Read Online In Too Deep (Knight & Culverhouse Book 5) by Adam Croft - Free Book Online
Authors: Adam Croft
Ads: Link
It all depends on who she knew. If she didn’t know any — let’s say, shady — people in Spain, or any people who had links to Spain, it would be almost impossible for her to do that.’
Culverhouse was fairly sure Helen hadn’t built up any links with Spain. They’d been there on a couple of holidays a few years back, but that was about it. No more so than anyone else. He felt guilty at not being able to be sure about this, though. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he’d known hardly anything about his wife. She’d just always been there, ready and waiting at home while he focused entirely on his work.
García continued. ‘I didn’t want to get your hopes up, Jack. And I still don’t. It is possible she was here, but there’s nothing we can prove. You need to keep all of your options open. Of course, you also have to think about the other alternatives.’
‘Like what?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘Like did she ever come to Spain in the first place? Or was she trying to make you focus here, and not on the place she really went?’
‘You mean, did she lie to me?’ he asked, not liking where this was going.
García made a noncommittal noise. ‘It’s not for me to say.’
‘No, but if you were in my shoes, what would you do?’ Culverhouse said.
García was silent for a couple of moments.
‘How well do you really know your wife, Jack?’
16
S hortly after lunch , Culverhouse reassembled the team for an update. By this point, most of them had completed the preliminary stages of their investigation.
‘Knight. News from the husband?’ he said, sitting on the edge of a desk and crossing his arms across his chest.
‘Not a whole lot, to be honest,’ Wendy replied, looking down at her notebook. ‘Tanya never told him much about her work. She didn’t tell anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know, apparently. We’ve got her laptop and an external storage drive, which we believe has her files on it. Her husband, John, reckoned she used some pretty hefty encryption on it, though. I’ve passed it on to my tech contact at Milton House and he’s having a look at it.’ She somehow managed to say this last sentence with a completely straight face.
‘What are the chances of us finding something?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘To be honest, guv, slim. If she used a level of encryption that’d stop the sorts of people she was investigating from getting their hands on it, I’m not massively confident that we’ll be able to crack it.’
‘That’s what I don’t get,’ Ryan Mackenzie interjected. ‘Why didn’t the attacker nick the laptop and storage drive as well? If their aim was to stop her investigation, why would they leave all the data there?’
‘Probably because they were spooked by the daughter,’ Wendy said. ‘I imagine their intention was to kill if not seriously harm Tanya, then take the laptop and storage drive. It just didn’t play out that way.’
‘In which case we’re not looking at serious players, are we?’ Ryan continued. ‘If we were, they would’ve finished the job properly, surely?’
Steve Wing looked askance at Ryan. He was pretty sure he’d heard these words somewhere before.
‘That’s not a bad point,’ Wendy said. ‘Either that or it was nothing to do with any of her investigations.’
‘So what other reason would someone have to try to bludgeon a young mother to death?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘Some sort of affair?’ Frank Vine piped up. ‘Might be the wife of someone she’d been sleeping with. Happens all the time.’
Culverhouse shook his head. ‘I dunno. That doesn’t seem right to me. Women tend to react differently when it comes to revenge. Out and out violence against the person isn’t what I’d expect.’
Ryan raised an eyebrow, though she didn’t say anything.
‘Might explain why the attacker legged it when they saw the daughter, though,’ Frank replied. ‘Mother’s instinct and all that. Maybe she suddenly realised
Culverhouse was fairly sure Helen hadn’t built up any links with Spain. They’d been there on a couple of holidays a few years back, but that was about it. No more so than anyone else. He felt guilty at not being able to be sure about this, though. The more he thought about it, the more he realised he’d known hardly anything about his wife. She’d just always been there, ready and waiting at home while he focused entirely on his work.
García continued. ‘I didn’t want to get your hopes up, Jack. And I still don’t. It is possible she was here, but there’s nothing we can prove. You need to keep all of your options open. Of course, you also have to think about the other alternatives.’
‘Like what?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘Like did she ever come to Spain in the first place? Or was she trying to make you focus here, and not on the place she really went?’
‘You mean, did she lie to me?’ he asked, not liking where this was going.
García made a noncommittal noise. ‘It’s not for me to say.’
‘No, but if you were in my shoes, what would you do?’ Culverhouse said.
García was silent for a couple of moments.
‘How well do you really know your wife, Jack?’
16
S hortly after lunch , Culverhouse reassembled the team for an update. By this point, most of them had completed the preliminary stages of their investigation.
‘Knight. News from the husband?’ he said, sitting on the edge of a desk and crossing his arms across his chest.
‘Not a whole lot, to be honest,’ Wendy replied, looking down at her notebook. ‘Tanya never told him much about her work. She didn’t tell anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know, apparently. We’ve got her laptop and an external storage drive, which we believe has her files on it. Her husband, John, reckoned she used some pretty hefty encryption on it, though. I’ve passed it on to my tech contact at Milton House and he’s having a look at it.’ She somehow managed to say this last sentence with a completely straight face.
‘What are the chances of us finding something?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘To be honest, guv, slim. If she used a level of encryption that’d stop the sorts of people she was investigating from getting their hands on it, I’m not massively confident that we’ll be able to crack it.’
‘That’s what I don’t get,’ Ryan Mackenzie interjected. ‘Why didn’t the attacker nick the laptop and storage drive as well? If their aim was to stop her investigation, why would they leave all the data there?’
‘Probably because they were spooked by the daughter,’ Wendy said. ‘I imagine their intention was to kill if not seriously harm Tanya, then take the laptop and storage drive. It just didn’t play out that way.’
‘In which case we’re not looking at serious players, are we?’ Ryan continued. ‘If we were, they would’ve finished the job properly, surely?’
Steve Wing looked askance at Ryan. He was pretty sure he’d heard these words somewhere before.
‘That’s not a bad point,’ Wendy said. ‘Either that or it was nothing to do with any of her investigations.’
‘So what other reason would someone have to try to bludgeon a young mother to death?’ Culverhouse asked.
‘Some sort of affair?’ Frank Vine piped up. ‘Might be the wife of someone she’d been sleeping with. Happens all the time.’
Culverhouse shook his head. ‘I dunno. That doesn’t seem right to me. Women tend to react differently when it comes to revenge. Out and out violence against the person isn’t what I’d expect.’
Ryan raised an eyebrow, though she didn’t say anything.
‘Might explain why the attacker legged it when they saw the daughter, though,’ Frank replied. ‘Mother’s instinct and all that. Maybe she suddenly realised
Similar Books
