Boomer in the kitchen or he won’t leave
us alone.’
Roz walked through into the sitting room, a
pleasant, sunny space with wide patio doors opening
out on to a small terrace. Beyond, a neat garden,
carefully tended, merged effortlessly into a green field
with distant cows. ‘It’s a lovely view,’ she said as Mrs
Wright joined her.
‘We were lucky to get it,’ said the other woman
with some pride. ‘The house was rather out of our
price range, but the previous owner took a bridging
loan on another property just before the interest rates
went through the roof. He was so keen to be shot of
this one we got it for twenty-five thousand less than
he was asking. We’re very happy here.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Roz warmly. ‘It’s a beautiful
part of the world.’
‘Let’s sit down.’ She lowered herself gracefully into
an armchair. ‘I’m not ashamed of my friendship with
Olive,’ she excused herself. ‘I just don’t like talking
about it. People are so persistent. They simply won’t
accept that I knew nothing about the murders.’ She
examined her painted fingernails. ‘I hadn’t seen her,
you know, for at least three years before it happened
and I certainly haven’t seen her since. I really can’t
think what I can tell you that will be of any use.’
Roz made no attempt to record the conversation.
She was afraid of scaring the woman. ‘Tell me what
she was like at school,’ she said, taking out a pencil
and notepad. ‘Were you in the same form?’
‘Yes, we both stayed on to do A-levels.’
‘Did you like her?’
‘Not much.’ Geraldine sighed. ‘That does sound
unkind, doesn’t it? Look, you really won’t use my
name, will you? I mean, if there’s a chance you will,
I just won’t say any more. I should hate Olive to
know how I really felt about her. It would be so
hurtful.’
Of course it would, thought Roz, but why would
you care? She took some headed notepaper from her
briefcase, wrote two sentences on it and signed it.
‘ “I, Rosalind Leigh, of the above address, agree to
treat all information given to me by Mrs Geraldine
Wright of Oaktrees, Wooling, Hants, as confidential.
I shall not reveal her as the source of any information,
either verbally or in writing, now or at any time in
the future.” There. Will that do?’ She forced a smile.
‘You can sue me for a fortune if I break my word.’
‘Oh dear, she’ll guess it’s me. I’m the only one she
talked to. At school, anyway.’ She took the piece of
paper. ‘I don’t know.’
God, what a ditherer! It occurred to Roz then that
Olive may well have found the friendship as unrewarding
as Geraldine appeared to have done. ‘Let me
give you an idea of how I’ll use what you tell me, then
you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about. You’ve just
said you didn’t like her much. That will end up in the
book as something like: “Olive was never popular at
school.” Can you go along with that?’
The woman brightened. ‘Oh, yes. That’s absolutely
true anyway.’
‘OK. Why wasn’t she popular?’
‘She never really fitted in, I suppose.’
‘Why not?’
‘Oh dear.’ Geraldine shrugged irritatingly. ‘Because
she was fat, perhaps.’
This was going to be like drawing teeth, slow and
extremely painful. ‘Did she try to make friends or
didn’t she bother?’
‘She didn’t really bother. She hardly ever said
anything, you know, just used to sit and stare at everyone
else while they talked. People didn’t like that very
much. To tell you the truth, I think we were all rather
frightened of her. She was very much taller than the
rest of us.’
‘Was that the only reason she scared you? Her size?’
Geraldine thought back. ‘It was a sort of over-all
thing. I don’t know how to describe it. She was very
quiet. You could be talking to someone and you’d
turn round to find her standing right behind you,
staring at you.’
‘Did she bully
us alone.’
Roz walked through into the sitting room, a
pleasant, sunny space with wide patio doors opening
out on to a small terrace. Beyond, a neat garden,
carefully tended, merged effortlessly into a green field
with distant cows. ‘It’s a lovely view,’ she said as Mrs
Wright joined her.
‘We were lucky to get it,’ said the other woman
with some pride. ‘The house was rather out of our
price range, but the previous owner took a bridging
loan on another property just before the interest rates
went through the roof. He was so keen to be shot of
this one we got it for twenty-five thousand less than
he was asking. We’re very happy here.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Roz warmly. ‘It’s a beautiful
part of the world.’
‘Let’s sit down.’ She lowered herself gracefully into
an armchair. ‘I’m not ashamed of my friendship with
Olive,’ she excused herself. ‘I just don’t like talking
about it. People are so persistent. They simply won’t
accept that I knew nothing about the murders.’ She
examined her painted fingernails. ‘I hadn’t seen her,
you know, for at least three years before it happened
and I certainly haven’t seen her since. I really can’t
think what I can tell you that will be of any use.’
Roz made no attempt to record the conversation.
She was afraid of scaring the woman. ‘Tell me what
she was like at school,’ she said, taking out a pencil
and notepad. ‘Were you in the same form?’
‘Yes, we both stayed on to do A-levels.’
‘Did you like her?’
‘Not much.’ Geraldine sighed. ‘That does sound
unkind, doesn’t it? Look, you really won’t use my
name, will you? I mean, if there’s a chance you will,
I just won’t say any more. I should hate Olive to
know how I really felt about her. It would be so
hurtful.’
Of course it would, thought Roz, but why would
you care? She took some headed notepaper from her
briefcase, wrote two sentences on it and signed it.
‘ “I, Rosalind Leigh, of the above address, agree to
treat all information given to me by Mrs Geraldine
Wright of Oaktrees, Wooling, Hants, as confidential.
I shall not reveal her as the source of any information,
either verbally or in writing, now or at any time in
the future.” There. Will that do?’ She forced a smile.
‘You can sue me for a fortune if I break my word.’
‘Oh dear, she’ll guess it’s me. I’m the only one she
talked to. At school, anyway.’ She took the piece of
paper. ‘I don’t know.’
God, what a ditherer! It occurred to Roz then that
Olive may well have found the friendship as unrewarding
as Geraldine appeared to have done. ‘Let me
give you an idea of how I’ll use what you tell me, then
you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about. You’ve just
said you didn’t like her much. That will end up in the
book as something like: “Olive was never popular at
school.” Can you go along with that?’
The woman brightened. ‘Oh, yes. That’s absolutely
true anyway.’
‘OK. Why wasn’t she popular?’
‘She never really fitted in, I suppose.’
‘Why not?’
‘Oh dear.’ Geraldine shrugged irritatingly. ‘Because
she was fat, perhaps.’
This was going to be like drawing teeth, slow and
extremely painful. ‘Did she try to make friends or
didn’t she bother?’
‘She didn’t really bother. She hardly ever said
anything, you know, just used to sit and stare at everyone
else while they talked. People didn’t like that very
much. To tell you the truth, I think we were all rather
frightened of her. She was very much taller than the
rest of us.’
‘Was that the only reason she scared you? Her size?’
Geraldine thought back. ‘It was a sort of over-all
thing. I don’t know how to describe it. She was very
quiet. You could be talking to someone and you’d
turn round to find her standing right behind you,
staring at you.’
‘Did she bully
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