“Was there anything you can remember that seemed odd on Saturday and Sunday?” asked Gus.
“Nothing. I was revising for my exams. I cycled to my friend’s house to get away from the house for a while. Martyn was his usual self, out drinking at lunchtime on Saturday, cooped up in his room in the evening. He had little imagination. It was the same routine every weekend.”
“The builders worked on Saturday morning, didn’t they?” asked Gus.
“Stuart and Derek,” said Stephanie, “God’s gift to women. Or at least they thought they were. Maybe they thought getting off with someone they did work for went with the territory. I wondered whether they’d tried it on with Mum before they turned their attention on me.”
“Was it anything more than innuendo?” asked Gus. “Did one of them touch you?”
“I never gave them a chance,” said Stephanie.
“You had a lot to put up with during your teens, didn’t you?” asked Gus. “Do you think you can tell us about Martyn now?”
“I told you what happened when he was fifteen. Mum must have got through to him because he kept his distance for the next three years. When he reached eighteen, Mum gave him some money from his father. She wanted Martyn to learn to drive, but he couldn’t cope with the theory paper. He was working at Wilton House, walking back and forth every day, and some men he worked with suggested he met them one Saturday night. They got him drunk, and I woke up in bed at one o’clock to find Martyn climbing into bed with me. I screamed, and by the time Dad woke up and came to my rescue, he found Martyn standing by the doorway. Mum had followed Dad along the corridor, and she convinced him Martyn mistook the door because he was drunk.”
“Did it happen again?” asked Gus.
“Dad fitted a lock on my door, so that was the end of that,” said Stephanie.
“Did Martyn ever get accused of doing anything inappropriate at work?” asked Gus.
“He didn’t go near the main house or the garden centre,” said Stephanie. “Martyn worked with the ground staff. They took care of the lawns, trees, shrubs, and river banks. Martyn said he could go days without seeing a visitor to the estate.”
“We know you were at school on the eighteenth of March,” said Gus. “Let’s talk about the aftermath of the murder. When did you start drinking?”
“A week later, perhaps. For days, the police kept coming to the house asking Dad questions. They stressed they knew none of us was responsible but insisted we knew the killer. It had to be a man Mum knew. We didn’t know anyone, apart from people she worked with or people who worked with Dad. When they told us they had arrested Simon, it just seemed ridiculous. I went into town that night and kept drinking until I puked. That was the start of the downward spiral.”
“How long did it last?” asked Gus.
“Months,” said Stephanie. “Dad was suffering, Martyn too. We went to Centre Parcs at Longleat for a weekend break. It chucked it down with rain all the time we were there. I was never sober.”
“Martyn made sure you got home safe from town when you were drinking, didn’t he?” asked Gus. “Theo told us he was returning the favour for when you stood up for him when you were both younger.”
“I was vulnerable,” said Stephanie, “Danny and Becky could see that. They saw off several blokes looking to take advantage of the state I was in. How I never got raped, I’ll never know.”
“What happened when Martyn carried you home on nights when you could barely stand?”
“He used to cop a feel,” said Stephanie. “I’d slap his hand, and he’d just laugh and do it again. The night Dad saw us by the front door, he thought something more had happened, but it hadn’t. There was something wrong with Martyn. He was slow-witted; we knew that. You could tell him something once, and he’d remember it. Another time you could repeat it a hundred times, and it never sunk in.”
“Do you think he took in what Marion told him?” asked Gus.
“He always listened to Mum,” said Stephanie. “After his Dad disowned him, Mum was all he had. He used to tell her he trusted her to the moon and back.”
“What did you mean when you said you left Oakley Road because you couldn’t stand it any longer?” asked Gus.
“Dad was a mess. He wanted to get rid of Martyn as soon as he could after Mum died. Then I had my meltdown, and that made Dad tougher to live with. Martyn had moved out. He was so confused. I’ll never forget the look on his face when that boss of his picked him up to take Martyn to his new place. He couldn’t understand what he’d done. Then there were the neighbours, who kept sympathising or crossing the road to avoid us. I just had to get away.”
“What about the builders?” asked Gus.
“They were as lecherous as before, but only one day a week. They knew Dad wouldn’t make a fuss, so they squeezed every pound out of the job they could. All the while, Stuart was trying to get me alone.”
“Did anything happen you want to tell us about?” asked Blessing.
Stephanie shook her head.
“I think that’s everything for this morning, Stephanie,” said Gus. “Many thanks for the coffee. We’ll be in touch if we need more information.”
“One final thing, guv,” said Blessing. “Stephanie, you said your mother took a packed lunch to work every day.”
“She did.”
“There wasn’t a packed lunch in the car or her handbag, guv,” said Blessing. “Did Marion Reeves know she wasn’t going to
