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THIRTY-SEVEN

The birds sang as morning was breaking. Gina listened to a woodpecker; the tapping sound coming from the small copse behind the row of houses on Ruth’s side. PC Ahmed led her and Jacob across the road to the house next door to Ruth’s, where a woman with a grey plait trailing over her right shoulder leaned against the frame in her doorway.

Her pyjama top fell right over her jeans. ‘You must be the detectives in charge. Come through.’

She led them to a small library snug. A whole wall was floor-to-ceiling full of classic literature. ‘Sit.’ She grabbed a pile of broadsheets and magazines about crafting, then she threw them onto the floor.

Gina and Jacob sat on the old chesterfield. The woman pulled out a wooden chair and sat on the other side of the coffee table. The Tiffany-style butterfly lamp in the corner was all that was needed to light up the room as the morning glow started to reach through the leaded window. ‘You told PC Ahmed that you saw Ruth Pritchard yesterday.’

‘That’s right, twice. Don’t ask me times, I’m useless. I was eating lunch, but I don’t have set times for food. Then I saw her again in the evening.’

‘Tell me about lunchtime.’

Jacob shuffled a little to get comfortable.

‘I was eating a plate of crackers and waiting for a delivery. I heard something going on outside and thought my wine club package had turned up, so I looked out of this window. That’s when I saw Gary and Ruth having what looked like a heated conversation. He grabbed her at one point, not really aggressively, but it was a grab nonetheless. She looked angry and then they went inside. We share a wall, so I could hear raised voices, but I don’t know what they were saying.’

‘How long was Mr Pritchard inside Mrs Pritchard’s house for?’

She shrugged and bit the end of her nail. ‘I’d say about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty? He stormed out, striding across the road like he was on a mission.’ A rabbit hopped into the room and the woman lifted the white fluffy ball onto her lap. ‘Come here, Charlie, you know you aren’t allowed in the library. You chew up Mummy’s books.’

‘How about the evening, when you saw Mrs Pritchard again?’

‘I was just popping back from the garage convenience store after getting a bottle of milk. It’s only a five-minute drive. Ruth seemed to be staring at Gary’s house while standing on her drive. I said hello as I got out of the car, but she ignored me. She normally says hello when I see her. It was very odd, indeed. She definitely had something on her mind. So, me being me, I rolled my eyes and went back into my house.’

She stroked the rabbit’s long ears and its red eyes began to close. ‘I felt a bit concerned and wondered if she was okay, so I went back out to check on her, but her car was gone.’

‘How much later did you go back out?’

‘I can’t remember, sorry.’

‘How well do you know the man she’s been seeing.’

‘Eric?’

Gina nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘He seems nice enough. Ruth has been through a lot, what with her awful marriage to Gary and, before that, her lovely daughter Elissa going missing. I was so happy to see that she’d found someone, especially such a nice man.’

Gina felt for Ruth, wherever she was. To find out that the man you loved had a wife and family must have hurt.

‘He was the professional-looking type. I think she said he owns his own company. From what Ruth said, he manages the business deals, but he has staff that run it. He classes himself as semi-retired.’

‘Do you know if he plays chess?’

She tilted her head. ‘No, I think he’s more of a golf man because I’ve seen golf clubs in his car.’

‘What does he drive?’

‘Some silver executive thing. I’m not really up on cars. It’s a shiny car. Always clean.’

‘Do you remember Elissa?’

The woman hugged the rabbit closer. ‘She was a lovely girl. She’d come round here and we’d make cakes and she’d sit in my garden. I used to look after her sometimes during the holidays, when she was too young to be on her own, so Ruth could go to work. Elissa was an absolute delight. When she went missing, I was devastated. She wasn’t mine, but I loved that girl to bits. I never did have children. Always wanted them.’

‘Did she confide in you much?’

‘I remember she liked a boy when she was around thirteen and he dumped her. She was so upset. I think…’ – she scrunched her brow – ‘when she reached fifteen, I didn’t really see her as much. She grew up and didn’t want to hang out with me. I used to lend her books, though. She was good at art, too. Her drawings were beautiful. She used to draw animals and people, mostly. Such a talented girl. Why are you asking about her? Do you know something?’

‘We don’t as yet, but Mrs Pritchard is missing and we have to cover all bases.’

She swallowed. ‘Now, I know Gary shouts a lot, and since he and Ruth split up he also drinks too much, but I’ve always found him quite sweet. He’s all bark and no bite. He worshipped the ground that Ruth walked on, but the loss of Elissa destroyed what they had. It was sad to see a good marriage slowly deteriorate over the years. He still struggles with what happened, and I think Ruth moving on has hit him hard, but he would never hurt her.’ The rabbit began to fidget and the woman placed him on the floor.

‘When you went to get your milk yesterday evening, did you see Mr Pritchard?’

‘Oh no, he wasn’t even in. He didn’t get back home until about midnight. I was just locking up for the night when I saw his car coming up the road.’

Gina felt her heart race. He had told them he was in all night. She stood and ran over to the window.

The neighbour cleared her throat. ‘Oh, and Eric didn’t play chess, but Gary did.’