The Breakdown(94)

‘Could you come please?’ I say. ‘I live near to where the murder took place and I’ve just found a large kitchen knife hidden in my garden shed.’

They arrive before Matthew, which is what I wanted.

There are two of them this time, PC Lawson, who I’ve already met, and her male colleague, PC Thomas. I make sure I look shaken but not hysterical. I tell them where the knife is and PC Thomas goes straight out to the garden shed.

‘You don’t think it’s the murder weapon that you’ve been looking for in connection with Jane Walters’





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murder, do you?’ I ask PC Lawson anxiously, in case it hasn’t occurred to her that it might be. ‘It hasn’t been found yet, has it?’

‘I’m afraid I can’t say,’ she says.

‘It’s just that I sort of knew her.’

She looks at me in surprise. ‘You knew Jane Walters?’

‘Only a little. We got chatting at a party and then we had lunch together.’

She gets out her notebook. ‘When was that?’

‘Let me think – it must have been about two weeks

before she died.’

PC Lawson frowns. ‘We asked her husband for a list of her friends but your name wasn’t on it.’

‘As I said, I was a new friend.’

‘And how did she seem when you met her for lunch?’

‘Fine. Just normal.’

We’re interrupted by PC Thomas coming back with

the knife, held gingerly in his gloved hands, still partly wrapped in the tea towel.

‘Is this what you found?’ he asks.

‘Yes.’

‘Can you tell us how you found it?’

‘Yes, of course.’ I take a deep breath. ‘I was gardening and I needed some flower pots to plant some bulbs in.

I knew I’d find some in the shed because that’s where Matthew – my husband – keeps them. I picked up a big one and there was a tea towel in the bottom and as I took it out I could feel there was something wrapped inside.

I started to unwrap it and when I saw the serrated blade The Breakdown

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and realised it was a knife, I was so scared that I quickly wrapped it up again – it reminded me of the one I’d seen on television in relation to the Jane Walters murder, you see. So I put it back and phoned you.’

‘Do you recognise the tea towel?’ he asks.

I nod slowly. ‘A friend brought it back from New

York for me.’

‘But you’ve never seen this knife before.’

I hesitate. ‘I think I might have.’

‘Other than on the television,’ PC Lawson says kindly.

I don’t blame her for thinking I’m a bit thick after the fiasco with the alarm and the mug. And for the moment it suits me to let her think that I am because if I let slip certain pieces of information which might – well – incriminate Matthew, it won’t seem malicious.

‘Yes, other than on the television,’ I say. ‘It was about a month ago, on a Sunday. I went into the kitchen to stack the dishwasher before going to bed and it was lying on the side.’

‘This knife?’ the policeman asks.

‘Possibly. I only saw it quickly because by the time I called Matthew to come and see it, it had gone.’

‘Gone?’

‘Yes, it wasn’t there anymore. Instead there was a small kitchen knife lying in its place. But I knew I’d seen a much bigger knife and I was really frightened. I wanted to phone you but Matthew said it was just my mind playing tricks.’





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‘Can you run through exactly what you saw that

night, Mrs Anderson?’ PC Lawson asks, going back to her notebook.

I nod. ‘As I said, I went through to the kitchen to load the dishwasher and, as I bent down to put the plates in, I saw a huge knife lying on the side. It wasn’t one I’d seen before – we don’t have any like that – and I got such a fright that all I could think of was getting out of the kitchen as quickly as possible so I ran into hall and began screaming for Matthew—’

‘Where was your husband at this point?’ she interrupts.

I wrap my arms around my body, pretending nervousness. She smiles at me encouragingly so I take a deep breath. ‘He’d gone up to bed before me so he was upstairs. He came running down and I told him there was a huge knife on the side in the kitchen. I could see that he didn’t believe me. I asked him to call you because I’d seen a photograph of the knife that was used in the murder and it looked exactly the same, so I was terrified the murderer was somewhere in the garden, or even in the house. But Matthew said he wanted to see the knife first so he came down to the kitchen and then he called me to come and look. And when I looked, the big knife had gone and there was a little kitchen knife lying in its place.’

‘Did your husband go all the way into the kitchen or did he stay in the doorway?’

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‘I don’t really remember. I think he stayed in the


doorway but I’m afraid I was a little hysterical at that point.’