‘And you say you got the guided bus home?’ Manon says.
Helena Reed is shifting about, straightening, crossing and uncrossing her legs. ‘That’s right,’ she says. ‘You know, the one that runs along railway tracks part of the way, between Cambridge and Huntingdon.’
She wears a coral scarf looped tightly about her neck and a camel cardigan buttoned up – a rather Parisian, precise attire. Manon has an irrational mistrust of very tidy-looking people. They work too hard at concealment, and besides, she doesn’t understand how they pull it off. Manon seems to emerge from her flat, even at the start of the day, with a rogue bulging shirt button showing a flash of bra, or a smear unnoticed in the half-light of the bedroom (she often finds herself wetting a bit of toilet roll in the second floor toilets and going at a stain, only to lace it with beads of wet tissue).
Helena’s knees are pinned together and her pencil skirt is smoothed tight (Manon covets the idea of the pencil skirt, much as she covets the idea of being a tidy person, but hasn’t the knees for it). Helena Reed is held in, Manon decides, and rather concerned with what others see, though as soon as Manon passes this judgement, she wonders if it isn’t genetic – the whole personal tidiness thing. One is destined to become one’s mother, after all. This thought makes her smile to herself – there are worse things.
‘I led Edith off the bus and walked her back to George Street,’ Helena is saying. ‘It was snowing and a bit slippy – she was tipsy and rather giggly, so I had to hold on to her. And when we got to the cottage, I got her keys out of her bag to let her in.’
‘And you closed the door behind you?’
‘Yes, it self-locks when you close it – a Chubb, you know what I mean. I led her to the kitchen, helped her to take off her coat—’
‘This was the green parka, with the fur trim?’
‘Yes.’
‘What did you talk about?’
‘The night at the pub, the people who were there. She was flirting with Jason Farrer, the guy I mentioned? Bit of a letch, in my view. I s’pose I told her off a bit.’
‘Did you have an argument?’
‘Not an argument, no. She shrugged it off, really; told me I was being an old prude.’
‘Did you or Edith get out two wine glasses while you were there, to have another drink?’
‘No, God, no. She’d had more than enough and I was tired. I didn’t even take my coat off.’
‘Did she seem anxious, frightened of anything, or anyone?’
‘No, she was happy – drunk and silly. If anything, it was me who was grouchy.’
‘Did she talk about Will Carter at all?’
‘Not really. At one point she said I was “as bad as Will”, meaning boring, I s’pose.’
‘Edith’s mother mentioned a certain cooling between Edith and Will. Do you think Edith wanted to end the relationship?’
‘Not to my knowledge. She complained about him sometimes, but that’s normal, isn’t it? If you’re suggesting that Will had something to do with Edith disappearing, that’s mad. He’d never—’
‘Just answer the question, Miss Reed.’
‘No, she didn’t mention breaking up with him, not to me.’
‘Did they fight – physically?’
‘No, God, no. Look, it wasn’t like that. Will wouldn’t say boo to a goose. His worse crime is that he can be a bit dull.’
‘Were you aware that Edith kept a lot of cash in the house?’
‘The MoneyGram transfers? Yes. We all thought it was a bad idea, but Edith’s a bit of a warrior in that way. She won’t be budged.’
‘Did you notice any cash lying around in the house on Saturday night?’
‘No. It’s not like she leaves wads of twenties by the kettle. She isn’t stupid. She hides it in various different places. Will will know better than me. You know, a tin in the kitchen cupboard, another in the bathroom. That sort of thing.’
‘Who else knows about the money?’
‘Only her friends. Not anyone who would rob her, I don’t think.’
‘Going back to Jason – you say Edith was flirting with him. Flirting how?’
Helena frowns. ‘You know, giggling with him. I … I don’t want to … I don’t want to land her in it.’
‘I think we’ve gone beyond that, Miss Reed. Edith has been missing for thirty-five hours now. Time is very much of the essence.’
‘So, OK, Edith and Jason went outside the pub. I don’t know what they were doing, maybe just having a cigarette.’
‘How long were they outside together?’
‘Oh, not long. Five minutes. I know because I was casting about for her. I wanted to leave. She came back in, I had her coat ready, and we left pretty much straight away.’
‘Thank you, Miss Reed. If you wouldn’t mind waiting here for a bit longer, we may have some further questions for you shortly.’