Just Like the Other Girls - Claire Douglas Page 0,104

had been dubious about storing it at the gallery, but she hadn’t known where else to put it after Una had found it in the cellar. She’d thought it would be safe in the loft.

‘Where were you at around eleven p.m. on the nineteenth of December?’

Kathryn frowns. ‘I was here, wasn’t I, Mother? When Jemima didn’t come back I stayed to help.’

Holdsworth turns to Elspeth, who looks skinny in her chair, her face pale. ‘Is this true?’

Elspeth wrinkles her brow but doesn’t say anything, and Kathryn feels sweat break out under her armpits. ‘I can’t remember,’ she says, not looking in Kathryn’s direction. ‘I think so. I’m sure that’s true, but it’s months ago now and my memory isn’t as good as it was once.’

A white-hot flame of anger ignites inside Kathryn. ‘You know I was here,’ she snaps, turning to Elspeth. ‘You hate being on your own in the house.’

Elspeth replies calmly, her face poised, ‘I’m sure you’re right, my dear.’

Holdsworth doesn’t look convinced and she surveys Kathryn, her eyes scanning her as though she has X-ray vision and can see her every thought. It makes Kathryn feel uncomfortable. ‘How tall are you?’ she finally asks. ‘Five ten?’

‘Nearly.’

‘And Jemima was what?’

Kathryn feels a prickle of irritation. ‘I don’t know. Five one?’

Holdsworth makes a noise through her teeth. ‘We have CCTV footage of Jemima on the bridge that night. She wasn’t alone.’

Elspeth leans forward. ‘What do you mean? You think someone hurt her?’

‘I’m afraid so, Mrs McKenzie. Someone else was with her on the bridge that night.’

Kathryn falls back against the chair. When she speaks her voice is thin, strained. ‘Am I a suspect?’

‘We’re looking into all avenues. A witness has come forward to say they saw her getting out of a white van. Do you know anybody with a van?’

Kathryn exchanges looks with her mother. ‘Handymen who have come to the house in the past, I suppose,’ says Elspeth. ‘A joiner came to put up shelves a few months ago. He had a white van.’

‘Would he have met Jemima?’

Her mother considers this question. ‘No. No, it was before she started here.’

‘If you can think of anything else, please get in touch,’ says Holdsworth. She stands up and the younger officer follows suit. ‘Thank you for your time. We’ll see ourselves out.’

After the police have left, Kathryn can’t move for a few minutes. She can’t even speak. Her mother must feel the same as she shrinks into her seat, looking frailer than ever.

Elspeth breaks the silence. ‘I knew you’d argued with Jemima.’

‘What?’

‘I saw her running out of the house, crying. My taxi had just pulled in. I didn’t tell the police the first time they visited because –’

‘Because you thought I might have hurt her.’

Elspeth dips her head. She has the good grace to look ashamed. Then she glances up at Kathryn, with her usual, challenging gaze. ‘Why do you hate the girls so much?’

Kathryn fidgets in her seat. ‘I don’t trust them.’

‘So that’s why you wanted to put a lock on my study after Jemima left? Do you really think I’m that naïve? That I’ll let some pretty young thing fleece me out of my money? Is this what it’s all about for you? Your inheritance?’

Kathryn feels a flush of guilt. ‘No. Of course not.’ Now would be a good time to admit she knows about the will and that Matilde was down to get a big chunk of her mother’s cash. But she can’t bring herself to say it. It will make Elspeth believe she’s only worried about money.

Elspeth stands up. She trembles in her thin nightgown. ‘Can you help me upstairs?’ she barks, her voice betraying her size. ‘It’s nearly seven o’clock. I don’t understand where Willow is.’

Kathryn does as she’s asked. She helps her mother into the shower, then assists her with getting dressed. Once Elspeth is resplendent in a smart tweed skirt and silk blouse she looks like her formidable mother once again. Elspeth reaches up and touches her hair, her fingers finding the loose strands from the chignon. ‘Thank goodness I have a hairdresser’s appointment tomorrow,’ she says, pushing the tendrils of white hair behind her ears. ‘My hair is a mess.’

‘It looks fine.’

And still Willow hasn’t emerged from her room. ‘I need to get home,’ says Kathryn, thinking of the argument she had with Ed yesterday. ‘Maybe Willow’s overslept. I’ll go and check.’

She leaves her mother sitting on the edge of her bed, applying her lipstick with a shaky hand, and climbs the