Page 7 of What Have You Done?

Stone says, ‘We know Diana was in a relationship with Cameron Farrell. But did she ever mention anyone else being interested in her?’

Brenda tries to think, to claw her way through the fog of shock and grief and disbelief. ‘Not that I recall.’

‘Diana didn’t mention anyone who was bothering her, who maybe showed an interest in her that she didn’t reciprocate?’

Brenda pauses, remembers. ‘She did mention once that there was a customer where she worked who gave her the creeps.’

‘Where did she work?’

‘At the Home Depot. She had a summer job there, then carried on when school started, doing occasional shifts evenings and weekends.’ She answers automatically; she’s surprised at how lucid she sounds.

‘What did she say about this customer who gave her the creeps?’

‘Not much.’ Brenda looks down at the tissues crumpled in her hands. ‘I didn’t like her working evenings, so I was glad she was at the Home Depot because there’s always lots of people around. It’s a big place. Not like a little corner store where she would have been alone. I wouldn’t have let her do that. And I made her promise to always get someone to walk her to her car at the end of her shift, and she always did. They were good that way.’ And then she realizes how none of it helped, that her daughter is dead anyway, and she breaks down again.

They let her cry for as long as she needs. Godfrey leaves discreetly and returns with a bottle of water, which she doesn’t want. Stone is still waiting patiently; he’s not finished. She wants to know who murdered her daughter too. She wants to rip him to shreds with her bare hands. She pulls herself together as best she can.

‘Tell us about her boyfriend, Cameron,’ Detective Stone says.

She looks at him. ‘What about him?’

‘What’s he like?’ Stone asks.

She says, ‘He’s a nice boy. They were friends all through school, but they started dating and became a couple at the end of the summer, just before school started again. It was quite sudden, and very intense.’

‘Intense how?’

‘I just mean, you know, they were – it seemed like they were in love. They spent every moment they could together. He was always coming over. He was all over her, holding her hand, kissing her, as if he couldn’t get enough.’ Her disapproval must have shown.

‘Did you approve of their relationship?’

She gives him a frank look. ‘To be honest, I have nothing against him, but I didn’t like to see Diana getting so serious about someone so fast, and so young. He was her first real boyfriend. I was glad she planned on going away to college next year.’ She stops suddenly, fights back another sob. She adds pointlessly, ‘She wanted to be a vet. She loved animals.’

‘Did you know they were having sexual relations?’ Stone asks.

She lets out a long breath. ‘Diana didn’t tell me, but I assumed. Did Cameron tell you that? Have you already talked to him?’

‘Yes. You understand we had to ask.’

She nods, braces herself. ‘Was she – was she sexually assaulted?’

‘We’re still waiting for an answer on that,’ he says. ‘Have you ever had a break-in at your house?’

She shakes her head. ‘No.’

‘Ever notice anyone loitering outside the house, see a car parked there you didn’t know?’

‘No.’

‘Do you keep your house locked?’

She swallows. ‘We usually lock the doors at night before we go to bed, but not always during the day. Fairhill isn’t the kind of place you have to lock your doors.’ She pauses, because she knows now that that isn’t true. Brenda used to lock up at night, but now she goes to work and leaves it to her daughter. It never occurred to her that they weren’t safe. She knows better now. Now that it’s too late. She says, ‘The door was locked when I arrived home this morning.’

Stone nods. ‘Cameron says he saw your daughter last night, brought her home at around eleven p.m., watched her enter the house, and then went home. Do you remember what she was wearing when you left for work last night, just before ten o’clock?’

Brenda tries to concentrate. ‘Jeans and a plaid shirt, sort of red and cream.’

The detective nods. ‘Can you think of any reason your daughter might have left the house again of her own volition?’

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