Fiona managed a grim smile and nodded. ‘I understand,’ she said. ‘And I’m sorry we can’t help you.’
‘Did Sarah have any visitors shortly before she disappeared? Anyone who might perhaps have left the note for her?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Fatima. ‘We don’t keep an eye on one another, and we’re not always home at the same time, but I don’t remember seeing anyone. Fee?’
Fiona shook her head, and Erik did likewise.
‘While she was out, perhaps?’
‘One of us would have noticed,’ Erik said. ‘If we’re all out, the place is locked up. But our rooms have their own locks, too, so if Sarah went out, she’d make sure she locked her bedroom door. We all would.’ He smiled. ‘Not that we don’t trust one another, of course.’
The others nodded.
‘OK,’ said Winsome. ‘Someone must have given it to her somewhere else. A pub, perhaps, or a coffee shop?’
‘That’s more likely,’ said Fiona.
‘Let’s move on. Do you know of anyone who might want to harm Sarah?’
‘The other policeman asked us that,’ said Fatima.
‘I’m sure he did, but it always helps to take a fresh look.’
‘No,’ said Erik. ‘Sarah was hardly a saint. She never did her fair share of the dishes or cooking, and the washing machine and dryer were always full of her clothes, but you would forgive her, you know. You couldn’t... She was so, such...’ He just hung his head and stopped talking.
‘I’m sorry, Erik. Were you and Sarah—’
His head shot up. ‘No. We weren’t a couple. Why would you assume that? That would be crazy, something like that, with someone you have to share a house with. I liked her. That’s all. She was my friend. And now she’s gone.’
Winsome held her hand up at the vehemence of his reply. ‘OK. I get it.’
‘What Erik means,’ said Fiona, ‘is that Sarah was a special person. She was a bit chaotic, a bit of a free spirit, but you couldn’t help but love her.’
‘Do any of you know if Sarah had a boyfriend?’
‘She didn’t,’ said Fiona. ‘Not for any particular reason. I mean, she could go through boyfriends pretty quickly when she wanted to, but she was between right now.’
‘Could there be anyone in her past disturbed enough to want to take revenge on her for being dumped or humiliated?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Fiona. ‘But I doubt it. Sarah wasn’t the kind of person to humiliate anybody. She was always sensitive to other people’s feelings, even if she was splitting up with them. As far as I know, she never had anyone obsessed with her or anything like that. No stalkers or voyeurs or anything. She liked a good time, and she was fun to be around, but she wasn’t promiscuous or a tease.’
‘Was she exclusively heterosexual?’
‘What a strange question?’ Fiona said, frowning. ‘But yes. I’d say she was.’
‘I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important.’
‘This other girl who died, was she gay?’
‘Not as far as we know. Who was with Sarah on the Saturday you last saw her?’
‘I was,’ said Fiona. ‘We went in town shopping.’
‘And Sarah bought a red dress?’
‘Yes. It was lovely. Pricey, too. I asked her where she was going in something like that, but she just widened her eyes in that way she had and said, “Never you mind.” ’
‘And that was the last time you saw her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did you travel back here together?’
‘No. I was heading off to visit my folks in Manchester. I went to the station and took a train. I left Sarah in the Trinity Centre. I suppose she must have gone home to change and get ready later.’
Winsome looked towards Fatima and Erik.
‘We were both away that weekend,’ Erik said. ‘I was staying with some old mates in Newcastle and Fatima went to her cousin’s wedding in Hull.’
‘How did Sarah manage financially?’ Winsome glanced around the room. ‘I mean, this is a nice place, great location. It can’t have come cheap.’
‘It’s two thousand two hundred and twenty quid a month,’ said Erik. ‘Four bedrooms and five bathrooms. We each pay our share. And no, it’s not easy, not with the money they demand for an education. But we manage. There are loans.’
‘So you all have student loans?’
The three of them nodded.
‘And Sarah?’
‘Not this year,’ said Fiona. ‘She finally got some insurance money for her father’s death, and he left her a bit of money in his will, too.’
Winsome made a note to follow up on that. It was interesting that both dead girls had come unexpectedly into money at the start of their second year. She knew that it could take a long time to settle insurance claims and probate estates, so maybe two years after the death wasn’t so bad. ‘But she had her mother to take care of, didn’t she?’
‘Her mother’s in a home,’ said Fatima. ‘I think it’s NHS.’
‘No. She did a deal with the house,’ Fiona said. ‘Sarah told me. You basically have to sell your house to pay for your care when you’re old and sick. But it’s a nice home. They don’t starve or beat the patients.’
It was a fine recommendation, Winsome thought. Something to bear in mind when the time came. Avoid places where they starve and beat you. ‘I get the impression that the four of you were pretty close,’ she went on. ‘Did you hang out together? Go to gigs, dances, pubs, that sort of thing?’
‘Sometimes,’ Fiona said.
‘I don’t drink,’ Fatima answered.
‘But she loves to dance,’ Erik said.
Fatima blushed. ‘Well, maybe.’
‘So you did hang out together?’
‘Sure,’ said Fiona. ‘The student pub, that sort of thing.’
‘Clubs?’
‘Sometimes. In town.’
‘I know what you’re going to ask next,’ Erik said. ‘The other police, they asked the same thing. Do we do drugs? That answer is yes, sometimes we smoke a little marijuana and sometimes take ecstasy, like just about everyone else on campus, but that’s all.’
‘Not me,’ said Fatima.
‘OK,’ said Erik. ‘Fatima’s a good girl. So are you going to arrest us?’
Winsome smiled. ‘I don’t think so. Our problem is, we don’t know why the girls were killed, or died. Drugs is one possibility. We know that Adrienne Munro died from sleeping tablets, which her student health centre and her GP say they certainly did not prescribe. But she must have got them from somewhere.’
‘Well, not from us,’ said Fiona. ‘We didn’t even know her.’
‘I’m not saying she got them from you, merely pointing out that there is already a drug element in this investigation. If either — or both — Adrienne and Sarah were involved with drugs, they could have become exposed to some pretty nasty people.’
‘I think we would have known,’ said Fiona.
‘There was nothing odd or different about Sarah’s behaviour lately?’
‘No. She was the same as normal. We didn’t see quite so much of her, but that’s all.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know. We just didn’t.’
‘But if she didn’t have a boyfriend, wouldn’t she be around more, hanging out with her friends?’
‘I think she went to visit her mother pretty often,’ said Fatima. ‘It was very upsetting for her.’
‘I’m sure it was.’ So painful, Winsome thought, that a young woman like Sarah would perhaps do her duty but would hardly wish to spend more of her spare time with a woman she loved who didn’t even recognise her. Besides, the staff at the care home didn’t appear to have seen that much of her. ‘Was there anyone else especially close to her? Any other friends around the place?’