"And how often does she do this?"
Jan sat more upright. Tom didn't realise that was possible. "Every night," she said. "Without fail. Unless she's ill of course."
"Is she? Ill, I mean."
"None of us are getting any younger, Detective Janssen," she said, leaning slightly in his direction.
"That's true," he said, smiling warmly. "Tell me, has your sister had any run-ins with anyone recently? Or mentioned seeing anyone out there on her rounds that'd caused her some concern?"
Jan averted her eyes from his gaze.
"Jan," Tom pressed. "Anything at all? It might help."
She took a deep breath and steadied herself before fixing him with her eye.
"My sister… Mary… was quite a difficult person to be around. As much as it pains me to say so, she rubbed some people up the wrong way. Revelled in it, one might say."
The door to the drawing room opened and a man entered. He was flushed, eyes wide, and appeared short of breath.
"Mum!" he said, ignoring everyone else present and crossing to where Janet was sitting. "I came as quickly as I could."
She made to stand, but the man intercepted her and encouraged her to remain where she was. Only then did he look around the room and acknowledge the others present. Tom rose from his seat, and Janet Beckett's son addressed him first.
"Are you in charge?" he asked. Tom nodded. He extended his hand towards Tom. "Justin. Justin Howell."
Tom accepted the offer and they shook hands. "DI Tom Janssen."
"What happened to my aunt, Inspector?"
"That's what we're looking to find out," Tom said, taking a measure of the newcomer as they both sat down, Tom in his seat and Justin alongside his mother. She reached out to him and he took her hand in both of his own, holding them in a supportive embrace. Justin was easily older than Tom, well into his fifties. He was a chubby man, perhaps five-seven or eight tall, with a receding wisp of hair that he flicked up in a quiff at the front, more in hope than substance. Judging by his frame and stature, Tom figured he was often red-faced and not only when hurrying to be at his mother's side. He was dressed in a sky blue cashmere jumper over burgundy trousers. Despite his supportive embrace, he seemed a little uncomfortable holding his mother's hand and repeatedly adjusted the hold but ensured he never let go. She seemed to draw strength from his presence.
Tom returned his attention to Jan.
"You were telling us how Mary can be difficult to get along with," he said.
"I'll say," Justin said, before immediately apologising for the interruption.
Tom angled his head in Justin's direction, encouraging him to speak with a gesture of an open hand.
"I'm sorry," Justin continued, raising his own hand by way of a further apology. "It's just that Aunt Mary could be… a little spiky. She was pretty full on with her opinions. If she had a goal in mind, then nothing was going to stop her achieving it, no matter what. People's feelings were an unfortunate element of collateral damage."
Jan was nodding along with her son's description of her sister.
"Justin's quite correct," she said almost apologetically. "Mary was passionate about her beliefs – that, as a species, we are custodians of this planet and not its masters."
"Was there anyone in particular who she fell out with? Anyone who might bear her a grudge."
"Why are you asking?" Justin interrupted before his mother could reply. "I thought this was some kind of an accident."
Tom fixed him with a stare. "I'm afraid this was definitely no accident, Mr Howell."
Justin held Tom's gaze for a moment, his lips parting as he took in the gravity of the statement. Then he raised a hand to his face, covering his mouth, and averted his eyes from Tom's. Janet answered the question.
"I'm afraid that will be a very long list, Inspector," she said, shaking her head. "Mary has clashed with many people over the years. Property developers, power generation companies… even her fellow birders if they crossed some perceived line she'd set out."
"Really?" Tom asked, checking with Eric that he'd made a note. The constable was diligently scribbling away in his pad.
"Aunt Mary made a lot of enemies over the years, Inspector," Justin said. "And I choose enemies as opposed to adversaries on purpose. She ruffled a lot of feathers over the years."
Tom glanced towards Eric, but the young man either didn't hear or found this reference less amusing because he didn't look up.
"Did she speak about anything or anyone in particular recently?"
Jan thought hard, her face a picture of concentration. "Well…" she looked at her son, who inclined his head to one side as if he wasn't sure. Janet looked back at Tom and he raised his eyebrows in encouragement. "Mary has been… worried recently. I say recently, but this has been a thing for a while now."
"What has?" Tom asked.
"She claimed that someone has been following her… appearing in places when she's on her own. Frightening her."
Tom sat back in his seat a little, pursing his lips, waiting for her to elaborate, but Janet seemed to hesitate.
"Frighten her how?" he asked.
"Following her at night… hanging around the house. That type of thing. She's been going on about it for years."
"You don't sound convinced."
Jan shook her head briefly. "I'm not, not really."
"Why not?"
"I've never seen any of it," she said. "I've been thinking for a while… well, it's all in her head."
Tom's eyes narrowed as he contemplated it.
"You think she was imagining it or making it up?"
"Perhaps both," Justin said. "I know it sounds bad, but there is a history of ill health on my mother's side of the family."
"By ill health, you mean mental health?" Tom asked.
Both Janet and her son confirmed it with emphatic
