was off work for three weeks after he attacked me. I daren’t go out for fear he might be waiting for me.’ Her voice broke. ‘He hurt me so much. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. He’s ruined my life. I should have ended it the first time he hurt me but you persuaded me to see him again. Now I’ve got to live with the consequences. I won’t ever trust anyone again. He’s a monster, a cold heartless monster,’ she cried. ‘I pity you and Andrew, but don’t phone me again. I want to believe he never existed.’ And the line went dead.
Elizabeth sat with the phone in her hand and then, resting her head on the chair back, she wept openly.
Chapter Forty-Four
‘Are you sure it’s OK for me to phone now?’ Rosie asked.
‘Yes, of course. It’s good to hear from you. I was just watching daytime television,’ Eva admitted with a guilty laugh. ‘But with only a week to go before my due date I’m indulging myself. How are you? How’s the bank?’
‘Pretty much the same as usual. It’s sunny so I thought I’d come out for a walk and phone you before I have my sandwiches.’ She left the busy High Street and went down a side street to talk.
‘Yes, it’s a lovely day,’ Eva agreed. There was a short silence. ‘So how is Prince Charming? Any luck with house-training him?’ She laughed.
‘Not really.’ Rosie fell silent. She needed to talk – to confide – and Eva was her closest friend, but where to begin? ‘There’s some things I need to talk to you about,’ she said at last, but her eyes immediately filled and her breath caught. She turned away from the man coming towards her so he couldn’t see.
‘Rosie? What’s the matter? Are you all right?’ Eva asked, immediately concerned.
‘Not really.’ She stifled a sob. ‘I’m in a real mess, Eva, and I don’t know what to do.’
‘What, with Jacob you mean?’
‘Yes. It’s my fault. I should have spent longer getting to know him like you said, but he was desperate for somewhere to stay and he seemed so nice.’
‘And he’s not nice any more?’
‘No. Well, sometimes, but at other times he’s really nasty and I’m afraid of him. I do my best to please him but nothing seems to work.’
‘Oh Rosie. He hasn’t hit you, has he?’
‘Yes but it was my fault and he apologized after.’
‘Rosie, that’s not good. There is never a reason to hit someone.’
‘I know,’ she said defeated. ‘And after the last time I swore I’d never let another man treat me the way Shane did, but I have! It’s happened again.’
‘I didn’t know Shane hit you?’ Eva said shocked.
‘Yes, a lot. But I couldn’t talk about it, not even to you. What’s wrong with me that’s it’s happening again?’ She blinked back fresh tears.
‘There’s nothing wrong with you,’ Eva said firmly. ‘Other than that you’re too trusting. You need to tell him to leave straightaway. It’s your flat. I don’t understand why you haven’t already if things are that bad.’
‘I can’t. I’ve tried to talk about it but he gets so angry. He scares me. He’s got a bad temper.’
‘Have you told anyone else? Your mum? You’re close to her.’
‘No. Mum met him. She dropped by the other weekend. He didn’t want her to come but he was polite to her. But when I spoke to her after she admitted she didn’t like him. She said there was something in him that she found unsettling.’
‘Could you confide in her now? I’m sure she could help you. I’m not much use in my present condition.’
‘I don’t want to worry her. And what could she do? She’d tell me to get rid of him, but it’s not that easy. I gave him a key when he first moved in. I’d no idea he’d be like this. And there’s other stuff as well. Worse.’
‘Like what?’ Eva gasped, unable to imagine anything worse than a woman being afraid of and hit by her partner.
‘There’s a lot of stuff going on that doesn’t make sense. We went to his parents for dinner last Saturday. You know his father is a reverend?’
‘Yes, you said.’
‘They seem really nice people but Jacob hates them. He’s so rude to them and they seem to take it. There was an awful atmosphere. After dinner I helped his mum, Liz, with the dishes. While we were talking she commented that it was nice Jacob and I were getting on so well, and then asked if he treated me well?’
‘You think she might suspect?’
‘I don’t know. But what could I say? I just nodded. And then she said she was surprised my bank gave Jacob such a big loan to buy the car when he didn’t have any income. But they didn’t, Eva. I checked. He hasn’t taken out a bank loan. He talked to me about applying for one soon after we met, but then he didn’t need it because he inherited from his grandmother. I suppose he could have got a loan from somewhere else but why, when he had money from his inheritance? Then later she tells me that an elderly lady in the village was burgled, and it would have upset Jacob, as he used to visit her and treated her like a grandma as his own grandparents died when he was very young.’
‘Oh no! You think it’s possible that’s where the money came from?’ Eva asked, horrified.
‘I don’t know. I don’t want to believe it. But there’s so much about him I don’t know any more. When I think back to when he first came into the bank, he was so charming, I fell for him. He’s not the same person and I’ve no idea what to do.’
‘You need to make him go,’ Eva said. ‘And perhaps you should tell the police about the money?’
‘I can’t. He’d be furious. And maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Perhaps it’s me. I can’t think straight any more.’
‘It’s not you, Rosie,’ Eva said firmly. ‘Believe me. But I think you need to get away from him so you can think clearly and decide what to do. Why don’t you stay here for a couple of nights? Syed won’t mind. We often have his friends and relatives to stay.’
‘That’s kind of you but I can’t. Jacob wouldn’t like it and I’d have to go back and face him at some point.’
‘Well, come here after work tonight for a few hours then. I’ll make you some dinner.’
‘Thanks but no. I need to deal with this. I’ll have to go soon, it’s nearly the end of my lunch break.’
‘Oh Rosie, I’m so worried for you.’
‘Don’t be. You’ve got enough with the baby due next week. I’m sorry I put this on you, but I feel as if my head is bursting. I know I have to talk to him and I will tonight. As soon as I get home.’
‘All right, but phone or text me after to let me know you’re OK.’
‘Yes. Thanks, and sorry for all of this.’
‘Don’t apologize. Take care and phone soon.’
‘I will.’
Chapter Forty-Five
DC Evans was feeling rather self-satisfied. Although he hadn’t been able to check Jacob’s bank account – it required a court order to do that – he’d done the next best thing: identified the car he’d bought. With Jacob’s name and address it had been straightforward policing, requiring only an online search as all car dealers were obliged to inform the DVLA of the details of the cars they sold and their new owners. He’d checked with the garage and the car hadn’t been bought on finance but a debit from Jacob’s bank account. It wasn’t a cheap motor – £14k, and he’d bought it the week after the break-in at Ac
orn Cottage.
The manager had been very helpful and had mentioned that the guy who’d bought it – a Jacob Wilson – had been in before and had become aggressive when he’d been refused credit. He admitted he’d been surprised when the transaction had gone through.
Evans couldn’t wait to share this news with PC Mandy Taylor but she was on annual leave for the week. He was now being driven by another officer, Linda Simpson, and he knew better than to comment on her appearance. Mandy had known him long enough to excuse his well-intended compliments and faux pas, but he hardly knew Linda and she might not be so forgiving. She’d been drafted in from the town to cover maternity leave and they were now on their way to visit Jacob. He’d been filling her in on the background to the case as they went, culminating in his hope that this would lead to an arrest. It was on days like this that he was able to acknowledge how much he enjoyed his job, deriving immense satisfaction from it when a line of inquiry led to a crime being solved.
‘And if I find out Jacob’s parents have been withholding information I’ll have them for obstruction, Reverend or not,’ he continued. ‘They were very vague about the missing two-and-a-half hours when his father heard Jacob arrive home but not go to bed. Plenty of time to walk to Acorn Cottage and rob Mary Hutchins.’
‘They haven’t found the weapon used then?’ Linda asked as she drove.
‘No, not yet, but when they do I’d put money on Jacob’s fingerprints being on it.’
‘So what turned a previously decent lad into a thug?’ she asked, glancing at him.
‘Drugs at a guess. His room stank of weed. If he’s upped his usage to crack cocaine it will have done his head in and be expensive to maintain. Twenty grand was taken from Acorn Cottage so my guess is fourteen went on a car, which left six to pay off any debt he owed to his suppliers and keep his habit going for a while.’
She nodded as she pulled into Highland Grove, a road of low-rise privately owned flats.
‘Which block?’ she asked.
‘Hill Court, flat seventeen,’ Evans replied.
‘Just a minute, I’ve been here before,’ Linda said as she parked outside the flats.’
‘What, to the block or the flat?’
‘What’s the name of the girl he’s living with?’
‘Rosemary Jones. She’s clear. No previous.’
‘Rosie. Yes, I’m almost certain that was her name. I’ll know for sure when I see her.’
They walked the short distance to the main entrance then up the stairs to the first-floor landing. ‘Yes, it’s the same flat,’ Linda said, recognizing the door. ‘Her last boyfriend was Shane Smith. He was in a serious road traffic accident about a year ago. I was one of the officers who came to break the news.’ They paused on the landing. ‘She was a nice girl as I remember but Shane was a nasty bit of work. Lot of previous. Bad stuff, GBH etc. He hadn’t been out of prison long when he moved in with her. What does she see in these guys?’
‘Search me,’ Evans said.
He gave the bell a good hard push. It was 4.30pm so even someone with a drink or drug habit should be up by now, unless of course he was out, or his parents had tipped him off. There was no reply so he pressed again, keeping his finger on the bell for longer, then supplemented it with a good hard knock on the wood with his fist. If you made enough noise and they were in they usually answered. Another good ring and thump and true to form the door opened.
‘What the fuck!’
‘Jacob Wilson?’ Evans asked, flashing his ID card. He nodded. ‘DC Evans, and this is PC Linda Simpson.’
‘What do you want?’ Jacob demanded. Barefooted, unshaven with tousled hair and a creased shirt hanging over faded jeans, he could easily have just fallen out of bed.
‘We’d like to talk to you about the robbery at Acorn Cottage in Maybury,’ Evans said.
‘Why?’
‘We’re eliminating all the young men from the village.’
‘How did you know I was here?’
So his parents hadn’t tipped him off then? ‘Your parents gave us your address. I assume that isn’t a problem? We’d like to ask you a few questions.’
‘I’m busy,’ Jacob said, and began to close the door.
‘So are we,’ Evans said, placing his foot in the door to stop it. ‘Here or at the police station?’
Jacob threw open the door with unnecessary force and disappeared into the flat. Evans and Linda followed him in. Down the short hall and into the one main room, tidy except for the empty beer cans and pizza box. Jacob picked up the remote and, silencing the television, flopped onto the sofa. ‘Well, what do you want?’ he demanded.
There were no other chairs in the room so Evans perched on the wooden coffee table in front of Jacob while Linda stood to the side of the sofa. ‘How are you?’ Evans asked convivially.
‘Fine.’
‘A heart transplant is quite something.’
Jacob shrugged. ‘If you say so. Can we get on with this? I’m busy.’
‘Certainly, sir; you’ll be aware of the robbery at Acorn Cottage?’
‘Obviously. The whole village knows about it.’
Evans nodded amiably. He wasn’t easily antagonized; you couldn’t afford to be in police work. ‘One line of inquiry we’re looking at is that the person who broke into the cottage was a young man, probably in his twenties. We’re trying to eliminate all the young men of that age who lived in the village or visited it regularly at the time.’
‘I was away the night it happened,’ Jacob said. ‘Trying to patch things up with my ex.’
‘So I believe. I’ve spoken to the young lady.’
What did she say?’ he asked uneasily.
‘Eloise confirmed you were with her for some of that night,’ Evans said. ‘Why? Did you expect her to say something different?’
‘No. And that was all?’
Evans nodded and threw him a small reassuring smile to put him at ease. ‘So what time did you arrive at your parents’?’
‘I can’t remember exactly.’
‘Approximately will do, sir.’
‘Some time after midnight, I guess.’
‘Could you be a bit more precise? Was it just after midnight, or nearer one or two or o’clock? Or later?’
‘Just after midnight,’ Jacob said.
‘Thank you. Then what did you do?’
‘I went to bed of course. It was late.’
‘Straight to bed?’
‘Yes, I was tired.’
‘So what time do you think it was when you were in bed?’
Jacob shrugged. ‘Around twelve-thirty I guess.’
Evans felt a warm glow of satisfaction. First lie. Give him enough rope and he’d hang himself, as the saying went.
‘Is this your laptop,?’ he now asked, touching the closed laptop beside him on the coffee table.
‘No. Mine broke, that’s Rosie’s, my girlfriend’s. I’m using it to job-hunt.’
So perhaps he had been warned after all? Evans considered. But the owner of the laptop could easily be identified as could all the online activity and downloads, once he had enough evidence to charge him and take it away. ‘I understand you used to borrow your mother’s car. Do you have one of your own now?’
Jacob nodded.
‘Did you buy it with a loan?’
There was a pause and Evans watched Jacob carefully as he searched for the right answer. ‘Sort of.’
‘Sorry, sir? Did you take out finance to buy the car?’
‘No. My girl lent me the money,’ Jacob replied.
‘For the whole cost of the car?’
‘And some extra to see me through until I have a job.’
Definitely forewarned Evans thought, exchanging a glance with Linda. ‘So how much would that be in total?’
‘Around twenty thousand pounds.’
‘Wow. That was very generous of her!’
‘I guess she must like me a lot,’ Jacob said cockily.
‘And she’d be
happy to confirm she lent you all that money if I were to ask her?’
‘Of course. You can ask her soon. She’ll be on her way home from work now. But I’m forgetting my manners. Would you like a drink?’
‘No thank you,’ Evans said stiffly. He didn’t like being made a fool of.
Chapter Forty-Six
Rosie felt physically sick as she ran through what she was going to say to Jacob when she arrived home. Without a doubt he’d be in and waiting for her; he always was at this time. She’d have to say what she needed to at once or she’d lose her nerve and another day would pass. But how to approach him? He was always so irritable and angry that one wrong word or misconstrued look could send him over the edge and into a temper. She feared his anger as much as she feared his love-making, which had become brutal and selfish, an animal act where he showed her no consideration or love at all. Fucking is what he called it, and that’s exactly what it felt like.
Eva had been right when she’d said she mustn’t let it go on any longer and she needed time alone to sort herself out. Perhaps if she put it that way to Jacob – as though it was her problem – he wouldn’t take it so personally. She tried to rehearse the words she wanted to say. ‘Shane, I’m sorry but I think I rushed into our relationship. It’s not you, it’s me …’ She stopped, horrified, realizing what she’d done – substituted Shane’s name for Jacob’s. Her eyes welled.
She’d invited two men into her life who’d abused her. Whatever was wrong with her? Shane had said she was one of those women who secretly liked being kept in their place by a bloke. She’d dismissed it at the time but now history was repeating itself and she was starting to believe it. The two men she’d fallen for had turned out to be vicious, aggressive brutes, and while with hindsight she thought she should have seen it coming with Shane and his history, Jacob had been raised in a good home with kind, loving parents. He’d gone to university, had a good job and had never been in prison. Was it possible she was the magnet, a catalyst for abuse? She honestly didn’t know.