Page 55 of Guilty Mothers

‘Wanda Holloway was a Texan woman who, in 1991, hired a hitman to kill the mother of her daughter’s rival for the cheerleading squad. I know that’s not quite the same but…’

Close enough, Kim thought.

‘Why not try and kill the kid though?’ Bryant asked.

‘Ooh, it takes a seriously sick person to kill kids. The death of a parent is often enough to disturb your focus. Throw you off your game.’

‘You probably dealt with quite a few of the mothers when making dresses,’ Kim said.

‘Well, of course. They were my bread and butter.’

‘Any strike you as particularly troublesome?’

‘Officer, I worked in the industry for twelve years and made, on average, fifty dresses per year. You’re going to have to narrow it down a bit.’

‘Do you remember working for a woman named Sheryl Hawne?’

‘Hell yes.’

Kim sat up straight. Those two words told her a lot. Of all the parents he’d dealt with, he recalled this one immediately.

‘Care to elaborate?’

‘She was an absolute terror. Wouldn’t even let me design the dresses. She’d bring me a photo with her own amendments and wanted them followed to the letter. If even one rhinestone was out of place, she knew about it.’

‘And her daughter Katie?’

‘Oh, Katie was adorable. A real cutie. Must have got her looks from her dad’s side. Bless her, she was terrified of the woman. I don’t mean physically – there was no violence that I know of – but Sheryl was a very intimidating presence. Hell, even I was scared of her, and I didn’t have to go home with her.’

‘But you kept working for her?’ Kim asked.

He laughed. ‘If I’d refused to work for every difficult mother, I wouldn’t have lasted very long.’

‘Did Sheryl put a lot of people’s backs up?’ Kim asked.

‘I’d imagine so. If she was demanding with me, I’d assume she was the same with other service providers.’

‘Any particular incidents you recall?’

‘May I ask what this is about?’

‘Sheryl Hawne was murdered yesterday.’

His hand flew to his mouth. ‘Oh my God, how awful, how terrible. Oh my. I don’t know what to say. I feel terrible about all the things I just said. God rest her soul.’

‘No need to feel bad about the truth. That’s exactly what we need right now.’

‘How’s little Katie?’

‘Not so little, but to answer your question I think struggling is a fair assessment,’ Kim said honestly.

‘Poor girl,’ he said, looking genuinely concerned.

‘Do you remember a woman named Andrea Shaw?’

‘Toyah’s mom?’ he asked as the colour began to drain from his face.

Kim nodded.