The Serial Killer's Wife by Alice Hunter (romantic novels to read txt) 📕

but didn’t feel able to tell you when first questioned – something I failed to say in my statement – would that make me some kind of accessory? Or mean I was guilty of withholding evidence and obstructing justice? Would I be charged too?’ I’ve clasped my hands together now and interlaced my fingers. I’m squeezing them so hard they’re turning a deep red.

‘Hypothetically, yes,’ Cooper says. ‘But if there were mitigating factors, of course they would be taken into consideration.’

It’s not enough. There’s no security in having ‘mitigating factors’ taken into account. I need something solid before I spill. I’ve made a mistake asking to meet.

‘How about we talk unofficially,’ Cooper says, eyeing me cautiously.

‘What does that mean?’

‘Off the record.’

‘I thought that only happened in journalism. Or in dodgy crime dramas.’

This makes Cooper smile. ‘You’d be surprised. And anyway, I think what you have to say is important. Pertinent to the case. So obviously I’m interested. Having something more concrete to work with would be helpful.’

‘You’re making it sound as though I’m going to go against Tom; help you convict him.’

‘Well, aren’t you?’

I’m stumped for a moment. Is that what I’m doing here? Is it what I want?

‘I’m trying to tell you the truth about what I know. I was afraid before, but I know if anything ever happened to Poppy …’ The waitress comes over with a tray and puts our drinks down. I wait for her to leave again. ‘If someone hurt her, I’d want to know everything. And I’d want justice to be handed out to the monster who did it. I was torn between protecting her, protecting me, and helping you get justice for Katie.’

‘You were scared of Tom?’ Cooper asks. ‘As in, if you had said anything, he’d have hurt you?’

‘Yes, that’s what I was afraid of. I’d have been risking a lot if I’d opened up straight away. I had to play it cautiously. I’m sorry.’

‘Okay. Well I understand your reluctance to come forward. Now is better than never, so …’

We both take sips of our drinks, but our eyes don’t leave each other’s.

‘Where do you want to start?’ Cooper asks, after a minute or so passes.

‘I think I have some evidence that might help. Evidence you can use against Tom.’ My mouth is dry; my heart is hammering. I’ve gone too far to turn back now. Cooper’s eyes are wide.

‘You know we already have the emails, right? And we suspected you knew about those, given you admitted using Tom’s iPad and you had his passwords.’

So I am under suspicion. I’m the wife – I guess it was inevitable. Now seems like the perfect time to come clean.

‘Yes, I know that. I mean other stuff.’

‘What type of evidence do you think you have, Beth?’

‘A sweatshirt,’ I say. ‘Maxwell said all you have, or all you’re letting on to him that you have, are the emails sent from Katie’s account on Tom’s iPad. Nothing physical. Nothing conclusive that links him to a murder.’

Cooper doesn’t respond to that, so that makes me think they do have other evidence. But I’m guessing it’s not substantial enough. She does now ask the obvious question, though.

‘Why would Katie’s sweatshirt be relevant, unless it has blood on it?’

‘No. No blood.’

‘Then I don’t think—’

‘It’s not Katie’s sweatshirt.’

Cooper’s brow creases and she sits back in the seat. ‘So, why are you telling me this?’

‘It’s not Katie’s. It’s Phoebe Drake’s – her university sweatshirt.’

Cooper’s upper body lurches forwards. I have her full attention now. ‘Who is Phoebe Drake?’

‘She was a victim of a drowning incident fifteen years ago. Only it wasn’t an accidental drowning. Phoebe was Tom’s first victim.’

Chapter 67

BETH

Now

Cooper sighs, drains her espresso and leans on the table, staring straight into my eyes. She’s silent. I know what she’s thinking – how does a sweatshirt help with anything and how do I know any of this. I fill her in on what Tom told me – or most of it. I hold back certain information – I’m too afraid of the repercussions. I have to make sure I’m not going to receive any backlash for having withheld this information first.

‘Shit,’ Cooper says. ‘So, at the time, no one even suspected foul play, because she’d sustained a broken ankle and had alcohol in her system?’

‘That’s what I’ve gathered. Tom said it was an accident, though. He hadn’t meant to kill her.’

‘And you believe that?’

I purse my lips. I wanted to believe it when he told me. When I found out about the emails he’d been sending pretending to be Katie, it hadn’t taken long for the rest to come out too. Had Tom’s confession about Phoebe come first, believing her death was accidental would’ve been easier. After all, Tom gave a feasible account of the incident. But it was how he’d kept it from me, lying for so long, that had tipped the balance. If I hadn’t come across those emails, would he ever have told me? It made me reassess and dissect everything. How could I believe he’d accidentally killed two women?

Seeing him in the prison yesterday had unlocked something – the memories I’d buried and the realisation that I was married to a killer. Of course I’d known. But I’d loved him. He was my Tom.

I didn’t want him to leave me and Poppy.

But I also know I have to secure a future free from fear. Free from being let down.

If what he did ever came out, I knew we would be destroyed; our family unit would be broken. Things always come out in the end and I’d rather it be now, while Poppy is too young to understand – while I’m young enough to build another, brighter life for us – than to live a life worrying about the truth surfacing. It has to be done.

I must make sure they have enough evidence to send Tom down.

‘I want to believe him, DC Cooper. But I know even if they were accidents, the end product is the same.