Page 124 of Worse Than Murder
‘To get at me.’
‘But why? What have you done wrong that someone believes the answer is to kill…?’ She can’t bring herself to finish the question.
‘If I knew the answer to that I’d know who’d done it.’
‘How is the team getting on in finding the killer?’
I shrug.
‘If you looked at your phone, you might find out.’
I turn away and look out of the window, so I can’t see the look of disappointment on Adele’s face.
‘You can’t keep running away, Mat.’ She picks up her wine and takes a lengthy sip. ‘Sian phoned me this afternoon.’
‘Matilda!’
I whip my head around to see who’s calling me, thankful of a distraction from a conversation I don’t want to have. Tania Pritchard has breezed into the restaurant and is heading my way. She stops at a table to say hello to someone she knows.
‘Gorgeous shade on your hair, Jean. Say hello to your Keith for me.’
She finally reaches our table.
‘You’re looking very posh. I almost didn’t recognise you. Not interrupting anything, am I?’ she asks, looking at Adele.
‘No. This is Adele. The pathologist I was telling you about. Adele Kean, this is Tania Pritchard. The only journalist I’ve ever met who isn’t a complete wanker.’
‘I think that’s the best introduction I’ve ever had,’ Tania smiles. ‘Hello Adele, nice to meet you.’
‘And you.’ Adele holds her hand out for Tania to shake.
‘Better not. I had to change a tyre on my way over here. I’m all oily. I’ve just been to see Lynne and Iain. I spoke to Claire, and she told me about the results of the postmortems on Celia and Jennifer. Apparently, Jennifer had a broken bone in her arm not long before she died, and it hadn’t healed properly. According to Lynne, she didn’t know anything about it. How can a mother not notice that? If you ask me…’
‘Tania, are you eating?’ Sally calls out.
Tania pulls an agonised face, as if she’s struggling to decide. ‘I’m not sure. Is that butter chicken on the specials board?’
‘Not tonight, sorry. We’ve got some beef medallions.’
‘You’ve twisted my arm. Can you box me up a serving?’
‘Will do.’
Tania turns back to the table. ‘Have you had the butter chicken? My goodness. I don’t know what they do to a chicken breast in that kitchen, but I bet it’s illegal in some countries. Now, where was I?’
‘Jennifer’s broken bone,’ I tell her.
‘Oh, yes. Now, either Lynne knew her daughters were being abused and turned a blind eye, or she was part of it. What do you think?’
‘I don’t know. I can’t read Lynne and Iain at all. They’re both so closed.’
‘Given everything they’ve been through over the years, you can understand that. I think Iain might know more than he’s letting on, too. He hardly said a word when I went round. And he didn’t offer me a drink. I don’t think he wanted to leave me in the living room on my own with Lynne.’
‘Why wouldn’t he want you on your own with her?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe in case she said something to me he doesn’t want me to know.’
‘They’re a strange couple. I can get my head around Lynne being in pain with her daughters being discovered so close to home, but she radiates a sadness that is deeply rooted. I think it goes back decades. If so, why did she get married to Iain?’
