That wasn’t how Dora had told it.
“And Dr and Mrs Reid?”
“Harmless. Mrs Reid was annoyed when we opened the bakery, but I’ve seen her sneak in for bread and cakes. And Dr Reid is more concerned about the ancient world, and the standing stones, and archaeology. He’s a bit stuffy and gets annoyed when the mill is working overtime, but he always gets over it.”
“And Aurora and Viv?”
“They’re good fun, if a bit wacky. But I know Daisy was worried about their influence over Zoe. But at least they were getting her away from Dennis.”
Keya checked her black wristwatch. “I should be getting back to the station.”
“Thank you so much for lunch and the chat,” Theo said, in a grateful voice. “I feel better about it. I might even wander down to the office. Sitting here on my own is doing me no good whatsoever. And I know Daisy wouldn’t want me falling apart and letting the business and everything we’ve worked for suffer.”
“What about the bakery?” asked Keya tentatively.
“I’m not sure. I need to think about it.”
“There is one more thing. I’m afraid I need to take your phone back to the station with me?”
“What for?” Theo looked perplexed rather than annoyed.
“Our forensic team needs to check it alongside Daisy’s. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days, if that.”
“Was there something on Daisy’s phone? Was she receiving hate messages?” Theo asked, in a concerned voice.
“No, nothing like that. Although I think there may be some messages from Ashley which she deleted.”
Theo winced. “I remember those. Soon after she moved in here. He bombarded her with them. He was concerned about her at first, but then he turned abusive. She blocked his messages, so he turned up in person, drunk. I told him to go away and his anger turned on me, but I was fine with that. After all, I was his boss and if he wanted to keep his job, he had to be civil. Things settled down after a few months.”
Theo left the kitchen and returned a minute later carrying his phone. As he handed it to Keya, he said, “Keep it for as long as you like if it will help determine what happened to Daisy. I’ll use a work one. But please be careful and make sure you don’t delete any of the photos. I’ll need them to help me get through the next few weeks and months.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
When Keya returned to her team room in the police station, she found Ryan with Inspector Evans in his small office.
“Monday is not good enough,” she heard Inspector Evans bluster.
Thinking he was annoyed with Ryan, Keya poked her head into the inspector’s office. Ryan gave her a wry smile as Inspector Evans said into his phone, “This is a potential murder investigation. We need Daisy Bentham’s bank details today.”
He slammed the phone down as Keya ducked out of the office, but she was too late.
“Sergeant. You’ve been a long time.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied as she stepped back into the inspector’s office. “I met with Ashley Ricketts, the young man who had a thing for Daisy. He certainly has a temper, but would he harm Daisy? I doubt it. And if he did, he’d do so in a more obvious way. If there is a crime, I think it’s too sophisticated for him.”
“OK. But don’t rule him out yet. A scorned lover and all that,” the inspector remarked.
“And talking of lovers, I went to Mill House to collect Theo Watson’s phone.”
“Did you get it?” asked Ryan hopefully.
“I did, and I had a good chat with Theo, which is why it took me so long. He was in a terrible state, so I made him shower while I cooked lunch.”
Inspector Evans raised his eyebrows, but he refrained from saying anything.
“Just omelettes,” she clarified quickly. “He relaxed as we ate, and we discussed Daisy and his relationships with her family and people in the village.”
“And is there anyone who held a grudge against our victim?” the inspector enquired.
“Not that Theo was aware of.” Keya held out Theo’s phone for Ryan to take.
“Actually,” Ryan said, “you should give it to Sujin first. He’ll give it to me when he’s finished with it.”
Keya left the inspector’s office and walked down the corridor to the custody suite. The white plastic table where Warren had been working had been cleared away, although the green and blue plastic bins were still beside the wall.
Keya knocked on Sujin’s door, wondering why she couldn’t hear any music.
“Come in,” Sujin called, but when she opened the door there was hardly any room for her inside.
Warren was standing next to Sujin and together they were examining the end of a hand-rolled cigarette.
“Keya, come in. Warren is helping me establish if anything Daisy ate, drank, or inhaled killed her. We’ve come up negative with the can of cider which had her fingerprints and saliva on it, so we’re now checking this homemade cigarette.”
Sujin picked it up with a pair of forceps and sniffed it.
“Definitely herbal. I’ll need to conduct more tests to find out exactly what it contains. And, of course, we need the results of the saliva test to confirm Daisy sucked it.”
