‘You were her dear friend,’ Gary said. ‘She might have confided in you. We need to know the truth in order to catch whoever did this to her. Please, if you know something, tell us. For Nan’s sake.’

Avril seemed to rally. ‘My dear young men, I wouldn’t think of keeping anything to myself if it would help catch the person who ended her life so cruelly. Nan is dead now, nothing I say can hurt her anymore. Ask me anything you like. But I have to say, I don’t know as much as you seem to believe. So . . .’ She took a deep breath. ‘During her long life, Nan did a lot of volunteer and charity work, especially after her husband died. She was a Samaritan, and she helped out as a volunteer counsellor at a women’s refuge. There, she provided many women with an impartial listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. That was where she met Andrea Becker.’

Kevin noticed the way she almost spat the name out.

‘Now. You need to understand what kind of woman Becker really is. And that isn’t straightforward.’ She paused for a moment, thinking. ‘Andrea Becker had a magnetism that attracted people to her. She appeared to be in control of everything — the ideas person, the organiser. Beneath that capable exterior lay a need to gather vulnerable women around her so she could feed off their praise and adulation. The refuge and the church were ideal places to meet such women.’ Avril frowned. ‘I’m talking from experience, because she almost bewitched me too, at one point.’

‘Go on,’ Kevin urged.

‘Anyway, you want to know about Nan’s experience, not mine. It began at the refuge. Becker was also a volunteer there and appeared at first to be a veritable angel. She seemed to have endless time for the damaged women and their children.’ She grunted. ‘Of course she did. She was revelling in their adoration. To start with, Nan supported her and admired her apparent selfless dedication to helping others. Then she began to see through it.’

‘How?’ asked Gary.

‘Nan thought Andrea was getting too involved with one or two of the women, and was doing more than listening, which was all they were supposed to do. Becker was suggesting that they deal with their issues in a certain way, and imposing her own, sometimes radical, ideas.’

Kevin knew that counsellors should never interfere or voice their opinions. He could see why Nan Cutler would have become concerned.

‘Then a woman that Nan happened to know came into the refuge. Her name was Claire, but I can’t recall her surname. They weren’t close friends. If that had been the case, Nan would have had to keep well away from her. As it was, she knew something of Claire’s situation.’ Avril sighed. ‘Claire had her little boy with her.’

‘Teddy,’ Kevin said.

She raised an eyebrow. ‘You know about him?’