Two Wrongs (Detective Inspector Ross Reed Book 1)

by Nathan Sayer

  “I didn't kill her. It was an accident.”

  “So you were with her when it happened?” Reed asked.

  “Yes. But I didn't touch her.”

  “Tell us what happened. The truth.”

  “She was my girlfriend. We met at Ovington Fen that day because her dad wouldn't have approved of her having a boyfriend. We just hung out really. Then Tina climbed this tree.”

  Reed wasn't sure if the pause was for effect or just to buy some time to think, but he waited it out anyway. Lee Gulliver had lied over and over for so long he had probably turned it into a fine art. There had been only one chink in his armour and Reed had spotted it by chance. At the time it hadn't made any sense but with a statement from David Jones, it had all fallen into place.

  “She fell. I swear to God she fell. I never touched her.”

  “So why did you lie about it?”

  “I was scared. I thought she was mucking about at first. Then I went over to her. My heart sunk. There was this pool of blood, so I lifted her head to have a look but when I went to put her head back down I moved this big sharp stone so as not to hurt her more. Then I noticed she wasn't breathing. I was really panicking, we weren't even meant to be together.”

  “Then what happened?” Tyler prompted gently.

  “I... I was going to call an ambulance but then I saw my hands. They were covered in blood.” Gulliver said between sniffles and sobs, “Plus I had probably picked up the stone that had just killed her. There were no witnesses. I was scared I'd take the blame. So I cried. I sat there and I cried.”

  “How did David Jones become involved?” Reed asked.

  “He became involved when he tried to kiss me, the big faggot. We used to be good mates, then I started seeing his sister and he became, I don't know... jealous I suppose. I was spending more time with her and then one day he just kissed me. I didn't want any of that.”

  “So you involved David Jones because he's gay?” Reed asked.

  “Kind of. I felt he owed me something for putting me in that position, so I gave him Tina's earrings. He had a secret and I had a secret.”

  Reed thought it must have been hard for David Jones being a gay mechanic. Reed had never seen a calendar of topless men hanging next to the standard issue female versions that all garages had. Most gay people wanted to declare their sexuality in their own time, if at all. They didn't want to be forced in to it by some low-life like Gulliver.

  David Jones had explained that he hoped some of Gulliver's DNA was still on the earring that had been handed to him all those years ago. He had handled the earring over and over, wondering if Gulliver’s secret was worth keeping anymore. If his own secret was worth keeping anymore. Then when Carmella was killed he had decided enough was enough. If Gulliver was a killer then he deserved to be caught and if people found out he was gay then it was a small price to pay.

  “So you threatened him?” Tyler asked with a look of disapproval etched on her face.

  Gulliver wiped his eyes clear of the last few tears before saying “A little. I was scared. I went to his house straight after I left Ovington. I chucked the earring on his bed where he was sitting and he picked it up. I told him the whole story and said I needed an alibi. He wasn't sure, so I told him his DNA would be on the earring and I would do anything not to go to jail. Anything.” Relief was flooding over Gulliver's face for finally telling all. It was a shame he hadn't done so a few years earlier.

  “What about Carmella? What really happened that night?” Reed asked. They knew Alan Westwood had killed her to draw attention to his own daughter’s death but they didn't know how he had got her to Thetford Common.

  “I couldn't believe it was happening again. I was involved in another girl’s death that wasn't my fault. After we left the club we stopped at the Common. We... well, you know, started kissing and stuff but Carmella wanted to stop. We had an argument and I drove off. I left her there.”

  “You left a young girl in the middle of nowhere, late at night and you don't think any blame lies with you?” Tyler spat out.

  “It’s right on the edge of town, I thought she could walk. I was angry. If she didn't like me why would she want to share a car with me?”

  “Sharing a car and sharing her body are two different things you little...”

  Reed put his hand on Tyler's arm to stop her saying something she would regret.

  “Was there another car on the Common car park when you got there?” Reed asked, trying to work out when Alan had come to be there.

  “Yeah. We parked away from it for some privacy, you know. I don't know who or what it was.”

  Reed could only guess that it was Alan. Having left his hotel early perhaps he had stopped for a break. Maybe he couldn't face going to the home where his daughter no longer was. After witnessing Lee and Carmella kissing he must have made himself angry about how his daughter wouldn't have been doing such a thing and attacked Carmella. Believing she didn't deserve to live when his daughter was dead. In fact, Tina had been seeing Gulliver at the time of her death behind her parents back.

  Did Alan panic? Reed believed he did. That's why he moved her body. If he wanted to make a statement about his daughter’s death, why not leave her where she was, where she would definitely be found? Reed thought the bleach idea was an afterthought, Alan turning a situation created from rage to one that would at least serve the purpose of reigniting interest in his own daughter’s murder. Gulliver had met Tina after work on the day she had died and the traces of bleach that had been detected on Tina’s chest and hands was testament to what they had been up to.

  Gulliver's lies had caused two further deaths and endless amounts of grief for a lot of people. Grief that had stretched into Reed's own life. This investigation had played its part by absorbing all his time. That was one of the reasons that Kate was on the verge of leaving him. No time for his family. In the future there would be more murders demanding his time. He could change his career but he would only resent the decision further down the line, feeling as though he has been forced into it, resulting in arguments and possibly a split anyway.

  When Reed hadn't been there for Kate, a mystery man had been pulling her away from him. A man he knew nothing about and probably couldn't compete with anyway.

  Evie had lashed out by throwing a rock through their window. All that had achieved was to re-affirm Kate's beliefs that Reed's job was a dangerous intrusion on their lives. He didn't have the heart to tell Kate the truth and he felt it was better for Evie to think she had got away with it. She had no idea the effect her actions would have; she was lashing out at the atmosphere they had somehow created. That one rock had smashed through their lounge window and smashed the last chance of rescuing their relationship. Kate had gone to stay with her sister that night and hadn't returned. What would have happened if they had enjoyed their meal and spent the night talking things through? Maybe slept in the same bed?

  What would have happened if Gulliver had told the truth at the time of Tina's death? Would Alan Westwood and Carmella Chapman still be alive?

  For two chapters of his life that were supposedly over; his relationship with Kate and the whole Tina Westwood, Carmella Chapman and Alan Westwood scenario, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. Questions that would always stay that way.