Silent Voices

Freya’s going to have a baby. We’re delighted.’ He gave a slow smile and though Vera despised his attitude, she still couldn’t take her eyes from his face.
    ‘But Mattie’s not, is she?’
    ‘What’s this about, Inspector? Why are you here?’ The tone was still easy.
    Vera ignored the question. ‘What I don’t get, Mr Morgan, is what you saw in Mattie. I mean, she’s a bonnie lass, but not your intellectual equal, I’d say. Or was that part of the appeal? That she’d never answer back?’
    Morgan frowned. ‘You’re right, of course. It was a mistake to get involved with Mattie. I’ll always regret it. She became fixated, obsessed. It really wasn’t something I encouraged. And I much prefer my women to have minds of their own.’ He gave a little smile, which was almost a challenge to Vera: I’d much prefer someone like you. But that was nonsense, of course. Nobody wanted her. Morgan turned away and said in a soft voice, ‘I’ll always feel guilty about Elias dying, that I should have foreseen it or done something to prevent it.’
    ‘So how did you hook up with Mattie?’ This was Ashworth, less aggressive, asking the question as one man to another.
    ‘I suppose I started off feeling sorry for her.’ Morgan leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, showing again how flexible his body was. Vera was aware of the shoulder muscles under the flimsy cotton shirt. ‘And it’s always flattering to be needed. I thought I could make a difference in her life. A terrible arrogance, I see now.’
    ‘Where did you meet?’
    ‘That was quite by chance. A cafe in Newcastle. She didn’t have quite enough money to pay for her coffee and I offered her a few pence. She was ridiculously grateful. I’d saved her the embarrassment of having to walk away.’ He looked up at them, very earnest, willing them to understand. ‘There was simplicity about her that I found awesome. A real inner beauty.’
    ‘Not quite the full shilling though, is she?’ Vera broke in. ‘I mean, what would you talk about, those long boring nights in her flat?’
    He shook his head, despairing of her crassness. ‘She was desperate to learn,’ he said. ‘I’ve always thought that I might make a teacher – not in the conventional sense, of course – and in talking to her about my beliefs and ideals they became clearer to me.’
    Self-centred prat. Vera was pleased she no longer found him appealing. She saw the brown marks between his teeth, that there was a hair growing from a mole on his neck.
    ‘But you screwed Mattie up, didn’t you? Deprived her of the things that held her together: the telly, her friends in the street, the games she played with her lad. Was she always going to be an experiment? You never moved her in here, did you, like your classy new girlfriend? Basically she was just your bit of rough.’
    Vera saw Morgan had been glad of the excuse to leave Mattie and move back to Tynemouth. He must have celebrated after Connie’s visit. It gave him an escape route and it made his desertion look like self-sacrifice: I’m leaving for the sake of your son.
    Vera thought Mattie would have done better to drown him than the boy.
    Morgan continued in the same reasonable way. ‘I didn’t understand how disturbed she was. I never thought she’d kill Elias in the hope of getting me back.’
    ‘When did Jenny Lister come to visit?’ Vera asked. Soon Freya would be back, and she wanted to catch the girl before she had a chance to talk to Morgan. It was time to move things on.
    For the first time he didn’t have an immediate answer.
    ‘She did come to visit you?’
    ‘She came here a few times,’ he said. ‘I heard about her murder. I’m so sorry she’s dead.’
    ‘Bit of a coincidence,’ Vera said. ‘Death following you around wherever you go. What did she want with you?’
    ‘To assess me.’ He gave a small smile. ‘That’s what she said.’
    ‘Was this before you took up with Freya or after?’ Vera found from somewhere a blast of anger. He very nearly had me conned. He’s a clever bastard.
    ‘The first time was before Elias died. I think she wanted to make sure I no longer had any influence over the family. I convinced her of that.’
    ‘Jenny fell for your charms then, did she?’
    ‘She believed me. Charm didn’t come into it.’
    ‘When did you last see her?’
    There was a pause. Outside in the street some young people were laughing and jeering, pulling Vera’s attention away from the room