Free The Flesh Tailor by Kate Ellis Page A

the same man now as I was then. I’m an artist. I’m going to be a father soon. I wouldn’t do anything to put that at risk now,
     would I?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Gerry Heffernan. ‘Your girlfriend’s ex must have been a real pain in the arse so I can understand why
     you wanted rid of him, especially with the baby on the way. He’d have come round pestering Roz all the time, wouldn’t he?
     We’ve got his phone records, you know. One of the last calls he made was to Roz’s mobile phone.’
    ‘So?’
    ‘I think he was making things awkward. Did you know about the call?’
    ‘Yeah. It was just routine, about the divorce settlement.’
    ‘Know what’s in his will?’ Wesley did his best to sound casual.
    Parker looked wary. ‘You tell me.’
    ‘According to his solicitor he never got round to making a new one after Roz left him. She gets the lot and the house must
     be worth a bit.’ Wesley looked him in the eye. ‘The solicitor wasn’t too pleased at being contacted on a Sunday but he did
     tell us one thing. Last Friday afternoon James Dalcott made an appointment to see him on Monday morning. That’s today. He
     said he wanted to make some alterations to his will. Now the solicitor couldn’t remember exactly what was in the original
     will but I’m sure we can take a guess, can’t we? In my will I leave everything to my wife, apart from a few small bequests,
     and she leaves everything to me. It’s the usual thing between married couples and James never got round to changing it. Until
     now. You see our dilemma, Mr Parker?’
    Harry Parker examined his fingernails. There was paint caught in them, red mostly. ‘Not really. Roz didn’t know about this
     appointment with the solicitor. Why should she?’
    ‘He might have told her when he called her on Saturday afternoon. If he did, it gives both of you a very good motive for murder.
     The oldest motive in the book – money. Because James Dalcott died when he did, she’ll be a wealthy woman. If he’d made the
     new will …’ He let the words hang in the air.
    Harry Parker looked uneasy. The questioning wasbeginning to get to him. It would only take another push, Wesley thought, to crack him. He caught Gerry’s eye. It was time
     to put the nasty cop into action again.
    ‘You killed him, didn’t you, Harry? You saw all that lovely money you expected to get your hands on going down the drain.
     How far had the divorce proceedings gone?’
    ‘Dunno. James was making things awkward, holding things up.’
    ‘Was Roz going to do well out of the divorce settlement or …?’
    ‘I suppose she was going to do all right. I think he was going to keep the house and pay Roz a hundred grand. She would have
     gone for more but she felt a bit guilty if the truth were known. She’d left him and she had no kids so she didn’t really feel
     she could take him to the cleaners.’
    ‘That was very charitable of her,’ said Gerry with more than a hint of sarcasm. ‘But if he died without changing his will,
     she’d get a ruddy sight more than a hundred grand, wouldn’t she? Now remind me, Inspector Peterson, what are the main motives
     for murder in the policeman’s instruction manual? Let’s see if I can remember.’ He screwed up his face in mock concentration.
     ‘Now there’s getting rid of someone inconvenient, like your girlfriend’s estranged husband.’
    ‘And money,’ Wesley chipped in. ‘Don’t forget money.’
    ‘OK, I’ll admit we’ll probably do all right out of all this. But I didn’t kill him. I swear.’
    ‘Our Forensic people’ll need to examine the clothes you were wearing on Saturday night.’
    Parker looked up. ‘They’ve been washed.’
    ‘How convenient.’
    ‘Examine away. You won’t find anything.’
    As Parker was about to be led away to the cells, he turned to Wesley, probably because he judged him the more sympathetic
     of the pair. ‘James had his dark side, you know. That’s one of the reasons Roz