Deserving Death by Katherine Howell Read Free Book Online

you mind giving us some privacy?’
    ‘Uh, sure. Okay.’ He went down the hall. She heard a door close but had no doubt he’d be listening in. The main thing was that he couldn’t signal Hibbins about his answers.
    ‘How did you come to move in with Alicia?’ she asked.
    ‘We knew each other a little through work,’ Hibbins said. ‘I’d been living with my girlfriend then we broke up. The lease was in her name so I had to move out, and Alicia was looking for someone to share her place.’
    ‘Did you ever have trouble with prowlers when you lived there?’ Ella asked.
    ‘Never. Nothing like that, ever. It’s a good neighbourhood.’
    ‘When did you last see her?’ Murray asked.
    ‘Last week,’ he said. ‘Wednesday, I think. I was doing an X-ray in emergency and she brought a patient in. We said hi.’ He gave a slight smile. ‘We joked around a bit.’
    ‘About what?’ Murray said.
    ‘I asked if she was lonely since I moved out, and she laughed and said she was just managing to get by.’
    ‘She laughed?’ Ella said.
    Hibbins hesitated. Ella could see the wheels turning in his head. He said, ‘It may have been sarcastic.’
    ‘Why would that be?’ Ella asked.
    ‘Because she kicked me out.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘I can see you already know.’ He glanced away.
    ‘Tell us anyway,’ she said.
    ‘Because I asked her out,’ he said. ‘More than once. She didn’t appreciate it, didn’t want me there any more, told me I had to go.’ He glanced away again. ‘In movies the guys who are determined always win in the end. But it’s not true.’
    That’s because it only works in movies, Ella thought. In real life it’s called stalking.
    ‘How did it make you feel when she turned you down?’ Murray asked.
    He shrugged. ‘Surprised at first. I thought there was something there. I thought I was part of the reason she broke up with John. I was wrong.’
    ‘Hurt?’ Murray said. ‘Angry?’
    ‘Not really.’ He brushed at the leg of his jeans. ‘A bit hurt maybe. Disappointed. More so when persistence didn’t pay off.’
    ‘Do you know John Morris?’
    ‘We’d chat now and again when he came over, and I see him occasionally at work, but I can’t say I know him.’
    ‘What would you chat about?’ Ella asked.
    ‘Football, workload. Nothing really.’
    ‘You said they didn’t break up because of you,’ Ella said. ‘Did she tell you the real reason?’
    He nodded. ‘She’d told me previously about him being controlling and that she wasn’t happy. Then she caught him with another woman at a party, and that was it. She told him where to go. She came home that night full of such anger and spirit.’ He smiled a little. ‘It was great to see that she’d stood up for herself.’
    ‘She told you all that in detail?’ Murray asked.
    ‘We’d make dinner together, and we’d talk. Haven’t you ever shared a place with anyone? That’s how it goes.’
    ‘And all those chummy times led you to think she had feelings for you,’ Ella said.
    ‘She’s a very friendly person,’ Hibbins said. ‘She’s big into the little touches on the arm, that sort of thing.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘I’m sorry, but I have to get going soon.’
    Ella took out her phone, as if checking the time herself. ‘Just a couple more things. Where were you last night?’
    ‘At my girlfriend’s house, then here.’
    ‘What’s her name?’ As she spoke, she pressed to call Bayliss’s phone.
    ‘Amber Jacobson.’
    ‘Where does she live?’ She couldn’t hear any ringing or buzzing in the flat, nor did Hibbins show any sign of feeling the phone vibrate in a pocket.
    ‘Marrickville.’ He gave the address. Murray wrote it down.
    Ella ended the call. ‘What time did you leave?’
    ‘About eleven thirty,’ he said. ‘Maybe closer to twelve. We fell asleep on the lounge watching a DVD so I was a bit groggy when I left and didn’t really notice the time.’
    ‘Why didn’t you just stay the night?’ Murray