Ann Cleeves - The Healers

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had the radio on. I didn’t hear the bell.”

“Could I come in for a while?”

“I don’t know. It’s not very convenient.”

“There are just a few points to clear up about the acupuncture lecture,” Sally said.

Don’t confront her about her husband, Ramsay had told Sally. We don’t want to scare him off. That can come later. Don’t ask her anything about Juniper Hall. Nothing tricky. Get her confidence and stick to the lecture in the college. See if you can break the alibi.

“You’d better come in then,” Win said, as if she wasn’t really bothered after all.

The lunch things were still on the table. There were cartons of houmous and olives, half a quiche, a tub of salad. Most was untouched. It seemed Win hadn’t had much of an appetite. It looked as if everything had been bought specially. Not the sort of snack a woman would rustle up for her and the kids. Win saw Sally looking at the table.

“Magda was here for lunch,” she said. “My mother, you know. She brought the food. The restaurant at the Old Chapel do a carry out service, if you’re hungry just help yourself…”

Sally shook her head. She wondered what the meal had been about. Some sort of peace offering perhaps.

“Where are the boys?” she asked.

“Upstairs having a nap. I couldn’t face their noise today.”

She had a feverish burst of activity, clearing plates, snapping lids on to plastic cartons, then stopped, quite suddenly, before the job was finished. Sally thought she was close to breaking point. It was just as well, she thought, that they hadn’t sent Hunter. He’d push her right over the edge.

“Are you married?” Win Abbot demanded.

Sally shook her head. “Thinking about it.” She smiled. “Would you recommend it?”

“Yes,” Win said very quickly. “Of course.” She leaned forward across the table towards Sally. “I couldn’t regret marrying Daniel. He’s a great man, you know. He has a gift.” Her eyes shone with fanaticism. “You can’t expect gifted people to behave in ways we understand.”

She knows her husband likes chasing young girls, Sally thought. And she’s going to do nothing about it. Selfish bitch.

“I was very ill as a child,” Win went on. “It took someone like Daniel to make me well again. Now he’s helping other people. It’s worth making sacrifices to support him in that.”

Sally did not know how to respond. “Hallelujah’ might have been appropriate. Like in a Pentecostal church when someone’s given witness.

“About the lecture…” she said.

“Yes?” Win said brightly.

“Perhaps you could take me through the evening again.”

“Lily was babysitting. We drove to Otterbridge College. Daniel wanted to arrive early. He was making the introductory speech. He was with me all the time.”

And even if he wasn’t, Sally thought, you wouldn’t let on.

Magda was late arriving and Ramsay was debating about whether he should go to fetch her when the man on the desk said she was there. “I’ll be quarter of an hour,” he said. “Put her in an interview room.” He wasn’t usually into power games but with Magda, he thought, he needed all the advantage he could get.

But when he saw her he thought he had misjudged the situation. She was subdued, uncertain. They had given her a mug of tea. His mug, he noticed immediately. One that Prue had given him. It was covered with painted pigs. Her idea of a joke. The interview room was taller than it was wide, and could once have been a cell. The bare stone walls had been covered with thick cream gloss paint. The window was very small, close to the ceiling, protected by wire mesh. Although it was a sunny afternoon the room was gloomy and lit by an electric light bulb hanging from a dangerous looking flex. Magda, however, seemed not to notice her surroundings.

When he went in she stood up and held out her hand.

“Mrs. Pocock,” he said, ‘we’ve been trying to talk to you…”

“About the boy. I know.”

“Where were you yesterday?” His voice was pleasant, only slightly curious.

“I went to Juniper Hall,” she said. “I needed somewhere to think. It seemed fitting. There were no guests staying and the staff were very kind. They allowed me to walk in the gardens. It was quite late when I got back, and then Win phoned me and told me about James. I think I had decided to give you this anyway, but I couldn’t keep quiet after that.”

From her bag she took a notebook. It was A4 with hard covers, the sort which might be used in an office as a ledger.

“Faye Cooper’s diary,” he said.

“Yes. Faye’s diary.” She paused. “Don’t expect too much, Inspector. I don’t think it will solve your case for you. This hasn’t been a conspiracy to protect a murderer. I really don’t see that it can have anything to do with the attacks on Mr. Bowles or the McDougals. That’s what I’ve been telling myself, you see. That’s why I didn’t come forward before. Then I thought you were an intelligent man. You would use the information wisely. And that any information, even of a negative kind, would be of use to you. Was my judgement correct?”

He nodded.

“Was Faye Cooper murdered?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “Not… technically. Morally perhaps there was a responsibility, but nothing, I think, which would interest you. Nothing legal.”

“She committed suicide?” he said.

“You guessed?” She was surprised, rather impressed.

“I thought it was a possibility.”

“She committed suicide,” Magda said. “It’s quite certain. She makes her intention very clear in the diary. She wanted the record set straight.”

“But it wasn’t, was it? Not publicly at least. Because you stole the diary. Why did you do that?”

She shrugged heavily and he was reminded again that her mother had been a foreigner. “For a number of reasons,” she said. “None of them were very well thought out.”

“To protect Daniel?”

“Him? No. To protect my daughter perhaps. She must have guessed at his proclivities, but she would not admit it even to herself. Perhaps it was my fault. I brought her up to believe that those who can heal are special. She’s still infatuated with him, at least the idea of him. I went to see her at lunchtime to show her the diary, to explain what I had to do. She wouldn’t even read it. She had persuaded herself that he was just showing these young girls kindness. Perhaps when the story is out in the open she will not find it possible to maintain the self-deception. I hope that is the case. I would like her to leave him. We could make a life for the children…”

She paused and looked up at him.

“And then,” she said, “I was protecting myself. I

had a part in the girl’s death too.”

“Tell me what happened,” Ramsay said. “I’ll read the diary, of course, but I’d like to hear it from your point of view.”

She sat back in her chair and shut her eyes.

“It was such a hot weekend, Inspector, and such a beautiful place. The leaves had started to change colour but otherwise you’d think it was high summer. The… tone of these weekends is usually set very quickly, depending on the people who are there, how they respond to each other. On that occasion it was affected too by the weather. Everything seemed feverish, sultry, highly charged. You understand what I mean?”

“I think so.”

“You will see from the diary that on the Friday night Daniel invited Faye Cooper to go with him for a walk. She went without question. She was a lovely girl, no parents to speak of, no boyfriend. If anything Daniel was for her a father figure. I’m not sure precisely what happened on that walk, the diary is not specific. An unwanted advance at least. A forced kiss. Perhaps something more serious…” She hesitated again, sat more upright.