Michael Wood - For Reasons Unknown - A gripping crime debut that keeps you guessing until the last page

‘I’ve absolutely no idea. He could still be in Manchester for all I know.’

‘Why didn’t you get on? Surely it wasn’t just the age thing. You’re blood relatives; you must have had something in common.’

‘My brother wasn’t a very nice person. He was a bully. We were poles apart.’

‘In what way?’

‘He was confident, outgoing, very popular and I…well I’m not any of those things am I? You see it at school don’t you, all the good-looking, popular, confident boys picking on the weak. I was a very easy target.’

Matilda noticed he was scratching his left hand vigorously. It was red and it wouldn’t be long before he broke the skin. ‘Did your parents know what was going on?’

Jonathan scoffed. ‘It would have been hard for them not to. He did get into trouble once. He pushed me down the stairs and I broke my left arm.’

‘What happened?’

‘My dad actually saw him do it. There was no way he could allow him to go unpunished. He was grounded for a weekend while I spent the whole summer struggling to wash with my arm in a plastic bag.’

‘Why did he push you down the stairs?’ Rory asked. The first time he had spoken since the questioning began.

‘Because I was there,’ he replied as if it was obvious.

‘What else did he do?’

‘How long have you got?’ Jonathan adjusted himself in his armchair. He was clearly uncomfortable with these questions regarding his brother. ‘Actually, no offence, but I thought you wanted to talk about my parents?’

‘We’re trying to establish a motive for the murders. Having read the reports and witness statements nobody stands out as having a reason to kill your parents.’

‘So you’re looking at my brother?’ he frowned.

‘Do you think it’s possible?’

‘I don’t know. He bullied me but does that make him a killer?’

‘You tell me,’ Matilda said with a hint of a smile. ‘You read a lot of crime fiction. Do bullies usually go on to murder people, especially if they think they can get away with it?’

‘I suppose it depends on the kind of bullying.’

‘And what kind of bully was your brother?’

‘It was both physical and mental. After the broken arm incident he made sure my parents never saw the bruises. He became more inventive, sneaky.’

‘What did he do?’

‘He used to spit in my breakfast and make me eat it. He’d steal things from around the house and hide them in my room so when they were found I’d get into trouble. One time I woke up in the middle of the night to find him standing next to my bed and urinating all over me.’

‘Oh my God. Surely that constitutes abuse?’ Rory asked.

‘Well I thought so.’

‘Did you ever tell your parents?’

‘What was the point? They always took his side. I wasn’t wanted. My mother didn’t find out she was pregnant with me until it was too late to do anything about it. Even if she had known she could hardly have had an abortion. How would it look for a GP who specialized in family planning to kill her own unborn baby?’

Matilda leaned forward. ‘Jonathan,’ she said, using his first name for the first time. ‘Do you think your brother killed your parents?’

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