慖t抯 just a shock,?says Saffron. She抯 probably in her late twenties, as immaculate as the room, blonde hair in a French plait, nails a perfect shell-like pink. Brady is tall and muscular, looking as if he is about to burst out of his black tracksuit. They look more like actors in a soap opera than real-life people.
But Saffron抯 tears are real enough. 慖 just can抰 believe it,?she says, taking a tissue from the floral-printed box on the table.
慪ou were saying your mother抯 death was a shock,?Judy prompts gently. 慔ad you any idea she was feeling depressed??
慚um wasn抰 depressed,?said Brady. 慡he just didn抰 do depression. She got on with things.?
Judy doesn抰 answer that depression does not stop people getting on with things, that it抯 an illness that many people live with all their lives. Instead she says, 慦hen did you last see your mum??
慣he day before,?says Brady. 慣he day before . . . she was found. I usually pop in on my way home from the gym. I wasn抰 going to be able to come on Friday so I texted her and then phoned. I thought it was odd that she didn抰 answer. So I came round.?
慚um always answers texts immediately,?says Saffron. 慤sually with a row of emojis. Smiley faces, hearts, cry laughing. I used to say I regretted showing her where to find them on her phone.?She holds the tissue up to her eyes.
慉nd Samantha seemed her usual self on Thursday??asks Judy.
慪es,?says Brady. 慡he was going to photocopy some more personal training leaflets for me. She used the machine at the library. We talked about that. And about Poppy. My little girl. She抯 three. Mum doted on her.?
慦e all do,?says Saffron.
Judy knows that Saffron is married but doesn抰 have children. Brady lives with his partner, Claire, and they have one daughter. They seem a close family. Samantha was divorced but remained on good terms with her husband, Nick. Brady called in most days on his way home from the gym where he works. Saffron saw her mother at least once a week. Samantha often collected Poppy from school and the little girl sometimes stayed over at her house. Why would this happy, fulfilled woman kill herself?
Judy asks about the sleeping pills and Saffron says that her mum sometimes suffered from insomnia. Except it seems that, this time, Samantha took the pills in the middle of the day.
慖 always knew when she couldn抰 sleep,?says Saffron, 慴ecause she抎 send me all these YouTube videos in the middle of the night. Mostly about animals.?
慏id your mum have a pet??There抯 nothing in this pristine room that suggests the presence of an animal.
慛ot now. She used to have a cat called Trudy but she died at the end of last year. Mum was devastated.?
Judy loves animals but surely losing a beloved cat is not enough reason to drive a person to despair? Besides, it happened last year. She doesn抰 want to ask any more intrusive questions so she talks the siblings through the process of the post-mortem and inquest.
慦ill we have to wait until the inquest before we can have the funeral??asks Brady.
慛o,?says Judy. 慪ou can plan the funeral as soon as you have a death certificate. Did Samantha leave any specific instructions??
慛o,?says Saffron. 慉nd she didn抰 leave a will either. Mum was such an organised person. I抦 sure that, if she抎 meant to die, she would have made some plans, written something down.?
Judy has made a will and even Cathbad has left a long list of his burial requirements, including a funeral pyre and ritual chanting. She thinks it抯 strange that someone who colour-coded their books didn抰 draw up a will. Strange, but not necessarily suspicious.
慡he would have wanted a church funeral,?says Brady. 慦ill that be allowed??
慜f course,?says Judy. Suicides were once denied burial on hallowed ground. Thank goodness this is a thing of the past. Judy asks if Samantha attended a local church.
慡he went to evensong at St Matthew抯 sometimes,?offers Saffron. 慉nd she used to go to that special service at the cathedral.?