Jude didn’t say anything else on the way back to Fethering. Her mind was buzzing. She now felt sure she knew what crime had been committed. But she couldn’t for the life of her work out how to prove it.

Talking again to Red was a starting point. He sounded very guarded as he answered his mobile. Jude didn’t think he received many calls. But he relaxed when he heard who it was.

‘Couple of things I should have asked you when we met …’

‘About Bill?’

‘Yes.’

‘Go ahead then.’

‘You said you weren’t surprised to hear that he was dead. And I assumed at the time you meant you thought he’d committed suicide.’

‘That’s what I did think. That’s what I still think.’

‘And you think he did it because of the cancer diagnosis?’

‘Yes. He said he wasn’t getting better, the treatment was costing a lot of money, and he wanted it to look like an accident for Malee’s sake.’

‘So she didn’t think she had driven him to suicide?’

‘No, no, for money reasons. He had a life insurance policy. There was something in that meant she wouldn’t get anything if he topped himself.’

‘I see. You knew Bill a long time. Had you ever known him have problems with his digestion?’

There was a cackle of laughter from the other end. ‘All the bloody time. Always got some kind of gut-rot, old Bill.’

‘And did you ever hear him say he thought it might be cancer?’

‘No. It was his diet. He ate badly. His own fault. Never could resist anything deep-fried.’

‘Do you know if he ever went to the doctor about it?’

‘Never mentioned it to me. We didn’t talk about stuff like that. Certainly never went to Fethering Surgery with it, though his daughter-in-law Shannon kept whingeing on at him.’

‘Do you know if he ever took her advice, consulted someone she recommended?’

‘Not while I was in touch with him, no.’

‘In the autumn?’

‘Wasn’t talking then, were we?’

‘Of course not. But he must’ve changed his mind, mustn’t he?’

‘How d’ya mean?’

‘You said last time you saw him, when he came to say goodbye, he told you the treatment wasn’t working.’

‘Yes.’

‘So that means he was actually having treatment.’

‘Yes. But not proper treatment.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘He wasn’t on the NHS. He was just seeing some bloody healer.’

Jude curbed what would have been her normal response to that. In this case, she thought Red’s response was justified.

TWENTY-FIVE

Carole produced a cheese salad lunch at High Tor. Jude had some but was totally unaware of what she was eating. Her mind was too caught up with fury and confusion.