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‘I don’t know what to say. We sometimes have problems with the house systems.’ She feels disloyal to tell him why, but it might help. ‘When the house was designed our architect warned us not to instal too many different systems because they can interfere with one another, but Tom wanted everything he could get. He stuffed this place full of tech.’
‘You didn’t disable the security system for any reason?’
‘I wouldn’t know how to even if I wanted to.’
‘Might your husband have disabled it?’
‘I don’t know why he would have. It probably glitched out. But look, he could have. That was his area. He liked to play with it all.’
She works hard to hold back tears. This grief feels violent in its intensity, the way it did for her when she lost her parents and for Tom when his granny died. Granny raised Tom, who was made an orphan at a young age, and protected him with theferocity of a mother bear. Though, secretly, Nicole found it hard to be as sympathetic as she should have been to Tom when Granny died because Granny never accepted her, and this brings her a sharp pang of guilt retrospectively. The shock and irreversibility of bereavement, the stolen future, the intense longing to be able to see and talk to a loved one just one more time. It tears strips off you. She should have supported him more.
‘Did Tom have any enemies?’ Steen asks.
She shakes her head. ‘No. Everybody likes Tom.’
‘And how about your relationship. Was it good? Any problems?’
‘I loved my husband, and he loved me.’ If she sounds defensive, she doesn’t care. It’s a horrible thing to ask.
Jen intervenes. ‘We’re sorry we have to ask such personal questions but it’s important we build up a picture of Tom’s life.’
‘His death was an accident,’ Nicole says. She shakes her head firmly. She doesn’t want to hear anything else.
Hal Steen leans forward. ‘It might well have been an accident. That’s what we’re here to find out. I don’t know if you remember me telling you yesterday that Jen here has been appointed to liaise between you and our department. She’ll be your Family Liaison Officer. It’s her job to look after you and make sure we’re updating you on everything, and that you have someone you can call when you need to.’
Nicole looks at Jen, who smiles. ‘We’re on your side, I promise,’ Jen says.
‘This is all so awful.’
‘I know. And I promise we’ll get through it as quickly as possible.’
‘When can I bury him?’
‘That will be up to the coroner. I’ll keep you posted.’
‘Are they doing a post-mortem?’
‘It is the protocol in cases such as this, yes.’
Nicole tries to keep her chin up and her eyes free of tears. She can’t stand the idea of Tom being cut open. It makes her feel sick to her stomach, even if it is necessary.
‘It’s hard being brave,’ Nicole says. ‘I don’t know if I can.’
‘You can,’ Jen says.
Steen waits a moment before asking, ‘How much did Tom drink?’
‘He liked a drink in the evening, we both do, but not in the day unless the rugby was on. Then he’d have a couple of beers.’
‘Did he take any medication?’
She shakes her head.
‘Recreational drugs?’
‘He hated drugs. Never even tried them.’
Steen looks at his notes. ‘You told us that the last time you saw Tom was early yesterday morning. Can you talk us through that again?’
