Page 80 of One Left Alive
She didn’t ask to see Morgan’s credentials, which surprised her, but she looked as if she’d been in the job a long time, so could probably tell a copper from a one-mile radius. It was amazing just how many people could.
‘I’m sorry for your loss. I need some background information about Jamie to help with the investigation.’
‘It’s sad, but he’s not my loss. Truth be told he wasn’t very well liked by anyone.’
‘Oh.’ Morgan was taken aback by her honesty; people normally loved to play grieving friends, lapping up the sympathy when someone died so brutally or unexpectedly.
‘That sounds awful of me, I know it does. I’m not callous, but he didn’t really care much about anyone here or his employees. He only cared about himself.’
‘I take it he had a few run-ins with people then. Can you give me a list of them?’
She laughed. ‘How long have you got, because it could take some time and that’s only the ones I know about.’
‘How about the most recent or anyone he had a particularly nasty fall-out with.’
‘Let me see, he upset most of the town council. I know he had a particular dislike towards the mayor and had a fair few disagreements with him.’
‘Gregory Barker?’
She nodded.
‘What sort of disagreements?’
‘I think Jamie was secretly jealous of Greg. God knows why, he’s an arsehole as well. But the pair of them had a mutual dislike of each other. I believe they had a bit of a falling out at the town meeting a couple of nights ago.’
‘Were you there? Did you see it?’
‘No, my partner, Jackie, is a parish councillor and attends meetings. She told me. I have no idea why she keeps going to them, but she said she likes to give back to the community and they’re entertaining.’ She wrote a number on a Post-it and tore it off, passing it to Morgan. ‘You can give her a call any time after five; she’s also a teacher so is home most evenings if there’s no afterschool clubs or staff meetings.’
‘Thank you. Did you know about the family who were murdered at the same house at Easdale Road?’
‘I didn’t, not until Jamie mentioned it a couple of days ago. A bit weird that, isn’t it? Imagine buying a house where a whole family were murdered and then it happening to you. God knows what they’ll do with the place, but I can’t see it being a selling point, can you? They’ll probably do ghost hunts in it and sell tickets to spend a night there.’
‘Did Jamie know a lot about the O’Briens? Is he, sorry, was he old enough to remember?’
‘No, he’s only in his late thirties. He said he was digging the old reports out, though he did mention that Greg knew both families. I told him that didn’t mean much. I mean Greg was born around here and lived here his entire life. That’s what happens. The ones who move away are lucky. Everyone else knows everybody else’s business, there’s no keeping secrets.’
‘Did you know the Potters?’
‘Not really, they’ve only been here a year or so. They’re not from around here, so still a bit of a mystery to the locals, even more so now they’re dead. How’s the girl who survived?’
‘Still hanging on. Did you ever hear any rumours of Greg and Olivia Potter having an affair?’
‘Yes and no, I heard it in the post office. You wouldn’t believe how much gossiping goes on in there. If you think hairdressers are bad you should stand in the queue in there for twenty minutes. I’m not one for listening to gossip, though I should because it’s my job as a reporter. But there’s one thing I hate more than anything and that’s idle gossip.’
‘Thank you, do you think I could take a look at the reports about the O’Brien murders? This isn’t public knowledge, but I’m looking into them.’
‘You could have them by all means, only I couldn’t find them anywhere. I searched the records room where all the old papers are kept. Someone has been in there and been rooting around because the boxes are all over the place. But they’re not here. I’ve checked all the desks including Jamie’s and there’s no sign of them. Did you check his car? Maybe they’re inside it. I think he came back to find them, because he left before I did that day. He must have come back later on for them. Do you think that’s why he was killed, because there was something in those reports the killer didn’t want him to see?’
Morgan nodded. ‘That would seem like a good enough motive. Please, can I ask this is between us for the time being.’
‘Sure, if you need anything else give me a ring. I can’t see this shithole being open much longer. We’ve been running by the seat of our pants for years. Jamie was the one who brought in the advertising and revenue. I suppose it was his passion. I lost my passion for this a long time ago.’
Morgan stood up and held out her hand. ‘Thank you, Lana, you’ve been very helpful. I can see myself out.’
Morgan walked down the hall. It was hard to believe there had been a bloody, brutal murder in here a couple of days ago. Letting herself out, she made sure the door closed behind her and couldn’t be opened again. Lana was alone in there and it would be awful if something happened to her as well. Although she had a feeling that Gregory Barker was the key to this whole thing: if he’d murdered the O’Briens, he wouldn’t have wanted that dredging up by Jamie Stone.
Back at the station, she sat in the almost empty car park trying to gather her thoughts. She wondered how Ben and Amy were getting on with Bronte. It still hurt that she hadn’t been asked to join them, but she told herself to stop acting like a spoiled child. Did she want to be there when they broke the news to the girl that her entire family were now dead? Not really; she didn’t wish that on anyone. She wrote a brief draft of her conversation with Lana on the board, then phoned Ben.
