Page 73 of The Final Vow

Mathers composed herself. Aware she was about to throw rocks at Joanne Addy’s life. ‘We think Ezekiel Puck might be the sniper, Mrs Addy.’

There was no reaction. None at all. Mathers could have told her the Martians had landed. Or the Scottish government had banned fried food.

Eventually she said, ‘I don’t get it.’

‘It’s not a joke, Mrs Addy. There’s evidence linking Raymond to the recent shootings.’

Addy lit a fresh cigarette, her third in ten minutes. She frowned. ‘But why would Raymond be killing people?’

‘We don’t know,’ Mathers said.

Poe thought he might, but he didn’t want to voice his suspicion just yet. Instead, he said, ‘Mrs Addy, this might seem a strange question, but please bear with me – did anyone who knew Raymond ever commit suicide?’

Mathers threw him a look. Poe ignored it and concentrated on Joanne Addy. He could tell she was about to say something along the lines of,Of course not, but something was staying her hand. After a few moments, she nodded.

‘Davy Newport took his own life,’ she said. ‘He was the guy who taught Raymond how to stalk deer.’

And how to shoot from distance, Poe thought, but didn’t say.How to stay hidden.

‘What happened?’

‘It turned out Davy was a thief,’ Joanne said. ‘Got caught with his hand in the till of the charity he founded. Never got over it.Blew his own brains out.’ She held a finger to her head. Pulled an imaginary trigger.

‘Did he and Raymond ever have a falling out?’

‘Well, yes, but it wasn’t anything serious. Raymond said Davy had promised him first shot at this ten-point stag they’d been stalking for almost a month. Raymond was raging when he saw it in the back of Davy’s pickup.’

Poe nodded. That fit with his theory. ‘Anyone else?’

‘Anyone else what?’

‘Did he know anyone else who took their own life?’

Joanne frowned in concentration. ‘There was . . . but no, that can’t be right – Raymond didn’t even know her.’

‘Tell me anyway, Mrs Addy.’

‘There was this lassie, a wee slip of a girl,’ Addy said. ‘Raymond and her mother had got into it in Asda car park. She said Raymond had pranged her car, Raymond said it was the other way around. The insurance company came out on her side and Raymond lost his no claims bonus. Two months later, her daughter took an overdose. She’d been shagging her wee boyfriend, and someone leaked the videos they’d filmed. The polis said the cloud thingamajig had been hacked.’ She paused a beat. Took another long drag of her cigarette. Looked like she needed it. ‘But it was odd, you know?’

‘How so?’

‘Because this lassie’s videos were theonlyones leaked.’

‘That is odd,’ Poe agreed.

‘Her ma killed herself a month after her daughter’s funeral. Hanged herself. Used the belt from her daughter’s communion dress.’

Poe took a moment before he asked what he needed to ask next. ‘We’ll come back to your ex-husband if we may, but can we now talk about the Smithy’s Forge? You say you’ve worked there since you left school?’

Joanne nodded. ‘Aye, since I was sixteen.’

‘And it had always been your dream to own it?’

‘Aye,’ she said carefully, unsure where Poe was going.

Poe saw Mathers and Flynn share a glance. It was clear they didn’t know either.

‘Gretna Green weddings are a hugely profitable business,’ he said. ‘And because of that, the venues themselves are rarely put up for sale. When they are, competition is fierce, I imagine. May I ask how you funded it, Mrs Addy?’