Gift Wrapped by Peter Turnbull Read Free Book Online Page B

for peace, which is all he ever wanted. Just a peaceful home. If I hadn’t been such a harridan ... if ... if ... if. You know, they even found a copy of the Saint James’ Bible – the Authorized version, and pushed it under my nose opened at the Book of Proverbs and pointed to the proverb “It is better to live alone in a hovel than to share a mansion with a difficult woman”. They were making their point, and I felt it was a waste of my limited time to point out that the whole of the Authorized version has a misogynistic quality, and that in the New International version the word “woman” has been replaced by the word “person”, but I did anyway, I told them so – I even showed them – but it did no good, no good at all. They said, “Woman or person, it’s the same in this house – once we were up and grown he went away seeking peace ...” So there you are, I am to blame, and that’s the long and the short of it.’ Mrs Wenlock forced a smile. ‘But I have my dogs, Terry and Toni. They recognize their names and they have different personalities, though I treat them the same. I am always very careful to do that, always very careful.’
    â€˜So are you to blame,’ Carmen Pharoah asked, ‘or are your sons being wholly unfair? Are they seeking a scapegoat?’
    â€˜I really don’t know. I always thought that James gave as good as he got. He could stand up for himself and I walked out once ... Came back a few days later ...’ Mrs Wenlock glanced out of the window. ‘So I don’t know ... Perhaps they are being a little unfair.’
    â€˜So ... what,’ Pharoah asked, ‘do you know of his disappearance?’
    â€˜Very little.’ Mrs Wenlock’s reply was prompt and, thought Webster, suddenly a little sharp-tongued. ‘All I know is that one evening he did not come home. Simple as that. One night his car’s headlights did not sweep across our bedroom window as I dutifully lay in bed awaiting his return. He had, I recall, been keeping many late nights just prior to his disappearance and he’d often return with his breath reeking of alcohol. It was as if he would drink to avoid coming home and then he stupidly risks everything by driving his car while under the influence. You know, I dare say that I should have been a better wife ... a man needs a good, warm woman to come home to and it was the case that I was always icy when he returned, but that is how our marriage had become. I really should have done better, much, much better. James was an excellent provider. I mean, will you just look at this house – who could complain about living here? A five-bedroom detached house in a lovely, quiet, civilized town. If you live in a town which has a tourist industry then you have landed on your feet. You know, the small wood beyond our back lawn there is also part of this property. The house, this house, occupies a plot of one acre of ground, only one third of which is cultivated as a garden; the wood is left to nature but it belongs to this house.’ Mrs Wenlock paused. ‘James did us really proud ... and if I did drive him away and he went walking on the moors and fell down a ravine ... oh ... that possibility I have been living with ...’
    â€˜Well,’ Reginald Webster spoke, ‘if the remains which have been found are those of your husband then he did not fall into a ravine. He was in fact a victim of foul play.’
    â€˜Foul play?’ Mrs Wenlock gasped. ‘You mean murder? You mean that he was murdered?’
    â€˜It appears so ... in fact,’ Reginald Webster quietly explained, ‘the skeleton in question has injuries, and the shallow grave ... it is clearly the remains of a murder victim but whether the skeleton is the remains of Mr Wenlock, your husband, remains to be established.’
    â€˜Oh ... I see ... but the e-fit ...’ Mrs Wenlock appealed to