It starts off as a possible missing person enquiry. Then as is often the case suspicion falls on the partner. Is this a murder investigation? The husband is asked to recount the events leading up so his wife’s disappearance so many times to different officers he complains ,”Don’t you lot ever talk to each other”. But this is standard police procedure when their suspicions are aroused . Apparently if an individual is lying they forget or change some small details. But the story remains consistent even as the incriminating evidence grows. It doesn’t help the husband that those attached to the case take an instantly dislike to him. This and the fact that the lead detective is distracted by a personal tragedy and his risky action in reporting his grudge bearing boss as possibly corrupt explains why the investigating team seem to be so slow in putting the pieces together to make an alternative picture. The absence of a body makes any murder charge hard to prosecute despite the amount of circumstantial evidence. The case takes an unexpected twist. There is a third possibility.
So back to that Chinese proverb. “Before you seek revenge dig two graves”.
Left You Dead Peter James
