Bethany takes a few deep breaths but, when she speaks, her voice is quite controlled. 慣ina, the cleaning lady, called me at midday yesterday. She抎 arrived to clean at her usual time. At first she thought Mum wasn抰 in but that wasn抰 unusual. Like I say, she was a busy lady. Tina had her own key and she started work as normal. But, when she went to Mum抯 bedroom, it was locked.?
慒rom the outside??says Tanya.
慪es. The key was still in the lock. Tina opened the door and she . . . she found Mum, lying on the bed. Dead. There was a bottle of pills beside her. Tina called an ambulance, but she said she knew that Mum was already dead.?
慖抦 so sorry,?says Judy.
慖t was just such a shock,?says Bethany, taking more deep breaths. 慖 never thought . . . Mum was the last person to . . .?
慪ou mentioned a bottle of pills,?says Judy. 慦as your mother on any medication??
慛ot that I know of,?says Bethany. 慡he didn抰 believe in that sort of thing. She was always so well.?She covers her face with her hands. Judy asks if she can get Bethany a glass of water. Bethany shakes her head.
慍an we have a quick look round the house??says Tanya. 慦hile you . . . compose yourself.?
慣he police have sealed off the bedroom,?says Bethany, dabbing her eyes hard.
慦e抣l just get a sense of the place,?says Tanya. Judy gives her a look but Bethany says that抯 fine.
It抯 a small house, just kitchen, sitting room, two bedrooms and a bathroom. The bigger bedroom, where Avril was found, has police tape across the door but they can see a double bed and mirrored wardrobes. This window, too, has a view of the sea, framed by blue velvet curtains. The small bedroom obviously doubles as an office and contains a computer and printer as well as a sewing machine which looks well-used and an exercise bike which doesn抰， as though the wrapping had just been removed. The bathroom has navy blue tiles and a walk-in shower. Everything looks very neat and clean. Clearly Tina the cleaner does a good job. Tanya is tempted to stand on the high-tech scales to check that she is still at the perfect BMI. She says as much to Judy but is greeted by a blank look. The kitchen is galley style, with white units and the same navy tiles. There are pots of herbs on the window sill and magnets on the fridge. A calendar shows the Beauties of Norfolk with many appointments scribbled in for February. Again, it feels like a place where someone has been busy and happy.
Bethany doesn抰 have much more to tell them. She has no idea how the bedroom came to be locked from the outside. She doesn抰 know if anyone else, apart from Tina, had a key to the house but she thinks it抯 unlikely. They take Tina抯 address and the names of Avril抯 closest friends, her next-door neighbour, Jean, and Maggie from the church.
慣here was also a man called Hugh that she used to see at the library,?says Bethany. 慖抦 sorry, I don抰 have an address for him.?
慦e抣l ask at the library,?says Judy. 慣hank you. We抣l leave you in peace now, but we抣l stay in touch, keep you updated on any developments. And, if you need anything, don抰 hesitate to call me. You抳e got my card.?
慣hank you,?says Bethany. 慪ou抳e been very kind.?
They decide to call on Jean first. The house next door is bigger than Avril抯 but, Tanya notes, it doesn抰 have the veranda.
慖 can抰 believe it,?says Jean. 慉vril, of all people.?
慦ere you close??asks Judy.
慉s close as neighbours can be,?says Jean, gesturing towards the garden wall as demonstrating the physical distance between the houses. In fact, by Tanya抯 standards, the houses are quite far apart, set within large gardens. It抯 not like the suburban street where Tanya grew up, where she could lean out of the window of her semi-detached house and pass notes to her friend Rachel ?in retrospect, her first crush.
慔ow long did you know Avril??asks Judy.
慐ver since she moved here,?says Jean. 慖t must be five years ago now. I抳e been here almost thirty years. I knew the previous couple well too. This is a friendly area.?Jean is probably older than Avril, thinks Tanya, but what her mother would call 憌ell preserved? with tanned skin and short white hair.