‘Come and sit down,’ she said, ushering him to a pew in the main body of the church. ‘It was uncomfortable business, DC Stoner. The lady Nan upset so much has since left us. She was a lot younger than any of the women in the church group, and to be honest I found her a bit overpowering. I got the feeling that Nan knew her from before she joined the church, and that something had happened between them that caused them to dislike each other so intensely.’ She shrugged. ‘I could be wrong, but that was the impression I got. Andrea, the younger woman, had a lot of friends here, and she took against Nan from the first.’ She lowered her voice. ‘As far as I could see, Andrea’s friends closed ranks against Nan and forced her to leave. Personally, I suspect that Nan was actually right in what she said.’

Kevin frowned. ‘Really? You mean she was deliberately driven away from the church?’

‘Deliberately driven away from Andrea is more to the point.’

‘Do you know what it was all about, Mrs Shipley?’

‘Not exactly. No one here will even talk about it, but what I do know was that it concerned a child, a boy. Something to do with this lad upset Nan, but I don’t know what.’ She spread her hands. ‘And that’s all I know.’

‘What was this Andrea’s surname?’ Kevin scribbled in his notebook.

‘Becker, but I have an idea that she divorced and went off with another man, possibly even married again, so it could be different now.’ Mrs Shipley kept glancing around, as if she was concerned not to be overheard. ‘She lived in Connaught Road back then, like Nan, but I don’t know the number, and she’s certainly not there now.’ She looked around. ‘A lot of the committee members joined us after the event and know nothing about Nan or what occurred, but her death has sent a few ripples through the aisles, I can tell you!’

Kevin smiled at her. ‘You’ve been really helpful, Mrs Shipley. If I give you my card, would you contact me if you recall anything else, or even hear anything? I’m certain it was something from her past that caused this shocking thing to happen.’

‘That wouldn’t surprise me at all,’ she said. ‘Not everyone who steps through our hallowed portals is without sin.’

He noticed her wry smile. ‘You’re right there, Mrs Shipley,’ he said. Hadn’t the murderer Ashcroft conceived the most terrible of his acts while sitting humbly in a church pew?

As he got up to leave, she said softly, ‘I liked Nan Cutler, Kevin. I hope you find the truth.’

‘I’ll do my best.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN