Page 61 of The Mercy Chair

She handed Poe half-a-dozen photographs of a spiky, sullen teenager. She had a ferocious stare, like she was trying to kill the photographer with the power of her mind. In all the pictures she wore scruffy jeans and ripped T-shirts.

‘As you can see,’ Eve said, ‘she hacked off her own hair. She did it to annoy Mum and show her up in front of her church friends.’

‘Thank you,’ Poe said. ‘I’ll get these back to you as soon as I can.’ He tucked them into his top pocket. He opened his notebook and checked he hadn’t missed anything. He had. Something important. The reason they were there. ‘Is your husband from Cumbria, Eve?’

‘Thomas? Good grief, no. Thomas is a valley boy.’

‘He’s Welsh?’

She nodded. ‘Pontypool.’

‘And does he still have family down there?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘Why do you ask?’

‘Because if he does, now might be a sensible time to visit them.’

‘Even if Bethanyisback, I’m in no danger, Sergeant Poe.’

‘How can you be so sure?’

‘Because she didn’t hate me.’

‘From what you’ve told us, she didn’t hate Aaron either.’

‘He got in her way. Maybe he tried to stop her. I wasn’t there that night, but killing Aaron was never part of her plan. I’m convinced of that. And if she wanted to kill me I’d already be dead, Sergeant Poe. I haven’t been hiding. I even kept my maiden name.’

‘Yes, why is that?’

‘It was all Bethany left me. It didn’t seem right to let it go. My husband understood.’

‘What does he do for a living?’

‘Graphic design. When we moved up here, he got a job with a company in Preston.’

‘That’s a bit of a journey,’ Poe said.

‘There isn’t a specialist company in Cumbria like the one he works for so he had no choice.’ She smiled. ‘I actually think he enjoys the time on his own. He says the commute helps keep his creative edge sharp.’

Poe could relate to that. Decluttering his mind on long journeys, or on extended walks with Edgar, was often when he made breakthroughs in cases. Not looking at something was often the clearest way to see it. He checked his watch. They’d already been there an hour and it was now bordering on being intrusive. ‘One last question,’ he said. ‘If itisBethany who has killed Cornelius Green, why do you think she’s returned after all these years?’

Eve considered this for several moments. ‘Because she’s insane,’ she said eventually.

‘There must be more to it than that.’

‘I don’t care.’

‘But—’

‘I loved my sister, Sergeant Poe, but she murdered my little brother. As far as I’m concerned, she can rot in hell.’

‘Where to now, Poe?’ Bradshaw asked when they were back in the car and Poe had three-point-turned his way on to the Kendal road.

‘I have a case progression meeting with Superintendent Nightingale this afternoon. I’ll drop you off at Shap Wells, Tilly. I want you to start profiling Bethany Bowman. If she’s up here again, we need to know who we’re dealing with. I’ll get Cumbria to send you everything they have on her.’

‘OK. I’ll have a look at the alphanumeric tattoos while I wait.’

‘And Superintendent Nightingale has sent me a text confirming our meeting with Nathan Rose this evening.’

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