Deadly Secrets (Detective Erika Foster #6)(39)

‘She was very beautiful,’ said Moss.

‘Yeah. I don’t know where she got her looks from. Look at me. I’m no oil painting, and her father, well, he could have eaten an apple through a picket fence.’ She laughed and then the laughter turned to tears. ‘We’ll never be a family again. We weren’t much of one in the first place.’

‘Mandy, there’s something crucial to our investigation. It’s the time when Marissa was attacked in the front garden. What time did you say you went to bed?’

‘I dunno, what did I say? Just before ten?’

‘Okay, well we’ve got two witnesses who saw Marissa get off the train at Brockley around quarter to ten, and another who saw her walk past his house on Coniston Road around 10 p.m.’

‘Who?’

‘Don Walpole and his wife Jeanette were on the same train; they saw her by the ticket machines at the station around 9.45, and a man at number 37 was outside having a cigarette when she went past around 10 p.m.’

Mandy half closed her eyes.

‘He’s not got the best eyesight.’

‘This timing would fit with Marissa getting off the train; the station is less than ten minutes’ walk away. If you were still up around ten, or getting ready for bed, you may have heard something?’

Mandy went to say something, but was cut off by Joan, who bustled in with a cloth and polish, followed by Tania.

‘Please, I’m trying to talk to Mandy,’ snapped Erika.

‘You need to get to water marks fast or they’re a bugger to shift!’

‘Joan, please can you do this later,’ said Tania.

‘This is my house! I can do whatever the bloody hell I like!’ shouted Joan. Her lip curled up in anger, reminding Erika of a small, mealy-mouthed dog.

‘Sorry, Joan,’ said Mandy. ‘I think I’m gonna to try and spend the night back over at my place. The officers only want a few minutes, then you can help me?’

Joan’s mood changed and she became overly sympathetic.

‘Oh, are you sure, dear? You can stay here as long as you like, it’s really no trouble…’

‘No. I’d best head home.’

‘Maybe it’s for the best. I’ll pack your sponge bag for you,’ said Joan, already half out of the living room and up the stairs. Tania left with her, closing the door.

‘Mandy, I was asking you about Christmas Eve. Did you hear anything when Marissa arrived home?’

‘Officers, you must know, I have a problem with alcohol,’ Mandy said, rubbing her hands together in her lap. ‘I was embarrassed to say before, but I had a blackout. I drank more than normal on Christmas Eve. It’s the time of year, when it’s cold and dark and…I can remember making myself some cheese on toast in the early evening, and then nothing until I woke up the next morning.’

‘What time?’

‘Early. I had to use the loo.’

‘And did you sleep downstairs on the sofa?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You said before that you didn’t…’

‘I was in a blackout; I think it was downstairs. I just remember being up on the loo, then I heard the cat.’

‘You have a cat?’

‘Beaker. Well, he was a stray who hit us up for food. I was up on the loo when he was scratching at the door, so I went down, and that’s when I found her.’ Mandy put a large pudgy hand to her face as she started to cry. ‘I’m sorry officers, I really can’t remember anything. I really can’t.’

‘Did you know that Marissa was planning to leave, and go and live in New York?’

‘On her own?’

‘No, with Ivan. He’d been asked to transfer there with work and he was going to take Marissa with him.’

‘Instead of his wife?’ asked Mandy.

‘Yes.’

Erika and Moss watched as her face creased with confusion.

‘She knew I needed her housekeeping money…’ She scrubbed at the table with a stubby finger, her eyes filling with tears. ‘That sounds about right. She was going to bugger off without telling me.’ She wiped her face with the back of her hand. ‘I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but she was a selfish little bitch.’

‘I’m sorry to have to tell you, but we want to keep you up to date with all the information,’ said Erika.

‘I still want you to catch who did it, mind. Marissa might have been a bitch, but she was my flesh and blood,’ said Mandy, looking Erika straight in the eye, and fixing her with a cold stare.





Twenty-Six





Erika and Moss made their way over to Mrs Fryatt’s house.

‘Bloody hell. We’ve now spoken to three people who have completely different experiences of Marissa,’ said Erika. ‘Was she a different person to everyone in her life? Was she nice; was she a bitch? Was she honest; was she a liar? She gave plenty of people reason to want her dead.’

‘You think Mandy did it?’

‘I think everyone is a suspect. Although, there’s no evidence to back it up. No trace evidence of Marissa’s blood was found inside the house. Mandy would have had to get back inside, covered in blood, and clean herself off without leaving any trace evidence. And the house is a state, she hadn’t done some hurried clean up. It looks like the place hasn’t been cleaned in weeks.’