The smell of chips saturated in vinegar was less appealing after you had finished eating them. Imogen and Adrian had parked among some other cars on a hill behind the Corrigan house, the remnants of their takeaway tossed onto the back seat of the car.
The back of the house was different to the front. It was almost completely windows and you could see everything inside. Fortunately, their position was fairly obscured by greenery. It felt like they were watching a TV show, a big glass box with little people moving around inside. Angela Corrigan sat on a chair in the lounge reading a book. She didn’t look relaxed or even engaged – it looked like a pretence, but then why would anyone keep it up when they were alone in a room? Reece Corrigan was upstairs in an office on the phone. He seemed angry, certainly not the personable man they had met earlier that day, but then they already knew that was a facade.
‘You wouldn’t like to live in a house like that, then?’ Adrian asked again, drinking the last of his can of Coke before stuffing it into a carrier bag full of rubbish.
Was this a discussion about living together? Like proper grown-ups? Imogen wondered. They had so many things to think about before that could happen. He hadn’t even told his son, Tom, they were dating and she didn’t want him to, didn’t want to jinx it. They hadn’t even said the l-word to each other yet. Not that she was playing a game or anything, but Imogen didn’t want to be the one to say it first. Self-preservation, she imagined, especially when she considered how much more complicated that made things. When love comes into play the stakes get much higher.
‘It’s like a fishbowl. I have always seen myself as a cottage-by-the-sea kind of a girl,’ Imogen said.
It was true; she had always imagined that kind of future. There was something decidedly un-Imogen about it, but that’s what she wanted. That was the dream.
‘Not in the city, then?’
‘It’s convenient, but if I didn’t have to go in to work every day, I would rather be looking at the horizon. I mean, this is pretty and all, but there is just something about the sea that fills me with wonder. Do you know what I mean?’
‘I do know what you mean. I’ve always lived in the city, though. Couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. What if you want a cheeky kebab in the middle of the night or something?’
‘They have kebab shops in smaller towns, you know?’
‘Yeah, but they are usually shut by eight o’clock.’
‘How would you know? So, no midnight kebab shop is a deal-breaker for you?’
‘At this stage in my life, I feel like it is. I’m a simple man, Imogen.’
‘You can say that again.’
The office light turned off and they watched Reece go downstairs into the lounge where his wife was sitting. Although she didn’t stop what she was doing immediately, her posture changed. She seemed more alert. Something about the way Angela had tensed made Imogen feel a little nauseous. Reece said something, a command maybe, and Angela put her book down on the coffee table before standing.
They spoke briefly and he brushed the side of her face with the back of his hand, bringing it down and gently holding her chin as he kissed her forcefully on the mouth. She recoiled, but he just pushed further. He moved his hand down further still, putting his fingers for a moment around her throat until she kissed him back, opening her mouth and accepting his tongue. He removed his hand from her throat and started to undo his trousers.
Imogen’s stomach turned and she looked across at Adrian, who had the beginnings of a grimace on his face. From this distance it was hard to tell how Angela really felt about all of this. Maybe this was just the way they did things. No one knows what goes on inside a relationship except the people involved.
She walked over to the sofa and lay down. He climbed on top of her. Imogen was grateful that from this aspect they could only see the back of the sofa, Angela’s fingers gripping the top for several minutes until Corrigan eventually stood up and buttoned his flies.
Everything about it made Imogen’s skin crawl. She had, of course, been in relationships that weren’t healthy before. Possessive or jealous boyfriends who couldn’t appreciate that she wasn’t theirs to control, and she certainly wasn’t their property. But this? She couldn’t imagine this.
‘What do you think Angela’s connection is to Simon, then?’ Imogen said to Adrian, desperate not to address what they had just witnessed.
‘Were they lovers? Do you think she was having an affair with him and Corrigan found out? That certainly would explain the extent of the injuries,’ Adrian said.
‘That’s the obvious connection – they are much closer in age than she is with Reece. The passports certainly suggest they were running away together. But, when she found out that Glover was dead, she didn’t seem particularly heartbroken.’
‘Maybe she’s just broken altogether,’ Adrian said.
Imogen reached over and held his hand, pushing her fingers through his and squeezing tight. She knew this case was making him think about things he didn’t like to think about. She wanted him to know that he could talk to her if he needed. The trouble was, he really wasn’t good at sharing, neither of them were. She just hoped the case didn’t drag on too long. The longer they were in it, the longer Adrian would have in which to fall apart.
As they watched the house, Imogen found herself tensing when the Corrigans were in the same room together, afraid that he was going to hurt Angela, afraid that they would see it and they still wouldn’t be able to get to her before any real damage was done. She flashed back to the memory of Leon Quick plunging the knife into himself and how quickly his life had ended. How helplessly they had watched it happen.
Angela walked into the kitchen and Reece grabbed his coat and left. Imogen looked over to Adrian. They saw Reece’s car lights disappear up the road.
‘Looks like we won’t have to wait ’til tomorrow, after all,’ she said, starting the car.