"Well," Janet said, her eyes flitting between her son and Tom, "some of them do make it obvious, don't they?"
Tom saw Justin cringe, internalising his horror.
"How did they get on?"
"He wasn't the type to impress Aunt Mary," Justin said. "She respects strength, valuing action, and this chap was all about persuasion and presentation. Aunty said he was a spiv. I think that was a little harsh on the chap."
"Yes, you were quite impressed with him as I recall," Janet said, glancing at her son and rolling her eyes. "He was just the sort that you aspire to be."
"Hardly, Mother," Justin said. "But he certainly rubbed Aunt Mary up the wrong way."
"You were close to your aunt?" Tom asked.
"Not really," he said. "We would talk… at least, I was talked at. Aunty was never particularly interested in other points of view." The last was said with apparent disdain. "Or not mine, at any rate."
"Nor mine," Janet said, echoing her son.
"Aunty had her views, her beliefs, and they were central to her personality. Her core being if you like. To argue a position counter to those beliefs would mean to criticise her very being."
Tom fixed Justin with a stare. "I'm sorry, are we still talking about the representative from Prometheus Energy or you?"
Justin looked away. Janet placed a supporting hand on her son's leg, patting his thigh gently.
"Mary was difficult, Inspector Janssen. She centred her life around what she believed in and set out to fight tooth and nail for what she thought was right. There was nothing that she would allow to get in the way of that, be it a person, organisation or—"
"Or… a logical counter argument to her position," Justin said, clasping his mother's hand. She glanced at him, smiling weakly.
"When you say not allow," Tom said, thinking about the threatening notes left for Robert Rutland, "what lengths do you think she would go to?"
Neither of them seemed willing to answer. He waited.
"Aunt Mary was quite a pragmatic soul, Inspector," Justin said. "She didn't see the grey areas, those in which most of us live in much of the time. She saw right and wrong. She was strongly placed in the right camp and everyone opposing her was not. No matter who they were."
"And the answer to my question is?"
"She would certainly use whatever she could to get her way," Janet said, not meeting his eye. Justin nodded slowly. He did meet Tom's gaze.
"She could be manipulative, Inspector. She would have given Machiavelli a run for his money. So, yes, she had issues with Prometheus Energy and I'm sure they knew of her."
"Right, thanks," Tom said, looking down and making a note. "What of Daniel Crowe, do you recall her speaking of him?"
"Another funny," Janet said, looking past Tom to a nondescript point on the wall and staring at it with a blank expression.
"Mother!"
She broke her gaze, looking sternly at her son, unapologetic. "Well, he is!" she said, shaking her head in dismay at his calling her out. "He may well be married to his poor wife." She looked at Tom, wagging a finger pointedly. "Who is long-suffering but fully understands the trade-off she's made."
"Trade-off?"
"Yes," she scoffed. "The house, money…" she said, waving her hands in a circular motion before her. "And all of the foreign holidays. She understands completely. She offers him an air of respectability and in return he gets to do as he pleases. Like I said – a funny."
"Mother, you can be respectable… if… you are attracted to the same sex," Justin said, clearly frustrated. Tom gathered this was not an uncommon conversation between them. "I don't know how many times we have to speak about—"
"Funny!" she repeated.
Justin sighed, looking to the floor and wrapping his hands around the back of his head, interlocking his fingers. Janet was undeterred, dismissing Justin's admonishment, and appeared to be gathering pace. She turned to Tom.
"Well, let me tell you," she said, sitting forward, a gleam in her eyes, "no one is going to convince me that Daniel Crowe wasn't up to no good when he was caught with that young man in the supermarket car park that night. Hitchhiker be damned. Why your people let him off with a warning, I'll never know."
If Janet was right, and Daniel Crowe did lead a double life of sorts, then it could well have been used against him by someone seeking to manipulate him for their own ends. From what Robert Rutland had said, now seemingly backed up by members of her own family, but not as directly, it would appear Mary Beckett could be capable of doing just that. If true, it gave Daniel Crowe a deeper motive than just financial gain.
"Do you have any suspects, Inspector?" Justin asked, sitting upright and moving on from his reaction to his mother's comments. Tom figured there was something more going on between them, more than merely opposing views. "I know you can't give out specifics, I've seen the shows on the television. But do you?"
Tom tried to sound reassuring. There was nothing concrete to tell them, not that he would if there was at this stage. "Inquiries are ongoing," he said. "I understand why you're asking, and as soon as I have news for you, I promise you will hear it before anything is released to the media."
"Right. Yes, of course," Justin said, despondent. "Inquiries ongoing. They say that too."
Tom smiled. "Don't believe everything you see on the crime shows. They are made only to entertain."
Justin frowned. "I’ve always loved watching the crime shows. It's not so entertaining when you're living one."
Tom understood. He put his pocketbook away and made ready to leave.
"But you haven't drunk your tea," Janet said, appearing overly distressed.
Tom reached down and picked up his cup, sipping politely at the brew. Smiling, he put the cup down and thanked her for her hospitality. She peered over the rim of his cup on the table, assessing how much was left. It was still two thirds full. It had
