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“Was she near the door, near the window?”
“Near the bed – she must have fallen out.”
“Go on,” said Gardener.
“Well, I panicked. I’m not used to coming home and finding my wife on the floor. I knelt down, called out her name. She didn’t answer. I couldn’t feel a pulse, hear her breathing.”
“So you assumed at that point she was dead?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
“Pardon?”
“We asked why you didn’t call an ambulance,” repeated Reilly. “You’d been out, came home early hours of the morning, went upstairs to find your wife on the floor, either dead or dying. The first thing I would have done is call an ambulance, but you didn’t.”
“Why?” Gardener asked.
The longer it took Robbie Carter to answer, the less Gardener liked it. He seemed to be stalling. Was he thinking of a suitable answer? At the same time, what possible reason could you give in such a situation?
“Come on, Robbie, old son. Surely it’s not that hard to answer. Are you a doctor as well as a musician?”
“Oh, I see, so this is the game,” said Robbie.
“Game?” repeated Gardener.
Robbie stood up. “I see what you’re up to. Good cop, bad cop routine. What comes next, the thumbscrews?”
“Sit down, Robbie, we’ve told you once.”
“You gonna make me?”
Reilly rose to the challenge. “You know something, Robbie. If it was my wife who’d been killed, I’d be in bits, so I would. I’d be a bit of a mess, working out how the hell I was gonna live the rest of my life without the woman I love. Can’t say I’ve seen anything resembling that emotion so far.”
“I was in shock, okay,” shouted Robbie Carter. “I didn’t expect to come home and find my wife dead, did I? I didn’t fucking know what to do. She was dead on the floor. I panicked. I wasn’t thinking straight. I didn’t know what to do for best. We’re not all fucking policemen, you know.”
At that, Robbie fell back into his chair, tears finally beginning to show.
It was the first time Gardener had seen anything close to how he should have been reacting.
“Okay, Mr Carter. We’ll accept your explanation of being in shock. You had any first aid training?”
“I’m a musician, not a medic.”
“So the answer to that would be no?”
“No, I have not had any first aid training.”
“When you arrived home did you park at the back of the house, or the front?”
“The front door. That’s where the gear is, isn’t it – in front of the front door?”
“It was when we last saw it,” said Reilly.
“Did you notice any lights on in neighbouring houses while you were unloading?”
“I don’t think so. Most of my neighbours either work for the railway or on local farms, so they’re up pretty early.”
