‘And did anybody see her?’ asked Tompkins.

‘Possibly. Two cars passed us on the way.’

‘But neither of them stopped? Did they slow down?’

‘No, I don’t think so. But I suppose they could have recognised her, but just kept going, so as not to attract attention. Or something.’ She began to consider the possibilities more closely. Had someone in one of the cars phoned a co-conspirator watching from some point in the village? The driveway of the house could be seen from a variety of viewpoints, after all. If it was a matter of great importance for Grace to be recaptured without causing a commotion, the sensible strategy would be for a car – or two or three cars – to circle the area, on the assumption that eventually the fugitive would have to emerge onto a proper road, in order to get away from the area. Then the watchers might have quickly established where their quarry was spending the night, and who it was who had rescued her. But again, she kept these thoughts to herself. If she did choose to share them with the police, it would be better done during a formal interview at the police station.

She did, however, find it oddly satisfying to have a 127credible explanation worked out, albeit hypothetically. It rendered the murder somehow less frightening, once it became clear that ordinary levels of common sense and persistence had been all that was needed to find and kill the woman they were chasing. Even if the whole thesis turned out to be completely wrong, it was still theoretically practicable, and therefore possible to confront without panic.

‘We’ll go back the way we came,’ decided Goodbody. ‘We’ve got all we need for now. They’ll be wanting to question you back at the station. We’re to take you there. Then we’ll come back to the house and give the attic room a proper going-over. We’ll probably be gone by the time you get back.’

‘What about the builders?’

‘They won’t be a problem. We might ask for their fingerprints, for purposes of elimination.’

The return walk was soon accomplished, and Thea was being urged to waste no time in accompanying the officers to Cirencester. Quickly gathering bag, door key, phone and coat, she went round to the builders to explain that she would be out for a bit, and there would be a team of forensic people all over the house.

‘Whoa!’ said Sid.

‘They might want your fingerprints, if that’s okay.’

Both men shrugged, not quite able to hide their excitement. Neither one seemed worried about being fingerprinted. Thea added that they should put up the barricade into the kitchen and leave through the front, 128pulling it firmly behind them, if she wasn’t back by knocking-off time and the police people had gone by then.

‘Leave it to us,’ said Sid jauntily.

‘Thank you,’ said Thea, with a sigh.

129

Chapter Ten

The interview took place in a small room with a bank of machines against one wall. ‘Are you going to film me?’ Thea asked facetiously, eyeing something that looked like a camera.