Ruth has a vision ?she thinks it抯 from a long-forgotten Rupert the Bear annual ?of hollyhocks and rambling roses. Oh, yes there抯 a bear in a pinafore coming out of the door.
慖抣l help,?she says. 慖抦 afraid I抳e let my garden get into a state.?
慚um never gardens,?says Kate disloyally.
慖抦 a London girl,?says Ruth. 慖 don抰 really know what to do.?
慖 can help,?says Zoe. 慚y mum was a keen gardener.?
慉re your parents still alive??asks Ruth, noting the past tense.
慛o,?says Zoe. For a moment she rakes away at the brambles. 慣hey both died some time ago. Within a few weeks of each other. What about you??
慚y mother died five years ago,?says Ruth. 慦e didn抰 always get on, but I抦 surprised how much I miss her now. She was such a constant in my life.?
慦hat about your dad??says Zoe.
慔e still lives in London,?says Ruth. 慔e抯 married again.?
Kate wanders inside in search of Flint. Zoe asks if Ruth will be going to Lean Zone next week and Ruth manages to say that she didn抰 think it was quite her thing.
慛o problem,?says Zoe. 慖 don抰 know why I keep going really.?
Ruth and Zoe chat for a few more minutes and Ruth goes indoors to start supper. When she looks out of the window, distracted by the six thirty Radio 4 comedy, she sees that Zoe has stopped gardening and is staring back at the houses. Her expression is hard to read.
Tanya and Judy get back to the station at three. Nelson asks them if they抳e been eating chips.
慍an you smell them??says Judy.
慖t抯 the vinegar,?says Nelson. 慖 can smell it a mile off. Reminds me of Blackpool.?He says it longingly. 慒ind out anything interesting??
慐veryone seems shocked and surprised about Avril,?says Judy. 慏oesn抰 mean it抯 not suicide though.?
慣eam meeting in half an hour,?says Nelson. 慪oung Tony抯 going to talk us through the cold cases.?
Tanya wonders how long it will be before Tony stops being officially 憏oung?
Tony looks slightly nervous, thinks Tanya, but he speaks well. She notices that he has made notes on his phone and she approves. She抯 had enough of Judy抯 iconic notebook and Nelson抯 aversion to technology.
慘aren Head was a teacher, divorced with one child. I spoke to two of her colleagues at the school who said that she didn抰 seem depressed. They抎 been out for a staff party the night before she died. Karen抯 ten-year-old daughter was staying with her father. He found Karen抯 body when he brought her home. Cause of death recorded as paracetamol overdose.?Tony scrolls down with a practised thumb, hardly pausing for breath. 慖 spoke to Rosanna Leigh抯 mother. Rosanna was a retired midwife. Apparently, she had suffered from depression in the past. She抎 come off antidepressants because she was worried about the side effects.?
One of the side effects was suicide, thinks Tanya. But she doesn抰 say this aloud.
慍elia Dunne lived on her own. Sounds as if she was a bit of a recluse. I haven抰 been able to talk to anyone who knew her. It was some days before her body was found, hence the uncertainty over cause of death.?
Nobody says anything about this because they can all visualise the scene.
慦ell done, Tony,?said Nelson. 慖抎 say that Karen Head, at least, fits the pattern.?
慚aybe Rosanna and Celia as well,?says Judy. 慠osanna took antidepressants. That doesn抰 necessarily mean she was suicidal.?
慔anging yourself does though,?says Tanya, realising, too late, that this sounds rather callous.
慦hat about Avril Flowers??says Nelson. 慦hat did you learn about her??
態oth her daughter and her cleaner thought that suicide was completely out of character,?says Judy. 慉vril sounded active and happy. Very involved in her local community. There were a couple of interesting connections to Samantha Wilson too. Both worked at a library, both were churchgoers.?