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Authors: Colette Caddle
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grey brows. ‘I’m afraid, my dear, these discrepancies are quite serious. It seems that Dominic was stealing from the company.’
‘No.’ Marianne’s voice was barely a whisper.
‘Sorry to put it so bluntly.’ He gave a small, resigned shrug. ‘If we could have his laptop—’
‘What?’ she said immediately. ‘Why?’
‘There may be invaluable information on it that would help with our investigation.’
‘Are you quite sure there isn’t some mistake?’
‘I’m afraid not. I can see this has come as quite a shock; it was to me too. I must say I never expected to be having this conversation; I had high hopes for Dominic. I find it hard to understand what made him jeopardize his future.’
Marianne remained silent for a moment as she considered his words. ‘Perhaps I can explain it,’ she said finally. ‘Dominic loved his job and he worked very hard; becoming a junior partner was his dream.’
‘He was a hard worker,’ Matthews acknowledged.
‘After his promotion he became very anxious,’ she continued. ‘It was important to him that he prove himself and live up to the faith you’d shown in him. When he came home he would stay up until the small hours, working. As a result, by the time he came to bed he couldn’t switch off, couldn’t sleep. I finally persuaded him to go to the GP who prescribed sleeping tablets, but after a while they didn’t work either and he started taking two at a time. When he went back for a new prescription the doctor refused to give it to him; she was worried Dominic was getting too reliant, which of course he was. Instead she suggested exercise and relaxation techniques and told Dominic to cut down on alcohol and caffeine.’ Marianne smiled sadly. ‘There was no chance of that happening. Dominic drank coffee all day long and without the sleeping tablets, he drank more alcohol than ever, hoping it would help him sleep.’
Matthews looked perplexed. ‘He always appeared fine at work. How on earth was he able to function normally?’
‘He couldn’t,’ Marianne said, remembering those dark days and how frustrated and helpless she’d felt as her husband fell apart before her eyes. ‘When he couldn’t get the tablets from the GP, he started to buy them online.’
Matthews was shocked. ‘That seems a very risky thing to do – and a very desperate one.’
In retrospect Marianne had to agree but it had made some sense at the time. ‘He was just buying the pills the doctor had prescribed for him; it seemed preferable to him drinking. Dominic wasn’t a pleasant drunk; he could become quite aggressive,’ she explained, thinking that when she’d walked in here today she hadn’t expected to be telling Dominic’s boss any of this. ‘All in all, buying sleeping tablets online seemed the lesser of two evils.’
‘I can understand that,’ Matthews nodded, his eyes sad.
‘It was fine for a while but as time went on the tablets grew less effective and Dominic increased the dose. I begged him not to, I was terrified of the harm he might do himself. In the morning he was bleary-eyed getting into the car and there were days when it was almost impossible to wake him. The only way I finally got through to him was when I pointed out that if I was noticing what a mess he was in the mornings, that you must be too and that he might be jeopardizing his career. Well, that shocked him and had almost an immediate effect; he just seemed to snap out of it. I suppose I should have been suspicious but I was so relieved that he was behaving normally.’ She paused, wondering if she had really believed everything was okay or had she just wanted it so much that she had closed her eyes to the truth. ‘But the transformation was due to yet more drugs that he’d started taking in the morning to get him up and going. It’s not surprising I didn’t notice; he was hardly ever at home. He left for work before we were up and was rarely home before eight, and then with so many
‘No.’ Marianne’s voice was barely a whisper.
‘Sorry to put it so bluntly.’ He gave a small, resigned shrug. ‘If we could have his laptop—’
‘What?’ she said immediately. ‘Why?’
‘There may be invaluable information on it that would help with our investigation.’
‘Are you quite sure there isn’t some mistake?’
‘I’m afraid not. I can see this has come as quite a shock; it was to me too. I must say I never expected to be having this conversation; I had high hopes for Dominic. I find it hard to understand what made him jeopardize his future.’
Marianne remained silent for a moment as she considered his words. ‘Perhaps I can explain it,’ she said finally. ‘Dominic loved his job and he worked very hard; becoming a junior partner was his dream.’
‘He was a hard worker,’ Matthews acknowledged.
‘After his promotion he became very anxious,’ she continued. ‘It was important to him that he prove himself and live up to the faith you’d shown in him. When he came home he would stay up until the small hours, working. As a result, by the time he came to bed he couldn’t switch off, couldn’t sleep. I finally persuaded him to go to the GP who prescribed sleeping tablets, but after a while they didn’t work either and he started taking two at a time. When he went back for a new prescription the doctor refused to give it to him; she was worried Dominic was getting too reliant, which of course he was. Instead she suggested exercise and relaxation techniques and told Dominic to cut down on alcohol and caffeine.’ Marianne smiled sadly. ‘There was no chance of that happening. Dominic drank coffee all day long and without the sleeping tablets, he drank more alcohol than ever, hoping it would help him sleep.’
Matthews looked perplexed. ‘He always appeared fine at work. How on earth was he able to function normally?’
‘He couldn’t,’ Marianne said, remembering those dark days and how frustrated and helpless she’d felt as her husband fell apart before her eyes. ‘When he couldn’t get the tablets from the GP, he started to buy them online.’
Matthews was shocked. ‘That seems a very risky thing to do – and a very desperate one.’
In retrospect Marianne had to agree but it had made some sense at the time. ‘He was just buying the pills the doctor had prescribed for him; it seemed preferable to him drinking. Dominic wasn’t a pleasant drunk; he could become quite aggressive,’ she explained, thinking that when she’d walked in here today she hadn’t expected to be telling Dominic’s boss any of this. ‘All in all, buying sleeping tablets online seemed the lesser of two evils.’
‘I can understand that,’ Matthews nodded, his eyes sad.
‘It was fine for a while but as time went on the tablets grew less effective and Dominic increased the dose. I begged him not to, I was terrified of the harm he might do himself. In the morning he was bleary-eyed getting into the car and there were days when it was almost impossible to wake him. The only way I finally got through to him was when I pointed out that if I was noticing what a mess he was in the mornings, that you must be too and that he might be jeopardizing his career. Well, that shocked him and had almost an immediate effect; he just seemed to snap out of it. I suppose I should have been suspicious but I was so relieved that he was behaving normally.’ She paused, wondering if she had really believed everything was okay or had she just wanted it so much that she had closed her eyes to the truth. ‘But the transformation was due to yet more drugs that he’d started taking in the morning to get him up and going. It’s not surprising I didn’t notice; he was hardly ever at home. He left for work before we were up and was rarely home before eight, and then with so many
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