‘What exactly did you hear the stepson say?’ he asked.
Kate recounted David Courtney’s visit, his unenthusiastic welcome and how they waited until she was outside the door before they began to argue. Kate told him she could hear their raised voices through the door, but not what they were saying. She described how he left shortly afterwards, obviously in a temper, while Miss Hetty Patterson, in Flat 1, came running after him, begging him to calm down.
He removed his hand from his stomach and scratched his head instead. ‘Now why would she do that?’
Kate shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea.’
He was now twiddling a piece of rolled-up paper.
‘And yesterday,’ she went on, ‘as I was leaving after my visit to the two old ladies, the twins in Flat 2 that I told you about, I met the man who delivers ready meals. He told me that these meals should be put straight away into the fridge or the freezer, but that the residents there, including Edina, were never in any hurry to pick them up. So they could remain on the hall table for some time.’
‘And that’s relevant?’
‘Very relevant.’
‘Enlighten me.’
‘I happened to be in Edina Martinelli’s flat…’
‘So you were interfering with what may be a crime scene! Why were you in there?’
‘Because I thought I might have left a thermometer there, and guess what?’
‘I can’t imagine.’
Kate didn’t much like the tone of his voice. ‘In the freezer—’
‘What do you mean, in the freezer?’ he barked. ‘Why would you leave a thermometer in a freezer?’
‘No, no,’ Kate said, getting flustered, ‘of course I didn’t! But I got this idea when I heard about how these meals were sometimes left on the table.’
‘What idea was that exactly?’
Kate didn’t particularly like the way this conversation was going. She didn’t like the sarcasm she could hear in his voice either.
‘I got the idea that the meals might have been tampered with. So I looked to see if any of them were left in the fridge.’
‘And of course they weren’t,’ Bill Robson said smugly, smothering a yawn.
‘No, of course they weren’t. But two of them had been transferred to the freezer and no one has yet emptied out the freezer. And, after examining them carefully, I found tiny pinpricks in each, like the needle of a syringe might make.’
‘Well, well, well,’ he said. ‘Now you’re going to ask if we can analyse them, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Forgive me for asking,’ he said, ‘but why are you so interested in this? It still seems to be a fairly straightforward case of an overdose, probably either wrongly prescribed from your surgery, or because she’d been storing the stuff up for some time.’
‘She’s been prescribed digoxin for years, for her heart,’ Kate protested, ‘and she was always careful with the dosage. Really she did not want to die.’
He was studying her intently. ‘You were involved in the murders here back in the spring, were you not?’
‘Yes, but only because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right time, depending on how you look at it.’
‘Does it not seem strange that it’s only since you came to live down here that these murders have taken place?’ He was studying her intently now.
Kate gasped. ‘What are you insinuating?’
‘I never insinuate, Mrs Palmer. I’m just considering the possibility that you might have developed a taste for all the attention you received at that time. Maybe you’d like this to be murder, Mrs Palmer? Or perhaps you realise it was the surgery’s fault and you’re trying to shift the blame away from them? Because they most likely have overprescribed this drug. Perhaps you want to cover up for them? If I were looking at all the possibilities, Mrs Palmer, I might be thinking that it was you that injected digoxin into those meals, for the sake of saving your surgery’s reputation.’
Kate stood up. ‘I came up here to try to help you to solve this crime. And it is a crime! I’ve met this lady, and she was certain someone was trying to kill her. Now they’ve succeeded and all I’m asking you to do is examine the two meals in the freezer. And I don’t like your attitude one little bit!’
‘I can’t say I’m over-impressed with your amateur meddling either. I suggest you concentrate on your nursing, Mrs Palmer.’
‘And I suggest you check on the evidence, Detective Inspector Robson!’
Kate was so angry she knew she had to get out of the place before she either burst with fury or with tears.
What a despicable man! Kate headed towards her car almost blinded with tears of anger. How could he insinuate such a thing! And why wasn’t he doing his job thoroughly and examining every single lead? All he seemed intent on doing was passing the blame onto the surgery and making her the scapegoat. As she got into the driving seat she offered up a silent prayer of thanks that it had been Woody who had been in charge when she first arrived here.
Because, for sure, she was not going to enjoy any communication with Bill Robson.
Eleven
On the drive home Kate realised she was driving far too fast because she was so incensed at DI Robson’s insinuations. She needed to calm down so she pulled in to the layby, just below Higher Tinworthy, from where there was a magnificent panorama of the ocean and miles of coastline. Woody had introduced her to this spot which, in summer, was crammed with tourists’ cars but, thankfully, today there were none. She took deep breaths, admired the view and began to feel her pulse slow down and her mind begin to clear. Once she felt sufficiently recovered, she would phone Woody. At least he listened to her. Even if he did sometimes tease, his remarks were never nasty like Bill Robson’s.
It was a cool, sunny day with good visibility and the sea was a
