The Order of Things by Graham Hurley Read Free Book Online Page B

notes, and she wanted to know whether any of this would get Bentner into trouble.
    ‘I’ve no idea, Mrs Weatherall. Why don’t you just tell us what happened?’
    She gazed at Suttle a moment and then shrugged.
    ‘Harriet had been riding with a friend,’ she said. ‘It was a weekend. The friend had brought a couple of horses over. The two women had just come back and they were preparing the horses before getting them back in the box. Mr Bentner turned up. He was very drunk. God knows what he was doing behind the wheel of a car. Anyway, he frightened the horses, one of them badly. It went off into the field out the back there. It took them for ever to catch the poor thing.’
    ‘And Harriet?’
    ‘Very calm. Very measured. First she took his car keys. Then she told him to fuck off home and find someone else to upset.’
    ‘She said that?’ Suttle blinked.
    ‘Yes. If you want the truth, I got the tiniest feeling this wasn’t just about the horse.’
    ‘I’m not with you.’
    ‘I think there may have been someone else in his life.’
    ‘You mean another woman?’
    ‘I imagine so. I simply don’t know. To be honest, this is a wild presumption on my part and probably very unfair. But Harriet was extremely choosy about who she spent time with and who she didn’t. I think she really liked her Mr Bentner. In fact I think it was probably stronger than that. Was she jealous that day? Is that what I heard? Hand on heart, I can’t be sure.’
    Golding scribbled himself another note. Suttle wanted to know more about the relationship. How long had they known each other? How had they met?
    ‘Met?’ Molly laughed. ‘As it happens, I can help you there. Most days Harriet would cycle into work. There’s a new path opened, down by the river. It’s a real success. One day, one evening I think, she got a puncture, and Bentner was the good Samaritan who helped her out.’
    ‘He cycled too?’
    ‘Every day, according to Harriet. That’s got to be a fair old hike, all the way to the Met Office and back. She said it was the one thing that kept him alive.’
    ‘Meaning?’
    ‘The amount he drank. She liked a drop too, but recently she seemed to have stopped completely.’
    She exchanged looks with her husband then went across and helped him to his feet. Unsupported, he made it to the hall. Then came the sound of a door opening and closing.
    ‘Did Harriet offer to help with your husband at all?’ Suttle’s gaze returned to Molly.
    ‘Yes, of course. Harriet was a GP. That was her job. Gerald had a stroke around Christmas time. It didn’t look at all good for a couple of weeks but, touch wood, he seems to be on the mend now.’
    ‘And Harriet?’
    ‘She offered to help in whatever way she could, especially when things were really grim. I thought that was generous of her. These days GPs are rushed off their feet. He wasn’t even her patient.’
    ‘Of course. Did she have family at all? That you know about?’
    ‘She had a husband some time back, but I don’t think there were any children.’
    ‘Was he a local man?’
    ‘Not to my knowledge. I believe he was in the navy. They lived in Portsmouth for a while. She hated it.’
    ‘But he’s not around any more?’
    ‘Not that I’m aware of, no. I think his name was Tony.’
    ‘Tony Reilly?’
    ‘No. Reilly was her maiden name. She never mentioned her married name.’
    ‘But no kids?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘I see.’ Suttle hesitated. From the hall came the sound of a lavatory flushing. ‘Did you know she was pregnant?’
    ‘Harriet?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Not at all. Are you sure? How much pregnant?’
    ‘Between three and four months.’
    ‘I’m astonished.’
    ‘She never mentioned it?’
    ‘Never.’ She frowned. ‘We’re talking Mr Bentner?’
    ‘We don’t know yet. Not for sure. Not until we get the DNA results.’ Suttle paused. ‘You think it might have been anyone else’s?’
    ‘I’ve no idea. Bentner is certainly the only man I