A Poison Tree (Time, Blood and Karma Book 3) (29 page)

43

DAVID

I was interviewed by the same two police officers who had seen Anna. We were even in the same room at the station.

“Thank you for coming in, sir,” said the female officer. “I know this is a difficult time for you, but I assure you this is just routine. We already have statements from your wife’s oncologist,
Dr. Dudley, and from the duty nurse, Miss Linda Thompson. We are satisfied as to the circumstances of Mrs. Braddock’s death. However, since you were there at the time, we are required to talk to you. I hope you understand.”

“Perfectly.”

The session was short and, in my opinion, rather half-hearted from the police side. I didn’t fall to my knees and confess. I just answered their questions as dishonestly as I could.

When it was over
, they asked me if I would mind staying a while longer as DCI Banks wanted to have a word with me. I voiced no objection. They left the room, taking their paperwork and their disinterest with them.

A couple of minutes later, Banks appeared and
sat down opposite me. He dispensed with the niceties.

“In view of that business with Fosse eighteen months ago, when I was informed your wife had died, you will appreciate I was suspicious, Mr
. Braddock.”

“It’s your job to be suspicious.
But unless you are of the view that I’ve been smoking cigarettes around my wife with the specific aim of giving her lung cancer, I guess there is nothing further to discuss.”

Banks fiddled with a pen.

“The hospital staff were unanimous about the cause of your wife’s death,” he said with care. “I am sorry. Her illness must have been a distressing time for you.”

“You could say that. More distressing for Claire, however, and a lot more painful. I loved my wife. There was no way I would want to harm her. You presumably realise that by now.”

Banks sniffed.

“Well, unlike our mutual friend in Sheffield, I
really don’t know you and I can’t vouch for what your marriage was like.”

“I wonder wh
at sort of sentence I’d get for punching a policeman. It might be worth it.”

He shuffled in his chair.

“Have you heard anything from Fosse since he left England?”

“No. But you never know, I might bump into him. I’m taking an extended trip to the Far East. If we do meet, he is owed a reckoning for all he’s done.
And it doesn’t look as if the police are going to do anything about him.”

Banks
straightened his tie.

“You have never struck me as the type
of man who dispenses vigilante justice, Mr. Braddock.”

“Well, as you said yourself, Detective Chief Inspector, you really don’t know me.”

44

ANNA

Anna sat on the bed while David folded shirts and put them into his suitcase.

“Are you sure I can’t help you with that?”

“No, you just sit there and look pretty.”

“Sexist pig,” she laughed.

It was good to see David even a little upbeat after the horrors he had endured in recent months. He had told her about Claire’s death and
the truth of what had happened. At first, Anna had feared that his heart might break, that his grief and remorse might propel him to a public admission of his guilt. But somehow he kept it together. For Katie’s sake, Anna surmised. She could tell how much it hurt him having to lie to his daughter.

Adversity served to bring David and Anna closer together, and she found herself entertaining thoughts that were wholly inappropriate, given the circumstances. Even now, sitting in his bedroom – the bedroom he had shared with Claire – there was an easy intimacy between them. The urge to reach out and t
ouch his hand was strong. But she fought her instincts, and reminded herself she was with a bereaved person, a man damaged by the loss of his wife. Her sister. Romance could not be on his agenda. The thought that she might overstep the line, and see him recoil in embarrassment, held her in check.

David’s announcement that he was going off to live in the Far East for an indefinite period had come as a shock to Anna. She was yet struggling to come to terms with it.

“Is that your saxophone case?” she said.

“Yes. I thought I’d take my sax with me.”

“I haven’t heard you play it in years.”

“That’s because I haven’t played it in years. I figured I might sit on a porch somewhere and make loud squeaking, honking noises, just to annoy the neighbours.”

Anna’s gaze moved around the room.

“So when do your tenants move in here?” she said.

“In three days. The agent is handling all the details, bless her. All our personal things are in storage. Everything you see still here is part of the furnished-property lease. As soon as I’ve packed this case, that’s it. Any clothes that won’t fit in can go out with the rubbish.”

“Three days. Hmm. Where will you be then? In Bangkok?”

“No, I’ll be in Bali. I’m going there for a few days initially. When I took Claire’s ashes to Foxton Locks, I kept some back to scatter over the rice terraces outside Ubud. We had many happy times there. I’m sure she would appreciate that.”

Anna felt a lump in her throat.

“You’re a true romantic, David Braddock.”

In spite of her resolution, Anna reached out and took his hand.

“Stop packing for a few minutes and tell me about your plans.”

“I’ve already told you.”

“Tell me again. I’m a woman. I only half-listen.”

David sat on the bed and put an arm around her.

“Well, after I’ve been to Bali, I’m travelling to Bangkok to see a Thai guy that my father knows of. He owns a retail and export business in fine art and is looking for a partner. Braddock Senior thinks, since I no longer want to sell cars, I should at least have some business interest to occupy my mind while I’m away. He may be right. He’s thinking of selling Braddock Motors, by the way. Did I tell you?”

“Is he selling up because you’re leaving?”

“I doubt that. My father’s decisions are based on money, not sentiment. He must have a good offer. You know, my relationship with the old bugger might improve when we’re a few thousand miles apart. We’ll see.”

“Why Bangkok? Why not Bali?”

David sighed. “Too many memories. Bali is an island of ghosts. I might go crazy on my own after a while. Thailand is a much better option. There are lots of Western ex pats there.”

“And lots of attractive Thai ladies too, especially in
Patpong.”

“That’s the furthest thing from my mind.”

And am I far from your mind too, David?

“Anyway, I don’t see my living in Bangkok. It’s too noisy and busy. I was thinking more of one of the islands, Phuket or
Samui maybe. Then I can fly to the capital when necessary. I need to check them out and find somewhere so Katie can join me for the Christmas holidays.”

Anna snuggled her body against him.

“You should get yourself a housekeeper.”

Someone old
.

“I suppose.”

“Perhaps while you’re in Ubud you should ask that nice spa lady you know – what’s her name? Wayan? – to look after you.”

“It’s an interesting idea, but I can’t see
Wayan uprooting herself to Thailand for the sake of some mad Englishman. Besides, she has an elderly mother to take care of.”

“
You can but ask.”

“I guess so.”

“You can do whatever you like. You’re a free agent now.”

“I’ll never be free.”

David swung his legs off the bed and stood, his hands resting on the suitcase.

“I have misplaced myself somewhere,” he said.
“I have been taking stock of David Braddock. Who he used to be, who he is. I’m not sure I even know him anymore. In my twenties, I thought I was going to do things. I considered myself invincible, as the young are wont to do. There was always a quip on my lips.”

He paused, searching for the words.

“When I step back and look at the last ten years, I’ve been on autopilot. I’ve lacked the motivation even to be apathetic. I’ve grown complacent and middle-aged. That wasn’t anything to do with my family, it was me. My engine stalled.

“The last thing my great aunt said to me was I should have some adventures before it was too late. Be less afraid of life, and let death take care of itself. Over these last months, I’ve
pondered on this more and more. Katie is making her own life, Claire is no longer here.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, if I’m honest, but I’m going to do
something
. And some force is pulling me towards South East Asia. I don’t want to get all New Age about this, but I keep getting messages. I met a woman from Hong Kong on a train, Jim Fosse is in the Far East, this business opportunity in Bangkok. I have a Thai stepmother. Even Ian from the Bell has been ranting on about Buddhism.”

“Promise me you’re not going looking for Jim Fosse,” said Anna, concerned.

“No, I’m not. I’m not yet so nuts that I’m prepared to set up my life so it becomes the plot of some
film noir
. Although now I come to think of it, when I get to Thailand perhaps I should open a detective agency. After all, I’ve had some exposure to that sort of work over the last couple of years, and it doesn’t seem that difficult. Or maybe I should dust off my therapy training and put it to use at last. Then again, I could smuggle drugs, or open a refuge for abandoned dogs.”

“You don’t
particularly like dogs.”

“OK, scrub the
dog refuge. I don’t know what I’ll do. This fine art business in Bangkok might work out, although what I know about fine art can be written on the back of a cigarette packet.”

“You’re resourceful. You’ll think of something. But not the drugs, please.”

“Only cigarettes. And I need to cut down on those.”

“Oh, David.
All these portents and this existential angst are all very well, but why are you going away and leaving us? Open a detective agency in Leicester instead.” Anna tried to sound light, but she wasn’t sure she pulled it off.

Leaving me
.

“We’re all leaving, aren’t we? Katie won’t come back to the Midlands once she’s finished at university. In a few weeks, you’ll be starting your new job with Bright Sparks
in London.”

It was true. Anna had, after much badgering and hints about Jenny, persuaded her mother to sell the farm. An old friend of Natalie’s who lived in Bayswater had recently become widowed. Natalie would have a companion with whom she could spend time and she could see her granddaughter often. Anna would have an on-call babysitter just down the road, and an enthusiastic one at that. A child minder would be unnecessary.

It had all fallen into place so fast.

Time can move quickly when it loses its memory, or when there are no new memories to create.
Reality’s vulture flies down and picks at the bones of our dreams. David was slipping away from her. This gentle, wounded man was leaving. The thought ran through her like an electrical charge.

“You won’t forget me, will you, David? You will stay in touch?”
she said.

Tell him
.

He looked at her in surprise. “Of course I’ll stay in touch, silly. I am expecting you to come for holidays to Thailand.”

Tell him
.

“It’s a long flight for Jenny.”

“Let your mum look after Jenny for a week or two. She’d love it, and you can explore South East Asia with me.”

Dam
n it, tell him
.

“I’d like that.”

David closed the suitcase and looked at his watch.

“We’d better be going soon. I’ll just have a check around. I don’t suppose that train will wait for me.”

“Probably not.”

But I will
.

Anna dropped David at Leicester railway station.

“No long goodbye,” she said. “Just give me a kiss and a hug.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I get to the hotel.”

“OK. Go, before I start
bawling my eyes out.”

Anna’s last image of David was in the rear view mirror. He was lighting a cigarette. It already felt like he was half a world away. A lorry pulled up in front of him and he vanished from her sight. It was then that she could no longer
stop the tears.

She drove back to the farm to find her mother in the kitchen.

“How’s Jenny been?”

“As good as gold. She fell asleep about twenty minutes ago. Did David get o
ff all right?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been crying?”

“Maybe a bit.”

Her mother put her arms around her.

“You’ve always been close, you and David, right from the start. Sometimes I think –”

“What?”

Natalie shook her head.

“Oh, nothing. Ignore me. I’m a silly old woman.”

Anna went upstairs to Jenny’s room. Her daughter was
sound asleep. Anna knelt down and whispered to her.

“I’m sorry, Jenny, I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t tell David he’s your daddy, not today. He needs some time to heal, you see
, sweetheart. It wouldn’t have been fair. Not with him going away. But I will tell him one day, I promise. I promise you, I will.”