Read Online Be Careful What You Wish For by Sibel Hodge - Free Book Online
Authors: Sibel Hodge
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latch and wandered through.
The garden looked like it was straight out of the pages of Home and Garden. Perfectly sculptured lawns, flowers in various stages of abundance, manicured topiary trees in the shape of birds, garden ornaments of an ancient Greek woman carrying a vase, and a man with a massive…well, you know! I seriously hoped it wasn’t based on a real person. He’d have done himself an injury walking around with one that size.
Kneeling at a flowerbed below one of the rear windows was a woman in her late forties. Even though she was dressed in cords and a checked shirt, I could tell they were expensive and designer. A pearl choker and matching studs gave her a hint of class. A half empty bag of fertilizer sat by her side and she scattered the yellow-green pellets around the flowers.
‘Hi. Sorry, I knocked, but no one answered.’ I smiled as I walked towards her.
Startled that someone had intruded upon her solitude, she jumped. ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ she said in a cut-glass, posh accent as she gave me a suspicious stare.
‘Hi, I’m from Hi-Tec Insurance.’
She got to her feet, dusted mud and fertilizer off her knees, and frowned. ‘Is this to do with the burglary? I don’t have house insurance with Hi-Tec.’
‘No. I actually need to speak to Carl Thomas. Is he here?’
She did a brief, angry snort. ‘Carl doesn’t live here anymore.’
Obviously a sore point, then.
‘Oh, can you tell me where he lives?’ I said.
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. ‘And why do you want to know that?’
‘I need to speak to him about an investigation I’m conducting.’
‘Oh, this is to do with the safety deposit box robbery at the bank?’ Less suspicious now.
I just smiled and let her think that it was. ‘Do you have an address for him?’
‘He’s renting a house on the other side of town.’ She gave me the address.
‘Was there much stolen in your burglary?’ I nodded towards her house.
A patch of red crawled slowly up her neck, making the white pearls stand out even more. I noticed one of the pearls was shaped like a heart.
‘No. Nothing was stolen.’ She didn’t take her eyes off mine, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t telling the truth.
‘And the burglary here happened before the robbery at Carl’s bank?’
She nodded, but didn’t offer up any further information.
‘Didn’t you think that was a bit of a coincidence?’ I said, watching the red patch get bigger. It was coincidence city around here today.
‘No. Nothing was stolen here so I can’t see what the connection could possibly be.’ She dusted off her hands in an impatient gesture. ‘You’ll need to speak to Carl about the bank robbery. I don’t know anything about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’ She pointed towards the gate I’d come through.
I smiled. ‘Well, thanks for your help.’
I retraced my steps and made my way back to the car to call Hacker.
‘Yo,’ he answered on the second ring.
‘Yo. Can you check into any insurance claims made by Carl Thomas or his wife for a break in at Ashcombe House? Carl’s not living there at the moment, but it was burgled before his bank got robbed and methinks it’s not a coincidence.’
‘Sure, do you know who they were insured with?
‘No, sorry.’
I heard Hacker’s fingers clacking over his keyboard. ‘OK, I’ll call you back.’
‘Yo.’ I hung up and motored over to Carl’s rented house on the other side of town.
****
It was smaller than Ashcombe House, but no less impressive. I pulled up outside a red-brick Victorian house covered in ivy and stared up at it. All the curtains at the sash windows in front were closed.
I glanced at my watch. 3 p.m. Even though it was Sunday, it was a bit late for a lie in. Maybe he had a bit of a privacy obsession.
Hacker phoned me back as I was staring up at the windows. ‘Yo.’
‘Deborah Thomas is his wife’s name. She phoned her insurance company on the day of the burglary to report
The garden looked like it was straight out of the pages of Home and Garden. Perfectly sculptured lawns, flowers in various stages of abundance, manicured topiary trees in the shape of birds, garden ornaments of an ancient Greek woman carrying a vase, and a man with a massive…well, you know! I seriously hoped it wasn’t based on a real person. He’d have done himself an injury walking around with one that size.
Kneeling at a flowerbed below one of the rear windows was a woman in her late forties. Even though she was dressed in cords and a checked shirt, I could tell they were expensive and designer. A pearl choker and matching studs gave her a hint of class. A half empty bag of fertilizer sat by her side and she scattered the yellow-green pellets around the flowers.
‘Hi. Sorry, I knocked, but no one answered.’ I smiled as I walked towards her.
Startled that someone had intruded upon her solitude, she jumped. ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ she said in a cut-glass, posh accent as she gave me a suspicious stare.
‘Hi, I’m from Hi-Tec Insurance.’
She got to her feet, dusted mud and fertilizer off her knees, and frowned. ‘Is this to do with the burglary? I don’t have house insurance with Hi-Tec.’
‘No. I actually need to speak to Carl Thomas. Is he here?’
She did a brief, angry snort. ‘Carl doesn’t live here anymore.’
Obviously a sore point, then.
‘Oh, can you tell me where he lives?’ I said.
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. ‘And why do you want to know that?’
‘I need to speak to him about an investigation I’m conducting.’
‘Oh, this is to do with the safety deposit box robbery at the bank?’ Less suspicious now.
I just smiled and let her think that it was. ‘Do you have an address for him?’
‘He’s renting a house on the other side of town.’ She gave me the address.
‘Was there much stolen in your burglary?’ I nodded towards her house.
A patch of red crawled slowly up her neck, making the white pearls stand out even more. I noticed one of the pearls was shaped like a heart.
‘No. Nothing was stolen.’ She didn’t take her eyes off mine, but I was pretty sure she wasn’t telling the truth.
‘And the burglary here happened before the robbery at Carl’s bank?’
She nodded, but didn’t offer up any further information.
‘Didn’t you think that was a bit of a coincidence?’ I said, watching the red patch get bigger. It was coincidence city around here today.
‘No. Nothing was stolen here so I can’t see what the connection could possibly be.’ She dusted off her hands in an impatient gesture. ‘You’ll need to speak to Carl about the bank robbery. I don’t know anything about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’ She pointed towards the gate I’d come through.
I smiled. ‘Well, thanks for your help.’
I retraced my steps and made my way back to the car to call Hacker.
‘Yo,’ he answered on the second ring.
‘Yo. Can you check into any insurance claims made by Carl Thomas or his wife for a break in at Ashcombe House? Carl’s not living there at the moment, but it was burgled before his bank got robbed and methinks it’s not a coincidence.’
‘Sure, do you know who they were insured with?
‘No, sorry.’
I heard Hacker’s fingers clacking over his keyboard. ‘OK, I’ll call you back.’
‘Yo.’ I hung up and motored over to Carl’s rented house on the other side of town.
****
It was smaller than Ashcombe House, but no less impressive. I pulled up outside a red-brick Victorian house covered in ivy and stared up at it. All the curtains at the sash windows in front were closed.
I glanced at my watch. 3 p.m. Even though it was Sunday, it was a bit late for a lie in. Maybe he had a bit of a privacy obsession.
Hacker phoned me back as I was staring up at the windows. ‘Yo.’
‘Deborah Thomas is his wife’s name. She phoned her insurance company on the day of the burglary to report
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