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‘What else can you tell me about him?’
‘He was just a really nice guy. He was generous and warm. He took his fitness seriously, loved to watch sport.’
As she talked, the watch was being twirled like a hula hoop.
‘What a lovely watch. Reminds me of one my mum had. May I?’ Kim asked, holding out her hand.
Kim took the watch and turned it around, while in her peripheral view, she could see Teresa still fussing at the exposed skin, which was reddened and raised.
‘Yes, it’s very much like my mum’s. It’s lovely,’ Kim said, handing it back. She stared pointedly at the wrist as Teresa fiddled to put it back on.
The woman caught her gaze just as Kim had intended.
‘Laser surgery,’ she explained. ‘Recent. Old boyfriend’s name. Eric doesn’t—’ She stopped speaking as the front door opened and a huge hulk of a man entered the room.
‘Daddy,’ Teresa cried, launching herself into his arms.
‘It’s okay, pumpkin, it’s okay,’ he soothed her, holding her tightly.
A blonde woman followed the man in and closed the door behind her. She reached around and patted the girl reassuringly on the back but couldn’t get any closer.
The two extra people in the room had made it unbearably cramped.
Kim stood, realising that both father and daughter were now oblivious to her presence. She produced her ID and introduced herself and Bryant to the woman who was negotiating the tight space to greet them.
‘Jackie and Rufus,’ she said, pointing to herself and her husband. ‘Mum and Dad.’
She took off her jacket. ‘I’ll make tea,’ she said, leaving the room.
Kim stepped around the sobbing girl and her dad and followed Jackie to the kitchen. Bryant, she suspected, was trapped for the time being.
‘Thank you for coming so quickly. She needs you,’ Kim said.
‘She needs one of us, Officer,’ the woman said, filling the kettle. She turned but her expression gave no indication to her feelings. ‘I have lots of questions, but I’m sure you’ll only share what you’re able to. Teresa was incoherent when she called her dad at the surgery.’
Kim had detected a smell of disinfectant and dogs when she’d passed the bear of a man in the living room. ‘I’m very limited with what I can tell you,’ she said honestly. Not least because right now she had no idea herself. ‘But we’re sorry for your loss.’
‘He was no loss to me,’ Jackie said honestly.
‘Oh,’ Kim said.
‘Or I could lie because he’s dead, if you prefer.’
‘No, please don’t,’ Kim said, still waiting to meet anyone from the Eric Gould fan club Teresa had told them about. ‘Your daughter seemed to love him very much.’
‘Of course she did. She’s barely into her twenties. He’s older, reasonably attractive, full of muscles and he paid attention to her. She was besotted.’
‘But you didn’t like him?’ Kim asked as Jackie took down three mugs from the top shelf. She paused before reaching for more.
‘We’re fine, thanks.’
‘Don’t get me wrong. He was pleasant enough to us. It was just the odd thing here or there. They came for Sunday lunch. I was taking out the plates. I saw him pointing to his watch in the reflection of my glass cabinet. Ten minutes later they were gone. She’d only been in her own flat for six months before he persuaded her to move in with him. Sometimes he’d answer on her behalf. That kind of thing. Probably just being overprotective, but she’s our only one.’
‘You’re saying he might have been a bit controlling?’
‘From what I saw.’
‘And your husband’s thoughts?’
