Stop Dead (DI Geraldine Steel)

of a mess, gambling debts up to his ears and a high-maintenance girlfriend. He had a pressing motive, and could easily have found the opportunity. They saw each other every day. It might explain what Henshaw was doing on the Caledonian Road, which was off his route home from the restaurant. George might have arranged to meet him there where no one would see them, and they wouldn’t be recognised even if they were seen.’

     
    It sounded plausible. They were all familiar with George’s bank statements, enough to give anyone nightmares.
    ‘But he’s got an alibi, hasn’t he?’ Sam pointed out.
    ‘Or we’d have brought him in by now, put some pressure on him,’ Reg agreed.
    ‘He’s got an alibi of sorts.’
    Briefly Geraldine described George’s companion: young, blonde and empty-headed. His motive was compelling, he had the opportunity, and his alibi was dubious; yet Geraldine was convinced George Corless had nothing to do with his business partner’s death.
    ‘What makes you so sure he had nothing to do with it?’
    ‘He said the success of the restaurant depended on Henshaw’s involvement and – I just don’t think he did it. I can’t explain why. It’s just a feeling.’
    Sam gave her a quizzical look.

     
    Reg looked at the next name on the list.
    ‘So you think it was Amy Henshaw? Or is it Guy Barrett we should be pursuing?’
    ‘Or the two of them together,’ Sam added.
    They discussed the possibility that Amy was implicated in her husband’s murder.
    ‘His solicitor was under the impression she didn’t know the terms of the will before it was read, so presumably she was expecting to inherit her husband’s estate,’ Geraldine said. ‘He told me she seemed to know nothing about her husband’s gambling debts and was shocked to discover the house had been re-mortgaged. So it appears she was expecting to be very wealthy on his death. His money could have been a motive for her.’
    ‘She could have been motivated by passion,’ Sam interrupted, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. ‘She might have been prepared to get rid of her husband and make herself wealthy at the same time, so she could keep her young lover.’
    Reg frowned. Avarice or passion might well have driven Amy Henshaw to kill her husband.
    ‘It’s possible,’ he murmured to himself.

     
    ‘And what about the young lover, Guy Barrett?’ he asked.
    Geraldine and Sam exchanged a glance.
    ‘He’s certainly good-looking,’ Sam admitted.
    ‘Just what you’d expect from a toy boy,’ Geraldine agreed.
    ‘He’s not that much younger than her, is he?’ Reg asked.
    ‘Seventeen years. She’s forty.’
    ‘Getting on then,’ he mused aloud. ‘In terms of having a twenty-three year old boyfriend, I mean,’ he added quickly, noticing Geraldine’s scowl.
    ‘The two of them might have been in it together,’ Sam said.
    Reg nodded. The business partner, strapped for cash and maintaining an expensive lifestyle; the wife, eager to dispatch her husband and seize his fortune so she could keep her young lover; Guy Barrett himself, keen to save his mistress from an unhappy marriage, and gain himself a luxurious lifestyle to boot – each of them had motive and opportunity, all were suspects with flimsy alibis.

     
    ‘And what about Henshaw’s mistress, Stella Hallett?’ Geraldine asked. ‘She had a lot to gain. She was living in a shabby rented apartment. Believe me, she didn’t have two pennies to rub together – and suddenly she’s a millionaire. She claims she had no idea she was mentioned in the will, but surely it’s possible she had kept in touch with Henshaw. They might even have taken up with each other again, for all we know.’
    She paused, and Reg wondered if she was thinking about the female DNA sample found on Henshaw’s corpse. The pathologist had confirmed that the deceased had intercourse shortly before his death, making his ex-mistress a likely suspect. He stared out of the window at the branches of a tree, shuddering in a gust of wind.
    ‘We only have her word for it that they were no longer seeing one another.’
    Geraldine flicked through her notebook as she spoke.
    ‘Here it is. According to Stella, she hadn’t seen the deceased for five years. But she still had his photo on display in her flat, so I’m not sure that rings true.’

     
    Reg turned to look at Geraldine, considering the possibility that Stella had killed Henshaw for his money.
    ‘Is it likely he would have left so much