cool. Well apart from the kissing.’ His breath caught in the back of his throat and he lifted his hand to wipe his eyes. ‘It’s hard to imagine that I won’t see them again. I just can’t believe they’re gone, all of them.’
‘Not all of them, Bronte is still here and fighting to stay by the looks of things.’
He sniffed.
‘Did they have lots of friends come to the house? They seemed like a pretty popular couple.’
‘Some. I know Saul’s friend came around a lot. They were talking about starting a new business, but it fell through. I think he had a bit of a thing for Olivia; he was always wanting to hang around with her.’
‘Did Bronte know about this? Did she ever talk about him?’
‘She said she saw more of him than her own dad, but she was only messing.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Gary or Greg, not sure to be honest. His surname might have been Ryder or Barker;. I didn’t take much notice of him. He’s a bit of a creep if you ask me.’
‘That’s okay, I’ll find that out. Thanks, you’ve been very helpful. Oh, one last thing, did you know about the previous murders at the house, or did Bronte?’
He looked confused. ‘What previous murders?’
‘A family was murdered in that same house back in the seventies.’
His eyes almost popped out of his head they opened so wide, and his mouth fell open. ‘No way, you’re having me on.’
‘I’m being serious.’
‘No, I mean no. How did they die? Are you sure it’s the same house?’
‘I have very few details on it to be honest, but I’m serious.’
He sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head. ‘That’s crazy, wait till Bronte finds out they moved into the Amityville Horror House. She’ll go insane.’ He stopped talking.
‘One last thing, do you know this man?’ She showed him a still from the home security footage of Stan.
He nodded. ‘He did some gardening for Saul, a couple of times a week in the summer.’
‘When was the last time you saw him?’
Harrison shrugged. ‘Couldn’t say.’
Morgan closed her notebook and slipped it back into her bag. She stood up. ‘Thanks, Harrison. I’ll leave you be now. Do you need a lift home?’
‘No, thank you, I have my car.’
She left him still sitting at the table digesting the shocking information she’d just shared with him.
Stan had a legitimate reason to be at the Potters’ house if he did odd jobs for them. He could have fallen and scratched his face. As much as she disliked him and his lousy parenting, she didn’t think he would stoop to murder, no matter how desperate he was. Gary or Greg was definitely another person that needed speaking to. What did it mean if he was there more than Saul? Was he sleeping with Olivia? Did that give him motive to kill her and her family?
She was keen to get back to pass this onto Ben and to get back to working on the cold case in her new office.
Twenty-Eight
Morgan parked in the only empty space outside the front of the station in the visitors’ car park and hoped no one noticed. There was an older woman sitting in the car beside her; her red-rimmed eyes were brimming with unshed tears. Her hair, which had started the day in a French pleat, was almost loose, more strands of hair dangling on her shoulders than were pinned up. Her knuckles were white she was gripping the steering wheel so hard. Unsure what to do, Morgan tried to catch her attention. The woman’s gaze never wavered or looked in her direction she was so fixed on the front of the police station.
Morgan let out a sigh. She couldn’t ignore her despite knowing full well she should continue inside and leave her to it. Dan would have dragged her away; his favourite saying was ‘Don’t make eye contact with anyone unless you have to.’ Morgan had never been able to get her head around his coldness at times. She’d joined the police to help people.
Getting out of her car, she slammed the door; the woman’s gaze never faltered. Morgan knocked on the glass and saw her shoulders jerk at the sudden noise.
Her head finally turned.
‘Are you okay?’
She just stared at her as if in a complete daze.
Morgan shouted again through the glass. ‘Are you okay, can I help you with anything?’ She tugged the lanyard from underneath her shirt, holding her warrant card up so she could see she