Don't Come Looking by AJ Campbell (top 100 novels of all time TXT) 📕

I have to increase my pace to keep up as she strides over to the studio. ‘I found something you need to see. It’s kept me awake all night.’

We pass Rob in the car. He winds down the window. ‘Everything OK?’

I nod. ‘I’ll be with you soon.’

When we reach the clinic, she leads me over to the desk and opens her laptop. Her hands are shaking, and so is her voice. ‘He’s always taken care of the finances. It’s not my thing.’

‘It’s not many people’s thing.’

‘He’s much better at it than me. I should’ve taken more interest.’

‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’re a partnership.’

‘Were a partnership.’

‘Don’t say that.’ Something has flipped her. What has she found?

‘When he was made redundant, he wrote himself a list of things to do. Jobs he’s put off for ages – sorting the shed out, fixing the fence panel that blew down in those gales last October, that kind of thing.’ She sweeps her hand around the room. ‘He even added decorating in here. He was quite excited about it. His top priority, though, was sorting out our finances. I remember he said he was going to move our ISAs to earn more interest and look at switching energy providers. And look at remortgaging this place for a better deal. All that stuff you put off because it’s too boring to contemplate.’ She rummages around in her paperwork and hands me a piece of paper. ‘Here it is, his master list. I found it in his filing cabinet.’

I glance down. It resembles what I struggled to create after Jim’s accident – account names and numbers, passwords, contact details, policy particulars.

‘So, I logged into our bank account again to see if he’s used his debit card. He hasn’t at all, but you see here.’ She points to the heading, bank accounts. ‘We’ve got our joint account, savings account, my business account – which he took care of too – and, look, there’s another account in only his name I knew nothing about.’ She clicks onto an HSBC site and references the sheet of paper to log on. ‘So, this is what I found last night.’

I scan the transactions. The account balance stands at two hundred odd pounds.

‘See.’ She jabs a finger at the screen. ‘Last week, a deposit of five thousand pounds.’ She jabs faster. ‘From Mr Peter Price.’

I look at her, confused. ‘Who’s he?’

‘Pete the Prick, Pen’s husband. Dog parlour pink Pen.’

I return my attention to the screen. ‘The same amount was cashed at a bank on the fourth.’ I look at her, questioningly. ‘That was Tuesday, the day after he left.’

‘That’s right. And look where it was cashed from, Cambridge. And look.’ Her finger slides down to the line below the five thousand pound withdrawal. ‘Three hundred pounds was withdrawn from the cashpoint of the same bank the night before.’

I scan the transaction. ‘What time?’

‘Two minutes past six in the evening. So, now I know where he is. Cambridge.’ She turns to me, her eyes glassy.

‘Why Cambridge?’

She shrugs. ‘He was born in Cambridge, and his family lived there for a while. But they moved to London when he was about ten or so. I don’t think he knows anyone there now.’

He got up there pretty sharpish, I think to myself, but don’t share that thought with her. There’s no need to panic her at this point. I’ll look at train times and work it out later. Perhaps he got a lift. But who with? ‘How well does he know Pen’s husband?’

She scoffs. ‘Obviously better than I thought. As I mentioned the other day, they occasionally go jogging, and we get together with them and some of the other neighbours every few months.’

‘Why would he have given Marc that kind of money?’

‘I’ve no idea. I never even knew this account existed.’

‘But he’s never tried to hide it, otherwise he wouldn’t have put it on this sheet,’ I say, trying to calm her.

‘I know this sounds irresponsible, but I take little interest in our finances. Marc takes care of that side of thing. That’s bad, isn’t it?’

I shake my head. ‘In most relationships, one is usually better at looking after the finances. My mother-in-law was the same. Jim’s father completely controlled everything. Sarah had her own bank account that he transferred a monthly allowance into, and she was content with that.’

‘You are always so objective.’

‘And so are you. This has shaken you.’

‘And look at this. At the beginning of the year, there was a balance of seventeen hundred and twenty-seven pounds. Interest has been added on the first of each month, and nothing, until, look, last month, he made a cash withdrawal of fifteen hundred pounds from a bank at Cannon Street. I’ve looked through my diary and in all the other accounts. I’ve no idea what that was used for.’

‘I don’t suppose you can remember what he was doing on that day. Why was he uptown?’

She shakes her head.

‘We need to see his diary.’ My phone beeps. I take it out of my pocket. It’s Rob.

Will you be long? Thought I might go and find something to eat.

‘I have to go. I’m sorry, I can’t keep Rob waiting any longer. We need to get back to work.’

Angst knots her face, but my hands are tied. I can’t pull any strings for her at the moment. ‘I’ve got three days off after today. I’ll give this some thought and pop over tomorrow. Call me if you find anything else out.’

Sighing heavily, she clicks the laptop shut. ‘Cambridge? Why Cambridge? And what did Pete give him five grand for?’

‘Can’t you go and ask him?’

‘I need to get him on his own. What if Pen knows nothing about it, and there was a reason Pete never told her.’

‘Quick question before I go,’ I say before she opens the door. ‘Did Marc have a life insurance policy?’

She nods at the sheet of paper still in her hand. ‘We both did. We took