Кара Хантер - In the Dark

‘And this was just before your wife disappeared?’

‘About a fortnight before. Hannah was in Nuneaton. Doing research on some of Malcolm Jervis’s other developments.’

‘And it was after that Pippa started texting you?’

His eyes are miserable. ‘She wouldn’t leave me alone. She seemed to think it meant something. That we had some sort of future together – that I actually loved her. It was crazy. I deleted every single text – I never replied to any of them –’

‘I know,’ I say quietly.

‘So I told her she was going to have to find another job – that it was just going to be too difficult.’

‘And how did she take that?’

‘She seemed to be being really mature about it. She was quiet for a bit and then she said she was sorry she’d misread the situation. That we could just carry on as if nothing had happened. Only I realized after a few days that it wasn’t going to work, so I told her again she’d need to find another job.’

‘What did she say to that?’

‘She was fine about it – said not to worry, and she’d start looking.’

‘How did you explain all this to Hannah?’

‘I just said it was probably a good time for a change. Something like that. She agreed straight away.’

‘And when did all this happen?’

‘A few days before Hannah disappeared. I think I spoke to Pippa on the Friday.’

If bells weren’t ringing in my head before, they are now.

‘And why didn’t you tell us any of this before, Mr Gardiner?’

He looks exasperated. ‘Because I thought it would just land me in it – and that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it? As soon as you thought I was banging Pippa you lot put two and two together and assumed I must have killed my wife.’

‘You still should have told us,’ I say gently. ‘It would have been better for you in the long run. And for us.’

‘Sorry,’ he says. He leans forward, his arms on his knees. ‘I know. I’m sorry.’

We sit in silence for a moment.

‘Did Pippa know anyone in Frampton Road, as far as you know?’

He shakes his head. ‘She never mentioned anyone to me.’

‘There’s no reason you can think of why she might have visited number thirty-three?’

He frowns. ‘No. I’m sure she didn’t. When it was on the news – about that girl in the cellar – she asked me which house it was. What makes you ask that?’

I’m trying to work out how best to say it. But he’s a scientist, as well as a father and a widower. He can cope with candour.

‘You never thought Pippa could have been involved – with Hannah’s disappearance?’

He stares at me. ‘ Pippa? ’

‘It never occurred to you at all?’

He is clearly staggered. ‘Of course not – you think I’d have let her live here – look after Toby – if I thought she’d killed my wife? Like I told you – after Hannah disappeared I was a mess – I needed someone to help – she was great at all that, and Toby liked her –’

His voice trails off. He swallows. ‘I mean, yes, she was a bit full-on at one point – but it was just an infatuation. A crush. She got over it. You know what it’s like when you’re that age – one minute it’s the end of the world and the next you can’t even remember what all the fuss was about. She wasn’t much more than a teenager, for Christ’s sake. Not a bloody psychopath.’

***

‘Only he was wrong.’ I look around the room. If they were wondering where I went and why, they know now. ‘I think that’s exactly what she is. I think Pippa Walker killed Hannah, and she meant to do it.’

But I can see from their faces they’re not with me on this – not yet. And I can’t say I blame them – she’s personable, nicely middle class, and she’s only twenty-two, even now: would she really have been capable of the carnage that must have taken place in that house two years ago? So I tell them what Gow said. About how psychopaths are born, not made. And how – in his experience – the female of the species is even more narcissistic than the male, even more selfish, even more vindictive when crossed.

‘The actual phrase Gow used was “hell hath no fury”.’

‘And I bet he told you where the quote comes from, too,’ mutters Gis.

‘The point is that someone with that personality type – everything revolves round them. Other people are merely obstacles to be eliminated. If she decided she wanted Gardiner, then a little thing like him having a wife already wasn’t going to stop her.’

There was a scene I saw once on an old BBC cop show, Waking the Dead – one of the ones I did actually watch. The thing that stuck in my mind was what the profiler woman said about why people become murderers. She said men kill out of anger or for money, or words to that effect. But women are different. Women kill because something’s standing in their way.

‘And she got what she wanted, didn’t she?’ says Everett, her face grim. ‘She ended up moving in with him. And if she hadn’t messed up over getting pregnant Gardiner might even have married her.’

‘Would a girl like her be strong enough to crush someone’s skull?’ asks Baxter. Pragmatic, as usual.

‘That one could,’ says Quinn, making a face. Some of the old Quinn is seeping back. ‘And Hannah was hit from behind, remember. It probably didn’t take that much brute force.’

‘But what about moving the body – could Pippa really have got it into that shed on her own?’

‘If you ask me, yes,’ says Quinn. ‘Hannah wasn’t that big. And Pippa’s young – she’s fit –’

One of the DCs makes a ‘yeah, right’ face behind his back.

‘– I reckon she could do it, as long as she had enough time.’

‘And after that,’ says Gislingham, ‘it could all have panned out just like we said. Pippa could have driven to Wittenham, dumped the car and come back by bus. And she wouldn’t have been that bothered about dumping the kid either – not if the whole point was getting Gardiner all to herself. I said, didn’t I – only a psycho would do that to a little kiddie. Looks like I was right.’

‘ And they found her DNA in the car,’ says Everett. ‘Only it never raised any flags because we knew she often drove it.’

‘So are we saying it was Pippa those people saw with the buggy?’ asks Somer. ‘But the hair colour’s wrong, surely? Pippa’s blonde, Hannah was dark.’

Gislingham shrugs. ‘Wigs ain’t hard to find. Not if she planned it all along the way the boss said.’

‘Wait a minute,’ says Baxter. ‘Before we all get carried away. The murder happened in Frampton Road, right? We know Walsh had access to that house, pretty much whenever he wanted, but what about this Pippa girl? How the hell did she get in there?’

Everyone needs a devil’s advocate, and Baxter has a kitemark from Old Nick himself.

‘Actually,’ says Quinn, ‘I don’t think it would have been such a big deal. You can tell the place is in a state, even from the outside. She could have gone round there – snooped round the back, found there was a broken lock –’

‘Without Harper knowing?’

‘He was getting a bit confused, he drinks, he was taking those sleeping pills – I reckon he was pretty much out of it most of the time.’

‘OK,’ says Everett, ‘so let’s say that’s what happened. Just for argument’s sake. Next question: how did Pippa get Hannah in there?’

Gislingham throws up his hands. ‘Oh, that bit’s easy: she waited for her in Frampton Road that morning. She knew Hannah parked along there so she just picked her moment. And she’d have known Hannah was going to Wittenham – in fact, she was one of the few people who definitely did know that. So she hangs around, then persuades Hannah down the path – I don’t know, she says she’s seen an injured cat or something. Then as soon as they’re out of sight –’