You mustn’t blame yourself?
Absurd. How could he not?
Chapter Eighteen
A light was still on in the spare room when Hannah got back to the house. When she opened the front door, she heard Marc’s footsteps on the landing. As she hung up her jacket, he padded down the stairs.
‘You’re out late,’ he said as they turned to face each other in the hall. In the harsh light his pale face was haggard. She’d bought his red silk dressing gown last Christmas, but beneath it his shoulders seemed to slope in defeat.
‘Interviewing a witness.’
‘With Nick Lowther?’ When she groaned, he repented at once. ‘Sorry, ignore that. None of my business.’
‘No, I wasn’t with Nick. I am capable of making a few enquiries on my own.’
She didn’t say that she’d been talking to Daniel Kind. In days gone by, Marc had made even more of a fuss about Ben than he did about Nick. She didn’t want to create a new object for his absurd jealousy. And it was absurd, of course.
‘Sorry, I didn’t…’
‘Oh, forget it,’ she said. ‘Look, I fancy something to eat. Can I tempt you?’
‘Hannah, we need to talk.’
‘Not tonight we don’t, Marc. It’s been a long day.’
She made as if to move past him and head for the kitchen, but he folded his arms and stood in her way. The smell of whisky on his breath was unmissable.
‘Please, Hannah. It must be tonight.’ He wasn’t quite slurring his words. Not quite. ‘This is very important, not just for me, but for — for us.’
She stared at him. ‘Living room?’
He led her to the sofa and they sat facing each other, wary as two dogs encountering each other in the park, uncertain whether they are friends or foes. For once he didn’t reach automatically for the remote control to put on classical music. God, she said to herself, this must be serious.
‘What’s on your mind, Marc?’
‘I need to tell you something. Make a clean breast.’
The central heating had been programmed to switch itself off half an hour earlier, but that wasn’t why she suddenly felt cold. The expression in his eyes, on his face, was not familiar. For a few moments she couldn’t place it, but then she realised that he was ashamed. Marc, ashamed? Well, well, talk about a first time for everything. All of a sudden, she was listening in her head to the cool voice of Ben Kind.
‘When the suspect is about to confess, it’s the most delicate moment of all. You’re walking a tightrope, you mustn’t rush. One false step — and you’re finished. Don’t give a clue what’s going on in your mind. You may be winning, but no game is over until it’s over. Never let the initiative slip.’
She stretched out her legs. ‘Okay, Marc. I’m listening.’
‘You’re always so calm,’ he said, in a tone of nervous wonder. ‘What must be going on in your head?’
‘Not a lot,’ she said. ‘It is late. But like I said, I’m listening.’
He took a breath. ‘There’s a reason why Dale and Leigh were stressed-out by the interviews today.’
‘Other than brutal police interviewing techniques?’
Ben would have fumed, but she couldn’t resist scoring a cheap point; it helped release the tension. Marc waved a hand, a tired gesture of surrender.
‘I’m sorry about earlier on. Forget what I said. I was overwrought, okay?’
Hearing him say sorry so often was a novelty. She’d never known him give the impression of being fearful of her. She was in charge, but it didn’t feel good.
‘Carry on.’
‘After Gabrielle Anders was killed, I told you a lie.’
She fought to keep her voice from trembling. ‘What did you lie about?’
‘I was out in Brackdale on the day of the murder. But I told you that I walked the Horseshoe. It wasn’t true. I made a detour and went down the coffin trail and into the village.’
Her gaze didn’t flicker, but her thoughts were jumping. Had he seen something relevant to the murder inquiry and kept his mouth shut?
‘I headed straight for The Moon under Water.’ The booze must have given him courage; the story started tumbling out like a stream in spate. ‘Dale was in charge of the cleaners there. Sometimes she took advantage and invited a boyfriend round. If a room wasn’t occupied, she could make use of it. She said Joe Dowling didn’t know, but thinking it over, I’m not so sure. The slimy toad had his eye on her and I bet he knew what she was up to. She never admitted it to me, but I’d lay odds that he made sure there was a payback. Probably that’s why she stopped working there.’
‘Go on.’ Hannah scarcely trusted herself to say any more.
He coughed. ‘Anyway, on this particular occasion, I was the one she invited.’
After a long pause, she said, ‘But we were seeing each other at the time.’
‘I know.’ His face had aged with misery; it had lines and flaws that she’d never noticed before. ‘I shouldn’t have said yes. But you’d just started working with Ben Kind…’
‘And you were jealous?’
‘Yes!’ Tears brimmed in his eyes. ‘I can’t help it, Hannah, it’s the way I’m made. I hate it when men fancy you, but it’s even worse when you fancy them.’
It was a mistake to respond, but she couldn’t let it pass. ‘Are you suggesting that I fancied Ben Kind?’
‘I don’t want to argue about it,’ he said thickly. ‘Deny it if you want, that’s fine. But I thought you did.’
‘So you decided on tit for tat?’
‘You could say…’
‘And when the chance of a quick shag came along, you couldn’t say no?’ Her voice was getting louder.
‘I’ve regretted it ever since.’
‘Not as much as I regret it! Oh shit, Marc, how could you do this?’ She was almost choking with anger and despair. ‘When we started going out together, you told me you and Dale were finished. Over. Done.’
‘It was true!’ he insisted. ‘And then I bumped into her one evening when you were working and she was lonely and so was I and — things got out of hand.’
‘How many times?’ she demanded.
She’d seen the same hunted expression on the faces of a hundred criminals. The panicky arithmetic: what’s the least I can get away with?
‘Twice that week,’ he said eventually. ‘That’s how often we made love. I would close the shop and make my way to Brack. You and I were passing strangers, Ben Kind had you running errands all over the place for him. I’m not making an excuse, just trying to explain. Of course, that afternoon was the end. I swear it. Dale was as upset as me. Imagine how she felt when she heard that Gabrielle Anders was dead. She’d spent part of the day in question in bed with the boyfriend of one of the detectives investigating the murder. Wouldn’t you be scared stiff?’
‘How would I know? I’ve never been in that situation.’
‘She swore she’d never do anything to mess up my relationship with you, and she meant it, she kept her word.’
‘By lying to the police?’
‘We didn’t see any alternative. It seemed to be for the best. No one saw us, Joe Dowling was out. Dale didn’t harm the investigation. When the constable questioned her, she told him she hadn’t seen Gabrielle since breakfast time. Perfectly true, as it happens. The room we used was on the same corridor as Gabrielle’s and we didn’t see her on the way in or out.’
Hannah said nothing.
‘The truth is,’ Marc said, ‘Dale and I have both moved on. We’d pretty much forgotten what happened.’
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Honestly, I swear it. Then your team re-kindled the investigation and Dale found herself being quizzed again. She panicked. How could she know whether you knew or had guessed about her relationship with me?’
‘Did Leigh Moffat know that you two were sleeping together at the time of the murder?’