A woman who looked to be about Gina’s age answered. She was maybe fifty but had weathered much better. Her glossy aubergine coloured hair had neatly been pinned into a French pleat and her linen slacks fell effortlessly over her slim waist. ‘Hello. You’ve come to collect the bench. I wasn’t expecting you yet but that’s not a problem, it’s all ready for you to collect.’
‘Sorry, I’m DI Harte, this is DC Wyre. We need to speak to Taylor.’
‘Oh, right. Why would you want to speak to my niece?’
‘We’re investigating an incident and Taylor’s name has come up.’
‘What’s this about?’
‘I’m afraid we need to speak to Taylor. Is she in?’
The woman stepped out of the house in her slippers and charged over to the annexe. After banging hard, she waited for a reply. The neighbour opposite peered through the curtains. Taylor’s aunt pasted on a smile and waved before turning back to the door and knocking again. ‘I don’t think she’s in. That’s odd. I’ll get the key, check to see if she’s okay. It is my house after all. She mentioned moving out soon to be with some boy she was in love with.’ The woman rolled her eyes. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s left and not said anything. One thing for sure is, she’ll be back soon. As you can tell, we don’t get on that well. We are in constant conflict over our wildly differing views of what cleanliness is.’
The woman hurried back into the main house and came out a few seconds later with a key.
‘When did you last see her?’
‘Friday, maybe. I don’t go checking on her and I don’t always hear her come and go. I think I saw her leaving the annexe for a jog on Friday evening though.’ She turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. ‘As I suspected, the place stinks. This is why we don’t get on.’ Takeaway wrappers filled the bin next to the sofa and the kitchenette at the far end was covered in dirty dishes. ‘She doesn’t keep the place clean enough, I mean look; the kid she looks after has crayoned the carpet. She’s my niece. I promised my sister I’d always look out for her when she died but this takes the biscuit. I don’t charge her rent or ask her to do anything. All I asked is that she kept everything clean and tidy at all times. Well, as you can see, Taylor is obviously not in.’
‘Could she be upstairs?’
‘I’ll check.’ The woman looked as though she was gliding up the stairs, silently and elegantly.
As soon as she was out of sight, Gina bent over to take a photo of a girl and Cally that had been slotted in a colourful frame. The pink-haired girl looked younger than her years.
‘She’s not here, and the bed and bathroom are a complete mess too. Make-up everywhere. I can say with certainty that she hasn’t moved out yet, well it doesn’t look like she has. She’s left all her wash stuff and her clothes are still in the drawers,’ the woman called out as she hurried back down. ‘Looks like I’ll be spending my Sunday cleaning.’ She picked up a tea towel, sniffed it with a grimace and threw it into the washing machine.
‘Is that Taylor in the photo with Cally?’
‘Yes, that pink hair is awful. I keep telling her that her blonde hair is much nicer.’
‘Do you have a phone number for Taylor?’
‘Yes, and you know what, I’m going to call her.’ She pulled her mobile from her pocket and pressed Taylor’s number. It rang and rang. She hung up when the answerphone message started. ‘Probably with the boy.’
‘Sorry, what’s your name?’ Gina nodded at Wyre who turned to a fresh page in her notebook. It was evident that they needed to track Taylor down.
‘Sharon Acer. Why do you want to know who I am? I haven’t done anything.’
Gina put most of her weight on her back foot. ‘It’s just routine. We need to speak to Taylor with regards to an incident last night. Can you tell us a little more about her?’
‘What do you want to know?’
‘About her job, her boyfriend.’
‘She looks after this adorable little girl called Cally. She’s mostly based at their house but occasionally she’s brought the girl here. I know she has a key to the house where she works because sometimes she cooks dinner and cleans when the owners are still at work. As far as I know, she loves her job. I’ll give her that, she’s good with children. It’s probably because she’s still quite childlike herself.’
‘In what way?’
‘She’ll get down on the floor and play games in a totally immersive way. She really is like a big kid, hence how she lives. She’s immature too, takes nothing seriously and spends all her money on clothes instead of saving.’
‘Is her surname Acer?’
‘No, it’s Caldwell.’
‘Does she work every day and during the holidays?’
‘Let me see. She has the odd week off but that is normally in the school holidays. The woman she works for, Annabel, is a teacher so that makes sense. She works some of the holidays so that Annabel can get on with lesson planning for the next term and marking; things like that.’
