She smiled gratefully, but thought the sentiment was premature. It was only as she’d entered the station that she realised it might be some time before she was officially passed fit enough to return to her police work.

As she approached her desk, she stopped and laughed. Sitting on her chair was a furry brown teddy bear wearing a black and white apron and a replica police hat.

“He’s great, isn’t he?” Ryan said. “Sujin brought him in this morning and asked Sue and me if we thought you’d like him. And when he heard you were coming into the station, he left him to welcome your return.”

“And it is a relief to see you,” Sue said, sitting behind her old desk.

Warren was seated at the other unallocated desk, and Stan was standing beside Ryan.

“The Chief Inspector wanted to greet you personally,” Stan said, “but he’s been called to a budget meeting.”

Keya picked the teddy bear up with her right hand and placed him on her desk next to a pile of coloured envelopes. Looking down, she realised she’d struggle to open them. Even the simplest of tasks were going to prove difficult without the use of both arms.

But she mustn’t think about that now. She was here to do a job.

“Sorry I’m late,” Sujin said breathlessly as he entered the room. “I was just double checking all the data before we go through the case.”

“I’ll make the drinks while you settle Keya in,” Stan said.

“Constable,” said the inspector, addressing Warren. “Wheel out the spare chair from my office and give Sujin his old desk back. And then wheel out the whiteboard. It might be helpful to write some notes as we review the case.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“Is everyone ready?” asked Inspector Evans.

There was a murmur of consent.

Keya was sitting in her office chair with a cup of tea on her desk and one of Stan’s missus’ cheese scones, cut in half and buttered.

“We now know that Daisy Bentham died of botulinum poisoning after consuming hot sauce at lunchtime on the Sunday preceding her death.”

Keya raised her right hand.

“Yes, Sergeant?”

“Has it been established that Daisy ate the hot sauce? She didn’t usually.”

“Yes,” Inspector Evans confirmed. “Both Theo Watson and Zoe Bentham agreed she did. Apparently, they were joking that she couldn’t handle spicy food, which is why she ate the sauce. And before you ask, she was the only one. Theo admitted he usually did, but he’d had spicy curry the night before and only added sour cream to his tacos and fajitas.”

Inspector Evans stepped towards the white board which Warren had positioned in front of the wall, near the door. He wrote Daisy’s name, the date of her death, and to one side hot sauce, which he linked by an arrow to Daisy’s details.

Above the hot sauce he wrote Doreen Skinner and, below it, ‘made the sauce’.

“Inspector Sue and I interviewed Doreen last night, and she was beside herself with grief. We didn’t get anything useful out of her except that she admitted to making the hot sauce. So that’s the only link we have. Doreen made the sauce which Daisy ate.”

“Did she say she actually handed the bottle to Daisy or Theo?” Keya asked.

“Why is that important?” the inspector asked in an interested tone.

“Because I now remember that when I visited the bakery with Daisy, Ashley Ricketts came in and gave Daisy a bottle of the sauce. He said it was from Daisy’s mum, but we only have his word for it.”

“But according to your notes,” Inspector Sue chimed in, “Ash was in love with Daisy, so why would he want to hurt her?”

“I think we’re missing the point. Daisy didn’t usually eat the sauce. Theo did. Surely, he was the intended victim?” reasoned Keya.

The room fell silent.

Eventually Inspector Evans said, “Point taken,” as he wrote Theo Watson’s name under Daisy’s and added ‘intended victim?’. Then he drew an arrow from the hot sauce to Theo’s name.

“Why would Daisy’s mum want to harm Theo?” Ryan asked.

“Because she was jealous. Daisy was happy in her relationship with a man who respected her and encouraged her in a new business venture. A very different experience from the one Doreen had experienced in her abusive marriages.”

“But surely she’d be happy for Daisy?” Ryan pressed.

“You’d think so. But remember, Warren,” Keya turned to look at the young constable, “how Doreen complained about her pokey cottage, while Daisy was living up at Mill House. She was definitely jealous of Daisy’s garden.”

“Unfortunately,” Inspector Sue said ruefully, “people hurt those they are closest to. It’s not unheard of for a parent to wound or injure a child, even a grown one. In fact, they’re probably more likely to strike out at a grown child who is beyond their influence.”

“Warren,” Keya said again, “do you remember when I asked Doreen about her relationship with Daisy?”

“Yes, she winced when you first asked her, and the next time, she was defensive. You asked if they’d had an argument, but instead of answering she wanted to know who’d told you about an argument, and said they were lying. As if she knew someone had, and they’d snitched on her.”

“But they hadn’t and, rather than press her in her grief, I moved the questioning on. I should have asked who she thought had told me.”

“I doubt she would have said,” reflected Inspector Sue. “Doreen doesn’t give away more information than she has to.”

“I would put my money on Theo being the one who either witnessed an altercation or consoled Daisy after one. When Doreen arrived up at the standing stones, she blamed Theo for Daisy’s death,” Keya recalled.

“Why would she do that?” Ryan asked. “If she’d given them the dodgy sauce.”

“Because he was alive and Daisy wasn’t, and Doreen suspected, or knew, that Theo hadn’t touched the sauce but had goaded Daisy into doing so.”

Inspector Evans coughed. “We’re heading far into the realm of conjecture. Sujin, is there anything scientific that you can add to the discussion?”

“Only that of all the items I tested, only the hot sauce carried the Clostridium botulinum bacteria. But that’s not to say there wasn’t something else which carried it, and the culprit got rid of it.”

Inspector Evans frowned.

Keya didn’t think that was what he wanted to hear. It just added more uncertainty to their case.

Ryan said, “I couldn’t find anything unusual in Daisy’s bank records. She received a basic salary from Stone Circle Flour, and she gave away half of it, split between her sister and both her parents.”

“So Doreen suffered financially from Daisy’s death. Which strengthens my case that she was targeting Theo, not Daisy.”

“But wouldn’t she be affected by Theo’s death as well and …” Ryan began.