A Narrow Return by Faith Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

and the door opened reluctantly.
    Hillary wasn’t surprised that the woman was so security conscious. Her sister had been brutally killed in the safety of her own home, and whether or not this woman was responsible for it, the knowledge that no one was safe, anywhere, anytime, would have been a lesson well learned.
    ‘It’s been so long since I had any of you lot on my doorstep,’ Debbie Gregg said, standing aside to let them pass.
    She was about Hillary’s height, but three stones heavier, with the sort of curly blonde hair that spoke of perms and a cheap colouring agent. She wore full make-up but only a turquoise jogging outfit that had never been used for its original purpose. On her feet were those feathery kind of heel-less mules that Hillary had always thought were designed to trip you up, rather than keep your feet warm.
    ‘Better come into the living room then, I suppose,’ Debbie said, ushering them into a small but comfortable room. A football magazine under a plain wooden coffee table told Hillary that she was probably living with a man, as did a pair of distinctly masculine slippers she spotted, resting under a recliner chair that faced a large wide-screen plasma TV.
    ‘Take a seat,’ Debbie made no offer to make them tea, but once they were both seated, side-by-side on a dark brown leather settee, took a chair opposite them. She gazed at them steadily out of pale, rather bulging blue eyes. ‘So, what do you want then?’
    Hillary smiled. The victim’s sister was obviously somebody who liked to come straight to the point.
    ‘Well, Mrs Gregg, as you may or may not be aware, all unsolved cases are never officially closed, especially serious ones, like your sister’s. Every now and then, what with the technical advances being made and so on, the police service periodically re-evaluates certain cases.’
    ‘And Anne’s is one of them. Yeah, I get it. But that card you showed me said you was a consultant. Not a proper copper then?’
    So, she’d actually read the card and thought about what it said, and what it meant, Hillary realized instantly. Not many people did that. It meant that Debbie, for all her outward appearance, was a shrewd and cautious operator.
    She’d have to bear that in mind.
    ‘I used to be a full DI before I took early retirement. And James here was a sergeant.’
    Debbie nodded. ‘I get it. They can’t spare the full-time coppers, who’ve got enough on their plate trying to solve crimes that happened yesterday. So they’ve put the old war-horses onto it. Makes sense I suppose.’
    ‘I can assure you, Mrs Gregg, that both myself and my team will do our best by your sister,’ Hillary said quietly. And meant it. If the other woman took that as a threat, it certainly didn’t register on her plump, pleasant face.
    Debbie smiled grimly. ‘By that, you mean that you’re going to try and fit me up for it every bit as hard as that other bastard did. Squires.’
    Hillary shook her head. ‘Nobody “fits up” anybody, Mrs Gregg, I can assure you. That’s only in fiction and on the telly.’
    ‘Yeah, right,’ she snorted. ‘You’re not going to convince me that that bloke DI Squires didn’t do his best to get me had up for our Anne’s murder. I bet it’s all written down in his notes somewhere. I could tell what he was thinking, you know, he didn’t make no secret of it. And I’m not stupid. He kept bringing me in for questioning, pestering the life out of me, even though I kept telling him and telling him I didn’t do it. He kept on and on at the neighbours and our friends, until even they began to have a go at me for it. As if it was my fault!’
    Her voice, which had been rising steadily in volume, suddenly fell off, as she paused to take a deep breath.
    Hillary said nothing, waiting for the tirade to continue. A lot of truth came out in anger, and she was more than ready to be the butt of Debbie’s bile if it meant she let slip anything interesting.
    Or