‘Anywhere.’
‘No, I don’t think I did.’
Holmesian logic time: ‘So, would you see everyone who went up or down the stairs?’
‘No — I only happened to be at my door at that moment.’
‘So it wasn’t that the girl was the only one on the staircase that evening, she just happened to be the only one you saw.’
‘Yes.’
‘What about footsteps — would you hear anyone going up or down?’
‘In the background maybe, but not that I’d notice.’
‘Even at ten, or later? Would the residents have gone to bed by then?’
‘Most of them around then possibly; but there could be Rachel or one of the nurses checking up on one of them at any hour.’
‘When you saw the girl, did she see you?’
‘Yes, I surprised her by being there. I came out the door just as she appeared on the landing.’
‘Description?’
‘Long dark hair, very pale.’
‘How did she seem?’
‘Startled, and a little sad maybe. I thought it might have just been me surprising her, but before I could apologise she was carrying on her way down. I thought I’d check with Stella at breakfast that everything was okay. Perhaps I should have gone straight up? I might have helped…’
‘So were you part of this breakfast meeting with Charlie Prove?’
‘There might not have been a meeting as such, we would often just see each other if we were down for breakfast.’
‘But you weren’t in the party that went looking for Stella?’
‘No. Truth be told, I only hoped she might have been down there; I wasn’t waiting at their table. If she and Charlie had arranged to meet then I know not what for.’
‘So did the pair of them often meet to talk privately?’
‘If they wanted to talk I let them.’
‘Let me put it another way: did they have anything private to talk about?’
‘Secrets between themselves, you mean? There was a connection but not in the way you may be inferring, Inspector. Charlie… had a very emotional life. Stella was kind of like his keeper, though in a totally non-possessive sense. Oh, I’m not explaining this well.’
‘Stella has no secrets now, Mr Waldron.’
‘It was she who brought him here originally: found him a flat, settled him in and introduced us all, took care to make him involved in everything going on here, for he was terrible shy when he arrived.’
‘So they knew each other before Cedars?’
‘Yes, but how well I couldn’t tell you.’
‘But enough to want to help him.’
‘Make no mistake, Inspector, there was emotional care going on. She obviously knew something of his former life.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘Well, I know so little myself that I don’t know if saying it wouldn’t muddy the waters.’
‘Go on, we can sort out the details.’
‘He had a daughter who died, was killed I believe.’
‘Yes, that would do it.’
‘But it wasn’t just that: I think the daughter must have died on the estate they lived on, as Charlie couldn’t bear to go back there.’
Grey’s heart sank, ‘One of the Hills estates?’
The man nodded, ‘That’s half the reason Stella bought him here; and I’ve often wondered if she wasn’t paying at least some of his way, for I don’t imagine he’s ever been a rich man.’
‘When was all this?’
‘Not long after we’d formed the Trust, so maybe fifteen years ago?’
‘We can look into it.’ Grey made a mental note to set his support staff the task. ‘Meanwhile, I could do with learning a bit about your Trust.’
‘Well our solicitor, Mrs Rossiter, would your man there; but in principle, it’s formed by the residents for the residents.’
‘And how did it come about?’
‘Well, if you go back about, oh sixteen years now, several of those of us who owned flats back then found we were of similar ages. Some of us were getting on a bit, others would be in the not-too-distant future, and we found we wanted to have a bit more security. Some flats were standing empty, with young people looking to newer developments in town, and the place was beginning to feel its age a bit, so to speak. None of us wanted to leave for care homes in the future, you see, and so we spoke with the building’s owners, who were fine with our plans so long as no major structural work was done. We agreed to form a trust and each put in fifteen thousand pounds, and then another five thousand a year (more if the care they needed increased); which covered the deposit for a mortgage on two flats on the ground floor — always the first to empty, don’t you find? — and the salary for a permanent monitor-warden-duty manager, call them what you will, to mother us and be there any time of day and night. We also pay a women to cook, and for a couple of orderlies. We also built the dayroom at the back, which was our biggest success.’
‘So this is the first flat, and the second?’
‘That’s now a laundry and kitchen for those who can’t or don’t want to cook for themselves.’
‘So who runs things?’
‘The Trust, as a committee. Any resident can join informally, but the big decisions are taken by those who’ve been here over five years.’
‘And back at the start, were their any residents who didn’t want to join?’
‘A couple, yes, though it made no difference to them so long as they didn’t mind living among an ageing community.’
‘No noses put out of joint?’
‘No, in fact the last only left a couple of years back. You couldn’t meet a nicer fellow, he just didn’t want the engagement. He travelled a lot, and left for good for Australia.’
‘But new residents?’
‘New residents have to be approved by the Committee.’
‘And the building’s owners?’
‘They’re glad of us — empty rooms left unheated and uncared for are bad for buildings, but we’ve been full these last years.’
Just then something stuck in Grey’s recent memory, ‘But you’re not full, are you… unless there’s someone living under all that undergrowth at the end of the second floor corridor?’
The man considered his answer before delivering it, ‘You’re going to hear some things said about Stella that won’t always paint her in the best light. Don’t misunderstand her: most of what she did she did for the right reasons, like how she cared for Charlie; but I did wonder if a part of why she cared for him when no one else did was because at some point in her life no one had cared for her.’
‘The flat, Mr Waldron.’
‘You’re right, that end-flat is empty, has been since Mrs Cuthbert went into hospital a year ago, God rest her. When she first moved in, back before the Trust this was, Stella lived on the first floor next door to me. I became friendly with another fellow along that corridor, and we’d often be going back and forth to each other’s places for drinks and for company, treating the corridor as public space. Now don’t forget, these were private flats back then; and I think Stella thought there was just too much going on outside her door.
‘And so when her current flat… oh no, there’s nothing current about it is there.’
‘Don’t worry, go on.’
‘ When her flat on the second floor became available, she went through the whole house-buying and moving
