Witch Is When It All Began by Adele Abbott Page B

exactly. We didn’t see each other outside of work, but we did get on really well. Everyone liked her.”
    “Do you know Danny Peterson, her boyfriend?”
    “No, not really. Poor man. How’s he taking it?”
    “Pretty much as you’d expect. Did you know she was going to get engaged?”
    “Engaged? Really? No, she hadn’t mentioned it.”
    “Don’t you think that’s a little odd?”
    “Yeah, I suppose. She did tend to keep her personal life to herself, but I’d have expected her to tell me about that.”
    “Had you noticed any change in her over the last few weeks?”
    “Not really.”
    “Nothing at all? Are you sure?”
    “She had seemed much happier recently. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the engagement?”
    “Maybe. Is there anything you can think of which might help me?”
    “What kind of thing?”
    “Anything. Did she mention any trouble or problems she was having? Had there been any disgruntled customers?”
    “No, nothing like that. She might have said something to Graham.” Beth gestured to the man seated in the office. “He’s the manager. He and Caroline had a really good working relationship.”
    “Thanks.” I handed her my card. “Please give me a call if you think of anything else.
     
    Graham Tyler was in his early thirties.
    “I don’t understand what you’re doing here exactly,” he said. “Who are you working for?”
    “Caroline’s boyfriend, Danny Peterson. Do you know him?”
    He hesitated for a moment too long. “Caroline may have mentioned him in passing, but that was some time ago.”
    “They were about to get engaged.”
    Tyler’s expression changed—he looked puzzled. “Engaged? Are you sure?”
    “Danny showed me the ring.”
    Tyler shrugged. I had the sense he was holding something back.
    “She hadn’t mentioned the engagement to you?” I pressed.
    “No. Why would she? We were just work colleagues.”
    “Beth said you and Caroline had a good relationship.”
    He glared out through the glass at Beth who was still dabbing her eyes. “Caroline and I had a good business relationship. She was a good employee—that’s all.”
    “Did Caroline say or do anything in the days leading up to her death that was in any way out of the ordinary?”
    “Nothing at all.” His voice faltered a little. “She seemed perfectly happy. “
    “Okay. Well if you do think of anything else, please give me a call.”
     
    One other person who might have been able to give me more background on Caroline was her flatmate, Josie Trent. She was a dancer who had been working on a cruise liner for the previous few months, and wasn’t due back in the country for several more weeks. She’d been somewhere off the coast of Barbados at the time Caroline was murdered. I’d tried a couple of times to contact her, but so far with no luck.
    Josie was still on my ‘to-do’ list.
     
     

Chapter 13
     
    It wasn’t difficult to track down Mrs Lyon’s sister, Janet Wesley. She lived alone in a flat on the north side of Washbridge.
    “Yes?” She’d cracked open the door only as wide as the chain would allow.
    “Mrs Wesley? I’m Jill Gooder. I spoke to your brother-in-law—”
    “You’re the private investigator?”
    I nodded. “I’m sorry to trouble you. I wondered if I might have a word?”
    She was already undoing the chain. “Geoff told me that he’d spoken to you. Do come in. Ignore the mess.”
    Janet Wesley was a woman after my own heart. Her idea of ‘a mess’ was an empty cup on the coffee table. Other than that, the flat was immaculately clean and tidy. Maybe she could give Kathy a few tips. I refused her offer of a drink, and got right down to business.
    “Geoffrey told me that Pauline came to see you two days before she was murdered,” I said. “On the night she should have gone to her school reunion.”
    “That’s right. Are you sure you won’t have a drink?”
    “No, thanks. She told Geoffrey she wasn’t well enough to go to the reunion, and yet she still