Woman in Black by Kerry Wilkinson

house. If anything, the garden at the rear stretched farther than the one at the front. The surface was also beginning to brown after a couple of weeks without rain, the bushes running along the sides needing a trim. The only other thing noticeable at the rear was that an extension was half-built at the far end of the house. Because she hadn’t been inside yet, Jessica didn’t know what it was attached to but there was already a large conservatory, so she assumed it would offer another room both upstairs and downstairs. The brickwork appeared to be finished but there were holes where windows hadn’t yet been fitted.
    Jessica walked back to the front of the property. The style of bricks wasn’t of the type used for most houses. Instead the building was made of much larger stones and somehow seemed both old-fashioned and state-of-the-art at the same time. The whole place was huge and she guessed it would have at least six bedrooms given the number of upstairs windows.
    After Jessica had rung the doorbell, it took almost a minute before Charlie Marks opened it. He was bare-footed and wearing what seemed to be the same shorts from a few days previously, as well as a loose-fitting white linen shirt.
    ‘Sergeant,’ he said, welcoming her in. ‘Did you find the place okay?’
    Jessica couldn’t be bothered explaining herself so just replied with: ‘Yes.’
    ‘I won’t waste your time. As you can see, the place is pretty big and I don’t even begin to know where to start. I’ve not touched many of my brother’s things but there’s still so much space. It looks like there are loads of Dad’s things still in boxes upstairs too. After we talked the other day, I began looking through some of the photos and items upstairs.’
    The man started walking away from her as he spoke and Jessica followed. While the entranceway had white stone flooring, the staircase was wide and covered with a red carpet. The stairs looped around, ending on a landing with a choice of doors and a varnished wooden floor. It was an odd mix of apparently being finished and furnished, with other areas that hadn’t been touched in years. There were thin layers of dust on some of the surfaces and boxes stacked in a few corners.
    ‘I’ve not checked through all of these rooms,’ Charlie continued, pointing towards one end of the upstairs hall. ‘I’ve been sleeping in the one furthest down there because the room seemed empty.’ He turned around and pointed to the closest opening. ‘That one there is full of boxes.’
    He pushed open a door and led Jessica inside. The room had large windows directly opposite the door that looked out over the back garden. A four-poster bed was on her left but unmade and had a collection of random items on it. There were more boxes pushed to the edges of the room and a dressing table with a cracked glass top.
    Jessica walked to the window, peering towards the extension. ‘What’s that?’ she asked, pointing towards the structure.
    Charlie had picked up something from the bed and came over to stand next to her. ‘I’ll show you if you want? It looked like Ed was having a swimming pool put in but it’s not finished for whatever reason.’
    ‘Why’s everything in boxes? Was he looking to sell?’
    Charlie shrugged. ‘I don’t think so, although he had offered to half-sign it over, so maybe. We’ve lived here most of our lives but it’s always been a little like this. I told you before I don’t think Dad really knew what to do with it all. He spent loads of time in the garden and conservatory. Some of this stuff was still in boxes when I moved out five years ago or so. I think you just get used to living in a certain way, don’t you?’
    Jessica knew that was true; she was always likely to be a little messy whatever happened to her in the future. ‘Why did you call me over?’
    Charlie offered her a framed photo he had been holding. ‘Look.’
    She took the object from him and turned it around. The frame