Faith - Lesley Pearse [166]
‘He was always like that. I couldn’t stand the man.’ Stuart grimaced. ‘But before we get carried away, we’ll have to find out more about the police investigation into the hit-and-run. They would have discovered the colour and probably the make of car, and they would have left no stone unturned in tracking it down because a child died. How could Charles have slipped through their net? His car would have been damaged, and if he’d been drinking most of that day, someone would have spoken up about it.’
‘If he had a very supportive wife, he might have been able to manage it,’ David suggested. ‘But enough of that for now. How did your investigations go?’
‘I’m meeting Gloria the barmaid at four this afternoon. I went into the pub in Cellardyke last night and we had a brief chat, but it was too busy to have a real talk. As for Angie, let’s just say she’s not batting for Laura any more.’
David ordered them another two pints. ‘Really? Why’s that?’
Stuart explained what had passed between them. ‘I was left with the impression that she’s a thoroughly honest, decent woman, but she’s lost her faith in Laura.’
‘So it was a waste of time then?’
‘Not exactly.’ Stuart grinned. ‘For one thing I was impressed by the shop – that is evidence to me that Laura was entirely stable and hard-working prior to Jackie’s death. Also, when Angie had to pop out to the bank, I rifled through her index file of customers.’
David frowned. ‘Why would you be interested in her customers?’
Stuart explained how the system worked and that he’d discovered Jackie was a customer. ‘Well, she would’ve been, she was Laura’s friend,’ David retorted.
‘Of course. But it isn’t quite so understandable that Belle collected money owing to Jackie after her death, and then continued to be a customer right up to the present. You tell me why someone would go all the way from Fife across Edinburgh to flog her togs at the shop owned by her sister’s killer, when there’s another dress agency in St Andrews, just down the road.’
David sucked in his cheeks. ‘Old habits dying hard? Maybe she felt it wasn’t Laura’s shop any more, just Angie’s. But it is a bit peculiar, especially as Belle is so rabid about Laura. You’d think she’d avoid any reminders.’
‘Even more peculiar is that I think she’s been selling Jackie’s clothes, not her own. Wouldn’t most sisters hang on to everything for a long while?’
David frowned. ‘How weird!’
‘I would understand it better if she’d bundled up everything she wanted to get rid of and then took it all over in one go, but there were dozens of dates listed, with only three or four items each time, which suggests she liked to keep going there often. Why?’
‘Maybe she thought Angie would refuse to take the clothes if she realized they were Jackie’s?’ David suggested. ‘Or maybe they only take clothes according to the season. But I suspect you think she kept going there to sway Angela around to her way of thinking that Laura was pure evil.’
‘That’s the most likely reason I’ve come up with,’ Stuart agreed. ‘And it shows Belle had a lack of confidence in the conviction, doesn’t it? Like she was afraid the case might be opened again with an appeal. Speaking of which, did you check out that track behind Brodie Farm?’
‘Yes, it’s very rough, but drivable. It goes on to another lane eventually, so the killer could have escaped that way. I also rifled through the visitors’ book at Kirkmay,’ David said. ‘There was just one couple staying there the night before the murder; they’d been staying there for four days. A Mr and Mrs Langdon from Surrey. I don’t remember seeing a statement from them when I looked through the evidence file at Goldsmith’s.’