‘Did you ever speak to his mother?’ Jennifer said, scribbling his answers in her pocket notebook.
‘Aunty Grace? God no. After her husband died she isolated herself from the world, wouldn’t even allow mother to visit. God only knows what used to go on in that big old house, with just the two of them rattling around up there. She was dead for weeks before anyone found her.’
‘How did she die?’ Jennifer said, nodding at Will to join her on the sofa.
‘They said it was her heart but her body wasn’t discovered for several weeks. Bert had left, and was sleeping rough in his father’s old van. You don’t think he had anything to do with it, do you? I mean, Bert was creepy, but this all still seems a bit beyond him.’
Jennifer was non-committal. ‘I’m just trying to get a feel for what your cousin is like, and your relationship with him.’
‘What should I do if he comes back?’
‘You’ve got excellent security. Be alert, and carry your phone with you at all times. If you hear from him, call us straight away.’
Christian pulled a tissue from his pocket and blew his nose. He glanced up at the picture one more time before speaking. ‘Felicity would hate to see me like this. She loved the kids, you know, she’d tell me to be strong for them.’
The mention of Felicity’s name brought a fresh question to Jennifer’s mind. ‘Can I ask … did Felicity ever mention a group called “The Reborners” to you?’
‘No. What’s that?’
‘It’s like a self-help group for people who want to forget their past and begin again. Does that sound like something she could have been interested in at some point in her life?’ Jennifer would have liked to mention the Facebook group they discovered, but Zoe had given her strict instructions not to breathe a word. Besides, she had already seen Felicity’s very public Facebook profile and she wasn’t a member of any groups.
Christian shook his head. ‘Felicity told me everything. She was a very happy young lady, and had no regrets in life.’ He stared back up at the picture as fresh tears began to fall. ‘Oh Fliss, why did you have to leave me?’
Jennifer gave him the only crumb of hope she could think of. ‘Christian, you know better than anyone that there’s life after death. You have to take comfort in that.’
‘I know. But I want her here with me, now. I miss her so much.’ Christian’s face crumpled and he folded his arms tightly around his stomach, leaning forward in the chair.
Jennifer’s eyes met Will’s, and he mouthed the words ‘Let’s go’. She felt uncomfortable invading Christian’s grief when it was still so raw, but she was a professional, and finding the person who tampered with Felicity’s car would at least provide him with a grain of comfort. ‘It’s very early days. Give yourself time.’
Will interjected as he stood behind them. ‘Have you spoken to any of Felicity’s friends since the funeral?’
Christian stared at him, as if he had only just realised he was there. ‘No. I know it sounds selfish but I just don’t have time for anyone else’s grief right now.’
Jennifer understood the sentiment, and it made her all the more determined to get her hands on the Raven before he could kill again.
Chapter Forty
Bert
Bert wrapped his fingers around the chipped mug, slowly draining the scotch and allowing it to warm the pit of his stomach. Branches tapped the roof of the van like long bony fingertips, tap tap tapping into his psyche, the pitch-black night causing him to awake disorientated and confused. But camping out in the depths of the forest was better than going home to mother, or whatever was left of her. He imagined her still sitting in her rocking chair, just as she did when he was a boy. He tried to recall a time when he felt kindness. There had been a woman … Bert gasped as the name came to him through the mists of his mind. Rosa. That was her name.
Bert had celebrated his fortieth birthday. Rosa was older than he was, but he liked the way she cared for him because she wasn’t afraid to touch his red itchy skin. He wasn’t at home, although it smelt like home – antiseptic and clinical. Memories of a hospital building … sometimes he would sit with the others and watch television, his tartan slipper dangling off one foot as he bobbed his leg in time to the theme tune. Crime programmes were his favourite, although it was hard to hear them over the spasmodic moans and shouts in the background. Rosa always made sure he had a seat at the front, and extra biscuits with his tea. Sometimes she would stand behind him and watch too, her hand resting on the back of his neck. She stretched onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek once, when nobody was looking. She said that everybody deserved a kiss on their birthday. Bert had never had a girlfriend before, and wondered what it would have been like. Rosa was small and podgy, with big bosoms that moved when she walked. He liked that.
The minute Rosa entered his room he noticed the unshed tears in her eyes.
‘What’s the matter?’ Bert asked.
‘I need some guidance,’ Rosa said. ‘I think my husband is having an affair. I don’t know how much more I can take.’
‘Why don’t you talk to him?’ Bert said. It seemed pretty straightforward to him.
‘I can’t,’ she whispered. ‘I need some advice about what to do first. I’ve been left a big inheritance and he wants me to put it in our joint account. I need to know if he’s just staying with me for the money.’
Bert shrugged. He was the last person to give advice on affairs of the heart. ‘I wish I could help you.’
Rosa sat beside him on the bed and grasped his hand. ‘You can. You know how we talked about your gift of divination? Well, my grandmother didn’t just give me money … she left me these. They’ve been in our family for years.’
Rosa undid the first two buttons of her tunic and plunged her hand down her top.
Bert’s eyes were drawn to the pinkness of her cleavage, hemmed in by the taut white bra. He felt himself redden as she caught his stare.
Rosa hunched her shoulders, screwing up her nose in mouse-like fashion as she squeaked a giggle. ‘Oops, sorry. This was the only place I could think of hiding these.’ She pressed the warm deck of cards into his hands then quickly buttoned up her top. ‘Don’t let anyone see them, will you? I’ll be back tonight for my reading.’ Rosa straightened up her tunic and patted her hair before planting a kiss on his cheek. ‘I know you won’t let me down,’ she whispered, leaving him heady in the wake of her perfume, and hotly aroused.
Shift changeover was a good time to meet as the staff had a half-hourly meeting to discuss events of the evening before going home. Rosa slid into the darkness of Bert’s room, clicking on the side lamp as she pulled up a chair next to his bed. It was after nine pm and most of the patients were drugged and asleep. Bert had decided to forgo his medication to see Rosa, hoping if he played coy she would give him more than a peck on the cheek.
‘Well?’ Rosa said, pulling a chair to the side of his bed. ‘Can you work with those cards?’