‘Yes and no. Norma was clever, so she did things like touch Francesca but never in an overtly sexual way. But what she did, for example, was touch Francesca’s elbow and slide her hand down to her wrist. Take that on its own and its pretty much nothing, but that sort of thing happened over and over. Fran, as Norma very annoyingly insisted on calling Francesca, was forever being called into Norma’s office for motherly one-to-one chats about things that had absolutely nothing to do with the business of selling houses. As time went on, the gaps between these cosy chats grew shorter and shorter. Then there were the monthly meals out, a reward for the whole staff for good performance on the surface but Francesca didn’t see it that way. Francesca always had to sit next to Norma. It was a running joke in the office. Everyone went out on Norma and Francesca’s date nights.’

‘How many of these incidents did Francesca log, roughly?’

‘Specifically, three hundred and seventy-three over eighteen months.’

‘Ouch! Norma Maguire told me she had no idea why Francesca left.’

‘Well, there’s your answer.’

‘Send the log to me but, also, give me a specific example of Norma’s unwanted attentions. The most vivid one you can think of, Poppy?’

An incoming message pinged on Clay’s iPhone.

‘Well, if it was me I can tell you now. The one that would make me come out in goose bumps was the office Christmas party last year. They had it in the Dovedale Towers. Francesca was understandably down because her father had died suddenly prior to Christmas and her boyfriend decided to dump her soon after that. Norma had consumed a few too many whiskies. She lured Francesca into the disabled toilet and closed the door. She laid it on with a trowel about how lonely she was. It was high octane emotional blackmail. She wanted Fran to come to Crosby Beach with her on New Year’s Day, to go for an afternoon out and have food somewhere. Francesca got out of it by playing the bereavement card. New Year’s Day was her dad’s birthday and she couldn’t leave her mum on her own.’

‘I need to have another word with Norma Maguire.’

She opened the message from Stone.

Eve - No one home at Daniel Ball’s house. I knocked a few times. According to the neighbour, Daniel would be in work. His wife, Lydia, goes to town most days. Sorry, no sign of.

77

2.03 pm

When the landline telephone on Detective Sergeant Gina Riley’s desk rang out, the only person in the incident room was Detective Constable Barney Cole.

Cole moved three desks down and picked up.

‘This is DC Cole on DS Riley’s telephone.’