She decided on the branches closest to the one in Lyndgarth, where Paula Fletcher had encountered him, guessing that he probably wouldn’t have travelled as far afield as York, Harrogate or Leeds. If she had no luck, then the larger centres, each with two or three branches, would be her next stop, but she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Buying the clothing would have been a job he wanted to get over with as soon as possible. As far as Gerry could make out, there were three branches nearby: one in Helmthorpe, one in Eastvale and another in Northallerton, east of the A1. She started there but had no luck. She also drew a blank in Eastvale. The third branch was on Helmthorpe High Street, opposite the Dog and Gun.
The first young man Gerry spoke to had only been working at the branch since Christmas, but the manager Henry Bedford also happened to be in the shop that day preparing for stock-taking. He had worked there for over eight years and prided himself on knowing all his regulars, including Martin Edgeworth, who had shopped there often for all of his outdoor needs. ‘Terrible tragedy,’ he said as he examined the sketch.
‘If it helps,’ Gerry said, ‘he was wearing a cheap grey windcheater and an open-neck shirt, showing a bit of chest hair and the top of a tattoo. Maybe a bird or something.’
‘Yes,’ said Bedford, tapping the sketch. ‘Yes.’
Gerry felt the tingle of excitement ripple up her spine. ‘You remember him?’
‘I do. He seemed to be in a hurry, rather brusque, a bit rude, if you ask me. You tend to remember people who act that way. Impatient, imperious. He wanted two sets of identical items. Anorak, waterproof trousers, woolly hat.’
It was their man, Gerry thought. ‘Is this sketch a good likeness?’
The manager peered at it again. ‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘Pretty good.’
‘How did he pay?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t... yes, just a minute. Yes, he paid cash.’
Gerry’s hopes faded. ‘I don’t suppose you got a name or anything?’
‘No. Sorry.’
‘It’s all right. Tell me,’ she went on. ‘You said Martin Edgeworth shopped here for his outdoor clothes?’
‘Yes. He was a regular.’
‘Did he know this man? I mean, did you ever see them together? Did he mention Edgeworth?’
‘No,’ said Bedford. ‘Whoever he was, he was a complete stranger to me. I never saw him with Martin, or anyone else, for that matter.’
‘Thank you, Mr Bedford,’ said Gerry, heading for the door. ‘Thank you very much. You’ve been a great help.’
‘A boy?’ Annie repeated. ‘What boy? Who was he?’
‘It doesn’t matter who he was. He doesn’t have anything to do with it. I think he was called Danny. He was older than me. He’d already left school.’
‘Danny who?’
‘I don’t remember. Honestly. He was just a local boy. He worked for Sammy Ledgard’s, driving.’ She turned imploringly to Jenny.
Annie knew it was time to slow down. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘We won’t worry about that for the time being. Was Danny your boyfriend?’
Maureen was plucking at the stitching of her quilted dressing gown. She managed a weak smile. ‘Sort of, I suppose. I was quite pretty back then. I was fifteen. I had a lot of boyfriends.’
‘I’m sure you did,’ said Annie. ‘The boys liked you?’
‘Not like that. I wasn’t like some girls. Not like they said at school. There were some houses on the old estate over the road, all boarded up. We knew how to get into one of them. It was the only place you could go, you know, to be by yourselves. We were just kissing and cuddling. It was all quite innocent. I lost track of time, and I was late to meet Wendy. She’d set off home. They said later that her leg was hurting from where someone had whacked her with a hockey stick. If she had been feeling better, maybe she would have waited and we’d have got the next bus. You can’t believe how sorry I am for being so selfish.’
‘You mustn’t think that way,’ Jenny said.
‘But if I’d been there, like I should have been, we’d have both gone into town, and it would never have happened. Don’t you see? If it wasn’t for me, Wendy would still be alive.’
‘You don’t know that,’ said Jenny. ‘Perhaps she would have told you she didn’t feel like going, and you’d have gone by yourself, then she would have still walked through the woods alone. After all, neither of you thought there was anything to be afraid of there.’
‘But it didn’t happen like that, did it?’
‘Had you arranged this meeting with Danny before?’ Annie asked.
‘No. I just bumped into him in the street. I was early to meet Wendy, so I went with him. I thought I still had enough time. My watch... stopped. I didn’t realise. But we didn’t do anything wrong. We were just kissing and holding hands.’
‘Nobody’s suggesting you were doing anything wrong,’ said Annie, smiling. ‘I liked a kiss and cuddle with my boyfriend when I was that age, too. It’s only natural.’
‘But I lost track of the time,’ said Maureen, clutching at the neck of her dressing gown. She consulted her watch again. ‘Robert will be home soon. He will be home soon.’ Annie thought it sounded like a kind of mantra she was saying to calm herself down as she struggled to hold back the tears.
‘It’s all right, Maureen.’ Jenny’s velvety comforting voice came from the far end of the sofa. ‘You’ve nothing to blame yourself for.’
‘But I do!’ Maureen said. ‘Don’t you see? I was kissing a boy while Wendy... Wendy was... Oh, my God.’ She held her face in her hands and cried. In a flash, Jenny was kneeling beside her, a tissue materialising from nowhere. Annie wondered how she did it, but she got Maureen calmed down quickly enough and went back to the sofa.
‘It’s all right,’ Maureen said after a while, looking at Annie now. ‘Ask me what you want to know. It’s all right. I’ll tell you. Then you can take me away.’
‘Nobody’s going to take you away, Maureen,’ said Annie. ‘Robert will be back soon. He’ll take care of you. Why didn’t you tell anyone about this before?’
‘Because Wendy and I weren’t supposed to be friends. Because I was ashamed. Because I felt guilty. I thought if they knew, they’d blame me. They already said I was a bad influence.’
‘But you’ve blamed yourself all these years,’ said Jenny. ‘Maybe if you’d told your parents or someone, you’d have been able to get the help you needed.’
‘What good would it have done? Nobody can undo the past. Wendy was dead and it was all because of me. What does it matter now? Laura’s dead, too. I thought you’d got the man who did it?’
‘We have to follow up on things that come up, even if they don’t seem connected.’
‘Do people have to know?’
‘Have to know what?’
‘That I lied. What I was really doing.’
‘I don’t see any reason why they should. Nobody knew about this but you and Danny?’
‘Only Mark Vincent.’
Annie ears pricked up. ‘Mark Vincent?’
‘Wendy’s younger brother. He was on his way to the gang meeting in Billy Dowson’s garage. He must have seen me and Danny holding hands, but he didn’t say anything. He was only eleven. He probably didn’t know what holding hands meant.’
Annie tried to work it out. Susan Bramble had seen Wendy at the bus stop shortly before she was killed, but had said nothing to anyone. Mark Vincent had seen Maureen walking hand in hand with this Danny, and he had also said nothing. But why should he have? He didn’t know that Maureen was supposed to meet his sister. The meeting between Maureen and Wendy for the trip into town was a secret. Only Susan Bramble knew about it. Annie wasn’t sure what it all meant, if anything. ‘Where is Danny now?’ she asked.