Page 82 of Guilty Mothers

‘He even answers some of the questions we ask on her behalf,’ Penn offered.

Stacey felt herself growing uneasy. They were right. There was definitely something off there.

‘Guys, you gotta do something. Can you get Logan out of the house so you can speak to her?’

‘He won’t fall for it. He follows her everywhere, and he’s already cautious now that we’ve tried to exclude him from the conversation.’

‘He can’t follow her everywhere,’ Stacey said as a slow smile spread over her face. ‘He can’t follow her here.’

Penn’s expression brightened as it dawned on him what Stacey was saying.

‘Oh, Stace, I love you. No matter what everyone else says about you.’

‘Why, what do they say?’ she asked, feigning surprise.

‘Okay, Tiff, we have a plan. James Nixon was reported missing by Olivia Dench, one of the last people to see him alive,’ he said, standing.

‘I know that, but where are we going?’

‘We’re going to place Olivia Dench under arrest.’

FIFTY-THREE

Kim hadn’t intended on making a repeat trip to talk to Carly, but so far she seemed to be one of the most reasonable and well-balanced girls to have come out of the pageant world, especially ones who had also had contact with Judith Palmer.

According to Stacey’s matrix, Carly had been totally average as a competitor. Given that they’d learned that the girl had been the typical Miss Congeniality, helpful to the other girls and remembered fondly by all, it was bemusing that she’d sought assistance for issues with her mother.

As they headed from the car to Carly’s office, Kim’s phone tinged receipt of a message. It was from Keats. No text, just photos, and they needed no explanation.

‘Bloody hell,’ she said, scrolling down through the images.

As they’d suspected, there had been a foreign body lodged in Sally-Ann’s throat. Keats had retrieved it during the post-mortem, and she had to say this one produced the biggest physical reaction from her. It was a piece of a crown complete with fake glass stones and sharp pointy edges. Kim couldn’t imagine the agony of having it forced down her throat.

She passed the phone to Bryant as she knocked on the door of the premises in Hagley. Her colleague’s eyes opened wide as he took a big swallow, as though it was currently lodged in his own throat.

The door was opened by Carly, who looked surprised to see them again.

‘Any more trouble?’ Kim asked, glancing to where the window was still boarded up.

She shook her head as she stood aside. ‘I think they know I’ve wound down the business so there’s not much point.’

She closed the door behind them, and Kim noted that the office was now almost empty.

‘I know you haven’t returned to check on my premises so…oh, hell no, don’t say there’s been another one?’

‘Afraid so,’ Kim said as Carly steadied herself on a pile of boxes.

‘Who?’

‘Sally-Ann Davis, mother of Lottie. Did you know them?’

Carly nodded. ‘She and her mom were very close. Why is this happening?’

‘We were kind of hoping you might be able to help us with that.’

‘How would I know?’ she asked doubtfully. ‘I haven’t seen any of them in years.’

Kim leaned against the filing cabinet in the absence of anywhere to sit. ‘We understand that you were close with a lot of the girls, that you helped out a lot, that you didn’t take yourself too seriously?’ she asked with a smile.