A Wreath for my Sister by Priscilla Masters Page A

‘You can take your pick. There was a violent ex-husband who came home one night to find her in bed with a so far unidentified man, a co-habitee who I’m very curious about, a married lover who no one knows anything about. Incidentally, it’s possible that he’s the father of her youngest child.’ She sighed. ‘As I said, no shortage of men – just like Stacey Farmer.’
    â€˜But with all those men in her life she still put an advert in the paper for one.’ Colclough looked puzzled. ‘Why?’
    â€˜Because she didn’t exactly have what my mum would call a good steady relationship with any of them,’ Joanna said. ‘The violent ex-husband was both violent and an ex. The man he found her in bed with seems to have run off without his trousers and out of her life. The co-habitee now cohabits with another woman, and the married man – whoever he was – appears to have remained married. So what Sharon lacked in quality she made up for in quantity.’
    Colclough made a face.
    â€˜The psychologist feels our killer is probably someone who selects lonely woman – single, divorcees, separated ... the women who are lonely, have children, little money and spend their time dreaming romantic dreams of Prince Charming. From what Sharon’s friend says, she was like this. And judging from the statements, so was Stacey Farmer.
    â€˜The psychologist believes our killer is someone who has a distinct grudge against this type of woman. He suggested the killer might himself have been cheated on or jilted by a woman like this and it’s his way of hitting back, at women in general but women like this in particular. So he made contact with them through the personal columns. And my belief is that when he turned up at the Quiet Woman on Tuesday night Sharon Priest had a bit of a shock. Because the man who invited her into his car posing as her Prince Charming was not some handsome stranger, as she had fondly imagined, but someone she already knew.’
    She paused. ‘The psychologists have always talked about the growing conceit of a serial killer,’ she said. ‘They claim as he gets away with crimes he gets braver. His crimes become more audacious and he kills on his own back doorstep. Perhaps Sharon was the one he meant to get in the first place and the other was a practice run ...’
    â€˜So Piercy.’ Arthur Colclough looked unconvinced. ‘Where are you going to start?’
    â€˜Well,’ she said cautiously. ‘Sharon’s shoe is still missing.’ Again she gazed at the computer screen. ‘No hint of that before,’ she said. ‘He didn’t take a souvenir of his crime before.’ She looked at Superintendent Colclough. ‘The shoe must be somewhere. It can’t have disappeared into thin air.’
    â€˜And it isn’t on the moors,’ Mike said. ‘We’ve had a thorough search. It isn’t there.’
    â€˜It may be a clue,’ she said dubiously. ‘I’m not absolutely sure. I suppose it could have been a trophy. What would be really lucky is if our killer doesn’t know the shoe is missing. It could have fallen off in his car or somewhere.’
    Colclough breathed out very hard in a slow whistle. ‘Bit of a long shot,’ he said.
    Mike and Joanna nodded in agreement.
    â€˜Well, Piercy,’ he said, slapping her on the back. ‘This gives us plenty of work.’ He paused for a moment, thinking, then asked about the wire.
    â€˜The cable, sir?’ Joanna frowned. ‘It’s annoying me,’ she said, pursing her lips thoughtfully. ‘I feel I should recognize it. It’s a thin, twisted steel cable. We’ve started enquiries around car shops, garages and so on, but we’ve got nowhere yet. It doesn’t seem to fit into anything specific. Apparently it’s too thin for car cable but we can’t work out another use.’
    â€˜I