Family Liaison Officer Sandra Fletcher opened the door of Honey Taylor’s house for Gardner and Riddick.
Sandra had a young, warm face, still unweighted by the trials and tribulations of great loss. It would be in stark contrast to the woman awaiting them in the lounge.
Honey Taylor vaped with a trembling hand, while perched on the edge of the sofa, tapping one foot anxiously.
The room was a mess. There were a couple of open pizza boxes on the table and a couple of empty cans of beer. There was also an odour of rotten food in the air. An odour that many stable people would struggle to live with. Gardner suspected that Honey wasn’t a well woman at the best of times, and that Bradley’s death would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Bradley’s mother hadn’t even noticed the detectives walk in.
‘Honey?’ Sandra said.
After lowering her red vape pen, Honey turned to look at her visitors. Her eyes looked glassy and unfocused. ‘Yes?’
‘This is Detective Chief Inspector Gardner, and Detective Inspector Riddick.’
She pointed the vape pen at Riddick and shook it. She also narrowed her eyes. ‘I know who you are.’ She looked at Gardner. ‘Never seen you before, mind.’
‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Mrs Taylor,’ Gardner said.
‘Are you absolutely sure it’s him?’ Honey asked.
‘Yes, ma’am. He’s been identified by a number of people now. I’m sorry.’
She turned away and continued to stare off into space. ‘Well, everyone knew who he was. You don’t need me to identify him, then?’
‘A formal identification would be welcome, but, of course, we could ask someone else if you’d prefer?’
‘Don’t be asking his father.’ She turned back and waved her vape pen at Gardner this time. ‘I mean it. Don’t be asking his father.’
Gardner nodded, but this wasn’t an agreement. It was just an acknowledgement that she’d heard the request.
‘Can we take a seat, Mrs Taylor?’ Gardner asked.
Honey nodded at the sofa opposite hers. ‘But call me Honey. Mrs Taylor makes it sound so… I don’t know… so…’
Dramatic and real? Gardner thought, taking a seat with Riddick beside her.
‘I’ll get us all a cup of tea,’ Sandra said.
Everyone explained how they took their tea, which turned out to be the same, and then Sandra vacated the room.
Gardner readied her notebook. From the corner of her eye, she noticed that Riddick hadn’t readied his. This irritated her. ‘Here.’ She handed him her notebook and pen.
He took them without looking at her, no doubt trying to hide his own irritation with her.
‘He was a little shit, you know,’ Honey said.
Gardner resisted rolling her eyes, and instead nodded sympathetically. ‘Children can be troublesome sometimes, Honey—’
‘No. He was a little shit. I’m not surprised this happened.’
Gardener and Riddick exchanged a look. Honey was staring in the direction of Riddick and Gardner’s feet rather than their faces, so she wouldn’t have noticed.
‘Could you elaborate on that, Honey? Why did you think that?’ Gardner asked.
She vaped and continued tapping her foot for a moment before replying, ‘He pissed people off all the time.’
‘Anyone in particular?’ Riddick asked.
‘Everyone,’ Honey said.
Gardner nodded. ‘How would you describe your relationship with your son?’
Honey lifted her free hand in the air and gave a so-so gesture.
‘Up and down?’ Gardner said.
‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘We’d have blow-ups, but it always settled afterwards. We were close, I reckon. But he was too much like his bloody father.’
‘How so?’ Gardner asked.
‘Attracted to trouble.’
‘What kind of trouble?’
She shrugged. ‘He liked to steal. Stole from my purse… Never much in there, mind.’
She then looked as if she was welling up, so Gardner said, ‘Take your time, Honey.’
The moment passed, and Honey sighed. ‘He’d no need to steal from me. I’d have given him anything he asked for.’
Gardner offered her a sympathetic look despite the fact that she wouldn’t notice it – she was still gazing downwards.
‘I knew he was struggling, but he’d never mention it. I think he thought he could get away with lifting a few quid from me and I wouldn’t notice. I did, of course. You always notice when you don’t have much, do you know what I mean? Anyway, he had pride, I’ll give him that.’ She looked up for the first time in a while. ‘He got that from me. Not that arsehole of a father!’
Gardner continued to probe Honey over her relationship with Bradley, casting regular glances sideways at Riddick, relieved each time to see him taking notes. When it became clear that Honey either knew little about what her son was up to outside her house, or was just unwilling to share anything, Gardner changed focus. ‘When was the last time you saw your son, Honey?’
At that point, Sandra came into the room, holding a tray with three cups of tea. She placed the tray on the small table between the sofas. ‘Three teas with milk, no sugar.’ She smiled and took a seat next to Honey.
Honey breathed out a lungful of vapour and said, ‘Yesterday. He came in and raided the fridge, as he does most days, and then disappeared through the door. He asked me for a lift, but I was already over the limit by then. Never like to break the law. I always left that for the bastards I fell for.’
‘Where did he want a lift to?’ Gardner asked.
‘Crown Inn.’
Riddick said, ‘That’s a Wetherspoons.’
Gardner nodded. ‘What time did he make this request?’
‘Around half eight, I think. Roughly. I was just about to start the second episode of Corrie. Another reason I didn’t want to give him a lift… the main reason to be fair. He ended up walking.’
‘How long is the walk into town from here?’ she asked Riddick.
‘Twenty-five minutes, give or take.’
Which gave them a window of between five to nine, and three minutes past midnight – the time Doug phoned the murder in.
Gardner allowed a moment for Riddick to take some notes, while she indulged in a mouthful of tea. The tea tasted different. Gentler and smoother than she was used to. She looked down. It was also lighter in colour. ‘Nice tea. Thank you.’
‘Yorkshire Tea,’ Sandra said. ‘Only the best, of course.’
‘Nothing to do with that,’ Riddick said. ‘Water is just softer up here than down south. Yorkshire Tea still comes from Asian plantations. It’s not cultivated on the dales!’
Sandra looked embarrassed.
‘Just saying.’ Riddick shrugged.
Gardner inwardly sighed over the irreverent interaction. ‘Thank you. So, Honey—’
‘Where were you between nine and midnight yesterday?’ Riddick asked.
Gardner had to stop her mouth from falling open. Woah man!
‘Where do you think I was?’ Honey said, glaring at Riddick. She reached over to pick up her tea and, for one horrible moment, Gardner worried that she might just launch it over Riddick. ‘I was here.’
‘Can anyone verify that for us?’ Riddick asked.
Sandra was looking down at the floor now. Gardner felt compelled to interject. ‘These are standard questions, Honey. You are in no way under investigation. We rule everyone out before proceeding.’
Much to Gardner’s relief, Honey took her hand from the hot tea. Again, she waved her vape pen at Riddick. ‘This one’s a bad ’un.’ She looked at Gardner. ‘Do you know that?’
Gardner shook her head. ‘DI Riddick is just doing his job, Honey. The question is a necessary one—’
‘I’m not talking about the question. I’m talking about him in general. A bad ’un. He shouldn’t be working after what he did.’
Bloody hell, Gardner thought. Here we go again! What have you done, Paul? She felt annoyed with Marsh for not telling her more about the man she was working with. Later, she’d have to start digging.
‘Honey,’ Riddick continued. ‘Could you please answer the question?’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Try the pizza delivery guy. I got a pizza around ten.’
‘That doesn’t account for the entire time,’ Riddick said.
‘Then, you’ll have to arrest me… bad ’un.’
This was getting out of hand. Gardner leaned over and whispered in his ear. ‘Outside, Paul.’
Riddick stood up. He handed the notebook to Gardner and turned to leave.
‘Out on your ear,’ Honey snapped. ‘That’s what should have happened to you.’
‘Nice,’ Riddick said, opening the door. ‘Some of us have mortgages to pay, Honey.’
‘You saying I don’t!’ she called after the departing DI. ‘You think I enjoy being on benefits?’
Once Riddick had left, Gardner turned back to Honey. ‘I’m sorry that got out of hand. DI Riddick was acting with the best intentions.’
Honey laughed.
‘You aren’t under suspicion, Honey. And we’re going to do everything in our power to find out who did this.’
Honey now looked angry and frustrated, rather than distressed.
Gardner tried to revive the interview, but due to the sharp altercation, it now felt as if it was winding to a close. She still managed to press Honey further on Neil.
‘The man’s a rat. He’s only just got out the nick, and he’s hooked up with someone. Living in their house and everything. On Hay-A-Park estate.’
‘What kind of relationship did he have with his son, Honey?’
‘You’ll have to ask Neil that. Not great. However, none of his relationships ever are.’
Gardner continued to ask questions as she finished her tea, but when it became clear that there was little else to discuss – at least for now – she gave her farewell.
Outside, Riddick was sitting on the bonnet of the car.
‘Enough’s enough, Paul. You need to fill me in,’ Gardner said.
‘It’s personal,’ Riddick said. He raised an eyebrow. ‘Although everything is online.’ With that, he hopped down from the bonnet and climbed into the passenger side.