Reckless Endangerment(13)

Without another word, Sharon scribbled her signature in the places Kate had indicated.

‘We’ll undoubtedly have to talk to you again soon, Sharon,’ I said.

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said the woman, but I got the impression that she was not relishing the prospect of another interview.

‘When are you next due on duty?’ I asked.

‘Not until Wednesday afternoon.’

‘One other thing, Sharon,’ said Kate, as we stood up to leave. ‘Would you mind just pulling up your sleeves?’

Sharon didn’t query this request and did as she was asked.

‘And now your ankles.’ Kate stepped closer and examined the woman’s wrists and ankles. ‘Thank you, Sharon,’ she said. ‘I should get some rest now, if I were you. Can I get someone to bring you a cup of tea?’

‘That would be nice, thank you. Then I think I’ll try to get some sleep.’

‘Tell me, Sharon, was your husband’s life insured?’ asked Kate. It was the sort of barbed question that she was very good at posing, and she asked it almost as a throwaway query. As though it were of no real importance.

‘Yes, thank goodness, but unfortunately it’s only for twenty thousand pounds. Cliff took it out when we were married and I don’t think he bothered to increase the amount. I’ve always left the financial side of things to him. He’s very good at it, being an accountant. Still,’ continued Sharon, ‘this house is worth quite a bit and I’ll probably have to sell it now. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.’ Her last statement was accompanied by a suitably sad expression.

We left it at that, but I determined that I’d get DS Flynn, who had previously served on the Fraud Squad, to look into the Gregorys’ financial affairs.

I was unhappy about the statement that Kate had just taken. Somehow it didn’t seem to hang together, and I began to wonder if we were dealing with something more complex than a straightforward break-in that ended up as a murder. The possibility that was foremost in my mind was that the so-called intruder was actually an accomplice and that he and Sharon had arranged the whole thing. But we had a long way to go before we could prove that.





FOUR


Downstairs in the hall, Kate sought out the woman PC who had earlier been sitting with Sharon Gregory. ‘Get a cup of tea organized for Mrs Gregory and take it up to her, would you, please?’ she said.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ said the WPC, and turned to go. If she thought that making cups of tea wasn’t included in her job description, she had yet to learn that care of victims was an important part of police duty. But she didn’t comment, probably from fear of annoying Kate again.

‘Don’t run away just yet,’ said Kate. ‘While you were baby-sitting Mrs Gregory, did she say anything about what had happened?’

‘Only that she’d been frightened out of her life when the man appeared, ma’am. She said she thought he was going to rape her. And then she said she hoped he wouldn’t come back again.’

‘Did she say anything about having been naked the whole time this was going on?’

‘She did say that she was naked when she first saw the man in the hall, ma’am.’

‘In the hall?’ queried Kate. ‘She didn’t say that the man was in the sitting room?’

‘No, ma’am, she said he was in the hall.’

‘Are you absolutely sure about that?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Give me your book,’ said Kate, holding out her hand. ‘Why isn’t there anything here to that effect?’ she asked, having read the last few entries.

‘I didn’t think it was important, ma’am.’

‘And who the hell are you to decide whether it’s important?’ snapped Kate. ‘For all you know, it could be vital evidence. Well, put it in your book now. And when you’re called to give evidence at the Old Bailey or wherever, you’ll say that I directed you to put it there and that you only put it there some time after the statement was made by Mrs Gregory because I had to tell you to do so. Clear?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ The WPC spent a few moments making notes and handed the book back to Kate.

Kate read through the entry and then signed it, adding the date and time. ‘You need to note everything a victim says to you, young lady, especially at the scene of a murder. Got that? And if defence counsel asks why you didn’t make the entry earlier, you’ll have to admit that you failed to do your job properly, won’t you?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘Good. Now get Mrs Gregory her tea.’