Page 112 of Murder in the Family

SYLVIA CARROLL

(smiling again)

He was a right little charmer.

(quickly)

Oh, not in a bad way, I didn’t mean that. I just meant he was really nice. All the old ladies fell in love with him. He knew exactly how to talk to them. Flattered them, teased them a bit, you know. He had them eating out of his hand. And of course he was very good-looking. Made a nice change round here, I can tell you. We all looked forward to him coming.

HUGO FRASER – off

And Mrs Ryder liked him too?

SYLVIA CARROLL

Sheadoredhim. He was her blue-eyed boy. She was always teasing him about his accent. I remember her telling him once that she couldn’t believe her Brian could have produced a gorgeous boy like him.

HUGO FRASER – off

That makes it sound like she saw him a lot.

SYLVIA CARROLL

Oh yes, he used to come up a couple of times a month. On that flashy motorbike of his.

HUGO FRASER – off

Really? I mean, even with a motorbike it’s a long way – London to Ambleside.

SYLVIA CARROLL

I know. But he didn’t seem to mind. I think he genuinely enjoyed her company. They made each other laugh.

HUGO FRASER – off

Did he ever bring his wife?

SYLVIA CARROLL

No, never saw her once. He never talked much about her, not that I heard, anyway. Or about his parents.

HUGO FRASER – off

Didn’t that strike you as strange?

SYLVIA CARROLL

(shrugs)

Not really. I know there’d been some sort of family tiff before his parents left for Australia, though I don’t know what it was about, because Flo never talked about it. And after Luke reappeared she just wanted to move on, let bygones be bygones.

And it wasn’t anything to do with Luke, anyway, was it – that row? He wasn’t even born. She was just pleased he’d plucked up the courage to try and contact her. You know, before it was too late. She was in her eighties, remember. She knew she didn’t have that long left.

HUGO FRASER – off

But given that, do you know if she’d ever tried to contact her son herself, before Luke turned up? Try to bury the hatchet?

SYLVIA CARROLL