Michael Wood - Outside Looking In - A darkly compelling crime novel with a shocking twist

Matilda and Rory entered and sat down.

‘Mr Craven, I’m DCI Matilda Darke—’

‘DCI? That’s a high rank, what’s happened? What’s happened to my wife?’

‘Mr Craven, please, sit down.’

If it was possible his face looked graver. Reluctantly he pulled out the hard plastic chair, scraping it on the floor, and sat down, straight backed and uncomfortable.

‘Would you like a tea or coffee?’

‘I don’t want a bloody drink.’ He almost exploded but managed to hold himself back. ‘I just want to know what the hell is going on.’

‘Sir, your missing person report has coincided with an anonymous woman being admitted to the Northern General last night.’

‘The Northern? Oh my God. Is she OK? What happened?’

‘I can’t tell you how she is as I don’t know yet. However, I would like to ask you a few questions. When was the last time you saw your wife?’

‘I’ve been through all this once already,’ he said, deflating in his seat. ‘Yesterday morning. I had to leave for work early so I left about 7.30. She didn’t need to be in work until later so she was still in her dressing gown at the table with the kids. I said goodbye to her and the kids and that was it.’

‘Did she arrive at work?’

‘Of course she did. I’ve already checked on that. She arrived on time, had lunch at the same time, and left at the same time. It was just an ordinary day.’

‘Was she going anywhere after work?’

Martin Craven sighed at having to repeat himself. ‘Yes. She plays tennis. She was going straight to the club from work. I was expecting her home at about 8 p.m.’

At the mention of tennis Matilda and Rory exchanged a quick glance with each other. Martin didn’t appear to notice.

‘But she didn’t come home?’

‘Well obviously not.’

‘Did you call her?’

‘Many times.’

‘No reply?’

‘None.’

‘When did you suspect she might be missing?’

‘This morning. I waited up for her. I must have nodded off in the chair. Our youngest came down at six and woke me up. Lois hadn’t come home so that’s when I realized something must have happened.’ He looked at the blank expressions on the officer’s faces in front of him, hoping to find anything there that might explain the disappearance of his wife. ‘Something has happened hasn’t it?’

‘Mr Craven, is there any reason why your wife might have been on Clough Lane last night?’

‘Clough Lane? No,’ he frowned. ‘There’s no reason at all for her to go that way. Hang on; there was something on the radio this morning about a shooting at Ringinglow. It’s her isn’t it? She’s been shot.’ Tears started to fall from his eyes.

‘Do you have a photograph of your wife?’

‘Shit,’ he said. ‘I should have brought one with me, sorry.’

‘That’s OK. Mr Craven, a woman, who we have not yet been able to identify, was attacked and shot last night on Clough Lane. She’s currently in Intensive Care. It could – and I stress could – be your wife.’

He fell forward onto the desk, buried his head into the crook of his arm and gave out a loud sob. He looked up at Matilda. ‘I want to see her.’

‘Of course. If you’ll wait here I’ll make a call to the hospital.’

‘Thank you. Look, would it be possible for me to have a drink of water or something.’

‘Certainly.’

Matilda and Rory left the room. They waited until they were out of hearing range before they began talking.

‘What do you think?’ Rory asked looking across at his perplexed boss.

‘It’s possible. We need to get him to ID her. Get a car sorted. What did you think of him?’

‘He genuinely seems concerned for his wife. He obviously cares for her.’

‘So what was she doing in a car with a married man?’

‘I hate these domestic cases. We always end up in the middle of some kind of marital dispute.’

With the amount of work she had to do Matilda should have sent Rory to the hospital alone with Martin but she wanted to go herself. Rory was right, this was a domestic case and if the mystery woman was Lois Craven then the question of what she was doing with a married man would arise. If she was having an affair, who knew about it? Did Martin know? Did he commit the attack? His reaction to seeing his wife unconscious in a hospital bed could be pivotal. She needed to see this for herself.

On the drive to the Northern General Hospital, Matilda allowed Rory to take the wheel while she sat in the front passenger seat and Martin Craven in the back. She had angled the rear-view and side mirrors so she could glance at his expressions. He sat poised in the centre of the back seat, his hands firmly clasped in his lap, fingers twitching. He looked worried; his eyes were wide and staring and he was biting down on his bottom lip. It was clear he was nervous about what he was going to find.

The doctors in Intensive Care were not happy about the intrusion from the police. Their main duty was to the well-being of their patient. A nurse with a frosty attitude led them to the private room but would not allow them to enter.

‘She is unconscious and in a critical condition. She’s lost a great deal of blood and is at a high risk of infection. Until she is assessed later by a consultant I cannot allow anyone unauthorized to enter. I’m sorry,’ she added as an afterthought when she saw the tears in Martin’s eyes.

The woman in the bed was hooked up to all kinds of machines. Wires and tubes were coming out of her nose, mouth and hands. Her head was heavily bandaged and there was thick padding to the left side of her neck. Matilda looked through the window at her without emotion. She looked as if she was sleeping and Matilda guessed she was not feeling any pain. At this stage it would be best if she remained in this condition.

Martin Craven banged on the window with fists squeezed so tight together they were almost blue. He let out an unnatural sound like a wild animal caught in a trap. Rory caught him just in time as he fell to the floor while several nurses ran to attend to him. Matilda stepped back. On the night she returned home from the hospital after her husband died she had made exactly the same noise. Almost one year ago to the day.

By the time of the evening briefing at 6.30 the backgrounds of Kevin Hardaker and Lois Craven had been established. Matilda stood at the top of the room in front of the whiteboards and looked at the half dozen officers assembled.

Matilda opened the briefing and quickly handed over to Aaron while she sat back and took it all in. She needed to know what everyone had been working on.

‘Kevin Hardaker is forty-three-years-old, married to Alice who is forty,’ Aaron began, pointing to their respective photographs on the boards. ‘They’ve been married for thirteen years and have two kids, Warren is ten and Milly is seven. Kevin worked for Currys as a sales manager. Supposedly, he’s been playing tennis several times a week after work for many years. However, according to his tennis partner, Jeremy somebody, can’t remember his surname, they stopped about six months ago. Kevin has been having an affair with Lois Craven, also a member of the same tennis club, for a little over a year. Six months ago is when it started getting serious and the tennis stopped.’

‘Did Alice know about the affair?’ Matilda asked.

‘No.’

‘Are we sure?’

‘DC Glass is pretty convinced and I thought the same when I spoke to her,’ Scott said, looking up from his pad.

‘Is DC Glass still there?’

‘Yes, I think so.’

‘If Alice Hardaker doesn’t need him, get him back here. We need all the help we can muster.’ Scott nodded. ‘What about this Jeremy somebody? Did he know about the affair?’