TOYL

Dan might be having an affair?’
    ‘No,’ Emma said, sounding a bit too defensive.
    ‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Gasnier said. ‘But I have to ask, you understand. So there’s no reason you know of to explain why he might want to just get up and leave without saying anything to anyone?’
    ‘No.’ Emma resisted the temptation to say what she had feared: that he had left because he didn’t want to marry her.
    ‘Are Dan and Richard close?’
    ‘They’re really good friends. Richard was going to be Dan’s best man.’
    ‘Was Richard at your flat before you left to go out?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Did you know Richard was coming over to the flat?’
    ‘No, I didn’t.’
    ‘But he was coming to the stag party?’
    ‘He had been invited, but he couldn’t make it. He was supposed to be away on business.’
    ‘So what changed?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Who do you think attacked Richard, Emma?’
    ‘I don’t know. Maybe someone broke into the flat looking for money. We’ve had some problems around here with druggies.’
    ‘You don’t believe Dan did it?’
    ‘No, I don’t.’
    ‘You do realise that we are treating the attack on Richard as attempted murder?’ Gasnier stated. ‘And if Richard does die, this will become a murder investigation?’
    ‘I realise that, yes.’
    ‘So if you know anything, anything at all that might help with this investigation, then you would do well to say so now.’
    ‘I don’t know anything else,’ Emma replied. ‘I’ve told you all I know.’
    Gasnier waited a beat.
    ‘A witness has come forward,’ he stated. ‘They saw Dan running away from the apartment, about an hour before you arrived there and found Richard.’

7

    He spent some time waiting outside the hospital entrance, watching visitors and patients going in, their faces telling a thousand stories of hope, pain, and anguish.
    He knew just how they felt.
    When he felt ready, he entered the building and headed for the ward. He knew where Richard was; the nurse had been extremely helpful in that respect. They’d even said he could see Richard outside the official visiting hours. And to think people criticised the NHS for being inflexible.
    As he reached the ward the nerves really kicked in.
    Would he be challenged?
    But he pushed such thoughts aside. He was doing this for the right reasons, and that was enough to dispel any fears he had.

8

    ‘They think he did it, don’t they?’ Emma said, looking across to Lizzy, who was daydreaming on the other side of the sofa. ‘They really think Dan tried to kill Richard.’
    ‘It did sound like it. But I suppose if I was in their shoes, and someone had come forward saying they saw Dan running away from the apartments, then I’d probably be thinking the same thing. I don’t think they’ve got anything else to go on, apart from that witness statement. They’re just coming to the most logical conclusion, based on the evidence available. I’m not saying they’re right though.’
    ‘But he could have been running to get away from someone else.’ Emma was trying to convince herself as much as Lizzy. ‘Like the person who really attacked Richard.’
    ‘He could have been,’ Lizzy said. ‘The trouble is,’ she said, turning to look at Emma, ‘we just don’t know, do we? Nobody knows what happened, except for Dan. And he’s not contacting us.’
    In unison they looked across at Emma’s mobile, which lay silent on the table.
    Emma shook her head. ‘I don’t understand why he would try and call, then switch his mobile off.’
    ‘Me neither.’
    ‘It just doesn’t make any sense.’
    ‘Why didn’t you tell the police Dan called?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Emma admitted. ‘I guess I thought that it might make them even more convinced that Dan was guilty.’
    ‘I can understand that.’
    ‘You think I should have told them?’
    ‘I think it’s a bit weird that you didn’t.’
    ‘You’re probably right, but it’s too late now. If I told them, they’d wonder why I’d kept it from them in the first place.’
    ‘But what if telling the police about Dan’s call might actually help?’
    ‘How?’
    ‘I don’t know, maybe they could trace his mobile or something.’
    ‘But maybe telling the police isn’t the right thing to do?’ Emma responded. ‘Dan must have run for a reason – what if telling the police makes things worse? I mean, they’re not really concerned about Dan’s safety, are they?’
    ‘You didn’t like that Gasnier