The House of Women by Alison Taylor

his office. Smiling, she added: ‘Dewi won’t be pleased. He’s hoping for another chance to see the lovely Minerva.’
    ‘ Whose habits, according to Phoebe, are much less attractive than her appearance, and I don’t think it’s entirely sour grapes on her part.’
    Janet looked through his notes on the discussion with the pathologist. ‘I’m not surprised Edith needs tranquillizers. She’s probably driven herself up the wall.’
    ‘ Long term use of psychotropic drugs creates unstable moods and behaviour,’ McKenna said. ‘I wonder why Mina’s had them. A girl of her age shouldn’t need happy pills.’
    ‘ She’s her mother’s daughter,’ Janet commented, ‘so there’s an inherited disposition towards popping pills at every opportunity, especially if they’re the latest fashion.’ She rubbed her forehead. ‘Maybe I should get some, then I wouldn’t care about being pregnant.’
    ‘ You can’t be sure you are. Were you sick this morning?’
    ‘ I waited for ages, but nothing happened. I’ve got a griping stomach ache instead, so tomorrow, I expect there’ll be another new experience. It’s like an alien invasion.’ She made a neat pile of the papers. ‘Do we start formal interviews right away?’
    ‘ When we’ve established who was where on Friday, but I want to examine Ned’s room first. I’ll get forensics to meet us there.’
    ‘ It’s a mess, sir. Not dirty, but just full of things, as if he’s kept everything he ever had, including every piece of paper.’

 
    6
     
    Rowlands’s irritability grew mile for mile along the A55 towards Bangor. ‘I’m not blaming you, Prys, but we should have telephoned these people first!’
    ‘ Well, sir, we didn’t.’ Overtaking a fast-moving truck, Dewi added: ‘We can go again, when they’re back off holiday.’
    ‘ Bradshaw will not be quite so laid back about the virtual waste of a day and God knows how many gallons of petrol.’
    ‘ We can always tell her it was raking over old ground, and we’re therefore approaching the problem from another angle.’ Dewi braked to take the Talybont turn-off. ‘Trading Standards dumped the whole lot on us when a couple of stolen engines surfaced, but strictly speaking, there’s nothing to connect those to the clocked Tigra and the welded coupe.’
    ‘ The Republic of Gwynedd can’t support too many bent vehicle outfits.’
    ‘“ Republic of Gwynedd”, sir?’
    ‘ As in the locals making up their own rules as they go along, without reference to the law of the land, but you wouldn’t necessarily notice,’ Rowlands said, gazing through the window. ‘You’re part of the same culture.’ As the car flashed past an old granite house and the entrance to a lane, he turned in his seat. ‘What’s that? Surely to God you don’t bury people at the roadside!’
    ‘ The gypsies live down that lane.’
    ‘ There’s a grave by the road, with fresh flowers and a cross.’
    ‘ It’s a shrine for a little gypsy girl who was run over a few years ago, on her way home from school.’ Seeing the expression on Rowlands’s face, he added: ‘And it’s not morbid, sir. We think it’s rather touching.’

 
    7
     
    The silver Jaguar glittered hugely in the sunshine of Glamorgan Place, rays of light bouncing from its roof and bonnet and wings. McKenna drove to the top of the cul-de-sac and parked in the shade of a hawthorn tree. Its dying flowers tainted the air with a sour odour.
    Eyes invisible behind dark glasses, Janet said: ‘Where does Mrs Harris get her money?’
    ‘ I’ve no idea.’ He walked down the short hill, stepping in her truncated shadow. She was wearing different perfume, a light, lemony scent. ‘And it’s unlikely to be relevant to Ned’s death.’
    ‘ I’d still like to know. Maybe she’ll tell me, if I ask her nicely.’
    ‘ Ask about her husband, too, if you have the opportunity.’ He paused by the gate. ‘I tried to prise some information out of Iolo Williams, but he