Page 18 of Twisted Lies

Frost knew that bones and teeth had been found in an ash pile at the edge of the countryside property.

‘I read those articles about him and realise that my sister and her ordeal are becoming less and less of the story, and what makes it worse is that Trisha was warned and still couldn’t find the courage to leave him.’

‘Warned?’

‘Yeah, she was contacted by a woman on Facebook about two years after she and Nick married. She was a previous girlfriend of Nick Morley apparently, told Trisha she was in danger and to get out.’

Something in Tracy switched, as though a button had been pressed. She’d come back here to let Penny talk, following their chat earlier being cut short, but the more she listened, the more she felt the urge to do something.

A feeling that was alien to her was growing stronger with every minute.

She wanted to make a difference. She wanted to help.

She took out her notepad and pen.

‘Do you remember the woman’s name?’

Thirteen

‘How much longer?’ Leanne asked as they waited to enter the morgue viewing room.

So far, it had been around ten minutes, and the woman had checked her watch a dozen times.

Kim had seen Keats’s van pull into the hospital grounds as Bryant had parked the Astra Estate, and knew the pathologist would be working as quickly as possible to prepare the victim for as sensitive an identification as possible. He would work hastily but he wouldn’t rush.

Kim had to wonder if his efforts in sensitivity would be in vain anyway. She was starting to think the woman could have viewed her brother-in-law in situ at the crime scene in all his horrific glory and she still wouldn’t have allowed any emotion to leak from her pores.

‘I’m assuming you weren’t close to your brother-in-law?’ Kim asked as Leanne paced in front of her for the fifteenth time.

‘Not really.’

‘Any particular reason?’ Kim pushed.

‘Not really,’ she repeated.

‘He wasn’t violent to your sister?’

‘No, he wasn’t that kind of guy.’

‘Did he mistreat her in any other way? Did he leave her alone a lot? Did they argue?’Bloody hell, give me something, Kim thought.

‘No more than anyone else, and no, he didn’t mistreat her.’

‘The boys?’ Kim asked.

‘No, he loved his boys,’ she answered, pacing back.

She glanced at Bryant, asking a silent question.

He shrugged but got the message.

‘So it was a happy marriage?’ he asked. The woman wasn’t responding to Kim at all.

‘Same as most. Had their ups and downs. They weren’t rolling in money, so had to stretch what they had.’

‘Any issues with extended family?’ he asked.

‘It was only them… and me,’ she added. ‘There’s no other family.’