‘Does she work from home?’
‘Yeah. She tried renting some space in the craft village but that didn’t last long. She says she needs some capital to get ahead. So now she uses the spare room.’ He spread his hands.
‘And you’re a driver?’
‘Yeah, money’s crap but it’s regular.’ He glanced to see if his language had given offence. I smiled.
‘OK. So tell me about recently. She’s been going out a lot at night?’
‘No, no. It’s in the day. When I’m at work. A couple of times I’ve called home if I’m doing a delivery that way – grab a cuppa or some food – and she’s not there. I asked her about it later, “What you done today?” and she said she’d just been in and when I said I’d been home she says, “Oh yeah, I went up the shops.” I could tell she was lying. And the next time I asked her straight out, that’s when she got all upset and that.’
‘So this has happened twice?’
‘More than that. Other times I’ve rung up. I hate checking up on her but I don’t know what’s going on. She won’t talk to me about it. Your mind starts thinking all sorts, I mean all sorts. I know her regular things like aqua-fit and Fridays she likes to go down the market but this is different. She’s keeping something from me.’
‘Do you know how long she’s out?’
He shrugged. ‘A couple of hours.’
‘Any particular days?’
‘Middle of the week, I think.’
I thought about the way he’d described her moods. ‘She ever use drugs?’
He grinned and shook his head. ‘Only for the illness.’
‘What do you want me to do?’ I asked him.
‘Find out,’ he said. ‘Find out where she’s going, what she’s doing. Watch her, follow her, whatever you have to do.’ He waved his arm as he spoke, pushing the problem my way. ‘Shit, I hate this,’ he said.
‘OK. Let me suggest something. First of all try and talk to Tina about it again. Tell her you’re worried, that you don’t want secrets in the marriage, ask her straight out to tell you what’s going on. Now if she won’t or if you’re not happy with what she does tell you then you can come back to me. I charge a hundred pounds a day for surveillance, minimum. I might have to watch the house for several days.’
He took a sharp breath in.
‘Think about it,’ I said. ‘It’s worth bearing in mind you may be paying for bad news. Tina’s keeping something from you, so there’s a danger it’ll be something you’ll find very difficult. I may find she’s having an affair – it could be something like that – but even if it’s completely innocent the fact of you using an investigator to spy on her could break up your marriage anyway.’
‘Don’t you think I haven’t thought about all that?’ he protested. ‘But knowing – at least I’d know.’ He rubbed his nose again. ‘If she was cheating on me I’d know where I stood. If it was something else,’ he shrugged, ‘maybe I’d not even tell her but I’d know. Now, it’s like I’m drowning.’ He frowned and looked away. I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down.