Page 6 of Twisted Lies

‘It’s a long way from Romsley,’ Frost observed, echoing all their thoughts.

They all knew the house Trisha had shared with her husband on St Kenelms Road, in the wealthiest part of Halesowen, was a property in the one million pounds plus bracket.

Just as they all knew that money had come from Nick Morley alone.

Trisha’s life had jumped from one end to the other of the lifestyle spectrum. The house they now stood before was a deteriorating mid-terrace in a street about a quarter mile from Dudley Castle.

The door of which was opened by a woman Kim guessed to be Trisha’s older sister.

‘Penny Colgan?’ Kim asked, extending her arm.

Penny nodded and shook it briefly before looking to the others.

‘My colleague, DS Bryant and Tracy Frost from theDudley—’

‘She’s not coming in.’

Kim was tempted to agree with her, but for once felt obliged to defend the woman, not least because she knew what Woody was hoping to achieve by Frost being in on the meeting.

‘She’s here for us not you. To my knowledge, she hasn’t written anything positive about Nick Morley.’

Frost shook her head in agreement. ‘I haven’t.’

Penny hesitated then stepped aside for them to enter.

‘Mum’s getting ready to go out,’ Penny said, closing the door behind them.

‘How is she?’ Kim asked as the three of them tried to navigate the small room littered with toys.

‘Sorry,’ Penny said, grabbing everything she could and throwing it into a corner. She lowered herself to the floor as the three of them took a seat on the L-shaped sofa.

It was Kim’s understanding that Penny had given up her one-bed council flat to move back in with her mother when Trisha had first gone missing. Trisha and Penny’s father had died not long after Trisha had married Morley.

‘Will she be attending the new trial?’

‘No,’ Penny said. ‘We can’t sit through that again. It almost destroyed her the first time,’ she said, raising her eyes to the floorboards above that seemed to creak on cue. ‘She’s found some kind of routine that helps her get through the day. She plays with Riley; goes to the park most mornings; fusses over me… and God forbid the jury reaches—’

Penny stopped speaking as her mother came into the room.

‘Oh… hello…’

Kim stood. ‘Mrs Colgan, we’re—’

‘Police officers, yes, I can tell that,’ she said, although her gaze lingered on Frost.

‘She’s not important,’ Kim said, not realising how those words were going to sound outside of her head.

Laura Colgan shrugged, as though none of it was important, as she reached for her jacket.

‘Mrs Colgan, may we just trouble you for a few minutes?’

Laura shook her head. ‘I’m sorry but no,’ she said, circling a scarf around her neck. ‘There’s nothing you can say that will help me. I have to go.’

Kim could think of no reason to try and persuade her to stay when she really didn’t want to.

‘I’m sorry,’ Penny said as her mother left the house. ‘But she doesn’t have trust in any of you people anymore. She’s getting ready for the bastard to walk free in a few days, and there’s nothing we as a family can do about it.’

Kim caught the unsaid implication that other people could have done more.