by A K Shattock
He let one of the junior police officers take over, so they could begin their obligatory searching and then take her to her cell. Tobias then made his way back to the interview room. Mrs Jones was obediently waiting outside.
“Please, step inside,” Tobias held the door open for Mrs Jones. She was clearly a good few years younger than Mrs Fielding. Her hair was a natural, soft brown with no white streaks. Her face was still effortlessly youthful. Tobias guessed that she must be in her early fifties, however she could pass for much younger if she had wanted. Although, at that moment, she was in a flurry of panic.
“Detective, is my sister alright? Do I need to get a hold of a lawyer for her? I can’t believe this is happening… What will I tell the boys?… Oh God,” she clutched her forehead, her eyes screwed shut. “Mrs Jones,” Tobias said gently. “Please take a seat. I would like to ask you some questions.”
Mrs Jones nodded slowly and sat herself down. Tobias paused for a moment whilst he let her collect herself. But not for too long of course. It was almost the end of his shift. He flicked on the recorder and introduced himself and his interviewee to the tape. “Mrs Jones, do you happen to know of any reason why the suspect, your sister, Mrs Mary Fielding may have wanted to harm her husband?”
Mrs Jones shook her head. “No… I mean I don’t think so. They were quite happily married, no children but… happy.”
Tobias’ ears pricked up. It was there and he heard it in her wobbling voice. Lies.
“Mrs Jones, I would like to be very clear that this is a very serious investigation. If you are found to not be telling the truth, you could be arrested for obstruction of justice. I understand that some truths are difficult to tell. But you aren’t protecting her by lying. We will find out everything anyway. It’s just quicker for us to find out from you. Do you really want to waste our time here?”
Mrs Jones shook her head again, her head bowed low. Tears were beginning to drip down her face. Tobias could sense it. It was coming.
“Will… will my sister hear about what… was said? Will my husband? Can I keep what I say confidential?”
Now it was Tobias’ turn to shake his head. “I’m afraid not. I can’t guarantee that any information discussed here will not be used outside this room. And judging by the seriousness of this case, it is very unlikely.” Mrs Jones went silent for a moment, as if considering. Then, defeated, she spoke again. “I had an affair with her husband.”
Again, there was a silence. Tobias found that he wasn’t surprised in the slightest at this revelation. There was a reason why Mrs Jones was frightened of her sister. And it was because she believed that her sister had a strong motive to murder her husband. “It started about five years ago. Greg was really unhappy. He told me that him and Mary were fighting all the time. That Mary was resentful that they never had children. I used to visit them in London at least twice a year and stay with them for a few weeks. And there was a moment when Greg and I were alone… and we just clicked. I was also struggling with my marriage at the time. And we had known each other for ages through Mary. It’s not an excuse… but we started talking a lot on the phone and it just happened. We met up alone a few months later… and that was it. We’d been talking and meeting each other in secret since then.” Mrs Jones started to cry. “I feel so horrible about it. I feel guilty everyday. But… I loved Greg. We were hoping to make it work. We were going to tell them - Mary and my husband… but now it’s too late.” Mrs Jones howled. The intense, sordid grief that she had kept hidden was now free. Tobias waited. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” he said apologetically, wishing he had some spare, clean tissues in his pocket. He then thought it wouldn’t be fair to question her much more. He did have a good amount of information to go on for the time being. Tobias closed the interview and stopped the tape. Mrs Jones was still sobbing. Tobias watched awkwardly. He fleetingly wondered what sort of mess he would look like if he lost somebody he truly loved. He caught his reflection in the one-way mirror. There it is, Tobias suddenly thought. That’s what I look like.
He was already mourning for somebody he lost. Somebody he lost six months before. Somebody that was still here, but couldn’t have.
Was it still too late for him?
MARY
CHAPTER NINE
Why I wanted you dead .
The second reason why I hated my husband. I knew about the affair he was having with my sister. They had tried so hard to keep it from me. I couldn’t fault them for trying. At first, I had no idea. I only knew something was different between Greg and I the past few years. But I hadn’t known why. Over the past decade, Greg and I had become a bitter couple. We became people that I thought we would never be. Unfortunately, it was all my fault. I found that I couldn’t hide the resentment I felt for Greg anymore. The hatred I had for him because of our childlessness. In my eyes, it was he who was to blame.
It got to the point where I considered divorce. ‘Divorce’, such an ugly concept, practically a swear word in our small community in Dulwich. I had thought about it for a long time. But I soon figured, it wasn’t worth it.
To start with, I had no career. Greg had made sure of that. In the divorce payout, sure I would get half of what he owned, but in truth, I knew that wouldn’t last. My normal lifestyle was too costly. I would have to scrimp, I would have to save. I would have to work, work with no skills, at a minimum wage. It would be humiliating. More humiliating than the divorce itself. I could’ve stayed with you, Elizabeth. That was the only thought that almost persuaded me to change my mind. I knew you would never say no, that you’d take me into your home, arms open, in an instant. But then Greg started to change. He became… happy. My irritated voice, behaviour suddenly my rudeness, my hostile no longer bothered him
anymore. He shrugged it off with a smile. He gave into every argument. It was like… he had a personality transplant. He behaved just like he used to, when we first met. It was then I knew. He was in love.
The revelation hit me like a bus. He was having an affair. I wasn’t as angry as I thought I would be. It was at that very moment, I realised I didn’t love Greg anymore. Perhaps, I never truly had. I was going to go ahead with the divorce. Perhaps I would be entitled to more since Greg was the one cheating. Or if I was lucky, he would just let me take what I wanted.
I was about to do it. That very evening, I was going to announce it to Greg. It also happened to be the same day of our wedding anniversary. Another event to add to this momentous day. A day that we barely celebrated anymore. A bunch of flowers, a nice dinner with forced, polite conversation. It hardly meant anything nowadays.
But before I told him, I went to call you, Elizabeth. I wanted you to be the first to know. I wanted us to talk about our new life together, up in Newcastle. We were going to be a close family again. You, me and the boys. I almost trembled with excitement as I picked up the house phone. That was when you made your first mistake.
You and I, we always communicated by mobile phone, by text and Facebook chat. I rarely used the house phone. It meant that I could have conversations with you in private, away from Greg’s eager ears. It also worked the other way as well. Greg had never taken with new technology, gadgets and social media. He solely used the landline. He used to shut himself away with it in his sound-proofed study. It was our unspoken rule.
However, that day my mobile phone was upstairs, charging. And I was too excited. Greg was out at work. There would be no way that he would be able to overhear anything.
I dialed your mobile number, of which I knew by heart, excitedly. But it was you who spoke first.
“Greg!” came your voice, expectantly. I froze, in a panic. What were you doing, talking to Greg? You had no reason to. I knew you both got along well, but to talk privately on the phone without my knowledge was too… intimate.
“You’re home early, aren’t you?” you carried on in a sing-song voice, oblivious to the silence, and held breath on the other end of the line. “Why aren’t you ringing my other mobile?
And why are you calling me now? Mary is in, isn’t she? You should be more careful… it’s your anniversary today after all.” I slammed the phone down. I couldn’t bear to hear anymore of it. I instantly knew that I was right. That Greg was having an affair. I felt my world crashing down around me. My own sister… and my husband. I felt physically sick.
I ran upstairs and emptied the contents of my stomach. I had no idea that betrayal could be so visceral. I climbed into bed, and I cried and cried. I didn’t care that Greg was having an affair. I didn’t love him anymore and I had long suspected it.
But I loved you. You were my baby sister. The love and friendship between us that would never die. My best friend.
And you betrayed me.
I contemplated what to do for hours. I couldn’t divorce Greg now. I would have nowhere to go. You would know that I knew. This would ruin our relationship completely. And it would mean that you would leave your own husband, to move in with mine. I could hear it in your voice. The love that you felt for him. I had never heard you speak like that before.
I knew what I had to do would be difficult. Probably the most difficult thing I would ever have to do in my entire life.
I had to pretend I didn’t know.
Later that night, Greg came home. In one hand, he had the standard bunch of flowers and characterless card - no doubt picked up from the nearest petrol station - and in the other he had an extra addition. “I’ve got tickets for the Royal Opera House!” Greg was smiling, but behind his eyes I could see fear. “There's a Shakespeare ballet this weekend! And we’re going to stay in a hotel for the night. Surprise!” He waited for my reaction with a sense of uneasiness. Waiting for me to scream. Waiting for me to pounce. Clearly, you had already warned him about the phone call.
I plastered a fake smile across my face. “Darling!” I crooned. “You shouldn’t have!” I went towards him, arms wide and planted a kiss on his cheek. I could feel him almost flinching away underneath. As I put my arms around him to bring him close, I knew I was doing the right thing.
This was for the best. The only way.
The only way I could avoid telling you the truth, about everything.
Even though you had betrayed me, you were still my sister. I still loved you, despite that.
I was pretending for both of our sake’s. To protect you from me, from what I had done wrong. But mainly, to protect you from Greg.
TOBIAS
CHAPTER TEN
Tobias sauntered into the meeting room the next morning, again clutching his fancy, coffee flask. To his surprise, he found that for once he was late - or was it that everyone else was early? They all stood at the front of the room. He was met by something that sounded vaguely like applause coming from Simmonds and a gasp of excitement (or was it wind?) coming from Harris’s direction. But what was the most alarming was the something that was so foreign, so ghastly and unreal that was plastered across the superintendent’s face. It was a smile.
“Well done lad.” Happiness made Fowler look like he was actually in pain. “You did a good job yesterday. An arrest within twenty-four hours, a confession at that! Finally, an achievement we can be proud of.” Tobias didn’t know if that was a compliment or a quip at his previous failures.
“Actually, Sir,” Tobias’s throat suddenly felt very dry. “I would like to do a little more digging into this case. I feel there is more to it than meets the eye.” The room suddenly went into a deathly silence. It was as if Tobias had just announced to the room that he liked to eat dead puppies.
“You want to…?” Fowler eventually replied, flabbergasted. “DI Mitchell! You are aware that now the arrest has taken place, from our side the case is closed? It’s up to the courts to decide now. We have our main suspect! A confession! What on earth is there more to do?”
Tobias knew this wasn’t going to go down well. As far as Fowler was concerned, they were to wash their hands with this case. Another box ticked. Maybe they’ll get a reward for this - slightly extra funding or another terrible coffee machine. Whatever happened next to those people, to the family, to Mrs Fielding, didn’t matter. And that was the result of having such an understaffed, underfunded department. But Tobias could not let this go. He couldn’t let a potentially innocent or partially innocent woman go to jail. And there was an itching under his skin that he could not just ignore. It was like he was at the beginning of a chase. He was a lion and the truth was the gazelle. He was so close, he could feel it. “Sir, I had some concerns regarding the mental state of the suspect,” began Tobias. “Even though she confessed, I felt that there was something not quite right. She mentioned these blackouts. I would like to go over the case again, just to make sure we’ve covered every aspect…”
“You just want to see that fit psychiatrist again!” Harris guffawed, idiotically from the sidelines. Fowler’s eyes looked like they were about to pop out.
“Mitchell! Again, that is for the courts to decide! I don’t want to hear anything more about this! The case is closed! We have a confession. End of.”
The superintendent stormed out of the room in a rage, the door slamming behind him. It wasn’t dissimilar to a scene from Star Wars when Darth Vader didn’t get his way.
“Oh well done, Mitchell,” said Harris, with all the sarcasm he could muster. Tobias had had enough. And it wasn’t even past 8am yet.
“I think you did the right thing,” Simmonds said quietly, patting him on the arm. “I’ve always admired how you stand up for what you believe in.” Tobias gave her a weak smile. How he wished she had said that earlier when the timing would’ve been a lot more useful. But that was not how it worked at this station. He sighed. It looked like he would have to investigate Mr Fielding’s murder on the side of some other cases. Which would most likely eat into his free time. He should’ve bought a bigger coffee flask. “I’ll help you,” her voice came out of nowhere. Tobias hadn’t even noticed she was in the room. DS Phillips had been sitting at the back of the meeting room the whole time, patiently watching the glorious shit-show in all of its entirety. “I think you’re right too. Something weird is definitely not right about that case.” Her blue eyes were intense as ever. Tobias met her gaze.
“That would be amazing,” he said. “Shall we both go over our findings? You questioned the neighbours didn’t you?”
DS Phillips nodded. “I think I found something.” Before Fowler could hand them another heavy pile of mysteries to unfold; himself and Phillips went to sit at Tobias’ desk to pore over the case notes.
First of all, they looked at the facts. Mr Gregory Fielding’s body was found by his wife approximately 19:30. The police were alerted to their residence roughly ten minutes after, once a neighbour had rung in after hearing a ‘terrible scream’. Mr Fielding’s throat had been slashed, as well as with some postmortem disfigurement. The weapon was known; a large kitchen knife with a neon green handle that fitted the dimensions of the wound. It had been returned to its place in the knife rack after being washed. On the handle; only the fingerprints of Mrs Fielding were present.
Then, there were DS Phillips’s discoveries.
“I interviewed the neighbours that had alerted the police services after hearing Mrs Fielding scream. They live in the house adjacent to the Fieldings’,” DS Phillips' voice was very serious. “What was really interesting, was that the same neighbours had heard an intense argument, a ‘domestic’ as they called it, around twenty minutes before they heard Mrs Fielding scream. That was what prompted them to call the police.”
Tobias considered. “So there was a possibility of an altercation between Mr and Mrs Fielding before the murder.”
DS Phillips nodded. “I asked at each of the surrounding houses, nobody could remember seeing Mrs Fielding return back from her ‘meeting with her old friend’ at the alleged time that she described.” “Okay,” said Tobias. “So judging by these facts, it was more likely that she was still in the house at the time of the murder. Also, the fact that it was only her fingerprints f
ound on the knife strengthens the possibility of her being the killer. The only thing we are missing - motive? Is self-defense the likely trigger here? We also can’t ignore the fact that she had been having these strange blackouts, as well as the fact that her sister was having an affair with her husband. Most likely she knew about it.”
“Perhaps she was lying about the blackouts?” DS Phillips suggested. “In the hope of potentially getting a lesser sentence? And if she had killed him in selfdefense; why not admit that?”
Tobias drummed his fingers on the table as his thoughts whizzed around his brain. “When Diane, the psychiatrist, spoke to her, she could definitely sense that something was wrong. You’re right, why not just admit to self-defense rather than to make up a story about blackouts? I think she was telling the truth about them. She seemed genuinely afraid. Particularly of herself. Even her own sister was wary of her. Was there anything else that you came across? Any other potential motive?”
“As a matter of fact, I did,” DS Phillips flicked through some more papers. “I looked at the report summary of Gregory Fielding’s home computer and bank details. Mr Fielding and was in a huge amount of debt. To the point, where they were about to lose everything. Look at all these notices from bailiffs.” Tobias scanned through the pile and blew out a low whistle. Mr Fielding had owed just under 1.2 million pounds. “The inevitable question. Life insurance?” “Mr Fielding’s payout for key-person insurance within the business was 1.5 million,” replied DS Phillips. “Potentially a motive to his murder?” “But who would benefit? It wouldn’t make sense for Mrs Fielding to murder him for it? It would go to the business. Unless, she is such an honest woman that she would kill to settle his debts.” Tobias chuckled at his bad joke. “What was Mr Fielding’s occupation?”
