The Kill by Jane Casey Page B

either.’
    ‘Like hell you don’t.’ Derwent was frowning. ‘How did you find this out?’
    ‘He told me. At the wedding. I didn’t ask him,’ I felt compelled to add.
    ‘What else did he say?’
    ‘Not a lot. Look, I know you like to think the worst of people but it’s nothing to do with me.’
    Derwent raised one eyebrow.
    ‘Oh, come on. Not you too. I am not having a relationship with the boss. I’ve shared closer moments with you.’
    The other eyebrow went up.
    ‘Seriously,’ I said.
    ‘What about the boss’s daughter? How’s she taking it?’
    ‘I didn’t ask.’
    He looked thoughtful. ‘It might explain a few things, actually. Godley told me Isobel was applying to American universities. I thought it was strange that he’d let her go so far away, where he couldn’t keep an eye on her. Maybe she was getting out of town because home was too miserable.’
    ‘Maybe he wanted her to go far away so she could have some freedom.’
    ‘No father wants his teenage daughter to have any freedom,’ Derwent said. ‘Believe me, I’ve known a few.’
    ‘If it was freedom to spend time with you, I completely understand.’
    Derwent shook his head. ‘I can’t believe the boss is getting divorced. I’d never have picked them to break up, if I’m honest. Serena was the perfect woman. Beautiful, cultured, intelligent—’
    ‘I didn’t think intelligence mattered to you. Or culture.’
    ‘No, but these things matter to the boss. She was incredibly understanding, too. Never seemed to mind when he was out all the time. Never complained about the job.’
    ‘That you know of. Maybe she got tired of coming second to his work.’
    ‘She knew what she was getting into. He was already a copper when she married him.’
    ‘It’ll have got worse, though, since then. He’s more important. He has more responsibilities. Maybe it was more than she bargained for.’
    Derwent pulled a face, brooding over it.
    ‘You never really know what’s going on in someone else’s relationship,’ I said. ‘It might have looked good from the outside but something wasn’t working.’
    ‘That’s what you tell yourself so you can justify sleeping with him.’
    ‘I’m not sleeping with him!’ I said it loudly enough that a couple of wood pigeons took fright and plunged away from us through the trees in a flurry of wings.
    ‘No need to shout.’ Derwent seemed to feel he’d gone far enough. ‘Speaking of relationships, what did you make of Mrs Hammond?’
    I told him my impressions of her, and the house, and what she’d said about their family. I saved the bit about Vanessa’s black eye until we were eating our late breakfast by the burger van in the car park. The place was busy with families and dog walkers so I kept my voice low, a subtlety that was lost on Derwent.
    ‘Bloody hell. What’s going on there?’
    ‘I don’t know but I’d say it’s a priority to find out.’
    ‘We should go through Vanessa’s school. Find a responsible adult that way. Cut Mrs Hammond out before she finds a way to keep us at arm’s length.’
    ‘I’m sure the boss will support that.’
    Derwent hooked the meat out of the middle of his burger and wadded half of it into his mouth. With some difficulty, he said, ‘I don’t like this, you know.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Poking around in this guy’s life. I don’t want to know why his daughter has a black eye. I don’t want to pull his marriage apart. I just want him to be a hero. A copper gets killed and you want him to be a hero, not a prick. This Hammond is shaping up like a prick. Getting noshed off by some trollop on his way home from work sounds like fun but it’s not what you want in the headlines, is it?’
    A father pulled his small daughter out of our vicinity, glaring at us. Derwent was oblivious. I moved a bit further away from the burger van queue.
    ‘He might have been a good cop even if his private life was messy.’
    ‘Yeah, maybe. Or maybe he brought all of this on