‘They were good friends,’ Sophie said. ‘Marion helped Emily with her A-level schoolwork a couple of times, and you helped her too, didn’t you, darling? Indexing or something, on her computer. Emily’s waiting to go up to Oxford in the autumn,’ she explained. ‘I’ve had her helping me with my researches too.’
‘What sort of computer did Marion have, Emily?’ Kathy asked.
‘A laptop, but I don’t know if it was hers. She wasn’t very used to it.’
‘And did you and Tina never meet?’
Both shook their heads, eyeing each other with interest.
Sophie was looking up at the front of the house. ‘This is quite charming, isn’t it? But expensive to rent in this part of town, surely. Was she sharing with a group?’
‘Apparently not.’
‘Really? How could she afford it? I paid her very little really.’
‘Good question. You got any ideas, Tina?’
Tina shot Kathy a dark look, muttered, ‘No.’
Kathy led the way to the front door, and took them through the downstairs rooms. The other women all seemed astonished by the newness and quality of the fittings.
‘It’s very tidy, isn’t it?’ Sophie said.
‘Wasn’t Marion usually tidy?’ Kathy asked.
Sophie said, ‘Oh yes, I think so. Always very organised.’
Tina nodded. ‘You should have seen her room at Stamford Street. She couldn’t believe the mess the rest of us lived in.’
Sophie gazed around Marion’s orderly work room, then went over to the table. ‘It’s all here-my notes, the books, the photocopies we spoke about, and the work she’s been doing this past month.’ She flicked through pages of typescript. ‘Everything I asked. It’s almost as if…’ Sophie hesitated, and glanced at Tina.
‘Go on,’ Kathy said.
‘Well, I’m probably imagining it, but it’s almost as if she’d tidied everything up, knowing…’ Her voice faded.
‘Knowing she was leaving for good?’ Kathy prompted.
Sophie nodded.
‘Knowing that people like us would be standing here looking at it.’ Kathy went on. ‘So perhaps you can tell me if you find anything else here that strikes you as odd. I’ll let you sort out your things while I have a word with Tina. Maybe you could make out a list of what you’re taking.’
‘Of course.’
Kathy took Tina’s arm and led her out to the sitting room at the back of the house and sat her in one of the two armchairs in front of the fireplace. She took the other, and said, ‘I think it’s time we helped each other, Tina. You said I was wrong in thinking Marion poisoned herself. Well, I’m prepared to keep an open mind on that, but I need help. There’s some reason you’re so sure I was wrong, isn’t there?’
Tina met her eyes for a moment, then looked away. ‘Nothing special.’
‘The pathologist has discovered that she was pregnant, and lost the baby just a couple of weeks before she died. Did you know that?’
Tina looked shocked, and shook her head. ‘No!’
‘She didn’t give you a hint? Think about it, Tina. You said she was the same as usual in the weeks leading up to her death, but surely there must have been something?’
‘I had no idea about a baby,’ she whispered. ‘But there was something, something new, that she said was very exciting…’ She frowned, trying to remember exactly what Marion had said, but the memory seemed elusive. ‘Exciting and scary, that’s what she said. But I thought she was talking about her work. I was sure she was. That’s why I didn’t think it had anything to do with what happened. Could she really have been talking about a baby?’
‘Try to remember exactly what she said.’
Tina’s mouth twisted with effort, but she shook her head.
‘Maybe it’ll come back to you. But what I really need to know is, who was the father?’
Tina shook her head hopelessly, and after a while Kathy gave up pressing her. ‘Did you get in touch with Donald Fotheringham?’
‘Yes, I phoned him. We’re meeting later this afternoon. I’d like to hear about Marion’s early life.’
‘Good. He wanted to speak to someone close to Marion. Maybe talking to him will make you remember something that might help me.’
Tina looked around the room. ‘But now I feel as if I didn’t know her at all.’
Sophie Warrender’s voice called from the hall. ‘Hello? We’re just about finished here.’
Kathy got to her feet and went out to them. Emily stood behind her mother, both women carrying bags full of papers and books. Sophie handed Kathy a list. ‘This is everything we’ve taken. Thank you so much.’
‘That’s fine. Tell me, did Marion mention a boyfriend to you?’
‘DCI Brock asked me the same question. No, she didn’t.’
‘How about you, Emily? Did she say anything to you?’
‘No.’
‘Why?’ Sophie asked. ‘Was there some mystery man in the background?’
‘Apparently. She lost a baby two weeks before she died.’
Sophie looked surprised, Emily more so, her mouth dropping open. ‘Oh God, that’s terrible!’
‘Yes. We would have expected him to come forward, but he hasn’t.’
‘Perhaps he’s married,’ Sophie said, and a small frown crossed her face. ‘My husband’s mother, who lives with us and met Marion a couple of times, saw her once getting into a taxi with an older man. When she asked Marion about it, she seemed embarrassed. She said it was her tutor. Do you remember, Emily?’
‘Yes.’ The young woman bobbed her head awkwardly. ‘In Covent Garden.’
‘Did Marion say anything else about Dr da Silva to you?’
‘Only that she got quite frustrated by his directions to her,’ Sophie said. ‘I told your chief inspector. They seemed to have quite a few disagreements. But I never got the impression from her that there was anything romantic going on. How about you, darling?’
Emily bit her lip, looking very pale. ‘I’m not sure. She told me once that I should be careful when I got to Oxford and watch out for men who tried to pretend that they were interested in my brains, when all they were really interested in was something else.’
‘You think she was referring to her tutor?’
Emily nodded. ‘Yes.’
There was a small sound at Kathy’s back, and she turned to see Tina standing behind her, listening to their conversation.
‘Well…’ Sophie Warrender checked her watch. ‘We must go. Thanks again.’ She shook Kathy’s hand. ‘Please let me know if I can help in any way. I must say I find this all very disturbing. I shall miss Marion a great deal. I would really appreciate it if you would let me know how things progress. Maybe I could write a letter of condolence to her parents. Do you have their details?’
Kathy gave her Sheena Rafferty’s address, then Tina said quickly, ‘Can I get a lift back with you? Anywhere near a tube station would be fine.’
Sophie shot a questioning glance at Kathy, then said, ‘Of course.’
Kathy closed the door behind them, returned to Marion’s work room and sat down at the table. Through the front windows she watched the three women getting into the car and felt a surge of frustration. She was sure that Tina knew more, but the girl had long ago developed a tight-lipped resistance to authority. She wondered if she might open up more to Emily, or Donald Fotheringham.
She looked around her as Marion would have done, the last time she sat there, just over a week before: the orderly stacks of papers on the table, the neat line of pens, the bookshelves on one side, the pinboard on the other. She stopped and looked again. Something was different, and it took her a moment to realise that the display of pictures and connecting threads was changed in some way. Something was missing, she felt, though she couldn’t place what it was, and she experienced an uncanny sensation, as if Marion herself had come back in the interval and rearranged her board.
Kathy picked up the list of items that Sophie had taken. There was no mention of the pinboard, but perhaps
