“Had Martyn gone out with other girls?” asked Lydia.
“Not as far as I was aware,” said Theo. “The next day, I suggested it was time he left home and found a place to live.”
“How did he react to that?” asked Lydia.
“Not well,” said Theo. “He didn’t understand. I spoke to his manager at Wilton House, and he promised to help find him somewhere closer to his work. Martyn rents a room that overlooks the woods on the edge of the estate. He has a five-minute walk to work now, instead of thirty.”
“And Stephanie?” asked Gus.
“She drifted for about a year, then met someone in Salisbury. They live in Downton. Stephanie works at a primary school as a teaching assistant. It wasn’t the career we had imagined for our daughter, but she’s happy, and the chap she lives with seems a decent sort. I don’t think Stephanie’s spoken to Martyn since the day he left home.”
“Do you suspect something happened?” asked Lydia.
“I pray it was all in my head,” said Theo. “Nothing that happened seven years ago ever made any sense. The nightmare has never ended.”
“What happened here after the murder?” asked Gus.
“I’m not sure I understand the question,” said Theo. “The police spent ages questioning everyone. I had a funeral to organise. Stephanie and Martyn were a mess.”
“What about MP Builders?” asked Gus. “Did they stay?”
“The builders promised they would be out of our hair by September,” said Theo, “but everything was up in the air after March the eighteenth. It was the following April before we saw the back of them. I was trying to hold on to my job because I couldn’t afford to take early retirement. Then, Stephanie’s problems blew up, and I was trying to resolve those as well as resettle Martyn. Stuart Milligan and Derek Preston pottered about finishing bits and pieces on my house in between other jobs they had taken on. I’d see them one week for two hours and then nothing for a fortnight.”
“Did they know about the money?” asked Gus.
“You mean the missing six thousand pounds? They said they hadn’t mentioned needing a part payment to Marion. I had told them at the outset that if they wanted something to assist their cash flow, to give me a shout, and I’d get the money for them. Marion had precious little left of the settlement Graham Street gave her to pay out large amounts like that.”
“Marion withdrew the cash though, Mr Reeves,” said Gus. “So, you still claim to have no idea who or what the money was for?”
“None, whatsoever, Mr Freeman,” said Theo. “In twenty years, we had had no secrets from one another. Or at least I didn’t think we did. I could never understand why Marion hadn’t come to me if there was a problem.”
“What happened to Marion’s mobile phone?” asked Gus. “The police checked her diaries for any meetings arranged for that Monday morning and found nothing. You saw her handbag after the police recovered it from the Lexus. You told the officers nothing was missing. Marion’s purse, keys, and mobile phone were still inside.”
“That’s correct,” said Theo. “The police took the handbag into evidence. I can’t recall it ever getting returned to me. Why?”
“I don’t remember seeing any listing of the call history of that phone in the files,” said Gus.
“You think Marion did arrange to meet someone?” asked Theo.
“No idea,” said Gus. “Would you know the name of every person your wife had listed on her mobile phone?”
“I would hope that I could name ninety percent of the people on that list,” said Theo. “There could have been a casual acquaintance I wasn’t aware of, or someone Marion knew before we met. I would hope that was true for most husbands. We had no secrets.”
“Was your wife’s phone number the same one she’d had for a long time?” asked Lydia.
“It was an old number,” said Theo. “Marion transferred it to her new phone every time she got a new one.”
“Several phones, but the same number throughout your relationship?”
“I’m certain, yes,” said Theo.
“Seven years ago, the police questioned Marion’s colleagues at the printing firm,” said Gus. “They also spoke with people that you worked with at your offices.”
“They did,” said Theo, “that was when I realised they were clutching at straws.”
“Did you and Marion socialise with your work colleagues?” asked Gus.
“Once or twice,” said Theo. “We didn’t have a Christmas meal every year like some firms. It was a handful of occasions during the marriage at most.”
“Is it possible Marion met someone at one of those infrequent get-togethers and formed a long-lasting relationship?”
“Absolutely not, Mr Freeman,” said Theo. “I trusted my wife, and I knew the people with whom I worked. None of them had an affair with my wife that led to her death. Your colleagues went down this path seven years ago. They found nothing then, and you won’t find anything now.”
“You’ve been alone for seven years, Mr Reeves,” said Lydia. “Have you ever entertained the idea of a new relationship?”
“Certainly not,” said Theo. “As you pointed out earlier, I was single until I was thirty-seven. I had twenty wonderful years with Marion. Now, I’m sixty-five and retired and not looking for someone to share my twilight years. My memories of
