The Couple at No. 9(25)

DS Barnes frowns. ‘Who is Victor? Can you remember his surname?’

She shakes her head. ‘It’s all such a long time ago now …’ She turns to Saffy and says, ‘I don’t want to answer any more questions. I want to watch Bargain Hunt.’

‘Oh, Gran,’ says Saffy, taking her hand. ‘It won’t be long now, will it, Detective?’

DS Barnes nods. ‘Just a bit longer, please, Rose. Can you remember any more about Victor? Did he ever come to the cottage?’

‘No. I don’t know. I …’ she blinks rapidly ‘… I can’t remember.’

‘Is there anything else you can tell me about Daphne?’

‘No. Like I’ve already said, she lived at the cottage with me for a while. A year, I think. And then left. Moved on. Yes … yes, she moved on.’

‘And did you have any other lodgers around that time?’

‘No. Oh, yes, yes, I did. Before Daphne. But she didn’t stay long.’

‘Can you remember her name?’

‘No …’

DS Barnes takes a deep breath. ‘Okay. Well, we’ll need to look into that. And did you ever witness anyone being hurt at the cottage?’

‘Jean hit her over the head.’

Lorna’s heart sinks.

DS Barnes glances across at his colleague and then back at her mother. ‘Jean? Who’s Jean, Rose?’

‘Jean hit her over the head and she didn’t get back up again.’

DS Barnes uncrosses his legs, his face passive, but Lorna can see the twitch of excitement at the corners of his mouth. ‘Jean hit Daphne over the head?’

‘No.’

‘Then who?’

Confusion flits across her mother’s face. She looks tired, dark circles around her eyes. ‘I don’t know.’

‘I think my mother has had enough now, don’t you?’ Lorna cuts in. This feels wrong to her. How can anything her mother says be believed?

DS Barnes nods in defeat. ‘Okay.’ He turns to Lorna. ‘But if your mother remembers anything else, anything, no matter how insignificant it may seem, please let us know.’

Lorna stands in the corridor and watches as Saffy and Joy accompany her mother back to the day room. She’s chattering away about Bargain Hunt and she can still hear her voice as she rounds the corner: strong Cockney accent even after all these years. There doesn’t seem to be any lasting damage but she’s still furious with DS Barnes. She wants to give him a piece of her mind.

She hovers in the hallway until he exits the room, Ben Worthing close behind. She hoists her handbag over her shoulder and marches up to him.

‘Was that really necessary? She’s an old woman with dementia, for crying out loud. I hope you didn’t take her talk of this Victor and Jean seriously. She’s confused, that’s all. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.’

DS Barnes looks taken aback by her outburst. ‘We have to interview everyone who lived at the property during that time frame,’ he says calmly. She can’t imagine him ever raising his voice. ‘This is a serious crime and we need as much information as we can get hold of. But, yes, I understand that Rose has dementia. I won’t be taking everything she says at face value. However, there could be something in what she’s saying, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t investigate that.’

‘My mother won’t know anything. You said you spoke to the people who rented the house from her. Did they shed light on any of this?’

He sighs. ‘Not at the moment. But, like I’ve said, we’re just trying to ascertain as much as we can at this stage about who was living at the property and when. We are also working hard to identify the bodies. Once we know who they were and when exactly they died, it will be easier to –’

They are interrupted by the gurgling sounds of liquid being sucked through a straw and they turn in time to see DC Worthing polishing off his takeaway milkshake. Lorna glares at him and he has the grace to look shamefaced. ‘I’ll meet you in the car, Guv,’ he says, scuttling out of the building.

Guv? Really? She rolls her eyes. DS Barnes notices because he says, deadpan, ‘He’s new. I think he’s watched too many episodes of The Sweeney.’

Her lips twitch but she refuses to laugh. He’s not getting off that lightly.

She shuffles her feet. One of her sandals is rubbing her recent blister. ‘So what happens next?’

He gives her a long look that she can’t read. She wonders if it’s pity. ‘We’ll be in touch.’





14


Saffy





When we get back Tom is still at work so Mum says she’ll start on dinner and I take Snowy for a walk. It’s still warm, the sun flickering through the trees. As I stroll past number eight Brenda Morrison comes scurrying out, still in her sheepskin slippers. ‘Oi, I want a word with you!’ she says, scowling.

I stop and try to smile politely, turning towards her. I’ve never taken to Brenda, or her husband, Jack. Neither made us feel particularly welcome when we moved in. Not to mention them opposing the build. They’re always complaining about something: the position of our rubbish bin, the sound of the builders drilling, Snowy barking in the garden.