Page 88 of The Locked Room

Tanya sees that Hugh prefers this form of address. He says, almost proudly, ‘Yes. We were very close.’

‘Did you visit her house on the morning of Tuesday the twenty-fifth of February?’

‘I don’t remember,’ says Hugh. ‘So much has happened since then. This terrible Covid. . .’

‘We’ve got a photograph,’ says Tanya.

Hugh shoots her a look of dislike. ‘So many photographs.’

‘Did you visit her that day?’ asks Tony.

‘It’s possible.’

‘We’ve got a picture of you by the pond,’ says Tony. ‘There’s a heron there. I remember that you like birds.’

‘I do like birds,’ Hugh admits.

‘Did you go into the house?’ says Tanya. ‘Did you lock the door of Avril’s bedroom?’

‘Why would I do that?’

‘You were Avril’s boyfriend, were you?’ says Tony.

‘Hardly boyfriend at my age.’ But Tanya thinks Hugh sounds flattered. ‘We were companions.’

‘Were you also Karen Head’s boyfriend?’

‘Karen. . .?’

‘Karen was a teacher who killed herself in November 2019,’ says Tanya. ‘Did you know her?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Her friend sent us a photograph of you together,’ says Tony. ‘Do you want to see it?’

Hugh doesn’t answer but Tony puts the photograph, emailed by Sue Elver that morning, on the table anyway.

‘What about Samantha Wilson?’ says Tanya. ‘Did you know her? Samantha’s daughter Saffron identified you from a photograph we sent her.’

‘That’s him,’ Saffron had said. ‘Creepy old man. Always talking about his wife who committed suicide. Almost as if he was encouraging Mum to do the same.’

‘I can’t remember any of these people,’ says Hugh. ‘I’m tired. I need a break.’

‘Interview suspended at eight thirty-five a.m.,’ says Tanya.

‘He remembers, all right,’ says Nelson, when they gather in his office. Super Jo is there too, wearing a see-through visor that makes her look as if she’s about to perform dental surgery.

‘I’m sure he does,’ says Tanya.

‘He’ll put in a plea of temporary insanity if we’re not careful,’ says Nelson, ‘but the way that he kept Zoe locked up, bringing her food and drink– not to mention pills in case she wanted to top herself– shows planning and forethought.’

‘What about the other women?’ says Jo. ‘He didn’t lock them up, did he? It seems he just talked to them about suicide.’

‘That’s what Saffron Evans said,’ says Tanya. ‘Hugh went to Samantha’s slimming club and they became friends. Saffron said he kept making disparaging comments about her weight and talking about ending it all.’

‘Nice,’ says Nelson. ‘Hugh must have been the bearded man the neighbour saw going into the house. The one the son mentioned.’

‘That’s right,’ says Tanya. ‘It’s funny how you don’t notice a beard so much when it’s white.’