All Things Bright by Ted Tayler

Author:Ted Tayler [Tayler, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-06T22:00:00+00:00

Mary Bennett watched the car pull up outside her door and manoeuvre into the one remaining parking space. He was good, whoever he was. The tall, handsome driver stood on the pavement as a solid-looking black woman emerged from the passenger side. The woman checked Mary’s door number against a folder she held, and the couple walked up the path.

These must be the coppers she was expecting. Mary levered herself from her chair and pushed her Zimmer frame into the hallway and to the front door.

Luke heard the chain slide back and the door unlocked.

“Are you the police?” asked Mary Bennett.

Luke and Blessing produced their warrant cards and showed them to Mary for inspection.

“You had better come in,” said Mary, reversing up her walking-frame and then turning back into the front room. Mary edged across the room and sat back down.

Luke moved a dining chair and sat beside Mary. He’d spotted her hearing aid. Blessing seated herself under the window and studied the room. Apart from the hallway, there were just two rooms on the ground floor: this room and the kitchen. There must be two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.

“I’m DS Luke Sherman,” said Luke, “my colleague is DC Blessing Umeh.”

“Blessing?” said Mary Bennett. “I don’t think I’ve heard that name.”

“I was the only girl in the playground at school with that name,” said Blessing.

“Do you know why we’ve come here today, Mary,” asked Luke.

“I haven’t lost my marbles, young man,” said Mary. “You want to ask about Stacey.”

“It must have been awful,” said Luke, “when Stacey went missing. Then to discover she was dead; it was a tragic loss. Only thirteen years old.”

“I didn’t know she was missing, did I? Not at first. Debbie didn’t let me know. Vanessa stood on my doorstep when I got home from bingo Tuesday night. That’s when I found out.”

“How did you feel, looking after Stacey and Lucy so often?” asked Luke.

“Debbie had a dreadful time with Stacey. The pregnancy wasn’t without its problems, and then Stacey was a breech delivery. It was one thing after another, and Pat was useless. I started going over to Gorse Hill to help when Pat was at work. When Debbie fell for Lucy, I offered to pop in to look after her and Stacey.”

“Wasn’t the second pregnancy any easier?” asked Blessing.

“It should have been, but Debbie kept moaning and groaning that it was too much. Harry warned me. He said I was letting myself in for hard work after Lucy arrived, but I couldn’t turn my back on my daughter, could I?”

“Harry, was your husband, wasn’t he?” asked Luke.

Mary pointed to a wedding photograph on the mantlepiece.

“Twelve years ago he died,” she said. “Lung cancer. He got diagnosed a week after Lucy’s second birthday.”

“Caring for Harry must have restricted the help you could offer Debbie,” said Luke.

“Don’t you believe it,” said Mary. “My daughter told me she had her own life to lead. I spent as much time in Gorse Hill as I did here and at the hospital.

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