‘God damn it.’ Barrett slammed down his hands. ‘Then our killer is still out there. Back to square one.’

‘I’ll arrange for Pauline to be released.’

Barrett marched past Palmer and into the incident room. ‘We are missing something. I want to speak to Marion Bolton. Get in touch with her and ask her to come in to the station. She knows more than she told us and I want to know exactly what that is.’

13

4.40pm 24 June

‘So, she’s been released.’ Marion put down her book and looked across at her husband.

‘That’s what Roger said.’ Alfred was in a pensive mood. ‘Hard to believe they arrested her in the first place, I mean, really, at her age, I just can’t see it.’

‘Yes, and she has that trouble with her hip,’ Marion agreed. ‘Still they must have had some reason.’

‘But she’s out now, so that is the end of it.’ Alfred was as keen as his wife to know exactly what had gone on, but felt guilty for gossiping, and was not a man who liked to speculate without knowing all the facts.

‘Well, I’m not sure what to do. Do I call her and see if she’s alright? Do I leave her alone? It’s all so complicated.’ Marion rubbed her temples.

‘I think you need to try and stop involving yourself.’ Alfred went and sat next to his wife. ‘The shock of Toni’s death is still so raw. You all need time to process it. She may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but she didn’t deserve to end her days like that.’

‘The book club hasn’t been the same for a while. It used to be fun and light-hearted but it’s got so serious, and all these different women just can’t seem to get along. I’m tired of it.’

‘Then stop doing it.’ Alfred put his arm around Marion. ‘You don’t need this stress.’ He kissed her forehead. ‘It’s not worth it.’

‘Maybe you’re right. I just need to step back. They’re all at it – Shirley, Amy, Janet, all fighting and bitching. I don’t know where it went wrong. Honestly, you’d think there was nothing more harmless than a book club.’ She sighed and stroked the cover of her book with her hand.

‘I was thinking—’ Alfred was determined to lift his wife’s spirit. ‘What if we took the motorhome and went away for a while? Just the two of us. We could go and explore Holland. You’ve always wanted to do that.’

Marion’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You’re so good to me. I do love you, you old bugger.’

‘Less of the old, missy,’ he said, as the phone rang.

‘I’ll get it.’ Marion stood.