Page 38 of Worse Than Murder

‘Wow. Nice car.’

‘If only it were mine.’

‘Does the owner know you have it?’

‘She doesn’t actually, no,’ I say.

Tania laughs then goes into the building. I follow.

‘You survived the storm?’ Tania asks.

‘Just about.’

‘My shed was catapulted into the neighbouring garden at three o’clock this morning. It scared the shit out of me. I didn’t get a wink of sleep after that. On the plus side, I seem to have inherited someone’s trampoline. I was going to call you later. I’ve found your alibis.’

‘That was quick.’

‘I’m not an award-losing journalist for nothing, you know.’

I pull out a chair and sit down.

‘Lynne was at home alone, looking after the girls. She told police she was baking at the time. She went out to fetch them in for their lunch and that’s when she noticed there was only Alison there. Jack and Iain were renovating the farm and, while Iain was working full-time, it wasn’t bringing in enough money for Jack, so he was still working for Dudgeons. They were a parts manufacturer. They’ve long since gone. Iain was working alone on the stables. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Travis also said he was working at the stables and, at first, Iain confirmed that, but Iain was spotted at the hardware shop in the village so had to amend his statement. He’d left Travis at the stables on his own roughly around the time the children went missing.’

‘So, Travis has no alibi?’

‘No.’

‘How have you remembered all this?’

‘I still have all my original notes. I throw nothing away. I’m a hoarder. Fuck knows what I’m saving it all for. While I was looking for this lot, I found a file with all the scores from the bingo finals in 1993.’

‘Riveting stuff.’

‘You have no idea what life is like around here, Matilda. Orgies one night, cocaine parties the next, and the knit-and-natter events can get very raunchy.’

I smile. ‘So, no alibi for Travis or Lynne.’

‘You don’t suspect the mother of kidnapping her own children, surely?’ Tania asks, aghast.

‘After twenty years in my job, you’re no longer surprised by who does what to whom.’

‘That’s very sad.’

‘Story of my life,’ I add. ‘Can you do some digging into Travis’s background?’

‘I can try, but the guy was a private man. He was so shy he hardly spoke.’

‘He couldn’t have been that shy if he was sleeping with Lynne.’

‘I suppose not. I know he helped in the search for the Pemberton twins. I remember asking him for an interview, trying to get the inside story on how Jack and Lynne were coping. He gave nothing away. I saw him in the pub a few days later and bought him a pint, thinking beer will loosen his tongue. Nothing. He clammed up.’

‘I read one of the articles online that mentioned Jack and Lynne being extensively questioned, along with Iain, Travis and a neighbour… can’t remember her name.’

‘Clara Fisher?’

‘That’s her.’

‘She moved away not long after it all died down. She couldn’t stand how everyone was turning against each other, suspecting everyone. She moved to somewhere in Portugal with her sister. She ended up marrying a man twenty years younger than her. Lucky cow.’