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Lauren Gregson was still in a state of shock and her cheeks were drained of colour. She wore a delicate chain and silver heart around her slender neck, and a pale pink baggy sweater that swamped her frame. She tugged at the sleeves, pulling them over her hands so only her long fingers were visible, and looked up. Robyn had seen others wearing the same haunted look, not yet fully comprehending the enormity of what they’d learned, carrying on as normally as they could until they were suddenly side-swiped by it and crumbled. Lauren was close to the edge. The family liaison officer, Sheryl Morris, a veteran in this line of work, was making tea in the tiny cottage kitchen. Robyn heard the whine of the kettle as it boiled and the gentle tinkling of spoons against china as she prepared the drinks. She glanced towards Anna Shamash, who exuded calm and compassion – qualities required for this part of their job.

‘I keep expecting Henry to walk through the door.’ Lauren looked towards Robyn. ‘And thinking it’s all a huge mistake and you’ve identified the wrong man.’ Her voice was soft. She blinked back a tear that had formed.

The woman’s fragility was palpable. Robyn understood what she was going through. She’d experienced the same emotions and thoughts when she’d learned Davies was dead.

‘Here we go.’ Sheryl placed mugs of tea in front of Robyn and Anna and handed another to Lauren before settling down beside her on the settee. Sheryl’s presence was welcome and helped make the situation less awkward. Lauren sipped her tea, clutching the mug between her hands so tightly her knuckles turned white, and gave a nod.

‘Are you feeling up to talking to us?’ Robyn asked.

Sheryl gave the woman a smile of encouragement. ‘You’re doing really well,’ she said.

Lauren breathed in shaky, small gulps of air then nodded again.

‘I’m going to ask a few questions and if at any time you want to stop, just say the word. Okay?’

Lauren’s head moved up and down slowly as if in a daze. She looked at Sheryl, who gave another smile.

Robyn spoke again. ‘What can you tell us about yesterday, before Henry left to go out?’

‘Not much. I was a bit miffed because it was our first Valentine’s Day together in our home, and I’d taken the day off from work – I’m an estate agent – and planned on cooking us a special meal together, but he’d swapped shifts at work at the last minute without consulting me. He knew I was upset about it so he made me a special breakfast in bed to make up for it.’ She wiped away more tears that had formed. ‘He bought me this necklace. I… I…’

She fingered the chain bearing a silver heart and there was a moment of silence as Lauren struggled to regain control. ‘He texted me as soon as he got to work. Said he was sorry about the meal and he’d make it up to me.’

‘And that was about what time?’

‘Just before ten. His shift began at ten.’

‘You said he swapped shifts?’

Lauren bit her lip. ‘Yes, it was last minute. He swapped with Daisy.’

‘Daisy?’

‘She’s one of his colleagues. Been there a couple of years, I think. Single mum. She usually works on stock control, shelf-stacking, that sort of thing. She asked him last minute if he’d cover for her. Her childminder couldn’t have the kids as planned. That’s why he went in. To cover for Daisy.’ She paused and looked about, eyebrows raised and lowered in confusion.

‘Had Henry seemed concerned or anxious about anything at all?’

‘He was quieter than usual but that was because of personal issues. We’ve been trying for children without success. The doctor suggested we had tests to make sure everything was working normally, and Henry was pretty anxious about his results. He was convinced it was his fault, especially as mine showed I was healthy and able to conceive. Henry went to the fertility clinic in Tamworth last Friday. His results are due this week.’ Her face crumpled. ‘This can’t be happening,’ she wailed.

Sheryl patted her hand.

‘I don’t understand why Henry was found on Cannock Chase. He was at the store. He texted me saying he was at the store. He couldn’t have been on Cannock Chase.’ Her voice rose and she clutched the mug more tightly.

‘Lauren, we’re going to talk to the store manager about it. Henry might have been sent out for some reason and stopped off on the Chase,’ Robyn said.

‘Liam. Liam’s the store manager. He’s a good friend of ours too. We see a lot of him and his girlfriend, Ella. Henry is godfather to their daughter Astra. They’ll be devastated.’ The words came automatically, without true comprehension of what was being said. Finally, Lauren lifted her head to Sheryl and whispered, ‘He’s really gone, hasn’t he?’

The silent sobs seemed to rise from her core, and her chest lifted and dropped several times as she fought to regain control. ‘What am I going to do without him? I can’t cope on my own. This place. Our home. I can’t stay here. It was okay with both of us paying the rent but now… What will I do?’

Robyn felt her heart sink further. The woman would have so much more to deal with than the loss of her husband. They waited until she’d calmed down.

‘We won’t trouble you any further, Lauren. I’m very sorry to have put you through this. I have only one more question. Do you own a computer or laptop?’

‘We do. It’s in the spare room. Why?’

‘If you don’t mind, we’d like to take it with us.’

Lauren nodded. ‘Go ahead. I don’t use it much. You can ask me about Henry again. I want to help. Please ask.’

‘Did he mention falling out with anybody?’

‘Fall out with Henry?’ Lauren gave a short laugh. ‘There were a few people he didn’t get along with, but who gets on with everybody? A couple of the neighbours got sniffy about Henry parking too close to their houses and there were a few arguments about it. Where else are we supposed to park? It’s not a private road. Anybody should be able to park there, especially people who live here who don’t have a front driveway. They got really stupid about it and put plastic bollards in front of their houses, but Henry took them down and parked there anyway.’ She shrugged.

‘One of the cricket dads was majorly annoyed Henry hadn’t played his son in a match last year, and had a right go at him in front of everybody, but apart from that, I can’t think of anyone else. We didn’t row that often either, only over silly little things. If we did, we always made up. He used to say we should never go to sleep on an argument. I was huffy with him about Valentine’s Day. I never really thanked him for buying me a present. I should have been more grateful. That’s the thing about life, isn’t it? You don’t appreciate what you have until it’s too late.’

‘What about his mother and sister?’

Lauren grimaced. ‘Henry didn’t have anything to do with either of them, so I don’t know them very well at all. His mum’s got Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s, or some other awful illness that’s transformed her. He refused to even talk about her – I don’t think he could – it hurt him too much to think of her as she is now. I suggested visiting them on a few occasions but he wouldn’t go. Said whenever he’d visited in the past, she hadn’t recognised him and it was too heartbreaking to go through that. He wanted to remember her as she used to be. She’s in a care home in Stoke-on-Trent. As for Libby, I’ve only spoken to her on the phone, and she’s always been curt with me. I invited her to our wedding but she didn’t come. Apparently, she’s got a drugs problem and Henry preferred to keep his distance from her. She’s done some wacky things in the past, took an overdose and phoned him at the last minute, so he’d save her. Again, he rarely talked about her. I think he found it too embarrassing.’

‘Did you speak to her a couple of weeks ago?’

‘No, but she rang here. I was upstairs and heard Henry yelling at her. She was badgering him over something and he told her to go to hell. He was pretty upset afterwards. I can’t tell you any more than that.’

‘Did he have any other friends, other than Liam and Ella?’

‘He knew a few people in the village through cricket. He plays for the village team and he coaches the young cricket team players too. I wouldn’t say they were friends as such. He gets along with them and sometimes has a drink with them in the pub, but he doesn’t have many close friends.’

‘Does he not have any old school friends or other acquaintances?’

Lauren shook her head. ‘He had a fairly shitty upbringing on a council estate in Stoke-on-Trent. From what he told me, he didn’t much enjoy his childhood. He couldn’t wait to get away from the place, and as soon as he was able to, he took off. Went to London for a while, but found it too full-on. Then he moved back up to Staffordshire and worked in various towns at various jobs – didn’t put down any roots until we met. He was searching for somewhere cheap to rent. I showed him around a few properties and we hit it off. I found him a really nice, reasonably priced flat, and he took me out to dinner to celebrate.’ She smiled at the memory. ‘I found this cottage for us too; one of the perks of working at an estate agency – you hear of bargain-priced houses and rented accommodation before they’re officially advertised. It’s not very big but we both adored it – the setting, the village – it was perfect for us. He loved living here, said it was like being on holiday all the time.’

She handed over a framed photograph of them as newly-weds. In it, Henry had shorter hair but the same wide smile that stretched across his face. He looked content. Robyn could see this was a man happy with his lot in life. His arm was wrapped around his bride and both were bathed in a glow of happiness. It was such a shame his life had been snatched from them.

Robyn needed to eliminate Lauren as a possible suspect. There was no easy way of putting her next question. ‘After Henry went to work, what did you do?’

Lauren looked dazed. ‘You surely don’t think…’ Her words dried on her lips and she stared open-eyed at Robyn. ‘I loved him,’ she said almost in a whisper.

Robyn gave an apologetic nod. ‘We have to ask.’

Lauren drew a shaky breath. ‘I arrived at the John Lewis car park at about eleven twenty. I mooched about the store for a while and then made my way through Touchwood Shopping Centre, stopping at French Connection to try on a pair of trousers. Then I went to Café Rouge for a salad and coffee.’ Her head seemed to bounce with each sentence as she thought about her movements. ‘I’ve got a receipt for that. It’ll show the time on it. After lunch, I went to the House of Fraser and had a mini beauty makeover at the Clarins counter so I’d look nice for the evening, when Henry came home. And then, I left sometime before four. I got back at just after five. No sooner had I got in than the officers arrived to tell me they’d found Henry.’

‘And you were alone all day?’

‘No. I was in a town full of people. What are you getting at?’

‘You didn’t meet up with anybody who can confirm you were there?’

Lauren’s eyes filled. ‘No. But if you ask at the make-up counter in House of Fraser, they’ll remember me. You can’t possibly think I’ve anything to do with Henry’s death.’ She began to sob. Robyn wouldn’t be able to ask any further questions. Sheryl put a friendly arm on the woman’s shoulder to comfort her, and Robyn decided it was time to go. As they left the cottage, Anna cast a look behind her.

‘She’s not much older than me,’ she said, shaking her head slowly. ‘What a shit thing to happen. I expect they’d made all sorts of plans for the future and now—’

‘We have to keep an open mind, Anna. We still have to check that her alibi is sound. We can only work with facts, not our personal feelings, and hope we get it right.’

Anna slipped into the driver’s seat. ‘Yes, guv. I can’t help but feel sorry for her though.’

Robyn looked at the cottage as they pulled away. ‘I wonder if he’d been planning a clandestine meeting on Cannock Chase. It happens,’ she said, catching a look from Anna. ‘He wouldn’t be the first man to lead a double life.’

‘You saw his wife. She’s beautiful. Do you really think he’d want to have sex on the side?’

Robyn shrugged. ‘He might. She might. You heard what she said about trying for a baby. What if she, like Henry, believed he was impotent and had become involved with somebody else who was able to make her pregnant? At this stage we have to consider every possibility, no matter how wild it might seem. We’ll know more once the techies have looked at his phone and we’ve seen what’s on his computer. We need to have hers checked out too. Until that happens, we have to consider all angles, even if they seem distasteful or wrong.’

‘I suppose so. People can behave strangely.’