慔ow sad,?says Ruth. It seems rather callous to eat her brownie now.
慥ery sad,?says Janet. 態ut that抯 not the worst thing. The man and the woman had teeth marks on their bodies. Human teeth marks. It was thought that they抎 died first and the girl had kept herself alive by eating their flesh. Maybe she died by choking on it rather than of the plague.?
慜h my God.?Ruth pushes her plate even further away.
慣he daughter is the Grey Lady,?says Janet. 慡he抯 often seen in the alley, walking through walls, opening doors that aren抰 there. Sometimes you just see the light of her candle reflected in the window panes. She抯 a sad spirit. Maybe she抯 exiled from heaven because she consumed her parents?flesh.?
慣hat seems very unfair,?says Ruth.
慣here抯 nothing fair about this life or the next,?says Janet. She抯 another lapsed Catholic, Ruth remembers. Like Nelson. And Cathbad too, come to think of it.
慣here have been lots of sightings of the Grey Lady,?Janet continues. 慐ven by a former vicar of St George抯。？
慔ave you ever seen her??asks Ruth.
慖抳e often sensed something,?says Janet. 慉 shadow, a presence, sometimes just a feeling of intense sadness. The tourist information centre is in Steward抯 House, you know. People don抰 like to work there after dark.?
Ruth is not surprised. She doesn抰 like to hear this story in the daylight, in a brightly lit caf? with a school party jostling in through the doors, carrying activity books and Disney lunch boxes.
慍athbad抯 seen her,?says Janet, with a slight smile.
That doesn抰 surprise Ruth either.
Avril Flowers lived in a neat bungalow on the edge of Hunstanton. Tanya immediately awards it a score out of ten. She and Petra are house hunting.
慡even,?she says as Judy parks by the gate. It抯 usually the junior officer who drives but Tanya抯 car is in for a service. Judy never minds driving though. Tanya is always surprised by how much of a petrol head she is.
慡o high??says Judy.
慣wo points for the garden,?says Tanya, 慳nd I like the veranda.?
The house has a wrap-around porch that reminds Tanya of American films. There are plants in pots and one of those swing seats. The garden is well kept with a large pond and a willow tree. It looks like a place where someone once enjoyed spending time. The scene-of-crime team have finished, and the only sign of their presence is some plastic sheeting leading to the front door.
Avril抯 daughter Bethany is meeting them at the house. There抯 a smart hatchback on the drive which looks to Tanya as if it抯 owned by someone called Bethany.
The door is opened by a blonde woman who is probably in her mid-thirties. She introduces herself as Bethany McGarrigle. She shows them into a sitting room that has a distant view, thanks to the elevated site, of the sea.
慦hat a lovely house,?says Tanya. She wonders if she can ask how much it costs.
慚um loved it,?says Bethany, her eyes filling with tears. 慖 wanted her to come back to Scotland to be near me, but she said she had her life here. She worked at the library and volunteered at the school, listening to children read. And she was really involved with the local church.?
慔ow did your mum seem when you spoke to her last??asks Judy. Tanya notes that she抯 swapped 憁other?for 憁um? the sort of detail Tanya always forgets.
慡he seemed fine,?says Bethany. 慖 spoke to her on Sunday. That was our ritual. We抎 chat when Mum got back from church.?
慉nd her health was good? No worries??
慔er health was better than mine,?says Bethany. 慡ixty抯 young these days and Mum took care of herself.?
慖抦 sorry,?says Judy. 慖 know this must be a terrible shock for you, but can you bear to tell me what happened when you got the call about your mum??