seemed too diffident, too anxious. But then, some shy people made great performers. ‘What do you think happened to the woman?’
‘We don’t know. She has a learning disability. Of course we’re worried. Especially as another woman with Down’s syndrome went missing last week. It seems she might have been abducted.’ They were still all standing close to the altar, looking at each other. ‘Where were you both between eleven and twelve this morning?’
The couple looked back at him, shocked, and for a moment neither of them spoke. ‘You can’t think we had anything to do with that.’ Caroline sounded horrified.
‘We’re asking everyone who knew Simon Walden,’ Matthew said. ‘We think Lucy’s disappearance is linked to his murder. They’d become friends.’
‘I told you I went into Barnstaple to do some shopping, but that would have been later. I didn’t leave here until nearly twelve.’ Caroline turned back to her boyfriend. ‘Ed was manning the office here. The priests and volunteers do it on a rota and it was his turn.’
Matthew wondered if she’d speak for the man when they were married, because he thought they would marry. There was something settled, immovable about the relationship. He saw Caroline as one of those supportive, rather interfering wives, who made their husbands’ well-being their lives’ work. She’d organize the business of the parish, leaving him to be figurehead.
‘I had three appointments and saw five people,’ Edward said. ‘A couple planning a wedding. Another booking a baptism and an elderly woman in to talk about her husband’s funeral.’ He paused. ‘There are days when my whole life seems to be about death. I can’t even guess how many funerals I take in a year.’
Matthew thought that he too seemed obsessed by the dying and the dead. Perhaps their work wasn’t so different.
Caroline looked rather disapproving and Matthew expected her to comment, but she said nothing and just placed her hand on Ed’s arm. A gesture of sympathy. Or a warning to be careful what he said.
Matthew turned back to her. ‘How long were you in Barnstaple?’
‘A couple of hours. I didn’t actually buy anything. It was just about keeping out of Ed’s way while he was working. We’d arranged to meet up again for a late lunch. I went for a coffee and then I was browsing. Actually, it was a restful way to spend a Saturday morning.’
Matthew returned his attention to the curate. ‘You were here when Simon Walden first turned up?’
‘Yes. Caroline and I were both here. There’d been a service and he was sitting outside, so drunk that he could hardly stand. The centre was closed then, but we let him in anyway. It was pouring with rain and he said he had nowhere to go.’
‘Yet it seems he did have a home. A flat in Braunton.’
‘We didn’t know that then.’
There was a moment of silence. ‘Did you keep in touch with the man?’ Matthew asked. Because surely that was what clergymen did – they provided pastoral care.
But Craven shook his head sadly. ‘I met Simon a couple of times at Caroline’s house in Ilfracombe, but I never saw him again in any kind of professional capacity. Caroline’s the trained social worker running the mental health project here at St Cuthbert’s. I try to support her of course – she does marvellous work – but most of my energy is taken up with my duties here in the parish.’
Matthew took out a photo of Lucy. ‘This is the missing woman. Did you see her at all today? She would have been in Barnstaple at the same time as you.’
Caroline took the image. ‘No, I didn’t see her today, Inspector. I’m afraid I can’t help you.’
Chapter Thirty-Five
JEN RAFFERTY SAT IN THE SHAPLANDS’ cottage near the creek and eased her way carefully into a conversation with Christine and her mother. Although it wasn’t quite dark outside, Susan had drawn the curtains and switched on the light. A fire burned in the grate again. There was more tea on a tray. No scones, because Jen hadn’t been expected. In the weak artificial light, the mould on the ceiling was hardly visible. Everything was warm and welcoming. Except for the subject of conversation.
‘Lucy’s gone missing,’ Jen said. She was sitting where Jonathan had been on the previous visit, close enough to Chrissie to reach out and touch the woman. ‘We think she was taken by the same man as you. I know it’s the last thing you want to talk about again, but we think