A woman appeared to clear the table next to where they’d sat.
‘Excuse me, were you at work yesterday?’ Kim asked.
‘Got no bloody choice. It’s my café,’ she said, keeping her back to the road.
‘Did you see the woman involved in the accident?’
‘Yeah, me and the two members of staff who have called in sick today.’
If they witnessed the actual event, Kim could quite easily understand.
‘Is there anything you can tell me about her demeanour?’
‘Are you a reporter?’ she asked, narrowing her gaze.
Kim realised just how much she relied on Bryant. She took out her identification.
The suspicion deepened. ‘We all gave statements yesterday. It was an accident. She was crying, she fell over the chair when she got…’
Her words trailed away as a lorry thundered towards the traffic lights, clearly demonstrating what she’d been about to say.
‘Fuckers trying to beat the lights all the time. We’ve reported it a dozen times but until someone—’
She stopped speaking as though realising her worst fears had come true.
‘Was she upset when she came into the shop?’ Kim asked as Bryant appeared with a tray.
The café owner stepped out of the way so he could lay the drinks down.
‘Not at all. She was pleasant and polite, didn’t seem upset, but it was like the longer she sat there, the more upset she became.’
The woman watched as another customer entered the café.
‘Sorry, but I’ve got…’
‘Thank you,’ Kim said, letting her get back to her business.
‘Why are we here, guv?’ Bryant asked. ‘I know you don’t like the timing but everything points to it being an untimely accident.’
Kim took a look around. She knew that if anything had been caught on CCTV, Stacey would find it.
In the meantime, she couldn’t help wondering at Rachel’s state of mind. Yes, her family had just been horrifically murdered. Had the full realisation of that suddenly hit her while sitting and sipping a latte? Had the grief led her into the path of an oncoming truck, or had she been thinking of something else entirely?
FIFTY-SEVEN
Potential fathers were like buses, Penn thought. One minute you had none and then they were queuing in the reception.
He’d barely finished the process with Warren Cox, Rozzie’s ex-boyfriend, when Reece Porter had turned up.
Unlike Warren, who had been accompanied by both parents, Reece was sitting in reception on his own. From what the boss had said about Della Porter, he was surprised the woman wasn’t sitting right beside him.
Once everything was ready on the interview table he went to reception and beckoned the man through.
He followed with his hands buried deep in his pockets.
‘This ain’t gonna hurt, is it?’ he asked as Penn closed the door.
‘Not at all and thanks for coming in. If you could just fill out your details on that form and we’ll have you out of here in no time.’