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IT: I’d just moved into the close. I couldn’t find the teabags so I asked if she had any spare. She invited me in.
HS: Is there any reason why you asked Rachel Edwards specifically?
IT: It was early. I could see that her lights were on. That she was up. Awake, I mean.
HS: And what about Mr Edwards?
IT: Mark? He was there that morning. (Pause) Look, can I just say that the only reason I’ve ended up getting involved in this stuff is because my ex left me practically penniless. Without that, I’d never have had to move and I’d never have asked Mark about a job. Honestly, apart from him, I wish I’d never met that family.
HS: So you have no income other than your salary from your clerical job at ICI?
IT: A pittance. Yes. What’s that got to do with anything?
HS: Nothing, just building up a picture. And that’s the job that you get a lift with Mr Edwards to each day, is that right?
IT: Yes.
HS: How would you describe your relationship with Mr Edwards now?
IT: Mark and I are… well, we’re close. You know, we get on really well. We make each other laugh. We just… clicked, I suppose. But that’s it. He was really kind to me, he’s so sweet. He practically got me that job and I guess on our car trips together I realised he needed someone to talk to, you know with Rachel being as she was. I could have driven in my own car obviously but that would have been a waste with us going to the same place every day, and I suppose I felt like I could pay him back by offering a sympathetic ear. I mean, I think he wanted more. You get a sixth sense for these things as a woman, but we were just friends. We are friends still, I hope. I mean, I’m not a husband stealer or anything. I’m not some sort of Jezebel home wrecker. I’m a feminist.
HS: Ms Taylor, if we could go back to the evening of Saturday the twenty-ninth of June this year, the night Joanna Weatherall was attacked. Did you have any suspicions with regard to your neighbour, Mrs Edwards?
IT: Well, obviously I’d seen Rachel’s weird file by then, but I didn’t leap to any conclusions other than perhaps having doubts about her mental health. I knew she went out every night. I would see her sometimes from my front window, either with the dog or coming home with a takeaway of some sort. So many takeaways. I used to wonder why people got them. I mean, why not go out for a meal? Be civilised instead of troughing down luminous MSG in your jogging pants? Sorry, I don’t mean to sound flippant; I’m not like that, and since my change in circumstances, I understand it. It’s cheaper, basically. I hadn’t thought about that. So, to answer your question, I might have seen her go out that night, I might not have – I couldn’t possibly pin down the date.
HS: So you had no suspicions?
IT: Not then. Obviously with hindsight I realise that Rachel must have taken the knife with her. I mean, to me, that’s premeditated, isn’t it? That’s like putting a silencer on a gun or something. Sheknewshe was going to stab that girl and that’s a pretty chilling thought, to be honest. I mean, we used to have coffee together, chat over the fence when I was watering the neighbour’s plants. So no, no suspicions at the time other than her general spaced-outness, but it all makes sense now. Mark was worried about her. When I mentioned her nightly walkabouts to him, he said she’d started doing that quite recently. After their daughter’s birthday party, I think he said. Said she’d gone a bit strange suddenly, although he didn’t put it like that. He wouldn’t talk about her that way, he’s too nice.
HS: So you were worried enough to express concern to Mr Edwards?
IT: I did say to Mark that she didn’t seem well. I tried to get him to see that, but only because I was worried about her. If I happened to see her out talking to strangers, I would mention it to Mark because it felt like the right thing to do. At first I was only trying to alert him to the fact that she might need help. He did eventually tell me she’d suffered with her nerves, as he put it, after their son was born and he knew she’d been a bit down lately. I guess he really needed someone to talk to. It was the least I could do.
HS: So you saw yourself as his confidante, would you say? A shoulder to cry on?
IT: I’m a good listener. At least, men find me easy to talk to. So yes, sometimes when Rachel went off on her little walkies, I’d either call in to see if he was OK or text to see if he wanted to pop over for a glass of wine and a chat. As friends, obviously.
14
Mark
Transcript of recorded interview with Mark Edwards (excerpt)
Also present: DI Heather Scott, PC Marilyn Button
ME: She wasn’t well. She wasn’t well before, years before. When Kieron was born, she kept thinking she was going to kill him. We were worried sick.
HS: We?
ME: I mean her mum, her dad. And Lisa.
HS: That’s Lisa Baxter? For the benefit of the tape, Mr Edwards is nodding.
ME: It was diagnosed quickly, once we’d called the hospital. Well, we ended up calling the emergency services because she went missing and no one could get hold of her. Then Lisa spotted her at the edge of the estate, looking… dishevelled, like, and distressed. So actually it was Lisa who rang and they sent an ambulance. I can’t believe I didn’t recognise the signs, to be honest.
HS: What signs?
ME: Well, she was very down. She’d been down even before Kieron went to uni…
