'Til Death (DI Steven Marr Book 1) - UK Crime Fiction Whodunnit Thriller by SP Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

for the rest of her life.
    Marr remembered a vague quote Lizzie had mentioned to him: it was from some poem, though he couldn’t remember which one.
    The sorrow of remembering in present pain past happiness.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWELVE
     
     
    Only Marr and Becky remained in the office that evening. Marr checked his watch: half past six. He’d told Lizzie that he’d be home by seven at the latest.
    Exhaling deeply, he stood up.
    ‘Cup of tea?’ he asked.
    Becky looked up from her paperwork, and smiled.
    ‘Brilliant plan.’
    A few minutes later, they were both sat with their feet up on nearby chairs, chewing over the case and the evidence, or lack of it.
    ‘Stanic didn’t do it?’ Becky asked.
    Marr shook his head.
    ‘I just don’t see it. He might have been a lady’s man when he was younger, but I don’t think he’s a killer. He loved Anna. What sort of jack the lad leaves the army to become an accountant if it’s not to settle down?’
    Becky rolled her eyes.
    ‘You should do a course in gender studies,’ she said.
    ‘You should do a course in gender studies, sir. ’ Marr replied. Becky found a spare paper clip on the desk and threw it at him.
    ‘What about Caroline Marcus?’ she asked, once she was satisfied a return throw wasn’t coming.
    Marr thought about it. What about Caroline Marcus?
    ‘I don’t know yet,’ he said, picking up a pen and twirling it between his fingers, ‘Only Sam’s spoken to her. ‘Something a bit off’ was all she said. But then the poor woman had just lost her best friend. Who the hell wouldn’t be a bit off?’
    ‘You could talk to her yourself.’ Becky suggested
    Marr shrugged.
    ‘I could, but it’s not like I don’t trust Sam’s judgement. Also, I don’t want to step on her toes.’
    Becky nodded, slowly. Then, not taking her eyes from his, she said:
    ‘Congratulations, by the way.’
    Marr must have looked puzzled, because Becky immediately qualified the statement:
    ‘The baby: congratulations’
    ‘Oh, thanks’ he replied.
    ‘Big news, you must be excited.’
    Marr nodded.
    ‘Yeah. Nervous more than excited. Ten years as a cop ought to be enough preparation for loud annoying things that wreck your sleeping habits, though.’
    Becky smiled.
    ‘How’s Lizzie?’ she said. Marr had never got used to Becky calling his wife by her first name. He didn’t quite know where it had come from: Lizzie and Becky had talked a few times before, but he never got the impression they were close.
    ‘She’s OK. The opposite of me, really: excited more than nervous. Hang on…who told you about the baby?’
    Becky looked at him.
    ‘Sam.’
    ‘Oh’ replied Marr, pursing his lips in thought.
    Sam knew.
    And he hadn’t told her.
    ‘Lizzie and Sam were friends, remember.’ Becky said, reading his expression. ‘Maybe less so these days, but back when you first arrived…’
    Becky’s voice trailed off.
    Marr looked at her for a moment, and she returned his gaze.
    She knew. Marr could just tell; she knew .
    Shit.
    ‘Becky…’ he began, but she cut him off.
    ‘Look, boss, what you do and what Sam does and what your wife does….it’s none of my business.’
    ‘But as you work for me, and for Sam…’
    ‘It’s even less of my business. Honestly, sir: I could have done without knowing at all. I promise, I didn’t go around asking.’
    ‘How much did Sam tell you?’
    ‘How much is there to know?’
    Marr said nothing. What had Sam told Becky?
    More to the point, how had Sam told her? Marr had been around enough domestic violence cases to know that the innocent could easily end up looking guilty, and vice versa.
    He wasn’t innocent, of course, but neither was Sam.
    Becky sighed.
    ‘Sam’s not a schoolgirl, sir. No gossips, no ‘did he say anything about me’. She just told me that you’d slept together a few times, and that it had been good, and that Lizzie had sent a text round to virtually everyone she knew announcing that she was