Page 31 of The Chapel of Bones

‘And we need to get on to Morbay Uni. Put a bomb up their backsides.’

Gerry’s phone rang again. This time it was Trish Walton to say she was at the station in Neston waiting for Judith Peachy’s train and she would be bringing her back with her as soon as it arrived. An hour later, the message came that Ms Peachy was waiting in the interview room, the pleasant one reserved for victims and innocent witnesses.

Judith Peachy was Sue Potter’s younger half-sister, but Wesley found it hard to imagine that the two women were related. Judith’s hair was shoulder-length and blonde, unlike Sue’s, which had been short and grey. She was slim, and her short skirt showed off a pair of shapely legs. She stood up as they walked in, perfectly composed as she shook hands.

‘We’re very sorry for your loss,’ Wesley began.

‘Thank you. Trish has already brought me up to date with what happened. I can’t believe it. I mean, who on earth would want to kill Sue? Are you sure it wasn’t a robbery gone wrong? She might have disturbed some druggie who broke in looking for money.’

‘Sorry, love, but we believe your sister was targeted,’ said Gerry. ‘As yet we’ve no idea why. Sit down. Let’s have a cup of tea and talk about it.’

Judith gave him a grateful smile. His straightforward approach had obviously gone down well with a fellow northerner. There was a kettle and tea things in the corner of the room, and Wesley, well trained by Pam, did his bit. Once they had the steaming mugs in front of them, they got down to business.

‘What can you tell me about Sue?’ said Wesley gently.

‘She’s . . . she was my half-sister. Her mother died and her father remarried, and I was the result. She was ten years older than me and we led very different lives. She was happily married to Phil for many years. They were both teachers. They never had any children.’ Her red lips formed a sad smile. ‘I’ve got two, but they’re grown up now. I’m an actor,’ she added proudly. ‘As well as two children, I also acquired three husbands along the way.’

‘Widowed or divorced?’ Wesley asked, unable to restrain his curiosity.

‘Divorced.’ She smiled and twisted the large diamond ring on her wedding finger. It sparkled in the weak sunlight seeping through the window. ‘Sue and her husband moved to Devon as soon as she retired from teaching five years ago. A cousin of hers used to live down here at one time.’

‘Your cousin too?’

‘No, she was on Sue’s mother’s side of the family, so I’m no relation. In fact I never even met her. Anyway, Sue and Phil spent their holidays here every year, and the permanent move had always been a dream of theirs when they retired . . .’

She fell silent, and Wesley waited for her to continue.

‘I said we had very different lives, but in spite of that, we got on well. I was her bridesmaid,’ she added with a distant smile. ‘Sue was my big sister, and although we didn’t see very much of each other in recent years, I loved her.’ Her eyes were glassy with tears. ‘I hope you catch whoever killed her and throw away the key.’

‘We’ll do our best. When did you last see your sister?’

‘Six months ago. I came down here for Phil’s funeral and stayed on with her for a couple of weeks. She needed the company, and I’d finished a run in panto playing the Wicked Queen and was resting, as they say, which meant I was free.’ She gave a sad smile. ‘Sue was really into all this medieval dressing-up, so maybe she had a touch of the thespian about her too.’ A tear trickled down her cheek.

‘This cousin of hers, is she still around?’

Judith shook her head. ‘No. She left Devon years ago. Split up with her husband and went off to live abroad.’

‘When was this?’

Judith thought for a while. ‘Must have been at least twelve years ago; maybe fifteen. Long before Sue moved down here anyway. Sue said she hadn’t heard from her for years, which is a shame. I think she was a bit hurt that she didn’t make any effort to keep in touch.’ She gave a little sigh. ‘It would have been nice for her to have someone close by after Phil died.’

‘Did anything out of the ordinary happen while you were staying with your sister? Did she receive any strange notes, for instance?’

She looked Wesley in the eye and shook her head. ‘Nothing like that. No.’ Then she seemed to remember something. ‘Have you spoken to the man who lived opposite?’

‘Who are we talking about?’ Gerry asked, suddenly alert to the possibility of a new lead. All Sue’s neighbours had been interviewed and had had nothing but good things to say about the dead woman.

‘He was an artist. He was only renting the property for a few months and Sue said she wished he’d hurry up and leave. It wasn’t like her to say things like that, so he must really have annoyed her. He used to get drunk and play loud music. Nothing I’m not used to in Manchester, but in a peaceful little place like Belsham, I can understand why Sue was angry about it. So were the other neighbours, I believe. But it was Sue who bore the brunt of it because she lived directly opposite. He came round twice while I was there, drunk and shouting the odds; calling her a dried-up old bag and saying he hoped she’d die. She’d only just lost Phil and it really upset her. I told him to sling his hook, andhe backed off when he saw she wasn’t there alone. Typical bully. In the end, the neighbours banded together and persuaded the landlord to throw him out. But it wasn’t easy. Fortunately someone else is renting the place now. Sue said they were a nice couple.’

Wesley thought it strange that nobody, including Mark and Maritia, had mentioned the undesirable neighbour, but then if the man had only been there a short time and was long gone, they probably didn’t think it was relevant – and it was most likely something they preferred to forget.

‘Can you remember this man’s name?’ he asked. If the unruly neighbour was in the habit of making a nuisance of himself, he might have come to the attention of the police at some point.

‘Sue only referred to him as Jim. She said he sold his paintings in one of the galleries in Tradmouth. Weird things – dragons and suchlike.’

‘Mythical creatures?’

‘That sort of thing. She said they were downright strange.’