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Kim recalled the blood on her hands, on her face, in her hair.
‘She fought her attacker valiantly. She didn’t give up easily.’
Kim had learned over time that talking to the families of victims was an art in not lying but not presenting them with images that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
He shook his head, as though trying to avoid such images from ingraining themselves on his brain.
‘B-But why? She’d never hurt a soul.’
‘Had she mentioned anything to you recently? Any threats? Strange incidents, anything unnerving?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘I mean, nothing in particular. Her work attracted the occasional crackpot but she was used to it, keyboard warriors and all that. She’d block them and forget them.’
‘Anything more threatening than normal?’ Kim pushed.
‘Not that she mentioned. I’m sure she would have told me.’
‘Any disgruntled customers?’
‘Absolutely not. You should read the testimonials on her website. She helps hundreds of people.’
Kim didn’t trust the opinions placed on the website by the person being reviewed. She already had Stacey digging deeper on that.
‘And how did Sandra conduct her business? Stage shows or…’
‘No. She didn’t do big venues. Too many voices, she said. She gave one-to-one readings and did small events: dinner parties and private functions. She wasn’t keen on those and seemed a little unsettled after the last one. She had a couple of regular customers as well.’
He dropped his head into his hands and a sob escaped from his mouth. Talking about her in the normal context of her work and not her murder had given his brain a few seconds of relief before reminding him again that she was gone.
‘It’s okay, Will – take your time,’ Bryant soothed.
Will took a breath, wiped his eyes and raised his head.
‘Unsettled?’ Kim asked. Anything out of the ordinary was worth pursuing.
‘Just some spilled red wine or something. She didn’t talk much about her work when she got home.’
‘And she also had regular clients?’ Kim asked. How many times did one need to go and see a psychic?
He nodded. ‘Some people like regular guidance, support. I suppose I always thought of it like going to see a life coach or something. Sometimes she came back full of energy and other times it was like she just wanted to chuck it all in.’
‘Will, is there any way we can get access to her client list, maybe her computer as well?’
‘Of course, if you think it’ll help,’ he said, standing and leaving the room.
‘Stepdaughter seems to have taken it remarkably well,’ Bryant said, once the man was out of earshot.
‘That’s an understatement,’ she agreed as the front door opened.
The Labrador she’d seen the night before came bounding into the room. The quick walk around the block appeared to have done little to burn off his energy.
‘Gorgeous dog,’ Kim said, stroking his head.
‘He’s mine,’ Nicola said, unclasping the lead from his collar. ‘My dad bought him for me when I was fourteen.’
And yet it was the stepmother who’d been walking him regularly, according to Terence Birch.
‘Have you got them yet?’ she asked as Pickles took a good sniff of Bryant’s shoes. ‘The person who did it, I mean.’
