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‘Yes and no. I had an evening’s entertainment and the company of some acquaintances, but I didn’t get any news of anything more permanent coming my way.’
Kim waited.
‘A man, Inspector. I’ve been on my own for a while now. The old-fashioned way of meeting someone has been replaced by swiping left or right or something. News of the arrival of my Prince Charming and happy ever after was not forthcoming. If I’m honest, I did consider a one-to-one session with her, but clearly that’s not going to happen now.’
‘We hear that you broke up a bit of a tiff between Catherine and Lisa,’ Kim said.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Nothing new there. If they both had dicks we’d be sick of the sight of them.’
Emily laughed out loud, and Bryant hid a chuckle behind a cough. Even Kim appreciated the woman’s no-nonsense attitude. Having just a few years on the others seemed to give her the wisdom to tell it how it was.
‘And Lisa’s reaction to her reading?’
‘Well, she wasn’t thrilled. There were no details or anything, but Sandy did refer to not repeating past mistakes, as next time she wouldn’t be so lucky. Lisa was pretty quiet after that.’
‘And you saw David Ford when he came early to collect Betts?’
Rose rolled her eyes. ‘He’s a knob but she stood her ground.’
‘You heard the conversation?’
‘Yeah, my chair was nearest to the lounge. He ordered her to get in the car and told her she was to have nothing more to do with “that woman”. I wasn’t sure exactly which one of us he meant, but a few minutes later he was back in the car and Betts had returned, albeit looking a bit strained.’
‘You took Emily to the function?’ Kim asked.
‘And brought me back,’ Emily confirmed. ‘I nodded off in the car.’
‘Before I could even ask her if she’d seen the shenanigans outside. She was asleep in seconds.’
‘Outside?’ Kim asked.
‘Yeah, I was clearing away the nibbles plates when Catherine was seeing Sandy to her car.’
‘And?’
‘Oh, they were going at it. Actually, that’s unfair. Only one of them was going at it. Sandy was just trying to leave.’
‘Catherine was shouting at her?’
‘Oh yeah. Her arms were gesticulating all over the place. She was in quite the rage, and the more Sandy ignored her, the more animated Catherine became. Sandy finally managed to edge her way into the car without touching Catherine, who unceremoniously kicked the car and gave the middle finger salute as Sandy headed out the drive,’ Rose said.
Kim was now sure that they would be paying a second visit to Catherine. It was time for the host of the evening to explain exactly what had happened on Thursday night.
Kim stood. ‘Thank you both for your time. If we need anything—’
‘Hang on, guv,’ Bryant said, standing. ‘I just need to have another look at that crystal in the corner. It’s the wife’s birthday next week and she loves this stuff. May we?’
‘Of course,’ Emily said, switching on the kettle as Rose took a seat.
Kim followed Bryant back into the shop.
‘That’s the one I was thinking of,’ he said.
It was a purple quartz piece shaped like an armchair.
‘Nice,’ Kim said.
‘I’ll take this one,’ Bryant called out.
