But dobbing Mum into the police, watching her go to prison because she covered up a crime to protect someone she loved? How can that be the right thing?
Rachel clicks her tongue against her teeth, pulling me back into the present. ‘How’s everything going with Ruby?’
‘Fine,’ I say. ‘Well, as fine as can be expected. She seems a plucky little thing underneath it all.’
‘It’s often my experience that children bounce back quickly. Even after something as horrendous as this.’ She smiles reassuringly. ‘Ruby’s still too young to fully understand.’
‘She must miss her mother, though,’ I say sadly. ‘Selena was Ruby’s primary carer. She was home-schooled for a bit and they had an occasional tutor. Also she was in hospital a lot.’ I pause. Dean was also in my thoughts last night. I kept imagining him outside on our driveway with a bunch of dead flowers. I just wish the police would hurry up and catch him. Where is he? Is he still in the area, hiding out somewhere in the Brecons? With his army training, he’s used to being resourceful.
As soon as I opened the door to Rachel this morning, that was the first thing I’d asked. Had they found Dean? She’d looked disappointed when she admitted they hadn’t. She assured me they were still looking for him, though, and that finding him was a ‘priority’.
She leans towards me now. She’s wearing a necklace with a cross attached and it swings forward. She tugs at it gently, running the fine silver chain through her fingers. ‘We managed to speak to Nigel on the phone. He’s travelling down to see us today.’
‘Here?’ I ask in alarm. ‘Does that mean he’s going to take Ruby back with him? Selena said he was violent. I told DS Middleton.’Selena said a lot of things, a little voice in my head tells me.Who knows what’s true?
‘We’ll know more after we’ve spoken to him,’ she says.
‘Did he say where he was the day Selena was pushed? I know it’s unlikely he would have come here and killed her, unless she gave him a key. But she did meet up with someone the day before she died.’
Rachel holds up a hand to stop me. ‘Just let us do our job,’ she says firmly.
I can hear the clatter of cutlery and the faint murmur of voices, the odd bark of laughter that could be Adrian’s. She turns her attention back to me and lowers her voice. ‘There’s something else too. When the police took Selena’s handbag and phone, we found something that might imply she was being threatened. Possibly blackmailed. Did you know anything about this? Did Selena say anything?’
I rearrange my face to look shocked. ‘No! She said nothing. Who was blackmailing her?’
She narrows her eyes. Does she suspect I’m lying? ‘I’m afraid we can’t divulge that right now. But there are several lines of enquiry we’re exploring.’
‘Why would someone want to blackmail her?’ I say, almost to myself, testing her to see if she knows about Uncle Owen.
But if she knows more she doesn’t show it. As if realizing she’s said too much, she stands up, her shoulders stiffening, and pushes away her now-empty mug. ‘I’ll hang around for a bit. I’d like to have a chat with Nathan and Julia, if that’s okay?’
Why does she need to speak to them again? I tell myself it can’t be anything serious or DS Middleton would have returned. She reaches inside her suit jacket and pulls out her little black police book. ‘It was on the news last night. Just a very short segment, confirming that a woman was found dead here. But you might have the press trying to get hold of you. If I’m here when they call, you can direct them to me, okay? Otherwise please don’t speak to them.’
I nod.
‘Thank you for the coffee,’ she says, and smiles. I wonder if she’s married, or living with someone. If so, does she tell her partner/husband/wife what she really thinks happened to Selena? I know she’s keeping a lot of things back from us. She’s here to support us, I understand that, but she’s a police officer.
Nancy hovers by the front door with her coat still on and a tote bag hitched over her shoulder. She looks startled when she sees Rachel walking into the front room with her police identification tagged on to the pocket of her jacket.
‘Why are the police here again?’ she whispers, when Rachel is out of earshot. She’s still standing by the door as if afraid to come any closer.
‘They’re investigating Selena’s death. They think she might have been pushed down the stairs.’
Her black-rimmed eyes widen. ‘Murdered? Really?’
‘Yes. The police are taking it seriously, as you’d expect.’
She bites her lip. She has an iridescent pink lipstick on and some of it comes off on her tooth.
‘You can come in,’ I say pointedly, noticing she hasn’t moved an inch. ‘Would you mind just giving the rooms a general sweep around? Apart from the ones that are empty.’
‘Not getting any bookings, then?’ She looks almost gleeful.
‘Unfortunately not.’
‘Not good for business, is it, a murder? This place is cursed, I’m telling you.’
I’m surprised by her glibness. I walk away without answering.
