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

incriminating.
    But the silence lengthened, and the older woman took a few deep breaths, obviously making the effort to regain control of herself. And succeeded.
    ‘I can’t tell you anything that I didn’t tell Squires at the time,’ she finally said, her voice almost defeated now. ‘I don’t know who killed her. It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Shane. I wasn’t there that day she died, and no prodding and poking about now is going to prove otherwise. So go ahead, and do your worst.’
    Hillary nodded. ‘Tell me about her,’ she said softly, making the older woman blink in surprise. If she was expecting a hard-headed interview as she had probably endured many times before, she was in for a surprise.
    Hillary had her own approach for belligerent-cum-wary witnesses like this.
    ‘D’yah what?’
    ‘Your sister Anne. What was she like?’
    Debbie shrugged. ‘She was my sister,’ she said simply. ‘There were four of us at home then. Don the oldest – he’s dead now. Then me, then Mark, and then Anne. She was the baby of the bunch.’
    ‘Ah. And spoilt to bits, I bet,’ Hillary said knowingly.
    ‘’Course she was. Apple of Dad’s eye. And she was so pretty, Mum used to love dressing her up in dresses and doing her hair in ribbons and whatnot. Funny, because when she got older….’ Debbie rolled her eyes. ‘Went punk she did.’ And she giggled. It sounded strangely girlish coming from a woman in her sixth decade.
    ‘She had the best of everything then?’ Hillary persisted, keeping her firmly on track.
    Debbie’s blue eyes shot back to Hillary’s face with a knowing gleam. ‘You trying to get me to say that I resented her, like? That I was always jealous of her and so secretly wanted to do her in? Just like that bastard Squires said.’
    ‘No, not at all. You can be exasperated with someone and still love and care for them,’ Hillary said soothingly. ‘That’s what families are all about, isn’t it? Or at least, mine is.’
    Debbie took another hard, long breath, then nodded grudgingly. ‘True enough, I suppose.’
    ‘Tell me about her marriage. To Melvin, isn’t it? Were they happy together?’ Hillary kept any trace of a challenge out of her voice, and the other woman started to relax.
    ‘Oh yeah. Well, I always thought so, anyway. Melvin had a good job, and he weren’t bad looking. She had the kids, never seemed to want for anything. Why shouldn’t she be happy?’ Debbie asked, and there was an edge of bitterness now that was unmistakable. ‘Anyone else would have been. But she had to have more, didn’t she?’
    ‘It hurt, didn’t it,’ Hillary said softly. ‘When you found out about her and Shane – your own husband. Isn’t that the ultimate betrayal? The one we’re all scared of? That someone we love will go behind our back with someone else we love and trust?’
    Debbie smiled and shook her head. ‘At it again, huh? But I’m telling you, like I told Squires before. I didn’t know about it, did I? Not until she was dead, and you lot dug it all up. They kept it very quiet, they did. Must have been very crafty about it, because I hadn’t got a bloody clue, had I? How thick am I?’
    ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know,’ Hillary said quietly, leaning forward on her seat to create the illusion of sympathy. ‘If your husband cheats on you, especially with your own little sister, you are allowed to feel hurt and betrayed and angry. I know I would.’
    Jimmy, who so far hadn’t said a word, sat and watched and marvelled. He knew Hillary Greene’s own husband had shagged anything that took his eye, and yet nobody would ever guess it from the way she was handling this witness. None of her own personal history showed.
    He’d heard before that Hillary was a marvel with witnesses and now he could see the magic working for himself. It was as if Debbie Gregg was being prised open like a walnut, and she was already beginning to talk freely.
    ‘Well, of course it hurt.