all, passed me a sandwich, apple, bag of crisps and a can of Vimto then shut the door. She didn’t even give me the chance to say thanks.’
‘Did you see the girls?’
He shook his head. ‘I was about to leave when I heard her phone ring. She was shouting down it to whoever was on the other side. Said they’d ruined her life and she’d make them pay big time. I backed off; it was none of my business. I went back to Carol’s and that was when she decided to throw me out, so I came to the pub and got drunk. You can ask Steve over there, behind the bar. I was here until closing time and then I went to your place. It’s really dark along those lanes; I fell over into the hedgerows a couple of times. Then I realised I was the last person you’d want to see, so I sat at the edge of the drive on that big boulder. Until I was cold and plucked up the courage to knock on your door.’
Morgan had no reason to disbelieve him; he hadn’t faltered once. He hadn’t paused as if trying to decide what to tell her, it had come out with no hesitation.
‘It’s terrible. What about the O’Briens?’
‘Morgan, that was a long time ago. My memory isn’t what it used to be. I’ve drunk a lot of alcohol over the years since that happened and probably killed off more of my brain cells than I can afford to.’
‘I know, but was there anything you can think of at the time that rang bells, that you thought was odd?’
He blew out a long breath. ‘It’s funny you know, I hadn’t really thought about it much, but that Greg Barker was also always sniffing around Jennifer. He worked with her husband Jason. I just thought they were good friends, well until they fell out over money; I was a lot younger back then and had my own fair share of problems. My parents kicked me out of the house when I was seventeen, you know, and I spent a lot of years sofa surfing until I met your mum. Sylvia changed my life for the better; at least she did for a while. But it’s the drink; I’ve always had a problem with it. I tried my best to get off it. I joined the AA and went to the meetings religiously. I was sober for almost ten years.’
‘What happened?’ Morgan didn’t want him to stop talking. They had never had a conversation like this before.
‘Sylvia, she wanted a baby so bad, it was all she talked about. But she would always lose them before she made it to three months. I prayed so hard for a miracle to happen and it did, you came along and Sylvia was in love. She was smitten with you and I got pushed to one side. Before you say anything, I know what I sound like, I was like a spoilt brat. We’d been on our own for so many years with no children, we were both almost forty when you happened. I found it a lot harder to adjust than I imagined. So instead of going home and playing happy families like I should have, like I knew Sylvia wanted, I spent more and more time in the pub. I wasn’t there when she needed me, that day.’
His breath caught in the back of his throat and for the first time in forever she took a good, hard look at the man sitting opposite her. His face was full of deep grooves and lines; his greying hair was almost gone on the top it was so thin. His eyes were a piercing blue, watery with unshed tears. A lump formed in the back of her throat. She’d spent so many years hating him she couldn’t remember a time when she’d loved him and that made her sad. Neither of them spoke for several minutes, and she could feel Stan’s eyes on her as if he, too, was only just realising the woman sitting opposite him was his own flesh and blood. But as much as she longed to continue talking about her mum, she had to focus on the investigation.
‘Stan, did you hear any rumours about the O’Briens’ murders at the time? Did anyone point fingers, gossip, that kind of thing?’
‘Honestly, I don’t think so. I mentioned to the police that I thought Barker was involved on some