THE GIRL IN THE MEADOW: British crime fiction at its best by John Dean

Author:John Dean [Dean, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: THE BOOK FOLKS mystery, thriller, and suspense publisher
Published: 2022-07-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter fifteen

Alison Butterfield and Sally Orr drove the half hour from Levton Bridge to the village of Amberthorpe and headed for the end of the main street, as instructed by Betty Lord. Butterfield knocked on the front door of a small white cottage with an immaculate front garden. The door was opened by a white-haired woman wearing a green cardigan and tweed skirt. She greeted them with a welcoming smile.

‘Betty Lord?’ asked the constable.

‘Yes, and you must be Detective Constables Butterfield and Orr,’ said the woman. ‘I hope you do not think me rude, but can I see your warrant cards, please? I’ve seen enough episodes of Midsomer Murders to know that you can’t be too careful.’

‘And you’re right to ask,’ said Butterfield. The officers held their cards up so that Betty could see.

Five minutes later, they were seated in the living room, whose walls were adorned with numerous photographs of wildflowers. The officers were sipping tea out of floral-decorated bone china cups and munching appreciatively on lemon drizzle cake.

‘This is delicious,’ said Butterfield. ‘Did you make it yourself?’

‘I did indeed.’

‘You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.’

‘It’s not every day that one becomes involved in a homicide investigation,’ said Betty. The word seemed incongruous coming out of such a genteel woman’s mouth and, noticing the officers’ surprise, Betty chuckled. ‘I watch a lot of episodes of Law and Order in the afternoon as well. The Americans refer to murders as homicides, as I am sure you know.’

The constables smiled; there was something instantly likeable about the pensioner.

‘So,’ said Betty, looking at Butterfield, ‘from what you said on the phone, I gather that you want to know about Professor Nesbitt in relation to the death of that poor woman? Can I ask if he is a suspect?’

‘It’s far too early to say,’ said Butterfield. Recalling Gallagher’s constant reminders to think before speaking, she chose her next words carefully. ‘However, what I can say is that he is of interest to our inquiry.’

‘Do you know who she was?’ asked Betty. ‘The radio didn’t name her and Ross was very mysterious when I asked him.’

‘We have not released the name yet,’ said Butterfield.

Betty shook her head.

‘You have to feel for the family, don’t you?’ she said.

Butterfield and Orr thought of all the things they had heard about the Grogans and did not comment.

‘Tell me about Gordon Nesbitt,’ said Butterfield instead. ‘You met him thirty years ago, I think, but he did not make a good impression on you?’

‘No, he didn’t,’ said Betty. ‘It sounds an awful thing to say but I’m not entirely surprised that he is mixed up in something like this. As I told Ross, he was creepy.’

‘Yes, what did you mean by that?’ asked Orr.

‘Like he was always eyeing the women up. And a couple of them said that he brushed up against them.’ Betty frowned. ‘No, there was something about the man that none of us liked.’

‘How many times did you meet him?’ asked Orr.

‘A couple of times that summer.

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