All Passion Spent, Bergotte [e book reader online .txt] 📗

and taken many things with her. This search was a precautionary search to make sure that they did not miss anything.

The police continued their search. They looked in the main bedroom and in the spare room. Cupboards and wardrobes that Rita had used were empty. Bookshelves and cabinets were also empty. It seemed that Michael had been left the few possessions of his own but his wife had taken nearly everything else.

One of the police officers switched on the computer and read through all the email correspondence stored on the hard drive. He looked at the many documents that had been downloaded from the internet. They almost all concerned Michael’s work. There was item after item of psychology information. When Gerrard looked at it he realised that Michael used the PC himself and that his wife rarely touched it. The team moved into the garden and looked around the shed and garage. Again they drew a blank. After more than an hour Gerrard called off the search. “It’s as clean as a whistle,” said Anna and they all made their departure.

The team called on Sally Stoneham. She was surprised to see them but did her best to help. Rita’s bedroom was full of the possessions she had brought with her from her house in Bathford. The search team had their work cut out to go through it all. Everything was piled up. Anna wondered how she managed to find clothes for everyday. She then remembered that the occupant of the room would wear a uniform for work but she could not find one. All the clothing they inspected was clean and most had been freshly washed and ironed and then piled up. Sally came upstairs and explained to Gerrard and his team that Rita was in the process of distributing much of clothing and accessories to charity shops in the Bath area. This is why so much was not in drawers and wardrobes.

After making the most thorough search they could under the circumstances the police team stopped. They had found nothing. They waited for some time. Sally told Gerrard that Rita would be returning home shortly. “Good,” he said, “We’ll have a look at her car when she comes.” Rita came through the front door to find the police awaiting her arrival. Several of them went to search her car while Gerrard explained why they had come and showed her the search warrant. He looked at her with intense concentration while she received the news. She must have guessed he thought that the police did not believe her story. However, she betrayed no emotion on hearing Gerrard’s words; not a hint of nervousness or trepidation could be seen in her eyes or behaviour. She either a very good actress or Gerrard had got her all wrong.

When Rita had gone upstairs Sally Stoneham told Gerrard that her lodger had made friends with the next door neighbour. “I’ve only ever been a nodding acquaintance with him, but he seems to have taken Rita under his wing. She’s always round there. I don’t want to tell tales out of school Chief Inspector, but I know that she sleeps with him and it might be worth looking round his house. She calls him Jack, though that’s not his name. He calls her Jill. It’s a game they have. They have deliberately set out not to know each other’s past history or something like that…” “Thank you for that tip,” said Gerrard and went to the house next door. The owner answered the door and was quite happy for Gerrard to look around his tidy house. It took little time for Gerrard to conclude there was nothing of any significance there for him. He thanked the owner for his co-operation and collected the team together. “Anything to report about the car?” he asked. “No,” came the reply, “it’s recently been valeted.” “We could have it taken away for forensic people to look at but I don’t think it’s worth it. Time is ticking on. There’s one last place I want to look. We ought to check the mother’s place out towards Trowbridge. I know it’s a bit of a trek out there but we’ve got to do it.”

The exhausted team reached Laura Fellingham’s house in the late afternoon. Gerrard realised then that it would have been better to search in daylight but that could not be helped now. There was no problem with the well-lit house but there were several outbuildings in the extensive grounds and these were rather poorly lit. It would be just his luck to miss something vital in the dark. The team concentrated their efforts on the various sheds and greenhouses but finally Gerrard concluded that they had drawn a blank there as well.

Gerrard then made a decision, which he was to live to regret. He decided to have Rita brought in for questioning. A police car was dispatched and a rather surly Margherita Fellingham entered the police station accompanied by two police constables. Gerrard approached her. “Your not under arrest, simply helping us with our inquiries.” “I’ve come here voluntarily,” said Rita, “but I think you are harassing me now. You’ve searched my marital home, my lodging, my friend Jack’s house, my mother’s house and my car. As far as I can see you have found no incriminating evidence against me. I think you are clutching at straws.” “I’m sorry for the inconvenience but I have a job to do.” “What is more, I’m going out tonight, so please let’s get this over and done with so that I can get home.” Gerrard asked to take a seat in a waiting room and left her there to cool off a bit.

While Rita was being kept waiting Gerrard and Anna went to the canteen to find something to eat. “We haven’t got anything on her, if I might say so, sir,” said Anna in a worried tone of voice. She was genuinely concerned for Gerrard and the seeming lack of progress. “I know,” said her grimly, “but I’m still not satisfied. If she’s lying she’s going to slip up somewhere. I want to go through her story once more and see if it’s consistent with what she has already told us.” “Would you like to go and fetch her. We’ll see her in an interview room. That will put her under slightly more pressure and she might change her tune.” Anna went off to find the suspect.

Rita meanwhile had fallen asleep, her thought in a flashback to the first night she had spent with Jack. She liked to remember this time together with the man who had quite by chance brought her so much pleasure. She liked the way he had gazed at her in the bedroom. She had been quite happy to show off her body to him, to dance naked before him while he got ready for bed. It had been in the early hours of the morning, she recalled, when she had finally slipped beneath the duvet cover and smothered Jack with her kisses. He responded as she had hoped. After the anxious time with Michael suspecting his involvement with Isabella, Rita now went through her reasons for committing adultery with Jack, a relative stranger.

Firstly, she knew she had been drunk, not wildly and ecstatically drunk but sleepily and contentedly. Jack put her no pressure. He was not expecting sex. He would take it if it came his way. When she was actually in bed with him and he lay on top of her was so gentle. It seemed entirely natural for her to lie with her legs open and allow him to penetrate her. Because she was so relaxed she enjoyed it all the more. And when they had both fallen asleep they had both awoken in the early morning, an Autumnal sun shining through the bedroom windows and she had sat herself on top of him to start their lovemaking over again.

The room was warm. She threw back the covers and climbed on to him, wriggling her body until he had penetrated her deeply. That is where her ecstasy began. She had rarely experience orgasm in her life but now it was happening to her. She had not thought of it, had not expected it. Here was this man beneath her and she was in control. Whichever way she moved she found the sensations wonderfully enjoyable. So, why not enjoy the moment? She experimented. She let her knees take her full bodyweight whilst she lifted herself off Jack and then descended. Each time she did it she felt a rush of to her head, to her heart and to the very centre of her being. She managed to turn herself round and face in the opposite direction and then impale herself once more on him. As she lifted Jack started to thrust until they were like a human threshing machine. It grew later but Rita did not tire. She went on and on and on. Suddenly she got off him. Perhaps he thought she had finished. She had not. She lay at his side and turned her back to him. She reached between her legs and pulled him into her. She brought her knees under her chin whilst Jack pushed closer and deeper and then the orgasms started again, over and over like waves crashing on a beach. She sensed the surf between her legs as he reached his climax together with her. She knew what ecstasy was. It did not matter that it was adulterous ecstasy. All she wanted was this man inside her.

When Rita was suddenly awoken by the desk sergeant she was in no mood for questioning from Gerrard. He went over the course of events on the day of the murder in fine detail, trying different questions and different angles but the young woman on the other side of the desk stonewalled him. She had her story fixed in her mind and repeated her answers word for word ad nauseam. Gerrard realised that there was no point in continuing the interview and he would have to allow her to leave.

She was taken home in a police car. Gerrard went back to his office with Anna trailing behind him. They sat down and looked at one another. “It looks like the end of the road, doesn’t it sir?” said Anna. Gerrard stared back at her but hardly seeing her, disappointment written on his face. “Yes, I’m afraid it does. We’ve given it our best shot. I’m sure of that. There’s no more that we can do. If we’d tried to keep her here any longer she would have demanded to have a solicitor present. We couldn’t charge her. We had to let her go.” “It’s getting late, sir. Do you want me for anything else?” “No,” said Gerrard wearily, “you get off home and we’ll tie everything up tomorrow. I’ll try and see Tresillian again and see what he wants us to do. I should think the case will remain open but unsolved.” “Okay, sir, goodnight,” said Anna. She left the building in a very despondent state of mind. She was so tired physically and mentally tired of this case. She wanted to go home and soak in a warm bath and for the moment forget the troubles of the day.


CHAPTER TWENTYSIX

Tuesday, Oct 31: evening

Rita returned to her home in Weston, showered and changed. She immediately went next door to meet Jack. He made no comment nor asked her questions. He told her nothing of the police visit. They were going to a Halloween party at the hospital where a room had been found for those not on duty to let their hair down.