Death in the Sunshine (Retired Detectives Club, #1)(80)

‘Was that normal for him?’ asks Moira.

‘Sort of, he always got tunnel vision on cases he worked, but being distant and looking so pale was different. He usually liked to talk things through – said it helped him crystallise his thinking.’ Lizzie shakes her head. ‘But not that time. The only thing he said to me was that he felt he wasn’t seeing everything.’

‘And then?’ Moira’s voice is gentle, encouraging.

‘A tip came in through the tip line that’d been set up. It was solid, they fast-tracked the checks because of the urgency, and then they passed it to Philip, as DCI in charge of the case.’ Lizzie bites her lip.

Moira nods. ‘What was the tip?’

‘The location where the girl was being held.’

Neither of them speaks for a moment. Then Moira asks, ‘What happened?’

Lizzie feels the rage churning in her stomach. The nausea is getting stronger. She tries to swallow it down. ‘Nothing. He didn’t do anything. I read the first interview transcript with him in the file. He said that he read the email with the tip details, but he was due to leave for lunch and decided to deal with it afterwards. So he left it and went out for lunch, or that was his original story anyway. It was over two hours before he was back at his desk and passed on the tip. Three hours before the team arrived at the location mentioned.’

‘And she was gone?’

‘No. The child was dead. The coroner put her time of death within the hour.’ Lizzie blinks back tears. Her voice falters. ‘If Philip had acted on the tip straight away she would still have been alive when they got to her.’ She feels anger flare inside her. Blinks back the tears. ‘He told me at the time it was a lapse in judgement. That he was tired and there were so many tips coming in they couldn’t follow everything up immediately. He felt awful, I know he did, but I always felt like he was holding something back from me.’

‘And was he?’

Lizzie nods. ‘He’d led me to believe that he was stuffing himself at lunch as that poor child was dying, and that’s why he was forced to retire. He said it was because his actions made him negligent in his duty. He could have saved her, but he didn’t.’ She clenches her fists. Can’t keep the anger from her voice. ‘That he as good as killed her himself.’

‘Mistakes happen in the field,’ says Moira, gently. ‘It’s not good, but it happens. There are so many variables and—’

‘Mistakes that kill people?’ says Lizzie, narrowing her eyes.

Moira doesn’t quite meet her gaze. ‘Sometimes.’

‘But that isn’t the full truth of what happened here.’

Moira says nothing.

Lizzie continues. ‘A few days after they found the child dead, Philip had the heart attack. I blamed the pressure of work and guilt about the young girl’s death, but it wasn’t just that, it was the stress of an internal investigation into what happened and him knowing what they’d find. That and the fact he had been having serious health problems for months and hiding it.’

Moira frowns. ‘Didn’t you know about—’

‘No, all I knew was that he didn’t look great and seemed tired all the time, but I had no idea what he’d been battling and for how long. He’d hidden it from me and the kids, and he’d hidden it from his employers too.’

‘He could have been trying to protect you.’

‘That’s not what he said when Internal Affairs interviewed him. He’d known that if he’d told the police doc what was going on they’d have put him on immediate medical suspension. He knew he wasn’t fit to work, and that him staying in post could seriously compromise an investigation.’ Lizzie clasps her hands together. ‘He knew it, and yet he didn’t say anything. Not even to me. Even though he could have died.’

‘What was wrong?’ asks Moira.

‘His heart was totally screwed. He’d been having tests and been under observation for a while apparently. That’s where he was that lunchtime when he didn’t follow up the tip – he was at the John Radcliffe Hospital having tests for two hours, not eating lunch as he’d told everyone.’ Lizzie pauses. Takes a breath. ‘In the end he told the Internal Affairs investigator the whole thing. I read their report, and I read the hospital report too. Philip had been having dizzy spells and blackouts and they were getting worse. He told the investigator he’d collapsed in his office a few days before and must have been blacked out for almost an hour. He was experiencing an irregular heartbeat and his blood pressure was all over the place. It had been happening for months, but he’d been delaying having the operation that could help him because he didn’t want to take time out from the job. He was having a health crisis, but he told no one, because he knew if he did he’d have to step down and hand over control of the investigations. He wanted to keep doing the job, even if it killed him; even if it took him from his own family. But him not taking due care killed that little girl, as well as nearly killing him.’ Lizzie exhales hard. ‘It wasn’t ill health that ended his career. He was forced to retire because of the lies. The Internal Affairs report recommended disciplinary action and dismissal due to wilful disregard of protocol and lying by omission constituting a deliberate cover-up – leading to a complete breakdown of trust and confidence in his integrity. It was only because of his high profile in the media and exemplary record until then that they allowed him to retire with honour. It was more than he deserved. He lied to everyone, even me. And when I asked him – before the heart attack and afterwards about why he’d had to retire – he lied and he kept on lying. I asked him yesterday and he didn’t say anything about the health problems he’d had. I had to break into his filing box to discover the truth. I just don’t understand why he’d keep the lie going for ten years. And if he’s lying about this, it makes me wonder if there are other things he’s lied to me about.’ She looks at Moira, trying to see if she understands. ‘We’ve been married a really long time, but now I feel like I don’t know him at all.’