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He glanced away for just the briefest of moments, but she spotted it.
‘Nothing.’
His denial set her blood boiling. ‘Don’t lie to me, Ben. Not again. Our marriage needs to be built on trust. I don’t buy that they would arrest you just because your name was the last one in her appointments book. There must be more to it than that.’
Ben clamped his eyes shut and bowed his head. ‘They said they found traces of my DNA on her clothing or something. That’s all. I explained to them how she’d been dancing and how it must have transferred over.’
Alice was struggling to believe anything he was saying, and then a new question leapt forward that sickened her to the stomach. ‘How did they know it was your DNA?’
He kept his eyes closed. ‘They took a swab inside my mouth. Standard practice apparently.’
Alice wasn’t buying it. ‘They wouldn’t arrest you on a hunch and then hope to prove it when they’d got you to the station. If they found traces of your DNA on her clothes, they must have known that before they came here yesterday. I swear to God, Ben, you’d better start telling me the truth or I’ll—’
‘Okay, okay,’ he sighed. ‘They already had my DNA on their database. There’s something I’ve never told you before that I’m hugely ashamed of.’ Staring straight into her eyes, he said, ‘Yesterday wasn’t the first time I’ve been arrested.’
ELEVEN (#ulink_f6ace6a1-4b85-50fd-894b-83971d290dab)
Alice took slow and steady breaths, as her wobbly legs threatened to spill her to the carpet of the honeymoon suite. Could this be real? Or was she still in the throes of a hideous nightmare?
‘It was a long time ago,’ Ben said, taking her silence as a cue to continue. ‘Before I knew you. It was a wrongful arrest back then, just as it is now. I never told you because … because that’s not who I am, and I’m deeply ashamed to have ever spent any time under suspicion of the police.’
Alice braced herself for yet another revelation. ‘Why were you arrested before?’
Ben screwed up his face, clearly unsure how to spin this chapter in his life. ‘I was accused of something I didn’t do by a malicious woman I’d been seeing. She saw me as an opportunity to make some quick money and when I wanted to leave her she started firing all sorts of accusations at me. She went to the police and told them a pack of lies, and before I realized what was happening, they’d brought me in for questioning. The solicitor they provided told me to keep my mouth shut until he knew what evidence they thought they had against me, and he was as surprised as I was when they charged me.’
Alice reached out for the edge of the desk as her left leg buckled, and she just about managed to stay upright. ‘How could you keep something like that from me?’
Ben quickly moved across and took her arm to support her. ‘I know none of this can be easy to hear, and if I’d had my way you never would have found out.’
Her mouth dropped. ‘Do the vows we exchanged mean nothing to you? I’ve not kept any secrets from you. I’m an open book, and now I’m beginning to question everything I know about you.’
‘I’m still the same man you fell in love with. I swear I’m not keeping anything else from you. That period of my life isn’t something I’m comfortable thinking about, let alone discussing openly.’
‘Who else knows about your previous arrest? Does Dave know?’
Initially, Ben looked like he might deny it, but clearly thought better of it, and nodded. ‘He was there for me, and he knew it was all a pack of lies, as this nonsense is. I swear to you, Alice, I’m the man you’ve always known, and my feelings for you are stronger than ever. You asked about our vows. I meant every declaration I made at that altar. I will live up to every one of those promises, for better or worse, in sickness and in health; till death do us part.’
Something niggled at the back of Alice’s mind. ‘If you weren’t convicted of anything, why do they still have your DNA sample on record? I thought the police were only allowed to retain DNA samples when suspects were convicted.’
‘So did I, but my solicitor told me this morning that because the last case reached court, they are allowed to retain the sample. I’m going to get my solicitor to fight for my sample to be destroyed. They shouldn’t be allowed to ruin people’s lives like this.’
She continued to watch him, feeling an invisible wall growing between them. It was like she was no longer looking at the man she’d exchanged rings with. He was a shadow of his former self. Like in some trashy soap opera when the protagonist’s evil twin brother turns up and tricks the rest of the cast into thinking he’s the other brother. It looked and sounded like Ben, but the Ben she knew and loved wouldn’t have deceived her like this.
‘About our honeymoon. I think you should still go. It seems silly for us both to miss out on the trip. My solicitor should get this all sorted in a day or so and then I’ll book the next flight to join you.’
Her eyes widened. ‘I’m not going on our honeymoon on my own!’
Ben took her hands in his. ‘I know it isn’t ideal – God knows it isn’t ideal – but I know how much you were looking forward to going to Barbados. If we cancel I don’t think the travel insurance company will pay out. I don’t give a stuff about the money, but it would be silly to cancel the trip and then I get my passport back a couple of days later. You could fly out tonight and get the lay of the land, and then I’ll join you for the last ten or so days. We can still have our honeymoon, I’ll just be late to the party.’
She looked into his eyes, his beautiful brown eyes, matching his hair colour so perfectly, and so full of love. ‘That’s just it, Ben: it’s supposed to be our honeymoon. Going there without you won’t feel right.’
‘What if I paid for Tara to go with you until I’m able to join? We can speak to each other every day until I can get a flight out, and when I arrive Tara can head home. I don’t want you to miss out. You start back at school in a couple of weeks, and if you don’t go on this break, it could be months until we get another chance.’
It was typical of Ben to think that throwing money at the problem would fix it, but as much as she wanted to enjoy their honeymoon in the Caribbean, it now felt tainted, along with the rest of their wedding.
He must have sensed her reticence. ‘If I can’t convince you to go, then we’ll cancel the trip and rebook somewhere for Christmas. You get a couple of weeks off. We can do New York, or Vegas, or even Barbados again. Wherever you want. Money is no object. We will have our honeymoon, it’ll just be a bit delayed. It’s up to you. I’ll agree with whichever choice you make.’
Staring into those beautiful brown eyes, she felt the frost in her heart slowly start to thaw. Resting her hand on his cheek, she pulled his face into hers and kissed him, stopping only when there was a knock at the door.
‘I’ll send whoever it is away,’ he said, pulling away and moving to the door. As he opened it, though, his parents pushed into the room, and Alice knew he wouldn’t have the heart to dismiss them.
Ben’s mum hugged him tightly. ‘Dave said you were back. Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Is it all over?’
His cheeks reddened. ‘I’m fine, Mum. Are you two okay? You don’t know how sorry I am about what happened yesterday.’ Ben’s eyes met Alice’s. ‘They ruined the day.’
Ben’s dad, Ray, strode across the room, still dressed for the wedding, and hugged Alice. ‘How are you holding up, love?’
It was all she could to blink away the sudden onrush of emotion. ‘I’m okay,’ she whispered.
Ben and his mum moved away from the door and joined them by the desk.
‘I can’t believe they’ve messed everything up again,’ Hermione said. ‘They can’t just go around pointing fingers willy-nilly. Someone should have a word. They almost messed up your chance of going to university last time, and now this on your wedding day. It isn’t right!’
So that meant Ben’s parents had known about his previous arrest, and hadn’t thought to mention it to her on any of the occasions she’d seen them. It shouldn’t have surprised her that they would know, but that didn’t make it hurt any less that she had been excluded from the big family secret.
‘You ought to sue them,’ Hermione continued. ‘That would make them think twice about trying to frame you for things you haven’t done. Although actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if that woman was somehow behind all of this.’
‘Now now,’ Ray soothed, putting his arm around his wife’s waist. ‘I’m sure yesterday had nothing to do with all that.’ His eyes flickered with doubt, and he looked to Ben for reassurance. ‘It isn’t anything to do with all that, is it?’
Ben shook his head. ‘No, no, this was something different. Apparently, me and my friends were the last people to see the girl before she was murdered, and so they put two and two together and ended up with me as the answer.’
‘Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?’ Hermione retorted.
‘Can we do anything?’ Ray asked. ‘Do you need anything? A lift to the airport?’
Ben wrinkled his nose in distaste. ‘Looks like we’re going to have to postpone the honeymoon for now. The police have my passport and want me to stick around in case I can provide any further help with their enquiries. I’ve told them everything I remember about that night, but they were the grounds on which they released me,’ he added with a disappointed sigh.
Alice remained in silence, watching the three of them speak dismissively of the police and their involvement in ruining the big day. What they failed to acknowledge through all of their anger was that ultimately an innocent woman had lost her life. Yes it was frustrating that the police had chosen such an inopportune moment to locate Ben, but their intention wasn’t to spoil the wedding; they’d been charged with getting a murderer off the streets. For all she and Ben knew, this Kerry Valentine had family who were grieving her loss, and the frustrations of yesterday evening paled into insignificance against that.
‘I need some air,’ Alice suddenly said, cutting off Ben mid-sentence.
‘Of course, of course,’ Ray said, shuffling his wife towards the door. ‘I’m sure the two of you have a lot to talk about. We should make ourselves scarce, but if there’s anything you need – either of you – don’t hesitate to phone.’ He directed his attention to Alice. ‘Remember, you’re family now, and nothing is too much to ask. Okay?’
Alice forced herself to smile in acknowledgement and went out on to the balcony, sucking in deep breaths as Ben showed his parents to the door.
She heard the door close, followed by Ben dropping to the bed. ‘You know the worst part of all this is the effect it’s had on you. I mean, spending the night in that cell was horrible – really sobering – and then being quizzed for three straight hours this morning, but all I keep reliving is that look on your face when they put the cuffs on my wrists. It kills me that they ruined our big day, a day you’d spent so long organizing.’
Alice looked over at the beautiful green lawn and lake, a view she had fallen in love with when they’d picked this venue, but which now just served as a reminder of what could have been.
‘Can we get out of here?’ she asked. ‘I just want to put all of this behind us as quickly as possible.’
‘Sure,’ Ben said. ‘Let’s pack our stuff and check out. Then I will spend the rest of the day proving to you how important you are to me.’
She turned to face him. ‘Just promise me one thing: no more secrets.’
He immediately agreed, but she couldn’t ignore the feeling that her nightmare was only just beginning.
TWELVE (#ulink_a9e27bc0-8ab4-5317-a253-b883a55d5918)
The main reception desk in the grand lobby ofOld Mill Lodge had the look and feel of living history; the thick varnish and ornate carvings were clearly made a time long ago. As Alice patiently waited in line for the checkout queue to process, she couldn’t help but wonder about the range of people who had passed through the hotel over the years, each with their own story and reason for staying in the grand building. How many of the brides and grooms who’d celebrated their nuptials in the same room as she and Ben were still happily married? She’d bet none had had their ceremony interrupted in quite the same way.
Ben had acquired a luggage trolley from somewhere and was busy transporting their luggage and stack of gifts down to the large taxi he had ordered. Although it had taken months of visiting different venues before she’d chosen this one, she wouldn’t now care if she never laid eyes on the hotel again.
The elderly couple ahead of Alice moved to the front of the queue and began to explain their enquiry to the young lady behind the desk. Olive-skinned and with jet black hair, the receptionist spoke with an accent Alice couldn’t place, but her grasp of English was as strong as any native.
‘It’s so inherently British, isn’t it?’ the man behind her commented.
Alice turned and looked at the man in the tan suit and red tie, smiling in her direction. He was alone with a small blue holdall at his feet.
‘Excuse me?’ Alice asked.
‘Queuing,’ he confirmed. ‘There’s nothing us Brits like quite as much as a queue, is there? I mean, on a day as glorious as this, when we should be embracing nature at her finest, we choose to stand in a stuffy room in an orderly manner.’ He smiled warmly. ‘I’m sorry, it always makes me laugh. This sort of thing just doesn’t happen in other countries.’
Alice politely smiled back. ‘No, I suppose you’re right. At least we’re nearly at the front.’
‘Are you checking in or out?’
‘Out,’ she said, smiling again.
‘Ah, well, did you happen to dine in the hotel’s restaurant last night? I’m looking for recommendations of where I can get a nice piece of sirloin for my supper.’
Alice forced a thin smile. ‘We didn’t eat here last night, I’m afraid.’
‘Not to worry,’ he continued, a mischievous look on his face. ‘Here, you weren’t at the wedding where the groom was arrested, were you?’
Shock went through her. ‘How did you hear about that?’
‘I overheard one of the staff talking about it. Were you there then?’
She nodded, and subconsciously covered her wedding ring with her right hand.
‘Oh, how awful,’ he continued. ‘The poor bride. Probably the last thing she expected to happen. Can you imagine how awful that would be? Just tied the knot and then learning that your husband is a murderer?’
Alice had to bite her tongue to keep quiet, and took a second glance towards the elderly couple in front who were still chatting away to the woman behind the counter.
‘I wonder if maybe she already knew,’ the man mused. ‘I mean, that’s what they say, isn’t it? Spouses always know deep down when their partner is up to no good. They might claim innocence, but it’s like a sixth sense, isn’t it? Are you friends of the couple, then?’ His cheeks suddenly reddened. ‘Heavens, have I spoken out of turn? You’re not related to one of them, are you?’
‘Sort of, but I won’t take offence.’
His cheeks were now glowing. ‘You’ll have to forgive me, I’m always putting my foot in it. Please accept my apologies.’
‘It’s fine,’ she said as casually as her bubbling anger would allow.
If the hotel staff were gossiping about the incident, it was possible the story could leak to the press, and the last thing she and Ben needed was their privacy to be trampled on, particularly as the police still hadn’t officially ruled Ben out of their inquiry.
‘Are you related to the bride or groom?’ the stranger pressed.
‘Bride,’ she said, still not prepared to tell him it was her horrid nightmare he’d just described.
‘How’s she coping? Have they said if or when the husband will be released from prison?’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said abruptly, ‘but I’d rather not talk about it. I think they should just be left to their privacy.’
‘Of course, of course, and far be it for me to be a spreader of idle gossip. Have you known them long?’
The couple in front moved on and the woman behind the counter thanked Alice for her patience and asked how she could help.
‘I’d like to check out please,’ Alice said absently, sliding the key across the desk.
‘You are checking out of the honeymoon suite?’ the receptionist asked.
Alice’s cheeks burned as she nodded, refusing to meet the eye of the suited man who could overhear the entire conversation.
‘How was the wedding? Did everything go as well as you hoped?’
Alice wasn’t ready to even try and answer that question, and simply nodded. ‘It’s a lovely venue.’
‘Was the catering and organization up to scratch?’
Clearly the receptionist hadn’t been working yesterday, and had yet to hear the gossip. Either that or she was doing an incredible job of playing dumb.
‘It was all fine. I’m sorry, can we hurry this up? My husband is waiting for me.’
‘Certainly, madam,’ the receptionist said, standing. ‘I’ll just go and get your receipt and you should be good to go.’ With that she disappeared into the small office behind her.
Alice could see the man straining to make eye contact with her, but she refused to acknowledge him.
He slid a business card across the desk towards her. ‘If you’d like to tell your side of the story, I’m sure we can make it worth your while. Right now, you’ll probably want to throw the offer back in my face, but think about it over the next day or so.’
She looked down at the card for ‘Liam O’Neill, Freelance Journalist’, and felt bile building in the back of her throat. So that’s why he was so interested in the details of the big day. Alice left the card where it was.
‘People will want to hear your story, Alice. I’m sorry if I misled you to begin with. You should know that I’m on your side with this. I don’t really think you knew what your husband was capable of, but to learn about what he’d done on your wedding day, it beggars belief.’ He paused, allowing her to process. ‘The story will get out, as these things do. It’s up to you whether people hear your side of it, or an amalgamation of other eye witness accounts and suppositions. Think about it.’
‘Here’s your receipt,’ the receptionist said, offering the sheet of paper to Alice.
‘All checked out?’ Ben’s voice suddenly said over her shoulder.
Turning, Alice was relieved to see him, and reached for his hand, pulling him closer.
