Was there a hint of something in those words? Sara thought perhaps there had been, but she silently reminded herself not to look for things that might not be there.
‘Okay, well let’s start with work. I understand you’re a director of Allure. Were you involved in the company much before Martin died?’
Sandra shook her head. ‘No, not really. I mean, I was listed as a director, but that was only to split the income and halve the tax bill. Totally legal and above board.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m not the tax inspector,’ Sara said, smiling. ‘Did Martin talk much about the people he worked with?’
‘Not really. Sometimes, perhaps. But he was pretty good at keeping his work and home life separate. As far as he was concerned, he closed the door and went home at the end of the day and that was that. He spent a huge amount of time working, but didn’t talk about it when he was at home.’
‘Very sensible,’ Sara replied. ‘I wish I could compartmentalise like that. What about colleagues? Did he ever see them socially outside work?’
‘Oh no, never. I mean, there were work Christmas events and things like that, but he never made friends with anyone that worked for him. That can be a very slippery slope.’
Sandra’s response was a little too forceful for Sara’s liking. In any case, she wasn’t so sure she agreed.
‘Makes sense. Did you ever meet any of his colleagues and employees?’
Sandra shook her head. ‘Not really. One or two.’
‘How about Amie Tanner?’
Sandra shrugged. ‘I think I know the one you mean, but I’m not sure if we’ve met.’
‘There’s a woman there called Monique, do you know her?’
There was a flash of something in Sandra’s eyes. ‘No. Not really. Name rings a vague bell.’
‘She’s the one who thinks she’s Cicero.’
‘Like I say, I never really paid much attention. Why are you only asking about the women?’
‘I’m just trying to get some background. Look, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask some difficult questions. I know they might be uncomfortable, and the answer might very well be “no”. That’s fine. We just need to cover all angles and make sure we’ve got all the information we need.’
Sandra sighed and spoke quietly. ‘If you’re going to ask me whether Martin had a relationship with any of his female staff, I can tell you now I don’t know. I don’t think so. You’d think a woman would know if something was going on, wouldn’t you? But no. I think I can at least do him the good grace of assuming he was always the kind, honourable and good man I knew.’
Sara nodded slowly. ‘Okay. That’s all fine and completely understandable. We just want to help get justice for Martin. And for you. I want to ask about Martin’s leisure time, if I can please. I gather he was a keen runner. Did he have any other hobbies at all?’
‘No. He didn’t really have time for much else. He worked all day, went for a run in the evenings then either crashed out in front of the telly or stayed out for a couple of drinks.’
‘Ah yes. At the George & Dragon, isn’t it? The one at the other end of the village.’
‘Yes.’
‘Nice place. Aidan and I popped in yesterday lunchtime, actually. Do you know the owners well?’
Sandra shrugged again. ‘Not really. We’ve been in a few times for meals and things, but Martin tended to prefer to keep himself to himself.’
Or to Monique Dupont, Sara thought.
‘I presume he must’ve been pretty familiar to them, though? If he often went in after his runs, I mean. You’d imagine they’d recognise him as a local.’
‘I don’t know. I’d like to think so. Look, I don’t mean to sound rude but do you know how much longer this is likely to take? I’m really not sure I can be of much use to you, and my sister and her husband are due to arrive from Cornwall shortly.’
‘That’s okay. We won’t keep you too much longer,’ Sara said, smiling. ‘The reason I mention it is because we asked in the pub about Martin. Just trying to build up a picture of him as a person. They didn’t seem to really know him at all.’
Sandra swallowed. ‘Like I say, Martin liked to keep himself to himself. I doubt he was on first-name terms with the staff.’
‘No, but they’re always aware of who they’ve got in. They said they thought he’d been in once or twice before, but he wasn’t a regular by any means. They couldn’t even pinpoint when he’d last been in, but they reckoned it’d been weeks.’
Sandra started to blink rapidly. ‘Maybe the staff were new. Or perhaps you showed them an old photo. I don’t know.’
‘It was this photo,’ Sara said, showing it to her. ‘A fairly recent one of the two of you. Christmas or New Year, it looks like.’
‘New Year’s Eve.’
‘Pretty good likeness of Martin?’
Sandra flicked her eyes towards the photo, then off towards the fireplace. ‘Not bad.’
‘The staff at the pub were certain we were talking about the same person. They knew who he was, but were adamant they hadn’t seen him in a while. They recognised you, though.’
There was a visible reaction from Sandra. There’d been a smaller one when she’d looked at the photo and must have known this was coming, but now it was clear to both Sara and Aidan.
‘When did you last visit the George & Dragon, Sandra?’ Sara asked.
‘I… I don’t remember. Like I said, I don’t exactly go there often.’
‘No, they mentioned that. They said you weren’t a regular either, but they distinctly recalled that you’d been in recently. Does that ring any bells?’
Sandra looked up towards the ceiling, seemingly having accepted they already knew the truth. Finally, she lowered her head, sighed and spoke.
‘I went in there a couple of weeks back.
