‘Once. One evening. I just bumped into her in Kirkhill. She had the baby in the pushchair and was walking around to try to get him to sleep. Apparently, he was teething. I’d just gone to the Co-op for something Mum had forgotten. Lorna asked me into her house for a coffee.’
‘And you went?’
‘Yeah, sure. Why not? I was curious, I suppose. There’d been all that talk about her in the village. She showed me some of her paintings. I think that was why she asked me. She wanted me to give her some feedback.’
A silence. Neil moved away to gather up plates, but Rosemary stayed to listen.
‘Did you talk about anything else? Other than art?’ Vera wished again that there wasn’t an audience. She should have asked to speak to Josh Heslop on his own, even if it had annoyed his parents and disrupted the party. She’d been seduced by the warmth of the family, had thought this would be a routine chat. Now, looking at him, at the tense little smile, the leg that couldn’t quite stay still, she wasn’t so sure.
‘Probably. We looked at her paintings first. They were in a small room upstairs. Then she made me some coffee. The baby was asleep by then and Lorna put him into his cot, so I was alone for a while, but when she came back, we chatted. I can’t really remember what about. Old schoolfriends, probably. That’s a standard when you get together with someone you’ve not seen for a while.’
‘You must have asked about her? Her life?’
‘A bit. She wanted to go to art school too. She asked what it was like. I suggested places for her to do her foundation year.’ He looked up. ‘It was just chat. I was surprised because she was good company. Intelligent. Fun.’
‘Did you get the impression that she was in a relationship?’
He shrugged. ‘Not really. She didn’t mention anyone.’
‘She didn’t tell you about the father of her child?’
‘No! And I didn’t ask. I knew better than to pry.’
‘Where were you on Friday night?’
Vera asked the question in the same tone, and it was Rosemary who realized the implication first. ‘You can’t think Josh had anything to do with Lorna Falstone’s death?’
‘I don’t think anything yet, pet. That’s why I’m asking all these questions. We’ll be asking everyone who knew the lass.’ Vera turned back to Josh. ‘So? Where were you?’
‘In Newcastle with some mates. Friday night in the pub. It had been arranged ages ago, a kind of university reunion. Our own version of a Christmas bash. I stayed over. That had always been the plan, even before the snow.’
She nodded to show she accepted the reply. ‘I assume you drive?’
‘Sure. Everyone does. It’d be impossible out here without a vehicle.’
‘Lorna didn’t have a car,’ Vera said. ‘Witnesses say she used to go into Newcastle occasionally on the bus.’
‘Connie Browne let her borrow hers. And lots of us use the bus for Newcastle. That’s how I went in on Friday. It’s cheaper than paying for parking.’
‘I don’t understand where you’re going with this, Inspector.’ Rosemary was ready for battle, protecting her son again.
‘No, well, nor do I really.’ Vera smiled. ‘That’s what it’s like at the beginning of a case. ‘We’re all groping in the dark.’
Vera thought she’d been seduced by her first sight of the Heslop clan, by the party, the music and the singing. The party that was far more enticing than the fund-raising bash at Brockburn had been. Of course, they’d have their secrets; every family did. She pictured the two lasses as she’d first seen them, standing in the cold for a sneaky cigarette. She’d bet their parents didn’t know they smoked. There’d be other things going on too, with bonny lasses of that age. Vera imagined them in an upstairs bedroom at the farm with their mates, giggling, smoking weed out of the window to get rid of the smell, letting in lads when nobody else was in, escaping to wild parties but telling their parents they were doing revision at friends’.
Now the conversation with Josh was over, Rosemary was hospitable again. ‘Stay and have a bite to eat.’
‘That’s very kind,’ Vera said, ‘but it’s been a long day and I’ll be glad to be home.’ A pause. ‘I wouldn’t mind using your lav, though, before I go.’
‘Sure,’ Rosemary said. ‘The back door’s unlocked and there’s a cloakroom before you get to the kitchen.’
Vera was crossing the barn when the door opened again and Dorothy Felling came in with a man who must be her partner Karan Pabla. They were carrying a present for Cath and they waved to Rosemary. The mood in the room seemed to change. These were welcome guests. The girls went to greet them.
‘Sorry we’re late,’ Karan said, in a voice that was loud enough to take in the whole room. He could have been some kind of celebrity. Perhaps it was the glamour of the big house rubbing off on them. ‘Juliet offered to babysit and we wanted to get Duncan settled before we left.’
Neil was still standing close to Vera. ‘Pals of yours, are they?’ she asked.
‘Karan’s been tutoring Cath. She’s been struggling with English and history.’ He smiled. ‘She takes more notice of him than she does of her teachers.’
Vera thought about that. She could understand why Holly had been so taken with the man – he had a presence that lit up the room – but wondered why he’d taken Cath Heslop as a pupil. Because he needed the money? To feel valued in the community?
And then there was dark-haired, dark-eyed Josh, the artist. What secrets might he have about Lorna Falstone? Could he be her secret lover, the father of her child?
Vera slipped unnoticed from the barn and headed for the house. She could have waited for a pee until
