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‘My wife was sick. There was potentially a cure for her type of cancer in America. They were holding trials of a new drug, but it would cost a small fortune.’
‘She survived,’ said Thea. She knew that Frances hadn’t died all those years ago. ‘It worked.’
‘It did. We had twenty-five wonderful years. Then, just a few months ago, we thought it had come back. You still can’t get the drug on the NHS.’
Edward moved closer to the window. ‘I had to find the money again.I knew when your father disappeared, I’d given him a couple of books to sell. I needed them back.’
‘So, you were the one who went through Mum’s boxes in the garage of Jenna’s home?’
Edward turned around and looked at Thea. ‘Yes, that was me. But she didn’t have them.’
‘So, you thought they were in the bookshop? Why didn’t you just go and get them?’
‘I didn’t have the key, and it would look suspicious if there was a break-in. I did not want to get the police involved.’
‘So, you got Jenna involved instead.’
‘Yes. I was prepared to give her a commission. She had the key to the shop, and needed the money.’
‘Then you could offer them to a private collector for a small fortune.’
Now Thea understood why Jenna hadn’t wanted to talk about it, because it would have meant telling her that Edward, the man she looked up to, and respected, and who had been a father-figure to her while she was growing up, was a thief.
‘You met her at the bookshop, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.I guessed they must still be in the bookshop. We had to meet when the other shops in Cobblers Yard were closed so we didn’t arouse any suspicions by going into a shop that had been abandoned for years.’
Edward continued, ‘There’s a wealthy collector in Scotland who usually bought the items, but of course Henry always dealt with them. He’d travel up to Scotland to deliver the items in person, so they could inspect the condition of the books before committing their money. I needed a go-between to handle the sale, otherwise …’
‘Like you said, they might get suspicious where you acquired these items if they discovered a museum archivist was trying to sell them.’
‘Yes. Well, that was the plan, anyway, but Jenna backed out. Instead I handled the sale of the first book.’
Thea guessed why she’d backed out. She was pregnant. Why would she travel all the way up to Scotland?
‘What about the second book?’ Thea was thinking of the one wrapped in brown paper that Jenna mentioned she’d left in the shop.
‘It took her time to find it in the bookshop. I told her what she needed to look for.’
‘But if Jenna knew it was you, why the synthesised voice over the phone?’
‘It was one thing meeting in the dead of night, at the bookshop, to hand over a book, but it was in case anyone was listening in. You never know with technology these days, so I thought it was prudent to disguise my voice over the phone.’
‘But you rang her from your home phone number. There was no point disguising your voice – the police could simply look up phone records if it all came to light.’
‘Oh.’
Thea sighed. ‘Goodness, Edward – some criminal you are.’
‘So, what are you going to do? Are you going to turn me in?’
‘For loving your wife, and doing anything you could to save her?’
A wisp of a smile crossed Edward’s face. ‘When you put it like that …’ He turned back to the window.
Thea frowned at him. She was trying to have a conversation with him. Why did he keep turning his back on her? ‘Edward, what on earth is so interesting out that window?’
Edward scratched his head. ‘The yellow campervan.’
