“Hadn’t a wink of sleep thanks to the babe. I’d finally got his eyes t’ close when tha’ idiot’s screaming woke him.” She shrugs. “Later I figured mebbe he found tha’ girl, but what does it matter? I dinna see more than that.”
A queasiness twists my stomach as Simon tries again. “What about before? Did you hear anything?”
“No.” She starts to shut the door.
“Wait!” I put out a hand to stop her. “You didn’t hear the woman scream at all? Please, we’re just trying to establish what time she died.”
“No.” She peers at me through narrowed eyes. “It was a quiet night. Quieter than most, even with the storm coming.”
I couldn’t have been the only one. “Do you think the baby’s crying kept you from hearing her?”
The woman steps back, shaking her head. “No, I was nursing him. It’s the only way to get him t’ fall asleep, but he just wouldn’t tha’ night.”
I lurch into the doorway. “Please—”
“Cat,” says Simon gently. “She didn’t hear anything.”
The door slams shut in my face.