‘Seems like you’re no nearer to finding out who did it than on the day he died.’
The horsy face crumpled and Tina Howe started to weep. All of a sudden, her whole body was convulsing. As they watched, she wailed and beat down on the table with her hands. Linz put out a hand to her, but Tina shoved it back. Hannah’s surge of triumph ebbed away as Peter Flint got to his feet. He went over and wrapped his arms around Tina, murmuring words of comfort. But it was no use. She would not be stilled, could not be silenced.
Peter treated Hannah to a glare of reproach. Christ, she thought, I deserve it.
Grief had deadened her own emotions. Burying herself in the cold case worked as a means of coping. But it didn’t give her the right to torment a woman who had watched her own daughter plunge to her death a couple of days ago. Even if that woman had killed the girl’s father by cutting him up with a scythe.
‘You think she’s guilty, ma’am?’ Linz asked as they drove into the car park at Headquarters.
Hannah had spent the journey swathed in gloom as she weighed up that very question. ‘I suppose she’s still my prime suspect.’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘What do you think?’
Linz took a breath. ‘How about Peter Flint?’
‘Why him?’
‘Humiliating enough if your wife shags your business partner. How must it feel if she seduces the same bloke’s son for good measure?’
‘Isn’t that a reason for murdering your wife rather than your business partner?’
‘But he wanted her back. Must have done. This was before he and Tina got it together, don’t forget. And what if Warren encouraged Sam to take a turn with Gail? If Peter realised, wouldn’t he want to take revenge?’
Hannah locked the car and led the way inside the main building. At length she said, ‘Of course, it’s possible. But you saw how his jaw hit the floor when I told them about Sam and Gail? I’d say he was even more shocked than Tina. If he knew beforehand, he’s the next Olivier.’
They turned a corner and saw Nick and Les Bryant striding down the corridor towards them. Les grunted at the sight of Hannah and said, ‘Nasty business at that airfield, by all accounts. Messy. I heard you’d been signed off for a week.’
‘I have amazing powers of recovery.’
‘You reckon?’
‘We’ve had a busy morning.’
‘Fresh developments in the Warren Howe case?’
‘Have we got news for you. Come to my office: Linz will debrief you.’
‘Am I included?’ Nick asked.
‘Of course. Didn’t you tell me that Cockermouth is sorted?’
They headed for Hannah’s room via the water cooler. When Linz had summarised their interviews with Gail, Tina and Peter, Nick asked, ‘Is Gail telling the truth?’
Hannah said, ‘Why should she lie?’
‘To firm up her own alibi?’
‘Not clever if Sam denies her story. Which might yet happen.’
‘Or to hurt Tina?’
‘That’s more like it,’ Hannah admitted. ‘The pair of them hate each other, but I’d say Gail’s the more vindictive. I can see Tina killing Warren in a fit of temper. As for Gail, no doubt she’s capable of murder, but I’d expect subtlety from her. A slow-acting poison would be her weapon of choice. Good old-fashioned arsenic, maybe. Not something as crude as a scythe.’
‘I still fancy Peter,’ Linz said.
‘Rather old for you, isn’t he?’ Les Bryant murmured. ‘For all you know, he may be a lifelong devotee of Abba and Neil Diamond.’
Hannah said, ‘OK, that’ll do for the time being. I need to catch up on my emails. But before I become engrossed, DS Lowther, can you spare me a minute?’
When they were alone, Hannah switched off her mobile and put her phone on divert. ‘Fine, I’m all ears.’
‘Before I start, I don’t mean to be rude, Hannah, but I have to say, you look like death warmed up.’
‘You always did wonders for my confidence.’
‘Sorry, but you need to know. I’m only seeing what everyone else is seeing. You’d be far better recuperating at home for a few days instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to interview sad women like Gail Flint and Tina Howe.’
‘They’d claw your eyes out if they heard you describing them as sad.’
‘True, though, isn’t it?’
‘Show me someone over thirty who isn’t a bit sad.’
He sighed. ‘Not having a good day?’
‘Pretty shitty, since you ask. I finished up with my heart going out to Tina Howe. Which wasn’t in the plan. God, I hate this job sometimes.’
‘Me too.’
‘All right, fire away. The suspense is killing me.’
‘Don’t get too excited.’ He licked his lips. ‘Actually, this is very difficult for me.’
‘We go back a long way. No need for any secrets between us.’
‘You may change your mind once I’ve had my say.’
‘Don’t worry. By now I ought to be unshockable.’
He bowed his head. ‘I suppose you’ve guessed already.’
Hannah took a breath. The fan was whirring sluggishly, exhausted by its losing battle against the heat. ‘This is about your relationship with Roz Gleave?’
‘Oh, no.’ No mistaking the astonishment on his clean-cut features. ‘It’s about my relationship with her husband. You see, Chris and I were lovers.’
Chapter Eighteen
The grey heron stood motionless by the edge of the water, head resting between its shoulders. It surveyed the tarn and the tangled grounds at the foot of Tarn Fell, as if contemplating Jacob Quiller’s testament to shattered faith. Daniel and Miranda paused on the winding path, not wishing to disturb its reverie.
‘It’s as mystified as you and me,’ she whispered. ‘Daniel, isn’t it time to give up on trying to make sense of the garden? This place is so lovely, let’s just appreciate what we see.’
‘You’re right.’ He put his arm around her slim shoulders. ‘I’ve been making the historian’s mistake. Conjecturing too much about the past, not making enough of the present.’
‘Life’s short.’ She trembled under his touch. ‘I dreamed of Kirsty again last night. Watching her fall in slow motion, unable to do anything to save her.’
‘There was nothing any of us could do.’
‘What could make her so unhappy? What was so bad that she couldn’t bear to carry on any longer? If only I’d talked to her more at the restaurant, perhaps I could…’
‘You can’t blame yourself. It’s crazy. We didn’t know her, didn’t have a clue what was going on inside her head.’
‘It was such a lovely evening,’ Miranda said. ‘Louise was good company, I’m sorry I was mean about her. As soon as she said she was leaving, I realised I’d been selfish.’
‘Don’t worry about it.’
She cleared her throat. ‘There’s something I wanted to tell you.’
The air had chilled and at last you could believe that the heatwave might be drawing to an end. He slipped his arm off her.
‘What is it?’
‘Wipe that frown off your face, you ought to be pleased after all your nagging. I’ve decided you were right.
