‘Well, these bloody girls, women, sorry, they bicker. It goes on and on and that day was no different. I don’t think they really like each other a lot of them, but we have to try and rub along because of the club. I told them to pack it in but Kim ended up leaving, followed by Toni. She wasn’t too happy.’ Marion proceeded to repeat almost exactly the same story as Kim had, while Palmer took notes. ‘There was a lot of tension that day. More than usual, I suppose,’ she continued.

‘Why do you think that was?’ Palmer pressed.

‘Well.’ Marion looked at her feet for a moment, seemingly considering her slippers. ‘It’s complicated.’

Barrett held his breath. Maybe this would be the moment all the pieces fell into place.

‘I’d found something out. Something awful.’ She looked at Alfred who gave an encouraging nod. ‘Toni had recently had an abortion.’

Neither Palmer nor Barrett’s face gave anything away. The pathologist had also discovered this and had shared the discovery with them earlier that day.

‘How did you find this out?’

‘My son, Harry, his girlfriend Erica works at the clinic. She told me, because she was worried about Toni. They’d met at my seventieth birthday party and got chatting. Erica recognised her the minute she saw her at the clinic.’

The policemen waited patiently for her to continue.

‘I don’t want Erica getting in trouble. She is a kind girl. She said that Toni came in on her own and left on her own.’ Marion paused. ‘Gerald wasn’t with her. This was about four weeks ago.’

‘Did you mention this to Mrs Jones?’

‘Well, actually no. Not to begin with.’ Marion appeared embarrassed. ‘I didn’t know what to say, and, like I said, I didn’t want to get Erica in trouble. But I was worried. Toni was a proud person, but I felt she’d seemed out of sorts for a while so I arranged to have a coffee with her. She thought I wanted to talk about the book club. She was horrified when I said I knew about the termination.’ She spoke with a troubled expression on her face. ‘She swore me to secrecy, made me promise I wouldn’t breathe a word. I told her that her secret was safe with me, but asked her why she’d done it.’ Marion sucked in a long breath. ‘She started to cry. I’d never seen her vulnerable, I didn’t know what to do. Then she told me the baby wasn’t Gerald’s.’

‘Did she tell you who the father was?’

‘No. She refused.’ Marion paused. ‘But there’s more. She told me she had been raped.’ The statement hung in the air like a poisonous gas. ‘I got the impression she knew the man – just the way she seemed to want to protect his identity. It was odd.’