Gina nodded. She had a dead ex-husband and if the hatred she still felt towards him was as strong as Charlie’s love, then yes, she understood.
‘She liked to spend. I could see our bank balance going down all the time. She had no idea how to budget. The clothes, the holidays, it was as if she was constantly trying to keep up with her friends who all seem to be more well off. I’m from working-class stock. My mother had to budget for everything so I suppose the reckless spending worried me. Anyway, I didn’t mind for the first couple of years. When she agreed to go out with me, I felt like the luckiest person in the world. She was funny, beautiful and she made me feel like I was her everything. I’d just come out of a bad relationship myself and I’d hit an all-time low. Drinking, being late for work; I’d lost weight. She saved me. I don’t know what I’m going to do without her. If she was here now, I’d tell her to spend everything. It wouldn’t matter. It’s just money.’ He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. ‘I can’t do this now. I need time to let this sink in.’ He got up and moved over to the worktop.
‘Thank you, Mr Carter. I promise you we’ll be doing everything to catch whoever did this to your wife. Just to warn you, we will be putting out an appeal on the news. We need witnesses to come forward.’
‘Do it. Do whatever you can. Just catch who did this.’ He began to breathe through his teeth and stood against the worktop as he seethed. He crouched over the sink and let out a roar.
All Gina could see in Charlie Carter was a broken man. Footsteps echoed through the hallway and Jacob peered through the door. ‘Guv, can I have a word?’
She nodded as she removed a card from the small pile she kept in her pocket. ‘Mr Carter, we will need you to make a formal statement as soon as you can. If, in the meantime, you remember anything, however trivial you think it might be, please call me straight away.’
He took the card and stared out of the kitchen window at the garden. Gina glanced out at the back gate. A crime scene assistant was swabbing the catch. ‘Do you keep your gate locked?’
‘We tried to remember to lock it but we never did. This is a safe neighbourhood. We’ve never worried about these things.’ He held his hand out and looked away as if to say that was all she was getting out of him that night. Gina sensed she needed to leave him alone.
She left him to his grief in the kitchen and followed Jacob out. ‘What is it?’
‘Footprint in a patch of earth just outside the garden. Size nine and a popular brand of work boot.’
It was more than she expected but less than she’d hoped for. ‘Average and popular. Narrows it down a little but not much, but I’ll take that for now.’
She saw a pair of Charlie Carter’s shoes under the stairs. Bending down for a quick look at the underside, she shook her head. ‘Elevens. Call the bride. We need to speak to her. Two bridesmaids is too much of a coincidence and this can’t wait until tomorrow. Find out where Samuel Avery is. Also, put a look out on Phillip Brighton. If he wasn’t in his bedsit at the time of Francesca’s murder, where was he?’
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Fat tears plopped onto the empty chip wrapper. Cass wiped the slithering damp from her glistening face as she checked her phone. There had been no reply from Elvis and despite Kerry telling her to message tomorrow, she’d gone ahead and messaged her during the bus journey home. Kerry hadn’t replied either, but she’d read the message. She hated herself for being so impatient and chips, pie, a sausage and three scallops had filled a temporary gap.
A cramp seared across her upper stomach. She was in for a night of stomach hell and the lingering smell of grease was making her guts turn, that and the thought of the Sambuca she’d sipped with Kerry. She hadn’t wanted them. Deceptively, her stomach had screamed for the food but now all it did was rebel at the contents she’d guzzled at super speed.
The key turned in the lock. Elvis was home. He kicked the stiff door and it bounced back from the jamb on the wall as he muttered obscenities against their landlord. ‘Cass. You in?’
She grabbed the chip papers and wedged them into the plastic bin, swiftly dropping the lid on it. Snatching the tea towel, she began wafting the smell, trying to get rid of it.
‘Are we having chips? I’m starving.’
She sat at the table, her back to him as she wiped a tear away. ‘I had no idea when you’d be home so I didn’t get you any chips. I tried to call but you didn’t answer.’
He kicked the table leg. ‘I’m not allowed to do anything without you nagging me. My phone battery ran out.’ No sooner had he said the last word of his sentence than his phone beeped. ‘But I managed to charge it at the Angel.’
‘So, is that where you were?’
He paused and walked over to the cupboard, opening the doors. ‘Here we go with the questions again. Do I ask where you are every minute of the day?’
Now she thought of it, he never asked her a thing about her day. It was as if he didn’t care. He always expected her to be with him when he wanted her around. She helped him and his slimy boss, Samuel, with their functions and got paid a pittance. She did these things to help him and he never appreciated a thing.
‘It’s all about you, isn’t it?’
‘And what the hell does that mean. I work all the hours I can get so that we can get out of this dump and just because I want a couple of hours with my mates, you’re on my case.’
She wanted to ask who these mates were but the more she spoke, the worse things would get and that could result in him walking out again. Besides, when she got closer to Kerry, she knew she’d change, and that would show him. She’d rip the rug from under his feet and watch him tumble.
‘Why have we got no food?’
She shrugged.
‘You see to yourself. How selfish. That’s you all over, isn’t it, Cass? Selfish with a big fat capital S. Look at this.’
She turned to see what he was pointing at.
‘Beans, a tin of tuna, parsnip soup – I mean, who eats parsnip soup?’ He opened the fridge. ‘Cauliflower rice and not much else. You buy this crap and neither of us eat it. Do you think it just looks good in the fridge? We both know that it’ll end up in the bin and you’ll stuff your face with the shittiest food going.’ She glanced away, shame burning on her face. His phone beeped again. He pulled it from his pocket and preened his quiff as he read the message. ‘Stuff it. I’ll get my own food.’ He picked up the wine receipt she’d thrown on the worktop. ‘What’s this? Are you sitting here drinking when I’m not here? Is that why you’re like this?’
‘No. Let me explain.’
His phone beeped again.
‘Wait,’ she called as he stomped out of the room. ‘Don’t go.’ Even with him yelling at her, she still wanted him to stay and not to run to whoever was texting. Her bottom lip began to quiver. She had been selfish. She’d thought about herself and her need to fill a gaping emotional hole when she’d passed the chip shop. She hadn’t known when he’d be home otherwise she’d have got him something too and now he’d gone.
Her mind wandered over all the possibilities that could make up Elvis’s secret. Was she someone he worked with? A pretty girl had started at the pub, maybe it was her. Or, maybe it was someone he met at the wedding reception a few days ago. He hadn’t seemed himself since. They had their moments but something had changed and she wondered if this was the end of their relationship. She mulled over her conversation with Kerry. She’d confessed to not being totally in love with Elvis. Maybe he could sense that, which is why he was spending his time with someone else. There wasn’t much binding them together apart from a shared tenancy on a crummy flat, one she could just about manage to pay on her own if she really had to. She had to get to the bottom of what was happening.