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‘Okay, we’ve got it,’ Kim said, indicating it was fine for him to go. It was a small house and too many strangers in it was just going to overwhelm her more.
Kim stepped through the front door straight into the living room. A woman she assumed to be Teresa Fox was sobbing on an armchair in the corner.
Her reddened eyes looked hopeful.
‘We’re sorry for your loss,’ Kim said, taking a seat on the sofa.
Bryant also took a seat while introducing them.
The small room was functional and centred on a television that was too big for the space. It was as though the room had been forced to sacrifice additional furniture for the sake of the TV. A coffee mug on the floor to the right of Teresa’s chair demonstrated that fact. Kim took a few seconds to note that the only pictures on the wall were of the dead man.
She guessed the woman to be in her mid-twenties with long brown hair that tumbled over her shoulders. Despite the reddened eyes and blotchy skin, she was attractive, with an innocent, elfin quality.
‘We’re sorry for the intrusion, but may we ask you a couple of questions?’
‘O-okay,’ she answered, choking back a sob. ‘But can you tell me how he died first? When? Was it an accident? Was it a car? I don’t know anything.’
Due to the confusion at the crime scene, Kim could understand why Inspector Plant had shared little detail, because he hadn’t known any. They didn’t know much more themselves at this point, Kim thought, but she said nothing to that effect.
‘We’re currently trying to get all of those answers, Ms Fox, but we need to know a bit more about Eric. We understand he was your fiancé,’ Kim said, glancing at the ring.
Teresa’s right hand moved away from the watch strap she was touching to twiddle the engagement ring around her finger.
‘Just last month,’ she answered tremulously, like the time frame mattered, as though she hadn’t been engaged long enough for this to happen.
‘We don’t have all the answers, but we do believe that someone else was involved. Is there anyone that Eric had issues with?’
She shook her head vehemently. ‘No, everyone loved Eric. He was outgoing and friendly, always up for a laugh. I mean, some people were jealous of his body, but he just ignored the haters.’
‘Eric had lots of friends?’ Bryant asked.
She thought for a second. ‘Not loads. I think even friends used to be a bit intimidated by his fitness. He’d sometimes mention names of people at the gym, but I never met any of them.’
‘How about old friends?’ Kim asked.
Teresa dabbed at her eyes before her hand returned to fussing with her watch strap. ‘No. He didn’t have any old schoolfriends or anything. He never talked about his past. I don’t even know where he went to school.’
‘Family?’ Kim asked.
Teresa shook her head.
‘He doesn’t have family or he wasn’t in touch with family?’ Kim tried to clarify.
‘Doesn’t have any.’
‘Mates at the pub?’
‘Not really. He hardly drinks. He takes very good care of his body,’ she said, twirling the watch strap faster.
Kim couldn’t help but wonder who the ‘everyone’ who ‘loved Eric’ actually were.
‘Was he close to his colleagues?’ Bryant asked, clearly trying to find the same group of admirers.
‘I don’t think so. Plumbing is a bit solitary, isn’t it?’
There were many solitary professions, but people still had colleagues who became friends.
Right now, there was no one else to talk to about Eric other than the girl sitting in front of her. She needed some sort of clue to understand why he’d been found in that state earlier that morning.
