The officer simply replied, ‘From what we understand, Mrs Garland, no one has seen or heard from your husband since the morning of September 7.’
She stared at the police officers, not knowing what to say to them. The secrets that she had been keeping from everyone for so long about what really happened that morning were threatening to burst out of her and she had to use every ounce of strength she had to hold them back. ‘I have no idea where he is,’ she said. ‘He walked away from our marriage and our life. He made it very clear that he didn’t want to be contacted. He lied to me repeatedly. I assumed he’d run away with this woman and now you’re telling me he hasn’t. I don’t know what to think.’
‘You say he left his phone behind? Can we take a look at it, please?’
‘Of course,’ she said and went to retrieve it. ‘It’ll need a charge.’
‘What about his bank accounts? Has he withdrawn any money at all?’
She explained about the money taken from their ISA a few weeks before he left. ‘Since then, he hasn’t withdrawn any money. I assumed that he’d opened a new bank account. He hasn’t given me any money either, I’ve been relying on our savings until I can earn enough money to pay for the mortgage and bills.’
‘What about his passport, driving licence, those sorts of things?’
‘All gone, I searched the house from top to bottom after he left and he’d taken them with him.’
‘And you say he hasn’t been in touch at all?’
‘No, I haven’t heard a thing. As you can imagine I was hurt and furious. We have two young children who asked for him almost constantly at the beginning. I didn’t know what to say to them, it was horrendous. I was desperate to get in contact with him and find out what was going on. I even tried his mother, who he’s estranged from, but she hadn’t heard from him either. For the first few months I sent regular emails to him begging him to reply but he never did. I don’t even know if he read them.’
The female officer looked at her sympathetically. ‘Does he have a laptop or computer at home, Kate?’
‘Yes, he has a laptop. Would you like it?’
‘Yes please, we’ll need to take his phone and laptop away. We’ll also need to search the house and take a sample of his DNA from something like a toothbrush or hairbrush, anything he left behind that we can use.’
‘That’s fine,’ Kate said. She looked at the police officers. ‘So, what do you think has happened to him?’
‘That’s what we’re going to try and find out. We’ll need a list of all of his friends and relatives, work colleagues and so on – anyone that he may have been in contact with. Can I ask, did you notice any changes in his mood or behaviour before he left?’
‘Well obviously you know that our marriage wasn’t in great shape, given that he was leaving me for another woman,’ Kate said. ‘But honestly? No. He seemed absolutely fine, happy really. Now I know why of course. So no, he wasn’t depressed, if that’s what you’re asking.’
‘Were you arguing a lot, Kate?’
‘Not at all. We actually got on fine. We weren’t passionately in love but we rubbed along okay together. I was so distracted with the children that I didn’t realise it wasn’t enough to keep us together until it was too late.’
‘Did he have any history of mental health problems?’
‘Pete? No. He’s about the most level-headed person you could possibly meet.’
‘Is there anyone Pete might have fallen out with?’
‘Not that I know of – well apart from me and all of my family and friends but that was after he left,’ she said, laughing dryly.
‘Can you think of anywhere at all that he might have gone?’
‘Nowhere that I haven’t tried already. I’ve spoken to everyone I can think of and none of them have heard from him. I’ll give you all of their contact details.’
The officer nodded. ‘That would be helpful, thank you. What about places that he loved – maybe somewhere you went on holiday regularly? A holiday house?’
‘No, we never went to the same place twice and we don’t have a holiday house. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, I’m extremely thrown by all this.’
The woman looked at her kindly. ‘I understand, Mrs Garland. I think that’s all we need for now, thank you for your time.’
As they stood up to leave, Kate asked, ‘So what happens next?’
‘We’ll search the house and take a look at his phone and laptop. We’ll speak to his friends and family and we’ll also run some checks to see if we can trace his movements over the last few months. We’ll keep you updated and you can contact us at any time if you have any concerns or questions, okay?’
‘Okay, I understand, thank you.’
‘We’ll speak again very soon, Mrs Garland.’
After they left, she sat on the sofa, shaking. She’d relaxed, she thought, she’d finally relaxed after months of being on edge and this was her punishment. Just as she thought that things had settled down, this had happened. What on earth did she do now? She looked at the time – it was nearly 3pm. She had to get to school to pick up the girls. They’d be so excited about the disco but she knew that there was no way she could keep up the pretence of normality this afternoon. She needed time to think and to process what had just happened. With shaking hands, she picked up the phone and called Lottie.
‘Lottie, I’m so sorry, I’ve just been sick. No, I’m fine, I think it was something I ate for dinner last night. Look, I’m so sorry to ask but is there any chance you can pick the girls up and take them to the dance for me?’
Lottie was full of
