Read Online Ramsay 06 - The Baby-Snatcher by Ann Cleeves - Free Book Online

the cot. She was still sleepy. It was the closest Ramsay had ever been to a child so young. He wondered if some comment was expected about her prettiness, a question about her age, but he just took the list of names and scanned it quickly. There was no one he recognized.
    ‘And this is it?’ he asked. ‘There was no one else?’
    She paused for a moment and shifted the baby into a more comfortable position against her shoulder. ‘ There was one extra. Mark Taverner. He’s a friend of my husband.’
    ‘Taverner?’ The name was familiar then he remembered where he had heard it in connection with the case. ‘ Is he a teacher at Otterbridge High School?’
    ‘That’s right. RE and music. Why?’
    Ramsay shook his head, smiled. ‘Nothing sinister. It ties in with information from another witness.’
    Marilyn Howe had said she’d been given a lift back from the choir rehearsal by Mr Taverner. He’d told her he was coming to the Headland anyway.
    ‘I’ll give you his address,’ Emma said. ‘I don’t know why Brian invited him. It wasn’t really his thing. We try to include him in family events because he lost his wife recently. He must get lonely.’
    I lost my wife, Ramsay thought, but to a BBC news reporter with a blond moustache and a red sports car. And no doubt he’s lost her now, too.
    ‘Tell me about Mrs Howe,’ he said. ‘Did you have any dealings with her?’
    ‘What do you mean, dealings?’ The reply was sharp. It was as if he had suggested something improper. And he thought, for the first time, that he heard anxiety in her tone, perhaps panic.
    ‘I employed her once ,’ Emma said reluctantly. He had the very strong impression that she would have preferred to keep this to herself but realized it was impossible. ‘It was just after Christmas. The house was a tip and I was expecting Brian’s family to stay for New Year. He was rushed off his feet at work. Never here.’ She smiled. ‘Not that he’d do much if he was. Claire has her hands full with the kids. I can’t expect her to do much cleaning.’
    ‘So you employed Kath Howe as a cleaner?’
    She nodded. ‘For a two-day blitz. To do the house from top to bottom. I asked Claire if she knew anyone who’d want the work and she suggested Kath.’
    ‘Was she satisfactory?’
    ‘Not really.’
    ‘What was the problem?’
    Emma gave a brief smile. ‘I don’t think her heart was in the job.’
    He waited.
    ‘She considered cleaning was beneath her. And she definitely didn’t like being told what to do.’
    ‘Why did she take the job then?’
    ‘I suppose she needed the money. Teenagers don’t come cheap, do they?’
    ‘Probably not.’ But he didn’t see Marilyn as the demanding sort. He couldn’t imagine her wheedling for smart clothes or nights out with her friends. There were violin lessons, though. They didn’t come free these days even if they were arranged through school. Exam fees. The instrument itself.
    ‘You weren’t tempted to employ her again then? Not even before this recent party?’
    ‘No, even if she’d been any good. Brian wouldn’t have approved. He thinks I sit around all day drinking coffee.’ She paused. ‘He never knew I took her on that first time.’
    ‘What was she like ?’ he asked. ‘As a woman, I mean, not just as a worker.’
    The question surprised her, but he could tell she was interested by it.
    ‘I don’t know,’ she said slowly. ‘She wasn’t very chatty. That’s one thing at least she and Claire have in common. I mean, even then I thought she was Claire’s mother. I didn’t realize they were sisters.’
    ‘But you must have formed some impression?’ It seemed she was just giving herself time to collect her thoughts. She would reply in the end.
    ‘I used to work as a personnel officer,’ she said. ‘ I’d assess candidates’ suitability for employment every day.’
    ‘So, what did you make of Kath Howe?’
    ‘Let’s say I wouldn’t have given her a permanent