Ultimate Dilemma (Justice Again Book 2) by M Comley (best books under 200 pages txt) 📕

“Fair enough. We’re not here to judge you on your housekeeping standards,” Katy replied.

She swept past Laila and into the room. It was littered with thousands of pictures. No wonder the woman had taken the news about their split badly. She had cherished the man she was once married to for over twenty years. She and AJ didn’t have many photos of them as a couple; they did have a few of them with Georgie, however. But nothing compared to this display.

Laila grabbed a pile of photos which had been torn up into pieces and shoved them into a black sack. “Take a seat, won’t you?”

Katy and Charlie did as instructed and sat on the dark-brown velour sofa, beyond the mess on the floor.

“Thanks. Is it all right if I call you Laila?”

“Why shouldn’t it be? It’s my name. I’m still waiting to receive the go-ahead from my solicitor to dump my married name, which is taking forever to sort out. Until then, I’m stuck with it. I detest it, though. Can’t wait to return to Watkins, my maiden name.”

“I can understand your reasoning behind that.”

“I’m not one for idle chitchat, Inspector. You mentioned you had some news for me, what is it?”

“It’s with regret I have to inform you that your ex-husband has died.”

Laila flopped into the easy chair behind her and stared at Katy as if a dozen venomous snakes had slithered out of her mouth. “What?” she whispered, finally recovering her voice.

“He was killed and found early this morning.”

Her head moved from side to side in slow motion. “But…but, why tell me? We haven’t had anything to do with each other for over six months.”

“We’ve just come from the home he shared with Nicky and we had a few unanswered questions. He suggested we trace you and run them past you.”

“He did? What sort of questions? Don’t tell me you think I had something to do with his death?”

“No, not at this point anyway. We believe Robin’s death is linked to two other murders in the area and wondered if you could shed any light on why they might have occurred.”

Her head shook harder and faster this time. “What are you getting at? Linked how? Who were the other victims?”

“Bruce Crawford and Dale Peters. I can tell by the look on your face that you recognise the names. Can you tell me where from?”

“I do. They all used to be friends. Did I hear you right? All three of them are dead?” Confusion settled into her features, and she placed a hand against her cheek.

“I’m afraid so, yes. Nicky didn’t appear to know much about their friendship and pointed us in your direction.” Katy noted the woman flinched every time she mentioned her ex’s lover’s name. She shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Why should he? He’s a relative newcomer in Robin’s life, whereas I spent over twenty years with the man.”

“Can you enlighten us regarding their friendship?”

“I can try. At one time they used to be very close. Always met round at Bruce’s house. How his wife put up with them turning up on her doorstep every week I’ll never know, God rest her soul.”

“Did you know the other spouses or girlfriends? Did you perhaps meet up as a group?”

“Only at weddings or funerals. As for socialising together, no, only the men did that. It didn’t bother me, I preferred to spend time on my own rather than every waking moment with him and his friends anyway. They weren’t really my type, if you know what I mean?”

“I see. Did their friendship dwindle after a while, is that what you’re telling us?”

“I suppose it did. I asked Robin on numerous occasions why they’d stopped socialising, and he snapped at me regularly when I pushed him. The final time he shouted at me, told me never to raise the subject again, which I didn’t.”

“How strange, and you have no inkling what it could have been about?”

“None. The more I pushed, the more he retreated until the day he bit my head off. I didn’t appreciate him speaking to me like that. All I was doing was trying to find out why he no longer wanted to speak to either of them.”

“They cut off all contact?”

“Yes.” She sniffled and reached for a tissue from the packet sitting alongside the photos. “Oh God, I can’t believe he’s gone. What was I thinking? I had every intention of destroying all these today. What if I’d done that and you showed up half an hour later to tell me the news? I would have been devastated. Deep down he was a good man, I know that now. My reaction, the pure hatred I’ve felt for him since…you know, since he revealed he was going off with another fella, while it was probably expected, I realise now how unacceptable it was. I regret the way I’ve treated him the past six months or so. I can never take back the harsh words…I can’t believe he’s no longer with us. Who did this, do you know?”

“No. We believe it’s probably linked to something that happened back when they were a group. By what you’ve just told us, it definitely backs up our assumption. Please, can you try to remember, see if anything comes to mind?”

She sat there quietly for several minutes, contemplating Katy’s plea, and then disappointedly shook her head. “I’m sorry, nothing.”

“You mentioned the wife’s death. Do you know what the cause was?”

“No, apparently Bruce said that she’d died of complications in her sleep.”

“Can you remember what year that was?”

“Gosh, now you’re testing me. Around ninety-five, possibly ninety-six. What am I saying? It might even have been a year or two either side. I can’t honestly remember.”

“Didn’t you go to the funeral?”

“No. Neither of us were asked to attend.”

“How bizarre. You don’t think that decision was the cause of their friendship ending, do you?”

Laila stared at the corner of the room for a second or two. “Possibly, if I was positive about the