Page 50 of Worse Than Murder
‘We all do.’
She lowers her voice. ‘What do you think?’.
‘It would be a massive coincidence if they didn’t belong to them.’
‘My thoughts exactly. Would you like to come with me to show these items to Alison’s mother?’
‘Can I refuse?’
‘You can, but you’ll be doing the stranger danger talks to primary school kids every term until you retire.’
* * *
Lynne pulls up at the entrance to the stables almost at the same time as Inspector Gill Forsyth and her second-in-command, Sergeant Alan Stokes.
‘Lynne, I’ve just been to your house looking for you. I saw the front window boarded up. Is everything all right?’ Gill asks as she climbs out.
‘What? Oh. Yes. A tree came through the window in the storm.’
‘Is there much damage?’
‘Only to the furniture. Did you want me for anything?’ Lynne asks, leaning against her car, holding onto the open door for support.
‘I need to talk to you. And Iain, if that’s possible.’
‘Is this about what you’ve found in the lake?’
‘Is there somewhere we can go where we’re a bit more private?’ Gill asks, non-committal.
Lynne takes a breath. ‘Of course.’ She closes the car door. ‘We can go into the office.’
She leads the way, opening the gate and asking Sergeant Stokes to close it properly behind him so the horses can’t get out. She calls for Iain a few times before he shouts down to them from the far side of the roof.
‘How’s it looking?’ Lynne looks up, shielding her eyes from the sun.
‘Fine.’
‘Can you come down for a moment? The police are here. They’ve found something.’
He leans further out and sees Forsyth and Stokes.
‘Oh. Sure. I’ll be right down.’
‘We’ll be in the office, is that all right?’
‘Fine.’
Lynne takes them into the small room laughably called an office. A cheap pine desk with a laptop and a few files. The rest of the space is taken up by sacks of feed and hay. Lynne pushes them to one side while she finds a couple of chairs.
‘Can I get you both a drink or something?’
‘We’re fine, thanks.’
‘Take a seat.’
Iain comes in looking windswept, having been on the roof for most of the morning.
‘Did the storm cause much damage?’ Gill asks him.
