‘I thought you just said it wasn’t like that,’ Stacey said.
‘One second,’ Wendy said as a client entered the front door.
Stacey stood to the side.
‘Mr Greer is waiting for you, Mrs Hawkins.’
The woman nodded and continued through the reception.
Wendy waited until the customer was out of sight before speaking again. ‘He called because he wasn’t coming into work.’
‘You said staff didn’t have to call in,’ Stacey reminded her.
‘He wasn’t calling on a professional level. He was calling me.’
‘Why?’ Stacey asked, thinking that so far it sounded exactly like what she’d been thinking since seeing the flush of guilt on Wendy’s face.
‘Because Monday was curry day. At lunchtime. It was a thing. I always brought in beef curry that I made on Sunday. We always shared it. It was a date but not that kind.’
‘What kind?’
‘Romantic. It was just a standing arrangement,’ she said, colouring further. ‘He wanted to let me know he wouldn’t be in for our curry lunch.’
‘And he didn’t say anything else? Didn’t tell you his plans for the day?’
Wendy shook her head vehemently. ‘It was a short call. He was being polite. Obviously, I was disappointed.’
‘Wendy, I have to ask,’ Stacey said, realising this bush had been beaten around enough. ‘Were you and Gabriel having an affair?’
‘God no. Gabe would never…I mean…well…not really.’
‘Okay, Wendy, you’re gonna have to unpack that one for me. It’s either a yes or a no.’
‘Well it isn’t actually. There was nothing physical between us. Gabe would never do that, but there was a connection, an emotional one.’
‘Go on,’ Stacey urged.
‘Gabe had started to open up to me. He talked of regrets, decisions he’d made that he wished he hadn’t.’
‘Such as.’
‘Not trying to mend things with his family. He felt guilty for not visiting his mother enough. He wished he was in contact with his brother. I think they were close growing up and one silly argument was the end of it.’
‘What was the argument about?’
Wendy shrugged. ‘He never said, but I think it wasn’t long after he and Beth got married.’
Stacey mentally filed that away.
‘Why would he confide all this in you?’ Stacey asked. ‘And not a friend?’
Wendy shook her head. ‘You’re not getting it, are you? He had no friends. The only time he was out of Beth’s sight was when he was at work, and even then she would either call or text him at lunchtime.’
‘And it was always Beth contacting Gabriel?’ Stacey asked.
Wendy nodded. ‘Pretty much.’
Pretty much but not always.