Reckless Endangerment by Graham Ison Read Free Book Online

used to tie up Mrs Gregory have come from that clothes line?’
    ‘It’s possible, Mr Brock, but I shan’t know for certain until the lab’s carried out a few tests on it and conducted a comparison with Mrs Gregory’s bonds that were found in the hall.’
    ‘Thanks, Linda. Is it all right if Kate and I have a thorough look round the rest of the house now? We had a cursory glance earlier, but your chaps were still at work in some of the rooms.’
    ‘They’ve finished dusting for prints now and the video chap’s got all he needs. You’ll find Sergeant Poole around here somewhere. I think he’s made a start.’
    We began with the ransacked sitting room and found Dave having a look around. Kate and I sat down on a sofa to compare notes and Dave took a seat in an armchair opposite us.
    ‘What d’you think, Kate?’
    ‘I think the widow Gregory’s one carney little bitch who seems to have a habit of fainting every five minutes. And she was very composed when we were talking to her. Too bloody composed in my view.’ Kate was clearly not taken in by Sharon Gregory’s simpering pose. ‘I think she’s lying through her teeth. Her account was much too detailed. If she was as terrified as she claimed to be, she came up with a pretty good description of this mysterious guy’s jeans and trainers. One minute she said she was scared out of her wits, but the next she said she didn’t think the noise was anything serious. And if she didn’t like the question, she claimed to have fainted. Again!’
    ‘Do I get the impression that you didn’t like her, guv?’ asked Dave, addressing himself to Kate.
    ‘Got it in one, mate, but overall I’m not too impressed by her story,’ said Kate. ‘She was a bit too vague when I pressed her, and she wasn’t red-eyed as if she’d been crying her eyes out when she discovered her husband had been topped. And when I had a look at her wrists there were no signs of rope burns, which is what I’d’ve expected to find if she was tied up in the way she described and had attempted to escape. There were no marks on her ankles either.’
    ‘Perhaps she wasn’t tied up very tightly,’ I suggested. ‘What did Miller have to say about it, Dave?’
    ‘All he said was that when he found her she was secured with rope around her wrists and ankles, guv, and she was lying on her side. He didn’t enlarge on it.’
    ‘We’ll see if he can tell us a bit more when we have a word with him later on.’
    ‘I told him you’d probably want to interview him this afternoon,’ said Dave.
    ‘I wonder what this intruder was searching for?’ I said, turning back to Kate. ‘He certainly tore the place apart, but he doesn’t appear to have taken any of the things I’d’ve expected a burglar to take. The TV is still here and so is the DVD recorder, albeit both chucked on the floor. And there are some easily portable items around the house that he could have fenced without raising too much suspicion.’
    ‘She did say that her jewellery was missing,’ said Kate.
    ‘Yes, but why turn out all the cupboards and drawers and throw CDs and DVDs about the place? And why overturn tables and lamps? Any housebreaker worth his salt would probably go straight for the bedroom if all he wanted was jewellery. Of course we shan’t know whether he took anything else until Mrs Gregory’s had a chance to see what’s missing.’
    ‘There’s something else, too,’ Kate said. ‘This bit about her wandering around the house completely naked with Miller, the man from next door. Seems a strange thing for a woman to do, if what she said is true. Unless,’ she added, ‘she’s having a fling with him.’
    ‘Or he was the accomplice,’ said Dave cynically.
    ‘Perhaps she likes to show off her body,’ I suggested lamely.
    ‘But only if there’s a man around to admire her,’ responded Kate cuttingly. ‘You’re not going soft on her because she’s a good-looking bird, are you, guv?’
    ‘She’s not my