Page 30 of Guilty Mothers

‘Ah yes, that brave, fearless dog who will get all the honours when he?—’

‘How long since the murder?’ she snapped. It wasn’t something she gave thought to. Unlike any other dog, Barney was going to live forever.

‘No more than an hour.’

‘Jesus, her daughter probably just missed the killer.’

‘Wouldn’t have been long,’ Keats confirmed.

‘Anything on her clothes?’ Kim asked.

‘Not a drop. Still got her clubbing clothes on, and they’re as clean as a whistle.’

Kim walked to the top of the body, taking care to avoid the blood. From this angle of the room, she could picture clearly what had happened.

Andrea Shaw had come down the stairs sometime around ten thirty to let in who she thought was her daughter having forgotten her key. The door had been forced open. Andrea had backed into the lounge, pulling down the bookcase to block the intruder, but in effect had trapped herself.

The killer had crossed the room and started stabbing. Kim counted more than a dozen defensive wounds on the hands and arms.

She stood above the victim and looked down into a face that would have been attractive just a few hours ago. Her hazel eyes were framed by shapely brows, and her full lips bore the imprint of recently removed make-up.

She looked closer at the mouth and then at Keats.

‘Anything in there?’

‘I think so, but I’m going to wait until I have her back at the?—’

‘Why aren’t you trying to save her?’ screamed a voice from the hallway.

A constable grabbed the girl from behind before she entered, looking apologetically in Kim’s direction.

Kim made it to the other side of the room and removed the protective clothing before following the constable and the girl.

She found them sitting at the kitchen table. The girl was bent forward, sobbing uncontrollably into a circle made by her arms.

Kim took a seat and nodded for the constable to remove his hand from the girl’s shoulder.

‘Toyah, isn’t it?’ Kim asked, leaning forward.

Toyah nodded as she raised her head. Her face was a reddened mess of tears, mascara and mucus.

Kim held out her hand for a roll of kitchen towel. She ripped off two squares and passed them to the girl, who was heavily made-up, with a shock of short green hair. Unlike her mum, her eyes were a deep blue beneath the panda smudges. She appeared much younger than Katie, even though there was only a couple of years’ difference.

‘Why aren’t you trying to save her?’ she asked again.

‘She’s gone, Toyah,’ Kim said gently. ‘And you knew that when you found her, which is why you didn’t touch her.’

‘I didn’t want to hurt her,’ she said as the tears fell from her eyes. ‘But I should have tried. If I’d have known what to do, I could have saved her.’

Kim shook her head, ‘She was gone and there was nothing you could have done.’

‘I shouldn’t have been out. This wouldn’t have happened if I’d been here.’

Kim wondered how many different ways the girl was going to blame herself.

‘You don’t know that. You could have been a victim too,’ Kim reasoned.

Toyah’s phone sounded and lit up on the table. The nameTonyflashed on the screen.

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