questions.
‘How seriously are you, the police, taking all this? I mean, Colette’s ... how can I put it?’
‘A bit of a trollop,’ Mumford said. ‘We know.’
‘Or at least,’ Annie Howe added, ‘that seems to be what she’d like people to think. Times change, don’t they, Ms Watkins?’
‘No,’ Merrily said. ‘Not really.’
Howe smiled. It was glacial.
‘You ask how seriously we’re taking this matter. In view of the circumstances, more seriously than we would if she’d simply left home. You can appreciate that.’
‘Yes. Right. Sure.’
She looked at Annie Howe and thought how clean-cut and purposefully single-minded she seemed. Merrily felt much older and yet younger. She felt vulnerable, somehow, for Jane and for herself too. Which was stupid. Wasn’t it?
‘We’ll do everything we can to help,’ she said lamely.
They followed her into the kitchen. Jane was at the sink, washing up. There was no sign of Lol. Merrily introduced the police, realizing that Jane was washing up to remove the cups – three of them – from the table, so Howe wouldn’t suspect they had company. She’d even pushed the third chair under the table. Co-conspirators, Jane and Lol, in something else she didn’t know about.
Merrily said, ‘I’ll stay. If you don’t mind.’
‘It’s important that you do, Ms Watkins.’
‘Merrily,’ she said. ‘I’m Merrily.’
Howe didn’t say that she was Annie. What did I expect, Merrily thought sourly, instant bonding of two youngish professional women together in a man’s world?
‘Tea? Coffee?’
‘Thank you, Ms Watkins, but we had more of both than we can handle at Cassidy’s Country Kitchen.’
There was going to be no softening Annie Howe. She pulled out one of the chairs, like this was an interview room at police headquarters.
‘Right, sit down, Jane, we won’t keep you long. What time did you get home last night?’
‘Not too sure.’ Jane went around to the opposite side of the table and pulled out a chair of her own. ‘After one.’
‘After two,’ Merrily said automatically. ‘I heard you come in.’
Howe raised a hand. ‘Let Jane answer, please, Ms Watkins.’ She sat down. ‘Colette Cassidy’s a good friend of yours, isn’t she?’
‘Well, we’ve only known each other a few weeks. But ... yeah. We get along OK.’
‘Do you remember where you last saw her?’
‘Yeah, it was ... on the square. I mean, you know about what happened inside, with Barry?’
‘Yes. Perhaps we can come back to that later. What happened on the square?’
Merrily went to lean against the stove, which put her behind Howe and facing Jane, while the kid, with – surely – transparent honesty, related what had happened when Colette Cassidy had decided to take the party outside after the row with Barry Bloom. How Colette had bullied Dr Samedi, the DJ, into setting up his boom-box outside and then, when people came out to protest and it looked like her parents were on the way, had run off with it towards the orchard.
Howe leaned towards Jane across the pine table.
‘What exactly did Colette say when she invited everyone to go to the orchard?’
‘Well, she just ... I don’t know. I don’t remember.’
‘Let me remind you then, Jane. We have several witnesses who say Colette shouted something like, “Follow me. Or Janey. Follow Janey. She knows.” Would that be you she was talking about, Jane? Is that what she called you?’
‘Yeah.’ Jane blinked. The first sign of nerves. Merrily gripped the Aga rail. What was this about?
Annie Howe said, ‘Yeah, that’s what she called you, or yeah, it was you she meant?’
‘Both, I suppose.’
‘Good. All right.’ Howe leaned back. ‘Why would Colette have suggested they follow you? Why would she have said, “she knows”?’
Jane didn’t hesitate. ‘Because we got a bit pissed the other weekend and some boys were chasing us and that’s where we wound up. In the orchard.’
‘With the boys?’
‘No, we’d shaken them off.’
‘Did you and Colette often get pissed?’
‘Just that once. It was only cider. I mean, I thought it was only cider. I’d never had it before. It was stupid.’
Annie Howe smiled. ‘It’s all right, we aren’t going to charge you with under-age drinking.’
‘Thanks.’
Howe frowned. ‘But you didn’t go with her into the orchard last night, did you?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because ...’ Jane looked at Merrily. ‘Because my mum wasn’t very well, and I didn’t want to stay out too late.’
‘You didn’t think two a.m. was already a little bit late?’
Jane shrugged, looked at Merrily again. Annie Howe, obviously suspecting eye signals, said, ‘Ms Watkins, why don’t you come and sit at the table with us?’ And Merrily, not wanting to give the icy bitch any reason to suspect anything, reluctantly left the meagre comfort of the stove and went to sit down next to Jane.
‘So,’ Howe said, ‘you watched her go off into the orchard, and then what did you do?’
‘Just sort of wandered around.’
‘You didn’t talk to anyone?’
‘No.’
‘You’re sure about that, Jane?’
‘Yeah. Oh ... Well, I did talk to Lloyd Powell’ Jane sighed. ‘I asked him to go and get them out of the orchard. He owns it. His family.’
‘Mr Powell seems to think you were worried about Colette.’
‘I suppose so.’
‘Because you thought she might be attacked?’
‘No. I mean—’
‘Then why?’
‘Because ... Colette’s kind of headstrong. She gets like carried away.’
‘You’re saying you were more worried about what she might do than what might happen to her?’
‘Yeah. I suppose I was.’
‘What did you think she might do?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘All right, let’s go back to the party. Did you know there were drugs about?’
‘I think so.’
‘You knew the people who were supplying them?’
Jane didn’t reply. Oh no, Merrily thought. Oh, surely not. I’d have known. Wouldn’t I?
‘Do you know Mark Putley?’
‘Not really. We go to the same school, that’s all. I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to him.’
‘What about Colette?’
‘I don’t think she knew him at all. She’d have no reason to. She goes to a different school.’
‘Then why was he at her party?’
‘Gatecrashed, I suppose. Him and a couple of others.’
‘As far as you know, Colette hadn’t invited them.’
