‘I will see if I can get the contact details from Mary Solomon for her two children.’
‘And you, DCI?’ Larry asked.
‘Gordon Windsor. I will go and visit him, have a chat. I upset him earlier, and Montague Grenfell’s death is still not conclusive. It could have just been an accident.’
‘There were two sets of footprints,’ Larry said. ‘Both men’s shoes.’
‘I’m aware of that, but if we are about to place pressure on our suspects, then we need our facts to be double-checked.’
‘Don’t forget about Emma Hampshire and Kevin Solomon,’ Wendy said.
‘Kevin Solomon has some legal training, and Emma Hampshire knows more than she says,’ Isaac replied. ‘Both of them are highly suspect.’
‘I hope it’s not Emma Hampshire,’ Wendy said.
‘Personally, I would agree, but professionally we charge the guilty person, not choose on whether we like them or not.’
‘I understand,’ Wendy replied.
***
Mary Solomon was not pleased to see Wendy on her doorstep again. ‘What the hell do you want?’ she screamed, attempting to make her voice heard over the crying of the baby that she held in one arm. Wendy could see that the woman had no idea with babies, and was holding it too tight. It was clear from the smell that it was in need of changing.
‘Let me have it,’ Wendy said. The baby quietened as she felt Wendy’s warm body against it. Wendy, ever practical, took the baby into the bathroom up the stairs and cleaned it. Afterwards, she found a baby’s bottle and filled it with milk. Soon, the baby was resting quietly.
‘That’s Deidre’s,’ Mary Solomon said. Wendy remembered that on a previous visit Mary Solomon had said that the baby had been affected by its mother’s drug addiction. Wendy could see neglect by its grandmother more than the afflictions of its birth mother.
‘I need to talk to your children.’
‘Why do you want to speak to them?’
Wendy had noticed that the woman’s hands were shaking slightly. Wendy recognised that this could be the early signs of Parkinson’s, although it could just be nerves, but why? Was it because Wendy wanted to talk to her son and daughter, or because she was incapable of looking after three young children?
‘Standard procedure in a murder enquiry.’
‘But they don’t know the people murdered.’
‘I agree that is probably true, but we still need to interview them.’
‘They come here to pick up the children.’
‘When?’
‘Deidre sometimes once a week, sometimes it’s as long as three weeks.’
‘It’s not for you to look after them. What do you use for money?’
‘She gives me the money that a drunk has given her after he has screwed her.’
‘Not a very pleasant thing to say about a daughter,’ Wendy said.
‘Do you want me to say “for favours given”. Does that sound more palatable to you? She is a prostitute who opens her legs for any man who has the price. No other way to put it.’
Wendy could see that the woman was embittered and under strain, but her estimation of her daughter seemed inappropriate.
‘Your son?’
‘He comes here every night, picks up his child and leaves.’
‘Does he give you money?’
‘Half what the child care facility up the road would charge. I’m not even on the minimum wage.’
‘But they’re your grandchildren.’
‘Maybe they are, but they are mongrels.’
‘Who?’
‘My children and their children. I should never have married that lecherous bastard, and then it was not legitimate. They are all bastards, legally or otherwise.’
Wendy could see no reason to prolong the conversation. ‘I need their contact details.’
‘They’re on my phone.’
Wendy took the details and left. She was certain the woman had serious issues, and the children should not be in her care. She had resolved once before to contact the appropriate authorities. This time, she would do so after she had contacted the woman’s two children.
Chapter 30
‘Nothing to do with me,’ Daniel Solomon said when Wendy contacted him.
‘So far, I’ve only given you my police rank and told you I was from Homicide.’
‘Has my mother implicated me?’
‘In what?’
‘Montague Grenfell’s death.’
‘Did you know him?’
‘He was friendly with my father when I was younger.’
‘I can come and see you now, or you can present yourself at Challis Street Police Station.’
‘It’s best if you can come and see me. I will send you the details. Give me an hour.’
Wendy, with time to spare, went into a café not far from Mary Solomon’s house. She was upset at the condition of the woman, and the neglect that the children in her care were showing. A latte calmed her down.
She phoned Larry. ‘I’m meeting with Daniel Solomon, Garry Solomon’s half-brother.’
‘Do you want me there?’
‘I’m not sure what to expect.’
‘Give me fifteen minutes.’ Larry was pleased at the opportunity to get out of the office.
Wendy had expected to find Daniel Solomon in a rundown office down a back alley, not a street-front location. The office was modern and well equipped, with three desks, a person sitting at each one.
‘Daniel Solomon, pleased to meet you.’ Wendy saw in front of her a relatively short man with good features and a pleasant smile. He was dressed smartly and wearing a suit jacket, but no tie. He was not what she expected.
‘This is Detective Inspector Hill,’ Wendy said.
‘Coffee?’ Solomon asked.
‘Yes, please. Two sugars for me, none for DI Hill.’
‘Business is good,’ Solomon said once they were sitting in his office at the rear. He had closed the door securely after they entered.
‘The sign outside says industrial cleaning,’ Wendy said.
‘I set it up five years ago,’ Solomon said. ‘I managed to pick up some government cleaning contracts. Never looked back.’
‘We are aware
