‘Any information you give us could add to the picture of what’s happened, Mrs Lawrence. If you’re able to help us with that we’d be very grateful.’
‘Of course. I’m sorry. We’re feeling stressed, in a bit of a turmoil …’
‘We understand. Whatever you’re able to share with us, we’d appreciate it.’
She looked at her husband. ‘Mike was a good son, wasn’t he, John? A friendly, helpful person. Popular. Eight GCSEs, two A levels. He went to art college. Goodness knows where he got that talent from. Not from me. Straight from college, he went to work for an interior design company, where he was still working when …’ She took some seconds to regroup. ‘Mike loved his work. He had a real flair for it, a nice manner with clients …’ She looked away. There was another brief silence. ‘He worked hard. He always wanted the best for Molly. He didn’t earn a big salary and he was never particularly ambitious, was he, John? He chose to stay with the company and the work he loved.’ Her voice wavered. ‘Which pleased Sebastian, his boss …’
John Lawrence placed his hand on her arm and looked at Watts. ‘What you’ve just heard is what our son was. A good man who did right by his family. Molly is like a daughter to us. She’s a quiet person. I remember the first time she came here I was a little concerned that she’d find our family, this house, rather noisy. She has only her mother, you see, but she was always happy here. We’re praying that she will be again. She believed in Mike. She encouraged him to set up his own design company. Mike preferred to stay where he was. He loved the work and clients sensed that. They liked him. He didn’t get stressed by the high cost of some of the designs he brought to reality. He knew his clients could afford it which gave his talent free rein. That was the reward he got from the work.’ His voice faded, replaced by a heavy silence. ‘Sorry, I seem to be going on …’
Bernice Lawrence sat forward, looked Watts full in the face. ‘You’re making progress?’
‘It’s a major inquiry, Mrs Lawrence. We’re doing everything possible. Having a sense of Mike and Molly as people is a big help to us.’
‘Molly’s a great girl. We love her. We can’t believe what’s happened.’ She shook her head. ‘How her mother is going to get through this, I just don’t know. She’s had some difficulties over the years, poor woman.’ She paused. ‘Molly was so thrilled to be pregnant, wasn’t she, John?’ She looked at Judd who was writing. ‘As soon as they left here after telling us that the hospital had said everything was fine, we went online and ordered the best baby buggy …’
She stood, her face ashen. ‘John, can you talk to them, please? I can’t …’
She went quickly to the door and out. Biting her lip, Judd watched her go, then looked back to John Lawrence who was speaking.
‘We’re in touch with Molly’s mother by phone on a regular basis because she’s on her own. She’s spending a lot of time at the hospital. Bernice has seen Molly very briefly. She didn’t want to impose on the time her mother has with her.’
‘Did Molly say anything to your wife that might be relevant to our investigation?’
‘No. Bernice told me she just held her hand.’
Watts took a map from his pocket, unfolded it and showed it to him. ‘I need you to look at this, Mr Lawrence. It’s a map of the area where the incident occurred.’ Watts’ thick forefinger moved over it. ‘See this road? That’s the route your son and daughter-in-law took from the restaurant and … this is Forge Street right here.’
John Lawrence studied the detail. ‘We saw it on the news. It looked very rough. We can’t understand why they were there. It’s not the area they’d go through to get home from where they had dinner.’
‘It looks like they got lost but are you able to confirm if either Mike or Molly ever mentioned Forge Street to anyone in the family?’
‘Never, as far as I’m aware. Bernice and I had never heard of it before it was mentioned on the news.’
‘As I said, we think that your son and his wife got lost during their journey from the restaurant.’ Watts’ finger moved over details on the map. ‘They appear to have been heading in the direction of the town hall here, then home, but, in this area here there’s multiple traffic diversions. It’s really easy to take the wrong direction.’
Lawrence stared at the map, sighed, then shook his head. ‘Mike mentioned that his satnav was playing up a couple of weeks back, but I don’t know any more about that. If I’d asked him about it before this …’
‘Mr Lawrence, I had trouble driving there even with a fully operational satnav.’ He let a few seconds of silence go by. ‘You’re aware that the motive for what happened to your son and daughter-in-law appears to be robbery?’
Lawrence nodded, his colour heightening. ‘Yes, and for what? Our son had to die for the sake of some jewellery?’ He shook his head. ‘What’s this world coming to?’
‘You know that we have your son’s watch.’
Lawrence nodded again.
‘We need to retain it for now but it will be returned to you as soon as possible.’
Lawrence shrugged his shoulders, looking suddenly exhausted. ‘Sorry. I can’t say any more about what’s happened. It’s all so bloody senseless.’
There was a soft tap on the door. It opened. One of the Lawrences’ daughters looked inside.
‘Father Mulvaney is leaving, Dad,’ she said quietly.
He turned to Watts. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Oona will see you out.’ He headed from the room.
Oona Lawrence looked at them. ‘I just want you to know that Mike was liked, loved by everybody who knew him, his family, his friends, his colleagues. You have to find who
