Anne dropped her head into her hands and wept without restraint. At her side, her lawyer stirred.

‘I need some time alone with my client,’ he said, his shoulders slumped in resignation.

‘Take all the time you want,’ Ian replied, switching off the tape. ‘She’s not going anywhere.’

56

56

The celebratory drink in the pub that evening was subdued. Two killers had been caught and were now behind bars, but as a result of those murders a baby had been taken into care. When she was older, Daisy might learn her family history, and live with the knowledge that both her mother and her maternal grandmother had murdered their husbands. She would never know who her father was. But for now, the team had gathered to celebrate the successful conclusion of the investigation.

‘Well done, everyone,’ Eileen said, raising her glass. ‘That was a tough case.’

‘And a particularly nasty one,’ a constable added.

There was a murmur of agreement, while glasses were raised and clinked. Eileen was smiling, more with relief than pleasure, and most of the officers were talking at once.

‘A mother and a daughter both killing their husbands has to be more than coincidence,’ a constable said. ‘There must be something in their genes.’

‘Plus they both committed the murders for the exact same reason, to protect their own daughters,’ another officer said.

While her colleagues discussed whether the case provided evidence that the ability to kill was hereditary, or if the similarity between the murders was coincidence, Geraldine remained silent, thinking about everything that had happened during the investigation.

‘So you were right,’ Ian said to her when they arrived home. ‘What a family.’

‘That poor baby,’ Geraldine replied.

‘Well, at least she won’t be raised by a murderer. We now have two killers behind bars,’ Ian said. ‘Admittedly it’s unlikely they were ever going to kill anyone else, but who knows? If either of them had seen someone else as a threat to them, they might have done it again. Once a killer…’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Just that people don’t change.’

‘Do you really believe that?’

Ian looked at her in surprise. ‘Don’t you?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. To be honest, I’ve had enough of heavy conversations for one night. Can’t we just pretend to be ordinary people with ordinary jobs who don’t spend their time studying cadavers and crime scenes and interviewing the most horrifying people in town?’

Ian grinned. ‘Sure. I’ll be a construction worker. What do you want to be?’

Geraldine smiled. ‘A hotel receptionist.’

‘Dealing with all the guests’ complaints?’

‘No. OK then, a flower seller.’

‘But your flowers wouldn’t last long, so you’d be under pressure to sell them quickly.’

‘Oh, I don’t know, what job do you think would be the least stressful in the world?’