“How about the Whitby area? Ever been there?”
“A few times, yes, but not last Sunday morning.”
“Know a place called Mapston Hall?”
“Only from the news,” said Maggie. “This is about Lucy Payne, isn’t it? I should have known.”
“I would have thought you did,” said Annie. “Anyway, yes. It’s about Lucy Payne.”
“You think I killed her?”
“I never said that.”
3 0 0
P E T E R R O B I N S O N
“But you do, don’t you?”
“Did you?”
“No. I was here. I told you.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. Alone. I’m always alone. I like it best that way. When you’re alone, you can’t hurt anyone, and no one can hurt you.”
“Except yourself.”
“That doesn’t count.”
A diesel train blew its horn as it entered Leeds City Station. “So there’s no way you can
“I never thought I’d have to.”
“What did you do?”
“I don’t remember.”
“It’s only a week ago,” said Annie. “Try. Didn’t you visit your mother?”
“My mother’s dead. I was probably reading the Sunday papers.
That’s what I do on Sunday mornings. Sometimes, if it’s nice, I take them down to that cafe with the tables outside, but I think that morning was windy and cold.”
“Remember that, do you?” said Annie.
“It’s why I stayed inside to read the papers.”
“Ever heard of Karen Drew?”
Maggie seemed surprised by the question. “No,” she said. “I can’t say that I have.”
“Funny,” said Annie. “It was in the papers when they got hold of the story about Lucy Payne. It was the name she was going under.”
“I didn’t know that. I must have missed it.”
“How do you feel about Lucy?”
“The woman tried to kill me. When it came time to go to court, you told me the CPS wasn’t even going to bother prosecuting her.
How do you think I feel?”
“Resentful?”
“You could start there. Lucy Payne took my trust, took my help when she needed it the most, then she turned around and not only betrayed me, but she would have killed me, I know, if the police hadn’t arrived. So how do you think I feel?”
F R I E N D O F T H E D E V I L
3 0 1
“Angry enough to have killed her?”
“Yes. But I didn’t. I didn’t know where she was, for a start.”
“Do you know Julia Ford?”
“I’ve met her. She was Lucy’s lawyer.”
“Stay in touch?”
“I use her firm whenever I need legal work done, which isn’t often.
But do we play golf or go out to the pub together? No. Anyway, I don’t need a criminal lawyer. Mostly I deal with Constance. Constance Wells. We’re quite friendly, I suppose. She helped me find this place.”
Of course, Annie thought, remembering the framed illustration on Constance Wells’s wall. One of Maggie’s, no doubt. “You gave her that
Maggie looked surprised. “Yes. You’ve seen it?”
“I was in her office last week. It’s very good.”
“You don’t have to patronize me.”
