---

Juliet Fallows, with hair the colour of stewed plums, pulled at the ends of a cardigan dragged over a beige woollen dress that stretched over ample hips. Her tights matched her hair, and beige, furry slippers completed the picture. She didn’t smile but instead bustled Robyn into the kitchen, shutting the door and talking quietly.

Loud noises came from the sitting room.

‘My kids,’ she said by way of an explanation for the machine gun fire that suddenly blasted from next door. No sooner had she spoken than the kitchen door opened and a boy in his mid-teens swaggered in, jeans low on his waist, the peak of his baseball cap facing backwards. He nodded at the adults, said hi, crossed the room to the fridge, pulled out a carton of juice and headed back to the door.

‘No you don’t. Use a glass,’ said Juliet.

‘No point. I’ll drink it all. Saves on washing up.’ The boy gave a sly smile and disappeared, leaving the door wide open. Juliet shut it.

‘He’s diabetic. He needs to keep up his sugar levels,’ she said by way of an explanation.

‘I’m sorry to disturb you, and for your loss. I understand you and Tessa were good friends.’

Juliet walked across to the sink, ran the tap cold and poured a glass of water, which she drank slowly. ‘We were. I liked Tessa. She was a breath of fresh air. Get to my age, you’ve seen your fair share of disappointments and become disillusioned with life, but Tessa was vibrant. I took to her the first day I met her at work. She’d moved to Barton-under-Needwood and was asking about places to go out. I told her I didn’t socialise at all, that I’d split up from my ex and had two teenagers, and quite honestly wasn’t up to going out. It’s really hard to find your feet again once you’ve been in a long-term relationship. I’m not exactly a great catch, and to be honest, I’d suffered a bit of a confidence knock after Gerry. Tessa was a great listener.’

‘I heard you played on the same quiz team,’ Robyn said.

Juliet nodded. ‘When she found out we were living only a few miles apart, she suggested we went out together. She was a real go-for-it type. Barton’s only a few miles up the road from here, so we agreed to meet at the pub in Yoxall because it’s midway between the two of us. That night there was a quiz on in the pub and the place was packed. While Tessa was at the bar getting us drinks, she got talking to this guy Anthony who was hoping to play but had been let down by two of his team. He asked her if we’d like to join him, so we did. It was one of the best nights I’d had in ages. We won the prize fund of forty pounds that night. Anthony decided we were his lucky mascots and invited us to join them again at the next quiz night.

‘By the end of last year, we’d had enough of going along to quiz nights. Anthony was too serious about the whole thing. We preferred the social side of it – enjoyed a few drinks and giggles. It got me out and because of those evenings, I met some nice people who I see now and again. I’ve got Tessa to thank for dragging me out of my shell and helping me find my mojo again.’

‘I’d like to talk to the others on the team, too, if you have their contact details.’

Juliet’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead. ‘I don’t have them any more. I deleted them after I stopped going to the quiz nights. There seemed no point in hanging on to them.’

‘Not to worry. I’ll find them. You spoke to Sergeant Patel about Tessa, but I’m going to ask again if you suspected she’d been worried about somebody maybe stalking her, or bothering her, or if she’d mentioned anybody new in her life.’

‘No. Nothing. She hit it off with most people. She was so enthusiastic about everything – her job, her life – everything. I really can’t imagine who’d kill her.’

‘We believe she was seeing somebody – possibly a married man. Did she say anything to you about meeting up with a boyfriend, or give any hints about a new man in her life?’

Juliet looked downwards before speaking. ‘This is going to sound nasty but I really don’t mean it to be that way. Tessa was a charming, good-looking girl. She flirted outrageously with anyone who glanced in her direction, and she had a few admirers. She was sexually uninhibited. Her mantra was carpe diem, and she lived her life as she wanted. She had one-night stands with at least one of the guys on the quiz team, and some of the blokes we met in various pubs. She told me once that she’d been in a long-term relationship before she moved to Barton and it had become too claustrophobic for her, so she’d broken it off to “have some fun” while she was still young. She didn’t say anything about a new man, or a married one, to me. Although, come to think of it, she did seem bouncier than usual on Monday. She was singing. I remember she was singing. I’ve only seen her at work since we stopped the quiz nights. In fact, I haven’t seen any of the others since last December. That’s all I can tell you.’

‘I understand. You haven’t spoken to any of the team at all?’

She shook her head. ‘No need to talk to them. I don’t suppose Tessa did either.’

The door opened again. This time a girl, about eighteen, came into the kitchen. Like her brother, she exuded an air of confidence and was unfazed by seeing Robyn in the room. ‘You seen my fags, Mum? Terence says he hasn’t got them, but I left them by the telly,’ she said, gazing at Robyn with almond eyes. ‘You a copper?’

Robyn nodded.

‘I haven’t seen them,’ said Juliet. ‘Ask him again.’

‘I will. He can’t keep his thieving hands off anything,’ she said, eyes still on Robyn. She directed her next sentence at Robyn, ignoring the look on her mother’s face. ‘We could have done with you when my dad was bashing my mum up.’ With that, she wandered off. Raised voices joined the sound of gunfire and then it went quiet.

Robyn caught the look in Juliet’s eyes. She’d seen it before in the eyes of other victims of abuse. ‘He beat you?’ she asked, quietly.

Juliet twisted at her cardigan and nodded. ‘It’s over now. I left him. I don’t want to talk about it again – ever.’

‘Did you report him?’

‘No. I left him.’ She stared hard at Robyn. ‘And that’s that. Steph, my girl, still has issues about it as you can tell, but I’ve got on with my life. Gerry is no longer part of it. I’m getting over it in my own good time.’

Robyn paused in case the woman wanted to say more but she clamped her lips tightly shut and wrapped her arms protectively around her body. This wasn’t the time to talk further about an abusive husband.

‘One last question. Do you know this couple?’ She pulled out photographs of Lauren and Henry Gregson from a file she’d been holding, and showed them to Juliet.

‘I recognise them. They’ve visited the clinic. I’ve seen them in the waiting room there.’

‘Did you have any dealings with either of them?’

‘No, they weren’t my patients.’

Robyn returned the photographs to the file and sighed inwardly. She’d hit another dead end.

‘Tessa had a relationship with at least one of the team members. Do you know who?’

Juliet gave a light shrug. ‘She didn’t tell me who. We were chatting in the staffroom and she let it slip, but when I asked her who she’d slept with, she put her finger to her lips and giggled.’

‘You said Anthony asked you to join the team.’

‘Yes, that’s right. He was older than the rest of us. He was quite flirty with Tessa. I doubt she slept with him. She was always taking the piss about him behind his back. Besides, he’s old enough to be her father and I don’t think he’s her type.’

‘Does he live in Yoxall?’

‘No. Stafford way, I think.’

‘You don’t know his surname?’

‘It’s not the sort of thing you mention. I don’t know any of their surnames.’

‘Who else played on the team?’

‘Roger, he lives in the countryside near Hoar Cross, just outside Yoxall, and Liam. He lives in Yoxall village.’

Robyn frowned lightly. Henry Gregson’s friend Liam lived in Yoxall. It couldn’t be the same man, could it? ‘Does Liam work at MiniMarkt in Lichfield?’

‘Yes. I think so. His partner, Ella, sometimes came along to watch. So did Roger’s girlfriend although she hung about the bar area.’ Juliet shuffled from foot to foot.

Steph cruised into the kitchen with a packet of cigarettes in her hand. ‘Got ’em,’ she said. ‘Have you told her about what he did?’ she asked her mother.

‘Not now, Steph,’ Juliet said.

Steph turned to Robyn. ‘That’s half the problem. She won’t tell anyone what really happened. It’s not too late to say something, is it?’

‘It’s not too late if your mother wants to press charges,’ Robyn said.

‘See.’ Steph rested her gaze on her mother, who tugged once more at her cardigan.

‘This isn’t the time, Steph.’

Steph huffed loudly. ‘There’s never a right time, is there?’

‘I’ll leave you to think it over. If you want to contact me about anything, here’s my card.’ With that, Robyn left the house. It was getting late and she still had to prepare for Amélie, but first she had to talk to Liam.

---

Liam was on the shop floor behind one of the tills, serving a line of customers, his face grey and sombre. He saw Robyn enter the shop and called across for a co-worker to handle the customers, and then beckoned her to join him in the staffroom again.

‘Any news?’ he said as soon as they were alone.

‘I’m sorry. Not yet. How are you all?’

Liam’s voice was downbeat. ‘Astra’s refusing to eat. We’re at our wits’ end. She’s in a right mood. Keeps asking for Henry. I don’t know when she’ll get over this.’

‘She will. Give her time. Keep distracting her. Take her out to the park, play games with her. Children are resilient. Eventually, she’ll forget about Henry.’ Robyn hoped her words didn’t sound too callous.

There was silence, then in a heavy voice, Liam replied, ‘It’s such a shame she’ll forget him. He was so good to her. Treated her like his own.’

‘Maybe it would help if you take her to visit Lauren. She’ll see that Henry isn’t at home and gradually, she’ll learn that he’s gone.’

‘We should do that. I’ll ring Lauren and see how she feels about it. Why have you come? Not just to see how we are?’

She shook her head. ‘I’m here about Tessa Hall. I don’t know if you heard but she was found dead at her home yesterday.’

Liam’s eyes opened wide. ‘You can’t be serious. Tessa?’

‘I spoke to Juliet, who said you knew her.’

Liam blinked repeatedly, trying to comprehend what he’d heard. ‘Tessa?’ he asked again.

‘I’m so sorry to break the news to you. Especially after what happened to Henry.’

‘We weren’t friends as such, but of course I knew her. We played together on the same quiz side a few times. Tessa? I can’t believe it. Who do you think killed her?’

‘We’ve only just begun our investigations and are looking into a few possibilities. Did she mention a boyfriend to you?’

Liam stuck out his bottom lip. ‘I’m not somebody she’d share that information with. I got along with her but we didn’t have any cosy chats. Ella wasn’t her greatest fan. Tessa was a bit too flirty for her liking, so I kept out of Tessa’s way. Didn’t want to upset Ella. Tessa was always being chatted up. She was nice, although too full-on for me. I prefer the quiet type.’

‘Ella used to attend the quiz nights?’

‘Yeah. Now and again, she’d come along with Astra, depending where the quiz was being held. She never participated though. She preferred to support us.’

‘You knew Tessa was a nurse?’

Liam nodded. ‘Yes. She said she was. Tamworth, I think.’

‘Did Henry ever mention her?’

‘Tessa? No. Why?’

Robyn smiled tightly. ‘Tessa worked at the fertility clinic that Henry attended. I wondered if he had mentioned her name.’

Liam shook his head. ‘All I know about the clinic was he didn’t want to go. Told me he hated the idea of being probed and questioned about his sex life. He didn’t even want children yet. He certainly never mentioned Tessa. That’s weird. You don’t think their deaths are related in some way?’ His mouth opened in astonishment. ‘No. That couldn’t be the case. They didn’t know each other. I’m sure of it.’

‘When did you last see Tessa?’

‘End of last year. We went to a quiz in Abbots Bromley. We all had too much to drink and we didn’t win. We decided to call it a day after that.’

‘Forgive me for asking but what’s the attraction of a quiz night?’

Liam shrugged. ‘It makes for a night out with company rather than sitting in the corner of a pub, drinking alone. Going along to a few quizzes gives you the chance to try other pubs, meet fresh faces. It’s the social side that appeals to most people. Not so much for me – I’ve always liked trivia, especially sport trivia, so I got to test out my knowledge.’

‘We only have the first names of your teammates. You don’t have any contact details for them do you?’

‘No. I had Roger’s but after the team folded, I deleted it from my contact list.’

It was the same response Juliet had given. Robyn persisted. ‘Do you happen to know their surnames? It would make it easier for us to track them down.’

‘Juliet’s name is Farrow or something similar, and Roger is Roger Jenkinson, but I don’t know Anthony’s. It never came up in conversation.’ He sighed heavily and shook his head in dismay. ‘I’m really sorry about Tessa.’

---

Robyn returned to her car and phoned Anna to see if anything had been uncovered while she’d been interviewing Juliet and Liam. She was about to ring off when she asked, ‘Anna, would you say a quiz night in a pub was your idea of fun?’

Anna snorted a response. ‘No, but I enjoy playing computer games in my spare time, so I’m not the right person to ask. Mitz likes watching quiz shows and shouting out the answers to the questions. And we both like pubs. Does that help?’

Robyn smiled at the thought of Mitz glued to a quiz show. ‘I suppose so. Each to their own, eh?’

She mentally filed away her thoughts about quiz nights not being the most entertaining of evenings for young women or men, and drove back towards Stafford. There was no more she could achieve today, and she had to get back home for Amélie.