Woman in the Water

by Katerina Diamond

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Adrian hung back and let Imogen take the lead at the Corrigan house, to prove that she was wrong about what was going on with him. To prove that he could keep his cool, that he wasn’t hell-bent on some kind of latent transferred revenge.

  When they knocked on the door and Corrigan himself answered, despite his car being missing from the driveway, Adrian felt the rage rise in him almost instantly. Maybe he couldn’t keep his cool, after all.

  ‘Look, Detective, I don’t want any trouble,’ Corrigan said.

  ‘Then cooperate with our enquiries, Mr Corrigan,’ Imogen said.

  ‘I’ve told you what you wanted to know. I don’t have anything to do with those dead men. I gave you my alibi and I assume the people whose names my receptionist sent you corroborated my whereabouts. You might want to check someone else out for a change,’ he said, turning to Adrian. ‘I know your girlfriend has a hard-on for me, but I didn’t do what I’m being accused of.’

  Adrian ignored his pathetic attempt to rile him.

  ‘Your sudden change in attitude isn’t fooling anyone,’ Imogen said. ‘No point acting all affronted now.’

  Angela’s car pulled into the driveway – the brand-new white hybrid Lexus. Adrian noticed Reece shooting an annoyed look at his wife as she stepped out of the car. She was immaculate, as usual: crisp white silk blouse, a calf-length black pencil skirt and red patent kitten heels. Her hair was a more vibrant golden blonde than the last time they had seen it. Where she normally had her loose barrel curls hanging around her face, today they were pulled into a loose updo.

  There was something else Adrian noticed as she stepped out of the car. Despite the weather being decidedly grey today, she was wearing sunglasses. He knew he should just walk away now. The anger that had yet to abate stoked inside of him again. He really didn’t want to prove Imogen right about his inability to keep his emotions under control.

  They had already been warned about Reece Corrigan. The fact that they had already questioned him and were likely to do so again had obviously not deterred him from hurting his wife. Adrian remembered the police visiting his own childhood home – a verbal warning and then nothing. He thought things had moved on since then. Obviously not.

  Adrian clenched and unclenched his fist as Angela approached. He noticed Reece’s jaw straining under the pressure as he tried to mask his annoyance at his wife. She was carrying shopping bags from some of the pricier shops in town. Retail therapy. Maybe Imogen was right and this was just a price Angela was willing to pay – the smile on her face was a convincing mask. It’s not impossible that the negative aspect was just a trade-off for this life of privilege. His mother put up with a lot more for a hell of a lot less.

  ‘Mrs Corrigan,’ Adrian said as she went to pass them.

  ‘Can I just put these bags inside?’ she said, clearly hoping that she would have been able to avoid this confrontation altogether.

  ‘Of course,’ Adrian said, moving forwards a little, edging Imogen out of the way, rigid with anger at Reece.

  Who the hell did he think he was? Adrian’s eyes were fixed on Reece’s now. He could feel Imogen tap him on the back of the arm, trying to remind him where he was, who he was. It was too late for that.

  It wasn’t as though Adrian had never been called out on a domestic abuse call before, of course he had. There was something about Reece Corrigan, though – something so entitled. He had no intention of ever stopping. Adrian wondered if he even bothered pretending to be sorry afterwards.

  Angela reappeared at the door. Smiling through gritted teeth.

  ‘Detectives.’

  ‘Would you take those glasses off for us, Mrs Corrigan,’ Adrian said, never once breaking eye contact with Reece.

  She slowly pulled the glasses off and Adrian looked over.

  ‘It’s not what you think. I was in the gym and—’ Angela said unconvincingly.

  ‘Save it, love,’ Reece said, annoyed that she was trying to cover it up.

  He would have been annoyed no matter what she had done. He didn’t need a reason.

  ‘If you feel as though you are in danger, we can take you with us now,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Danger? Don’t be silly! This was an accident,’ she said, trying to laugh it off.

  Reece rolled his eyes, exasperated, annoyed that Angela was even there. Angela Corrigan was the only one invested in trying to keep up the pretence that he hadn’t done this. She had the most to lose.

  ‘Mrs Corrigan, if you make a formal complaint, we can arrest your husband,’ Imogen said.

  ‘No. I won’t. This wasn’t Reece. You need to leave us alone,’ she implored.

  Adrian pulled out a business card and handed it to Angela, who took it reluctantly. He could see that she was resolute and he had a decision to make. He could either lay Reece out now with a swift punch, or they could step away and come back when Angela was alone. He knew which one he would rather do, but in the long run that helped no one but Corrigan. They were powerless. There was nothing to do now but walk away.

  ‘Call me if you need anything. Any issue at all,’ Adrian smiled.

  ‘Mr Corrigan.’ Imogen nodded and tugged on Adrian’s elbow.

  Adrian stepped away from the house and walked back to the car, getting in the passenger seat. The anger coursed through him with force.

  Imogen started the car and they drove out of the street. He watched Reece slowly close the door as they pulled out of sight and turned the corner. Corrigan was waiting until they were totally gone before dealing with Angela.

  ‘Pull the car over,’ Adrian said.

  ‘What is it now?’ Imogen said.

  ‘We wait ten minutes and then go back.’

  ‘We’ll get done for harassment at this rate, Adrian. We’ve already been warned,’ Imogen said.

  Adrian folded his arms and leaned back in the seat, waiting for the ten minutes to pass. That should be enough time. Corrigan wasn’t a measured man. He was angry when they had left the house and so it was only a matter of time, a short amount of time, before he punished his wife, Angela.

  Adrian could feel Imogen’s eyes burning into him as he stared ahead. How could she ever understand this? Maybe she was right and he was taking it a bit too personally, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice. He couldn’t leave Angela to the mercy of her husband. An image of her tangled in the riverbank flashed in his memory.

  ‘Is this about her?’ Imogen asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘We’ve been on cases like this before, domestic abuse cases, and I’ve never seen you so angry. What is it about Angela that has you so riled? Is it because she’s young and pretty?’ Imogen said.

  ‘What are you saying? Do you think I fancy her? Are you actually jealous?’ Adrian said incredulously.

  ‘She’s beautiful. I wouldn’t blame you if you did,’ Imogen said.

  ‘Please, no. She needs our help, that’s all. I don’t know about you, but she’s the first person I’ve pulled half dead out of the river. I’m genuinely offended that you would think that of me,’ Adrian said.

  ‘I just don’t understand. You punched Constable Jarvis and now we are waiting here, why? So you can catch him in the act?’

  ‘Whatever gets the job done. This won’t stop; this kind of behaviour doesn’t stop. We need to stop it. Angela will keep making excuses for him and he will keep getting away with it.’

  ‘I’ve just never seen you like this. Does she remind you of your mum or something?’

  ‘So first I fancy her, now she reminds me of my mum? Come on, Grey. Give me a little credit. Yes, she is young. She deserves a better life than this, don’t you think? I don’t really appreciate the implication that I have some ulterior motive here.’

  He nodded at her to start the car. She did without question and pulled the car into a U-turn, heading back to the Corrigan house.

  Adrian’s rage was only magnified by Imogen’s remarks. Not letting criminals like this go unpu
nished should be top of their list. There was a huge correlation with domestic abusers going on to commit other, more serious crimes. In America, many of the mass shootings were committed by men who had previously been brought in on domestic abuse charges. Something about the mentality of a person who would beat someone physically weaker than them on a regular basis was dangerous and not limited just to beating up their wives. As Simon Glover could attest.

  ‘I don’t want to argue. I know this must be hard for you, but you can’t behave like this. Let’s at least drive round the back so we can see if anything is going on inside.’

  ‘Fine,’ Adrian said, aware that every second they delayed was maybe a second Angela didn’t have.

  As they drove past the Corrigan house via the back road it looked empty. They must have been in the one of the rooms not visible from this aspect. Imogen let out a frustrated sigh.

  ‘You don’t have to be a part of it if you don’t want. Drop me off here and I’ll walk the rest of the way.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ She turned into the street where the Corrigans lived. ‘Just don’t do anything stupid.’

  Imogen stopped the car and Adrian jumped out. He walked towards the door and put his ear to the glass panel to see if he could hear anything inside. There was some shouting, followed by the muffled pleading of Angela. He looked in through the lounge window, but he couldn’t see anything. He had to make a decision.

  ‘Call it in. I can hear a domestic disturbance and fear that there is an attack taking place inside the house,’ he said to Imogen, who was approaching the house. ‘I’m going in.’

  ‘Be careful,’ Imogen said.

  Adrian picked a rock from the path and smashed the window on the front door. He reached inside and flipped the latch to let himself in. He threw the rock back down and slowly walked into the house. The arguing was coming from the back. He heard something smash and rushed forwards.

  Angela was on the floor, surrounded by smashed crockery, her hand covered in blood. If Adrian was going to guess, he would say she was thrown against the dresser. She was crying. Reece looked up, shocked to see Adrian in his kitchen. Before he had a chance to speak, Adrian swung hard at him, the flat of his fist connecting with Corrigan’s jaw.

  Reece was a big man and while the punch stunned him, it didn’t take him out; nor did it stop him. He turned around and punched Adrian in the side. Adrian jumped back in time to lessen the impact, but he felt his ribs jar all the same.

  They both swung at each other again. Imogen rushed in and helped Angela into a chair. Reece grabbed Adrian by the hair.

  ‘Who the fuck do you think you are?’ He smacked Adrian’s face into the counter.

  ‘I could say the same to you. Never mind assaulting your wife, assaulting a police officer? That’s not going to look so good, is it?’ Adrian said, running his hand across his nose, checking for blood.

  ‘I’ll have your job for this,’ Reece hissed.

  ‘We’ve got you, Corrigan, just remember that,’ Adrian said, smiling through bloodied teeth.

  If there was one way to upset a man like Corrigan, it was to belittle him in some way. Corrigan was tough, though; he didn’t seem to rile easily. Unless you were married to him.

  ‘We’ll see. I’ve come up against bigger and badder men than you, Detective. You’ll live to regret the day you ever met me. I’ll see to that.’

  The police sirens outside got louder and two officers burst in, wrestling Reece to the ground on his front. Adrian’s chest was heaving; he wasn’t done. He wanted to punch the man a couple more times. He looked over to Imogen, who wore a mixture of concern and anger.

  ‘You won’t be able to hold him,’ Angela said through tears.

  ‘The paramedic will be here in a moment to take care of your hand.’

  As Imogen said it, the paramedics walked into the kitchen.

  ‘What’s your name, love?’ the paramedic said to Angela.

  Imogen smiled and let them take over from her. She walked towards Adrian.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Imogen asked Adrian, not so much concerned as annoyed.

  ‘Yes,’ Adrian said, coming out of the moment and realising that he had just done some real damage to their case and probably not helped Angela in the process. Whatever they saw, whatever happened, could be explained away. It wasn’t enough.

  ‘Outside!’ Imogen said then stormed out.

  Adrian followed her, aware that he was about to get a grilling. He deserved it.

  Outside, Reece was being bundled into the back of the police car after being read his rights. Imogen put her hands on her hips and stared at Adrian.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ he said.

  ‘What the fuck were you thinking? You can’t just smash your way into someone’s house without cause.’

  ‘We both knew what was happening in there.’

  ‘Well, I hate to say it, but you were lucky you were right. Still, I can’t see this sticking, can you? We know he’s got a good lawyer. You’re going to come out of this one looking like a twat.’

  ‘So, we just let it happen?’

  ‘We do our jobs. Did you even announce yourself as you walked in? He could argue that he thought you were an intruder and hit out at you.’

  ‘He knows who I am,’ Adrian said.

  ‘His lawyer will get him out. You can’t just steam in. That’s why there are rules, so that these bastards can’t get off on a technicality. Not to mention the weight you have given to any claims he might make of harassment, now.’

  ‘I suppose you think Jarvis was right, too?’

  ‘He followed procedure, that’s what he is supposed to do. Of course, I don’t think he was right, but he wasn’t technically wrong, either.’

  ‘Maybe he can stand by while this shit happens, but I can’t.’

  ‘Yeah, well if Angela’s body is the next one to turn up then that’s on you! You probably just got her killed.’

  Imogen’s words hit him like a fist, as they were supposed to. He could see the regret on her face instantly; she knew she had crossed a line. This conversation was over, all evening plans cancelled. He needed some time to cool off before he responded in kind; he had enough to say something equally damaging, but who would that help? Some time alone was what he needed.

  ‘I’ll catch a ride back after I’ve seen the medic,’ he said flatly, his voice emotionless.

  ‘Adrian. Come on, I didn’t mean that.’

  He walked away without looking back and made his way over to the paramedic, who was just finishing with Angela’s hand. When he looked back, Imogen was pulling away from the scene, so he pulled out his phone and called the DCI.

  ‘DS Miles?’ Kapoor answered.

  ‘I was in an altercation with Reece Corrigan; I’m going to get checked out by a paramedic and then I’ll head home, if that’s all right? I’m sure Imogen will fill you in on what happened. I’ll complete a report in the morning.’

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Yes, we caught him beating his wife and you can imagine the rest.’

  ‘Is Imogen all right?’

  ‘She’s fine. I’m fine, too, but I took a couple of punches.’

  ‘We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow, then. I look forward to hearing your explanation for what happened today. It better be a good one.’

  ‘Of course.’

  She hung up the phone before he did. He couldn’t face going back to the station and sitting opposite Imogen for the next hour. His nose had stopped bleeding, but he waited to see the paramedic anyway, in case anyone asked. After that he was going out. He needed some time alone.

  This relationship with Imogen was intense because they saw each other all the time. Nothing had changed in the way they worked together; nothing had changed in the things they said to each other. The only difference was the fact that there was more to lose now, so throwaway comments had a little more weight. They were still learning how to have everything. Maybe it wasn’t possible.

>   Chapter Forty

  I told those police detectives to leave it alone but they just won’t. I know it’s not that simple, I know they can’t just walk away from a murder investigation, but still. I wish they would go away and leave us alone; they have no idea how hard they are making things.

  I am sitting in the car a few hundred metres from my house. I can see the two detectives outside my door talking to R. I look in the mirror and see the remnants of a very obvious shiner. The make-up I put on was pointless, as my eye is still swollen from earlier today.

  We had a fight this morning. I ruined a shirt he liked and so he sent me to the shops to get another one, but not before cuffing me first. He has a million shirts – he certainly didn’t need a new one. It was more about making me feel awkward and having to lie about my injury to shop assistants, almost daring anyone to do anything about it. As if anyone believes any of those lies, anyway. I search my handbag for my shades and put them on before starting the engine and going to the house.

  When I get out of the car, I pick up the shopping bags and go straight into the house. Maybe they won’t stop me to talk, but of course they do. I feel even worse about the situation as I watch Adrian Miles get angry. His partner steps in the way a little and somehow that holds him back. I can see this is personal for him. I guess he had a similar upbringing. He’s not protecting me so much as someone else, someone from his past – a mother, probably. I know how that feels. Every day I am grateful for the fact that I haven’t fallen pregnant, yet.

  The officers ask me what happened and I lie but it’s pointless – everyone knows the truth. I can tell R is annoyed at me for coming home at that moment, but it doesn’t matter. He would have found something else to be annoyed at me about if it wasn’t that. He just woke up in one of those moods today. Sometimes it’s as simple as that.

  I go to the kitchen and drink a couple of mouthfuls of gin before he gets here; I know what will happen when he does. I’ll just wait here.

  When he comes back in he starts to taunt me about the detectives, asks me if I have spoken to them about him. I tell him I haven’t, why would I? He gets his phone out and shows me the video of Adrian rescuing me from the river and asks me if I told them about him.