Bel giggled. ‘Jason was an outrageous flirt and he fancied Oliver like mad. Not that I blame him, but it all became very unpleasant. Of course, Oliver wasn’t interested, but Jason hated being turned down, it wasn’t in the script. He walked out on me and all of a sudden Oliver was in charge of the kitchen. I came to lean on Oliver; he was a tower of strength.’
I bet, Hannah said to herself. The two of them were sitting as close as possible to each other on the opposite sofa, thighs and legs touching. They seemed to fit each other to perfection. Easy to understand what Jason and Bel saw in Oliver. The bitchy part of Hannah thought it even easier to understand what Oliver had seen in Bel. You only had to sink into this armchair. It clutched you like a lover. Sheer luxury, sheer hedonism, sheer expense. If you were going to stop drifting, where better to drop anchor?
‘You said in your original statement that you’d known Warren Howe since you were both young.’
‘He was a couple of years older than me, lived a couple of hundred yards away in the cottage covered with Virginia creeper. You must have passed it on your way here. A footballer from Blackburn bought it as a holiday home eighteen months back. Warren was a tearaway, but to an innocent of fourteen, he seemed glamorous and exciting.’ Bel might have been talking to herself as she recalled the past. ‘My parents were strict Methodists, and very old-fashioned Methodists at that. They were both close to forty when I was born and life at home was a bit of a time-warp. They didn’t approve of the Howes and they’d have had heart failure if they’d realised I was seeing Warren. I’m afraid I told a lot of lies. But our romance only lasted a month, then he took up with Roz.’
‘You must have been devastated.’
‘Oh yes. It was all very traumatic and I took a long time getting over it. Looking back, I suppose I ought to be grateful. He helped me to grow up.’
‘You fell out with Roz when she took your boyfriend away from you?’
Bel smoothed her hair. ‘I didn’t blame her. He decided he wanted her and that was that. I never knew anyone so relentless. For him, it was all about the thrill of the chase. Once Roz succumbed, the only question was how long it would take him to dump her. The answer was six weeks.’
‘Were you surprised when he settled down with Tina Howe?’
‘Depends what you mean by settled down. He liked his home comforts, did Warren, that’s why he got married. And Tina was famous for liking sex almost as much as he did. But it didn’t stop him wandering. Only death did that.’
‘I’m surprised you stayed in touch, after the way he’d treated you.’
‘I didn’t consciously avoid him, if that’s what you mean, Chief Inspector. Why give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he’d hurt me? Even if I’d tried to steer clear, it would have been pointless in a place as tiny as Old Sawrey. To a teenager it’s as claustrophobic as a prison cell. After leaving school, I found a succession of jobs in Hawkshead and Ambleside. Office junior, a bit of typing and reception work. Truth to tell, I didn’t know what I wanted. I had a few boyfriends, but no one special. After my parents died, I moved out of the village, decided to start again. Shortly afterwards, I met Tom.’
‘You told the original inquiry team that you saw more of Warren Howe after you and your husband took over The Heights.’
‘He used to drink here. Sometimes the family came for a meal. The last time they ate here was their wedding anniversary, not long before Warren was killed.’
‘You got to know them all?’
‘Tina and I were never going to be best pals, and Sam was always surly, but Kirsty’s sweet. Still is, poor thing.’
‘Warren tried it on with you?’
Bel’s face was a mask. ‘It’s no secret. Nothing to be ashamed of. If Warren met a woman he couldn’t have, he saw it as a challenge.’
‘Yet you turned him down?’
‘Of course. Once bitten, you know? I was happy with Tom. After Tom took ill, I was wrapped up with caring for him. Warren’s flirting was a distraction. A nuisance. I wasn’t flattered, I knew that all he wanted was to get me into bed again. If you’ll excuse the expression, I’d been there and done that. He had nothing to offer me.’
‘Your husband was dying and he was pestering you to sleep with him.’
‘Yes.’
‘And after Tom died?’
‘He had the brass neck to say it would do me good. Take me out of myself.’ Bel kept her eyes on Hannah. ‘I hate to say it, but that’s the sort of man he was. He never took no for an answer.’
‘So how did you deal with that?’
‘How would you deal with it, Chief Inspector? I kept repeating myself, kept on saying no.’
‘And how did he react?’
‘He wasn’t happy. Said I might as well be dead myself.’
‘Not very nice.’
‘That was Warren. He could be cruel.’
‘You were very upset, I presume?’
‘You presume right. But if you’re wondering whether I killed him because of it, the answer is no.’
Hannah turned to Oliver. ‘Were you aware that Warren Howe was making a nuisance of himself?’
He shifted under her gaze. ‘I hardly knew the man. Once Jason left, I had my hands full, trying to make sure that the restaurant kept afloat. To me, Howe was just another customer. A married man with a roving eye. After my experience with Jason, I suppose I was glad it was women he was interested in, but I did feel sorry for Bel.’
‘In case you’re wondering,’ Bel said, her voice steady, ‘there was never anything — personal — between Oliver and me while Tom was alive.’
The coffee was hot and strong. As she sipped it, Hannah wondered if Bel Jenner was telling her the truth. Maybe, maybe not. But what did it matter?
‘Later, when we became a couple, there was gossip,’ Oliver added. ‘Inevitable, I suppose. I overheard people talking behind Bel’s back, saying it was a disgrace that she’d become involved with a younger man when her husband was still warm in his grave. It was so unfair. She’d suffered a lot. I’m not an idiot, I realise people round here still say I was only interested in Bel’s money. But the honest truth is, Bel was all I was interested in.’
Protesting too much? Hannah let it go. ‘Roz was another of Warren’s former girlfriends and her husband had left home around this time. Did he try his luck with her again?’
Bel said, ‘You’ve talked to her, Chief Inspector, and I think she’s answered your question.’
A quiet, dignified reply. Sometimes this job made you feel uncomfortable, like a voyeur. Or was that, Hannah wondered, part of the appeal of police work, the chance to walk into other people’s lives and nose around their most intimate secrets? She recalled Nick’s phrase about ordeal by innocence.
‘You and she are still very close.’
Bel folded her arms. ‘Lifelong friends. We’ve never had secrets from each other. You know how it is, with your best friend.’
Hannah knew how it was supposed to be, though there was plenty she wouldn’t tell Terri. As for Marc, right now there was also something important she wasn’t telling him.
‘She must have been shocked when her husband disappeared.’
‘It was a terrible time for both of us. Losing the men we loved. At least there was a silver lining. In the end I found Oliver, and Chris came back to Roz.’
‘You’d assumed Chris was dead?’
‘What else could we think? We were afraid he’d committed suicide. He vanished without a word, which seemed so cruel. But he wasn’t himself; you have to see it from his point of view. When he had his breakdown he needed to run away, so he could get his head together.’
‘Ever any doubt that the breakdown was genuine?’
Bel’s lipsticked mouth curved in distaste. ‘Really, Chief Inspector. I’m sure if you check your files, you’ll find that poor Chris was interrogated long and hard when he turned up. The very idea that he might have killed Warren is absurd. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Besides, he had an alibi.’
Oliver turned to her. ‘Better be careful, darling. Remember, we were never able to come up with watertight alibis for ourselves. If the police run out of other ideas…’
