Wendy pushed a photo across the table. ‘Her, for instance?’
‘I can’t remember her name, or maybe I never asked, but yes, she was there around the same time as Analyn.’
Wendy had hoped that Gabbi Gaffney had been truthful about her past, but Meredith had contradicted her. It had been Gabbi’s photo that Wendy had shown.
‘Does the name Gareth Rees mean anything to you? Or this photo, do you recognise the man?’
‘He came in once, not sure who he saw.’
‘Interesting,’ Wendy said. She liked Meredith Temple; she hoped she wasn’t further involved, as Gabbi Gaffney appeared to be.
The two women ate their meals, drank their glasses of wine, and talked about this and that, nothing in particular. Wendy wasn’t anxious to leave; another trip to Oxford didn’t appeal that night. It was one of her grandchildren’s birthdays, and she wanted to go over to her son and daughter-in-law’s house to give the child his present. But, if duty called, then it would have to be another night.
Once out of the restaurant, and not wanting to delay further, Wendy phoned Gabbi, the phone answered by a man with a Glaswegian accent.
Wendy asked for Gabbi, not wanting to elaborate on the reason for the call, not sure how much the husband knew.
‘This is about Gareth Rees, I assume,’ Mike Gaffney said.
‘Yes.’
After a brief interlude, Gabbi picked up the phone. ‘Sorry, the baby needed feeding. Always a performance.’
‘How much does your husband know?’ Wendy asked.
‘He knows everything, no secrets between husband and wife, not in this household.’
‘But there is. Mary Wilton never told me, but another of her women did. You didn’t find a job in a shop straight away. Why didn’t you tell me you had worked for Mary Wilton?’
‘Shame, I suppose. It wasn’t for long, and yes, back in Manila I had done things that I regretted. I thought that Mary Wilton’s would tide me over.’
‘Gareth Rees visited you there. I know this to be a fact.’
‘He was an angry man, and when he had thrown me out, he gave me nothing. The only money I had was in my bag, about five hundred pounds. It wasn’t going to last long, not to find somewhere decent to live, and I was at an emotional low, didn’t care too much what happened to me.’
‘Why the visit?’
‘He had felt some remorse. I told you about the guns. I never asked, but I was certain that he used them.’
‘Ian Naughton?’
‘No.’
‘So how come Analyn is with the man we know as Ian Naughton?’
‘I don’t know. He could have met her through Gareth, but I can’t be sure. Gareth was unfaithful, I know that. She could have been one of Gareth’s women, or this Ian Naughton.’
‘Your husband, Mike?’
‘He’s listening in. As I said, no secrets. He knows the whole story. Life was tough back in the Philippines, people do what they can to survive. That’s what I had done at Mary’s.’
‘Is that the whole truth? Or do I need to come up to Oxford, slam you in a prison cell and give you the third degree? Lying to the police is a crime, and too many people have died, and Gareth Rees is a strong contender for some of them. A fastidious man?’
‘Always well-dressed, aftershave, a freshly-pressed shirt. Yes, he was fastidious.’
‘Gabbi, don’t lie. People have died for reasons that we don’t know, for being connected through Mary Wilton’s daughter. It’s not over yet, so be careful. We don’t know who or what we’re dealing with. Gareth? Psychopathic, a sociopath, an antisocial personality disorder?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Anti-social, uncaring, unable to distinguish between right and wrong, lies, deceives, uses false names, unable to make long-term plans.’
‘Not Gareth. He was meticulous in arranging the paperwork in the Philippines, and he cared, not always, but he had felt sorry for how he had treated me that day. If he was as bad as you think he might be, I can’t say I saw it.’
‘I suggest you don’t leave the house for a couple of days, nor your husband. I’ll phone the local police station, ask them to keep a watch on your house, and I’ll text you a couple of numbers for speed dial if you need them,’ Wendy said.
Whereas there was no fathomable reason for the other deaths, Gabbi Gaffney had helped the police in the hunt for her first husband. If he was as dangerous as suspected, it was a possibility that he would see his former wife as someone who had betrayed him.
Also, the death of Janice Robinson had been clinical with little blood spatter, the sign of a careful man, like Gareth Rees. Cathy Parkinson’s had been messy, which indicated either a master disguise by Rees or a different person.
***
Rees continued to be a conundrum. On the one hand, decent and caring; on the other, violent and quick to anger. And it did appear that his affection for Gabbi had been genuine in that he had applied for permanent residency in the Philippines, and the documentation had required fingerprints.
It had taken longer than expected, the bureaucracy in the Philippines, but Bridget had the prints, and they were in the database. If the man had a criminal record, it would soon be known, a list of aliases used as well.
Wendy visited Tim and Maeve Winston, found the atmosphere in the house chilly, but more for her sake, as well as for Rose, husband and wife chatted amicably. But behind closed doors Wendy doubted if there were any signs of affection between the loyal and dependable Maeve and the philandering Tim. And Janice was probably not the man’s first dalliance, even if it came with a deviant attraction, in that he had slept with the mother when she had been younger.
