慦e抳e got a photograph,?says Tanya.
Hugh shoots her a look of dislike. 慡o many photographs.?
慏id you visit her that day??asks Tony.
慖t抯 possible.?
慦e抳e got a picture of you by the pond,?says Tony. 慣here抯 a heron there. I remember that you like birds.?
慖 do like birds,?Hugh admits.
慏id you go into the house??says Tanya. 慏id you lock the door of Avril抯 bedroom??
慦hy would I do that??
慪ou were Avril抯 boyfriend, were you??says Tony.
慔ardly boyfriend at my age.?But Tanya thinks Hugh sounds flattered. 慦e were companions.?
慦ere you also Karen Head抯 boyfriend??
慘aren . . .??
慘aren was a teacher who killed herself in November 2019,?says Tanya. 慏id you know her??
慖 don抰 think so.?
慔er friend sent us a photograph of you together,?says Tony. 慏o you want to see it??
Hugh doesn抰 answer but Tony puts the photograph, emailed by Sue Elver that morning, on the table anyway.
慦hat about Samantha Wilson??says Tanya. 慏id you know her? Samantha抯 daughter Saffron identified you from a photograph we sent her.?
慣hat抯 him,?Saffron had said. 慍reepy old man. Always talking about his wife who committed suicide. Almost as if he was encouraging Mum to do the same.?
慖 can抰 remember any of these people,?says Hugh. 慖抦 tired. I need a break.?
慖nterview suspended at eight thirty-five a.m.,?says Tanya.
慔e remembers, all right,?says Nelson, when they gather in his office. Super Jo is there too, wearing a see-through visor that makes her look as if she抯 about to perform dental surgery.
慖抦 sure he does,?says Tanya.
慔e抣l put in a plea of temporary insanity if we抮e not careful,?says Nelson, 慴ut the way that he kept Zoe locked up, bringing her food and drink ?not to mention pills in case she wanted to top herself ?shows planning and forethought.?
慦hat about the other women??says Jo. 慔e didn抰 lock them up, did he? It seems he just talked to them about suicide.?
慣hat抯 what Saffron Evans said,?says Tanya. 慔ugh went to Samantha抯 slimming club and they became friends. Saffron said he kept making disparaging comments about her weight and talking about ending it all.?
慛ice,?says Nelson. 慔ugh must have been the bearded man the neighbour saw going into the house. The one the son mentioned.?
慣hat抯 right,?says Tanya. 慖t抯 funny how you don抰 notice a beard so much when it抯 white.?
慉nd he knew Karen Head too,?says Nelson. 慣hat was bright of you to see the connection, Tony.?
Tony looks modest. 慖 remembered that she had a boyfriend with an unsuitable age difference. I thought it might be a younger man, perhaps Joe McMahon, but it turned out to be an older man. Hugh Baxter.?
態ut none of this adds up to anything,?says Jo. 慔e didn抰 imprison those women. He just talked to them.?
慖f his fingerprints are on Avril Flowers?door, we抣l have some evidence,?says Nelson. 慣he picture Judy sent Tanya shows that Hugh was at her house that morning.?
慦hy did he do it??asks Jo, who always feels offended if criminals don抰 act in the way she expects. Nelson expects nothing so is rarely disappointed.
慖 spoke to Madge Hudson earlier,?he says. He sees Tanya and Tony exchanging looks. They know that the forensic psychologist is not on Nelson抯 list of favourite people, though he抎 admit it抯 not a long list. 慡he said that it might be a form of Munchausen抯 by proxy or whatever it抯 called these days.?