Hit and Run, Maria Frankland [books like harry potter txt] 📗

who should really be here for me. Some kids in the street are out on their scooters. Jack would normally be with them. Life continues.

“I’ve made you a salad.” She steps back as I open the door and rise from the car. “It should be fairly light for you to eat.” She holds the plate towards me.

“Thanks.” I take it from her. “I’ll do my best with it.”

“You know where I am if you change your mind about having some company.”

I let myself in, the slap of silence hitting me as I step into the hallway and kick my sandals off. The tiled floor is cool and comforting against my bare feet. This is normally a noisy house, even just with three of us. Rob listens to the TV at a hundred decibels, and Jack’s normally tearing around like a wild thing. None of us ever remember to turn the kitchen radio off and the cat, Milly, trails after whichever of us is closest to the utility room. It’s where her feeding bowls are, and she meows night and day for food, whether or not she is hungry. Rob has always said that she’s more like a dog than a cat.

She’s waiting for me now. “At least I’m not totally on my own tonight.” I pick her up and nuzzle my face into the warmth of her fur. Not an affectionate animal in the slightest, she wriggles to be free, and meows. She’ll come to us but doesn’t like to be approached.

“Come on then.” I open a tin of tuna, which is a real treat for her. I watch her elegantly eating for a few minutes. All is normal in her world. I head back out of the utility room into the kitchen, where Rob’s phone is flashing on the side again. Bryony. I grab it this time before I can change my mind. “Hello?”

She hangs up immediately. I’m so frustrated that I can’t ring her back. I don’t know the password for his phone. I look again at the lock screen. Two more missed calls from her since this morning. I wonder why she hasn’t tried to text him. I can see the beginning of another text from his ex-wife. If you want to see Simone again, you’d better… Ten hours ago. It looks as though it was sent hot on the heels of her first one.

I jump as the doorbell sounds. I can see the formidable shapes of police hats through the stained glass in the door as I walk towards it. As if I haven’t seen enough of police for one day. I fling the door open and nearly say, so are you going to share the joke you were laughing at, after I’d identified my husband in the mortuary? But, seeing their serious faces, I refrain.

“Sorry to bother you again.” DI Green takes a step across the threshold into the porch. “Can we come in?”

I hold the door wider, inviting their entry. She walks past me, followed by PC Robinson, who sweeps a cursory glance over the hallway. He even walks like Rob. We stand facing each other in the sun dappled hallway.

“We’re here to collect a couple of things,” she says.

“Things. Like what?”

“Now we know we’re looking at a hit and run, rather than an accident. We need to have a good look at your husband’s recent communications. You said earlier that he’d left his phone here this morning?”

“Yes.” I think of the missed calls from Bryony. Maybe they’ll go after her. Then there’re the messages from his ex-wife. At least they’ll get access to read the messages in their entirety. Not like me.

“We need to take his phone, and his computer. I’m assuming he’s got one?”

“He’s got a laptop. It’s in the dining room.” I’m talking about him in present tense, as though he’s still here. I can’t believe he’s not coming home. It’s the most eerie feeling. I’m used to him working away from home now and then, therefore it will take a few days before this becomes reality.

PC Robinson holds his hands out to take the computer and phone from me. “We’ll have them back to you as soon as we can.”

“They’re Rob’s, so they’re of no use to me. I won’t miss them. Keep them for as long as you need to. Although I could do with knowing why Bryony has been trying to get hold of him.”

“Bryony?”

“His ex from when he was younger. It’s bugging me.”

“Which brings me onto another question. We should have asked you this afternoon,” DI Green begins, “do you know of anyone who might have done this to him? Did Robert have any enemies?”

“Not really. No one who would want to mow him down.” The coloured glass of the window in the front door casts colours over us all. I think of his ex-wife. She’s the only person who seems to bear a grudge against him, as far as I know, but it’s hardly out of the ordinary for ex-spouses not to be on the best of terms. Rob has a grievance against my mother, though she’s totally unaware of it. But I want to know why Bryony has been ringing. And I will find out.

“Are you sure?” DI Green is staring at me. “No matter how insignificant you think it is, every bit of information might help catch whoever has done this. We don’t have a lot to go on. We’ll certainly look into this Bryony.”

I tell her about the missed calls and messages from Denise as well.

She makes a note, promising to investigate it all once they come back on shift in the morning. “By then, Robert’s name will be out in the media, so we might have one or two witnesses come forward. Don’t you worry. We will catch whoever is responsible for this.”

“Have you considered that it could be a case of failed brakes on the car, or something? Not a hit and run?”

She shakes her head. “If your brakes