‘How was your husband the next day, Mrs Anderson?’
PC Thomas takes over.
‘Just his normal self. I went shopping and when I came back he was in the garden. He’d had a bonfire.’
‘A bonfire?’
‘Yes, he’d been burning something. He said it was
branches, which I thought was a bit strange as with the storm and everything they would have been too wet to burn. But he said they’d been under tarpaulin. He doesn’t usually burn braches on the bonfire though, we usually keep them for the chimney. But he said they were the wrong sort.’
‘The wrong sort?’
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‘Yes, too smoky or something.’ I pause. ‘I thought
maybe that was why the air smelt a bit funny.’
‘In what way?’
‘I don’t know. It just wasn’t the normal bonfire smell, you know, when you burn wood. But maybe it was the rain.’
‘Did he talk about the Jane Walters murder at all?’
‘All the time,’ I say, hugging myself tighter. ‘It really upset me, especially as I felt I’d known Jane.’ PC Thomas frowns and PC Lawson shakes her head imperceptibly, a warning not to interrupt me. ‘He seemed obsessed by it. I had to ask him to turn off the television on more than one occasion.’
‘Did your husband know Jane Walters?’ PC Lawson
asks, studying my face. She looks over at PC Thomas.
‘Mrs Anderson had lunch with Jane Walters two weeks before she died,’ she explains.
‘No, he only knew of her, from what I’d told him
about her. The day Jane and I had lunch, he came to pick me up but they didn’t meet. Jane saw him through the window though. I remember how surprised she looked,’ I say, smiling at the memory.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Just that she looked sort of shocked. A lot of
people have that reaction because he’s… well, quite good-looking.’
‘So your husband didn’t know Jane Walters?’ PC
Thomas says, looking disappointed.
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‘No, but my friend Rachel Baretto did. That’s how I met Jane. Rachel took me to a leaving party for someone who worked at Finchlakers and Jane was there.’ I pause.
‘Rachel felt really bad when she heard about Jane because she had a row with her on the day she died.’
‘A row?’ PC Thomas perks up. ‘Did she say what it
was about?’
‘She said it was over a parking space.’
‘A parking space?’
‘Yes.’
‘If she worked with Jane Walters, she must have been interviewed,’ interrupts PC Lawson.
‘She was,’ I nod. ‘I remember because she told me she felt bad that she didn’t tell you about the row. She was worried you might think she was guilty.’
‘Guilty?’
‘Yes.’
‘Of what?’
I look at her nervously. ‘I presume she meant the
murder. So I told her that nobody would murder
someone over a parking space.’ I pause. ‘Unless the row wasn’t over a parking space.’
PC Lawson gets out her mobile and taps something
into it. ‘Why do you say that?’
I look out of the kitchen window to the garden
beyond, bathed in the late summer sun. ‘Well, if it was over a parking space, why didn’t she tell you about it?’
I shake my head. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, The Breakdown
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it’s just that I’m not feeling very happy with Rachel
right now.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘Because she’s been having an affair.’ I look down at my hands. ‘With my husband.’
There’s a small silence. ‘How long has it been going on?’ PC Lawson asks.
‘I don’t know, I only found out about it recently. A couple of weeks ago Rachel came over unexpectedly and I saw Matthew kissing her in the hall,’ I say, glad to be able to use something from their text messages against them, even if it means I’ve just lied to the police.
The two police officers exchange glances again.
‘Did you tell your husband what you’d seen?’ PC
Thomas asks. ‘Did you confront him?’
‘No, he would only have dismissed it and say my mind was playing tricks on me like he did with the knife I saw in the kitchen.’ I hesitate a moment. ‘Sometimes I wonder if…’ I stop, wondering how far I should go in paying Matthew back for what he’s done.
‘Yes?’ PC Lawson prompts.
A pleasing image of handcuffs snapping around
Matthew’s wrists comes to mind. ‘Sometimes I wonder if Jane knew about their affair,’ I say. ‘Sometimes I wonder if, when she saw him through the restaurant window, she looked shocked because she recognised him. I don’t know, maybe she’d seen him and Rachel together.’ Wanting to be sure they’re thinking what I want them to think, I spell it out for them. ‘When
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