His calm manner had an effect on Aaron Sedgewick. He looked at Alex with grudging respect, rubbing his thin wrist with bony fingers as though his cuff was chafing him. ‘I know that my wife found a dead child in our attic and that she took it to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital,’ he said steadily, ‘on Saturday night.’
‘Correct.’
‘I can’t see that this is a crime,’ Sedgewick said tightly. ‘She didn’t do anything except her citizen’s duty.’
Alex leaned forward. ‘Is your wife under arrest?’
‘As I understand it, no.’
‘Has she been charged with anything?’
‘No.’
He was practically having to squeeze the answers out of him. ‘So what’s your problem, Mr Sedgewick? We’ve merely been trying to find out who the child is, how it came to its death and who concealed it in your attic.’ He faced the man with a stony face. ‘What else would you expect us to do?’
‘Alice does not know anything,’ Aaron said with tightly reined control. ‘She does not know.’
‘She might not,’ Alex returned, ‘but there are certain anomalies in her story, small inconsistencies, which have worried us and which need explaining.’
‘Such as?’ He barked out the words.
‘Mr Sedgewick,’ Alex said politely. ‘This is an ongoing police investigation. We need to find out who the child is and whether your wife has any involvement-’
Aaron Sedgewick practically exploded. He half stood up. ‘You cannot believe my wife…’ His voice trailed away. Something had caused him to have a sudden loss of confidence. He snapped his mouth shut.
‘We simply want the truth,’ Alex said sternly, adding more softly, ‘it’s imperative.’
Aaron Sedgewick sat back in his chair, his eyes still bulging with fury, but he had lost some of his bluster.
Alex spoke again. ‘I take it you deny any knowledge of this incident?’
Aaron Sedgewick frowned and nodded. ‘Absolutely nothing,’ he said tightly.
‘Well. There are a few ways in which you can help us,’ Alex said in a conciliatory tone.
‘Such as?’
‘I understand that you bought your house around five years ago?’
‘That’s correct.’ Aaron Sedgewick had recovered some of his equilibrium. His tone now was sarcastic.
‘From a couple called Mr and Mrs Godfrey?’
Sedgewick nodded.
‘Tell me about them?’
‘They were in their early forties. They’d made a lot of money and wanted to go and live in Spain. They were nice people.’
‘Did they have any children?’
It was obviously something Sedgewick hadn’t considered. ‘No-o,’ he said, ‘at least I don’t think so. I don’t remember any.’
‘Were there toys around the house?’
Sedgewick shook his head. ‘Not that I noticed.’
‘Were any of the rooms decorated in children’s wallpaper?’
Another shake of the head.
‘Bikes, prams, pushchairs – anything like that around?’
‘No.’ Said resolutely. ‘At least – not that I remember.’
‘And Mrs Godfrey wasn’t pregnant?’
‘Not noticeably.’
‘Right. Do you have a forwarding address for the Godfreys?’
‘No.’
‘Did any mail come for them?’
‘No. I assumed they had made an arrangement with the post office to have their mail redirected. It’s what we did. All our dealings were through the estate agent.’
Aaron Sedgewick was calming down.
‘Do you know how long they had lived in number 41?’
‘Not that long, I got the impression. A couple of years.’
‘I don’t suppose you know who they had bought the house from?’
‘Not a clue.’
‘Which estate agent did you use?’
‘Huntley and Palmers.’ For the first time since he had arrived Aaron Sedgewick smiled, though it was more of a grimace. ‘Always reminds me of the biscuit people – you know?’
Alex smiled too ‘Did you ever go up into the attic?’
‘Once or twice.’
‘Obviously you never noticed anything untoward up there?’
‘No.’
‘No smell?’
‘No. I would have investigated if I had had any suspicions that all was not well.’
‘Did you do any building work in the attic?’
‘No. None.’
Alex decided to spring something on him. ‘Does the name Poppy mean anything to you?’
Sedgewick looked bemused. ‘No,’ he said, ‘it doesn’t. At least not that I can think of. I don’t know anyone called Poppy. What’s that got to do with it?’
‘Just one of the many lines of enquiry we’re pursuing, sir.’
‘Oh.’ Sedgewick made a further attempt at conciliation. ‘Nice name, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Alex paused for a moment. ‘You have two children yourself?’
Without warning the blustering, angry man was back. ‘What the hell has that got to do with this…?’ A pause while he fumbled for the appropriate word. ‘Mess,’ he finally spat out.
‘Just making conversation, sir.’ Alex paused. ‘Umm grandchildren?’
‘No. Look.’ Aaron Sedgewick was back in control. ‘This is obviously to do with some previous occupant of The Mount and nothing to do with us. I understand the child had died some years ago. Probably years before we came to live there.’
‘So it would seem, sir.’ Alex was polite and non-committal. ‘We will, of course, be having a DNA analysis on the child.’
Aaron’s face darkened. ‘What are you suggesting,’ he asked carefully.
Alex kept his cool. ‘Nothing, Mr Sedgewick.’ He borrowed a phrase straight out of the police handbook. ‘I’m merely imparting information.’
Aaron Sedgewick had no response ready. He stood up. ‘So if you’ve quite finished?’
‘For now, sir. Thank you.’
‘How long will your team be occupying my house?’
‘No longer than is necessary. Another day or two – no more.’
‘You will leave my family out of this?’
‘As far as we can. I can tell you that we shan’t bother them unless it proves necessary to the investigation.’
‘Then I would prefer it if you would make your approaches through me.’
‘If it’s reasonable and possible, I will, Mr Sedgewick.’
Sedgewick shot him a suspicious glance and left, scowling.
Alex sat back in his chair. He knew full well that there were still plenty of reasons why the Sedgewick family might continue to be involved but he let it ride – for now.
PC Gethin Roberts pushed the door open to Huntley and Palmer’s estate agent. It was an upmarket place, with smart offices in Market Street, which tended to deal with properties at the upper end of the market – not anywhere that a police constable could afford. Gethin Roberts hadn’t even bothered scanning the window for anywhere he
