Sandy thought the lawyer must have been Tom Rogerson. Who else would it be? But if that was the case, how had he not recognized Alison Teal when they’d circulated the drawing of the dead woman’s face? She’d certainly aged in the last fifteen years, but she hadn’t changed that much. And it would have been Tom Rogerson who had collected her from the Brae Co-op and sat with her in Mareel. He could see how Alison might have kept in touch with him over the years. He’d offered to keep her secret and she’d surely have been grateful for that. Had she asked for his help again? And if they’d got on so well together, what could be his motive for killing her?
Sandy set those questions aside. Willow and Jimmy would be the people to answer them. He put the printed article on Perez’s desk, returned to his own office and was about to start making the calls that would help them to trace Alison Teal’s relatives. But before he could lift the receiver, the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a woman with a very loud voice. She announced herself as Genevieve Winter. This, it seemed, was Alison Teal’s agent, returning his call.
Chapter Nineteen
They all caught up over tea and sandwiches in the basement kitchen of the guest house where Willow was staying. Rosie set the refreshments on the table, said she was going to put her feet up and left them to their discussions.
Even Vicki Hewitt was there, and Willow turned to her first.
‘Anything new from the scene?’
Vicki shook her head. ‘I’ve pretty well finished looking at the debris caught up behind the wall. Nothing’s jumped out at me as being significant. I’ll send it south as soon as I can, and I’ll start inside the house tomorrow.’
‘But Sandy, it seems, has had a very productive morning.’
Willow had already read the Independent article, but she’d asked Sandy to print out more copies and he passed them round the table.
‘So this is an interview Alison Teal gave to the journalist Camilla White a little while after her disappearance fifteen years ago.’ He looked serious, like a schoolboy asked to speak in front of the class.
Perez interrupted. ‘Is it exactly fifteen years?’
‘Aye, almost to the day. She arrived in Shetland on the last day of January.’
‘So maybe she saw it as an anniversary trip. Could that be the reason for the champagne?’
‘Rather than because she was feeling desperate again, you mean?’ Willow thought either explanation would work. ‘Let’s not get bogged down with speculation just now. Carry on, Sandy.’
‘It’s clear from the article that Alison met at least two people while she was here: Magnus Tait and a lawyer who’s almost certainly Tom Rogerson. Nobody else is mentioned specifically, but it’s possible that she came across other islanders.’
‘Yeah, that’s certainly suggested.’ Willow nodded for him to continue.
‘Alison mentions a number of family members too, and talks a bit about her troubled childhood. So now we know she has a brother called Jonathan who went into the army, that her mother’s maiden surname was Black and her first name Susie, and that Alison’s grandparents lived in Cromer. The article says that Susie and her partner were addicts and handed the children over to Alison’s paternal grandparents to be cared for. It seems likely that social services were involved, and they too will have records.’
‘Tell us then, Sandy. How many of them have you tracked down?’
This was Vicki, teasing, but Sandy took the question seriously. ‘Jonathan Teal was the easiest to find. He left the army five years ago as a corporal with the paratroopers. He’s serving time in Wormwood Scrubs for armed robbery. He and a friend held up a family shop in Norwich. Nobody was hurt, but Teal was the person waving a gun around.’
‘Which is very interesting and perhaps adds something to our understanding of the family,’ Willow said, ‘but it means that he couldn’t have been in Shetland strangling his sister.’
‘Norfolk Police are trying to trace the grandparents and parents.’ Sandy looked at his notes. ‘It’s probable that at least one of the grandparents has died, but they’re checking all that out. The parents both have records for drug-related offences, but they seem to have dropped out of the system not long after Alison’s first jaunt to Shetland.’
‘So they got clean,’ Perez said.
‘Or they got clever.’ Willow wondered if there was some significance in the timing of all this, but she couldn’t work out what it might be.
‘And then,’ Sandy said, ‘I spoke to Alison’s agent. A woman called Genevieve Winter.’
‘Impressive name.’
‘She’s a very impressive woman.’ Willow jumped in at this point. ‘She spoke to Sandy first, but she claimed not to understand him, so I phoned her back later.’
‘She got me flustered.’ Sandy was turning red. ‘I tried knapping, honestly, but she still didn’t seem to get what I was saying.’
‘Probably because she didn’t stop talking long enough to listen.’
‘Knapping?’ Vicki raised an eyebrow.
‘Losing the accent, for the benefit of soothmoothers,’ Perez said. ‘They expect us to understand Geordie or cockney, but they won’t make the effort to understand us.’
‘And this was a particularly arrogant woman.’ Willow pulled a face. ‘But in the end I did shut her up long enough to give her the news that Alison was dead. She had no contact details for a next of kin, but she was able to tell me something about Alison’s recent career. Such as it was.’
‘How did she respond to the news of Alison’s death?’ Perez poured more tea from the huge pot.
‘Honestly? I don’t think she was very bothered. Alison had stopped making her much money years ago. And Ms Winter made it very clear that her business as an agent was all about making money.’ Willow paused and then tried to order her thoughts, to sum up the last years of Alison’s life. ‘Dolly the housemaid – the character Alison played in the costume drama – was killed off very soon after Alison went to Shetland. Alison had got the reputation of being unreliable, and as Ms Winter told me: “Darling, there’s nothing worse for a young actor. Directors hate it.” She got some work immediately after that: a small part in a soap, a panto the following Christmas, some reality show on Channel Five, but about seven years ago the parts dried up altogether. Genevieve still put Alison in for auditions, but recently she’d stopped even doing that.’
‘So that could explain her trip to Shetland,’ Sandy said. ‘If the lack of work had brought on another bout of depression. I haven’t managed to get her medical records yet, or speak to social services. Because it’s a Sunday, nobody’s working.’
‘It would be useful to know if she’d been working in any capacity at all recently.’ Willow thought it sounded as if Alison’s life had stopped completely, several years ago.
‘I think she must have been.’ Sandy again. Tentative. ‘The clothes in the house at Tain all looked pretty classy. She couldn’t have bought them if she was on benefit.’
‘Good point, Sandy. All the witnesses who’ve seen her in Shetland describe her as well dressed. And according to Jimmy, she gave Simon Agnew the impression that she was normally confident and in control. That doesn’t sound like an unemployed actor. And she’d be unlikely to be splashing her money around on champagne if she was skint. Even if there was a special offer at the Co-op.’