Faith - Lesley Pearse [176]
‘The police didn’t contact them then?’
David shook his head. ‘No, they didn’t. It was very remiss of them in my opinion.’
‘I don’t suppose you asked them what kind of car they had?’ Stuart asked.
‘They don’t call me Super Sleuth Stoyle for nothing,’ David grinned. ‘It was a white Golf – I’ve even got the registration number – but they traded it in eighteen months ago for a newer model.’
‘Bloody hell,’ Stuart exclaimed. ‘Laura drove a white Golf too! Charles could have gone out in the Langdons’ car to Brodie Farm – that would explain why the neighbour thought Laura had arrived half an hour earlier than she really did.’
‘You catch on quickly,’ David said teasingly. ‘If only the police had interviewed the Langdons, and got forensics to check the car, Laura might never have been arrested, let alone charged with the crime.’
‘So how did you manage to sleep with that on your mind?’ Stuart asked.
‘I dare say I knew you were going to keep me up all night chewing the fat,’ David said drily. ‘So let’s open a bottle of something and you can tell me more about Jackie’s elderly lover.’
‘I eventually realized why she fell for him,’ Stuart said much later as he opened a second bottle of wine. ‘Ted needed her. She never had that with Roger. Okay, Roger loved her, he got her started in property, but it wasn’t that soulmate, all-encompassing kind of love. Roger was bombastic, he drove over her roughshod most of the time. He never appreciated just how much she wanted a child, he didn’t even realize what a remarkable person she was. Ted did. I could feel the depth of his grief, see the hopelessness he feels now she’s gone. He deserves better than that shrew of a wife.’
‘Will he stay with her?’ David asked.
‘That remains to be seen. He told me just before I left that he intended to go straight home and tell her about Jackie. A cynic would say that was because he knows she’ll find out anyway if we get the appeal. But I think he really wants to make a public declaration of his love for Jackie.’
‘It’s a bit late in the day for that!’
‘I got the impression that he knows he should have done that years ago, and that if he had, whilst still making sure Peggie was well cared for, she’d have had more respect for him. But things can’t get any worse for him than they are now, and maybe once the dust settles she’ll realize what a good man he is and try to mend her ways.’
A companionable silence fell between the two men. David was reminded of the many nights they’d spent together like this in Colombia, both immersed in their own thoughts, and conversation unnecessary. David wanted to wrap this investigation up now; in his view they had more than enough evidence to prove that Laura’s conviction was unsafe, and it was up to the police to open up a new investigation and find the real killer. He wanted to go sailing with Julia, Abi and William and put aside all these people whom he didn’t really know, and who meant nothing to him.
But Stuart did mean something to him, and he was concerned that his friend had become so obsessed with all the characters in this investigation that he’d slipped off the rails of his own life.
‘What are you going to do when this is over?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know.’ Stuart frowned. ‘Get into some project I suppose, same as I’ve always done.’
‘And Laura? Will she be part of your future?’
Stuart looked indignant. ‘What sort of a question is that?’
‘One you should ask yourself, mate,’ David said lightly.
Laura