The Glass Room (Vera Stanhope 5)

own shadow now?
    He crossed the brow of the hill and suddenly the valley below him seemed full of light. He passed Vera’s Land Rover parked in a farm gateway on his left. There was no possibility after all that he would miss the place; it was the only house for miles. The entrance to the drive was marked by a lamp. To one side of the house there was a car park. As he walked towards the front door he saw a minibus with The Writers’ House painted on one side.
    A uniformed female officer stood at the door. She must have recognized him because she let him in with a smile. ‘DI Stanhope said to send you straight upstairs. She’s expecting you.’
    ‘Where am I going?’
    ‘I’ll take you.’ He was a large man, the size and shape of a bear. ‘Lenny Thomas, one of the students.’ He held out a hand. ‘Is that big woman your boss, then?’
    Pots and kettles, Joe thought. ‘That’s right.’
    ‘I’ve written a crime novel,’ Lenny said. He ambled away and Joe followed. ‘But from the perspective of the villains rather than the cops.’ He stopped suddenly. ‘I don’t suppose she’d let me in to look at the crime scene. For research, like.’
    ‘Not a chance.’
    ‘Aye, well.’ Lenny sounded unbothered by the rejection. It seemed to Joe Ashworth that he was probably used to it. ‘No harm in asking. You know what they say: shy bairns get no cake. ’ He stopped at a door. ‘They’re in there.’ Lenny added hopefully, ‘Do you need me for anything else?’
    Joe thought he was like one of those big soft dogs that follow you round, desperate to be taken for a walk. ‘No thanks, mate.’ He waited for Lenny to disappear back down the hall before knocking and going inside.
    He recognized Joanna Tobin at once. He’d taken a dislike to Vera’s neighbours when he first met them, thought them feckless and irresponsible, though over the years he’d recognized the work they put in on the small hill farm and had developed a grudging respect. By keeping an eye out for Vera, they took some of the pressure off him. But this was probably the first time he’d looked at Joanna properly, and now he stared at her as if she were an artist’s model and he was about to paint her. She sat against the uncurtained window in a dressing gown of blue and green silk. Her clothes were in a transparent scene bag on the floor, and a blue jersey inside matched the blue of the silk. Her legs and feet were bare and brown. There were a few remnants of polish on her toenails: vivid pink. Her hair had been tied into a loose plait, but strands had become loose and fell across her face. She was frowning and it seemed that she’d hardly noticed him come in.
    ‘You know Joanna Tobin,’ Vera said. ‘It seems she’s mixed up in this, one way or another.’
    He nodded. Joanna looked at him and smiled.
    ‘We need to get Joanna back to the station to take a proper statement,’ Vera went on. ‘She admits to picking up the murder weapon, but not to killing the man.’
    Joe found himself with nothing to say.
    ‘Organize it, will you, Joe? Don’t just stand there.’ Vera was losing her patience. ‘Get a couple of the uniforms downstairs to take her in, and ask Holly to do the interview. Drag Charlie in too. I’ll stay here while Joanna makes herself decent. You’ll have other clothes you can put on, won’t you, pet? Tell Holly to drop her home afterwards.’
    ‘You’re not arresting me?’ Joanna turned her gaze slowly towards Vera. Joe thought she was almost disappointed. Was she a drama junkie then? One of the weirdos that turned up at the station on occasions, admitting to crimes they’d seen on the television news.
    ‘Not if you didn’t kill the man,’ Vera snapped back. ‘What’s the problem? Don’t you want to go home? Scared of facing Jack, are you?’
    ‘I don’t know what to say to him.’
    ‘Whatever you like, as long as it doesn’t hurt him,’ Vera said. ‘I don’t want him turning up in my house again, like some sort of whipped mongrel.’ Then she turned to Joe and let her anger loose on him too. ‘Are you still there? Sort out transport for Joanna to the station, then tell all the other guests and staff that I want to talk to them. Herd them into one place and start putting together a list of names and contact addresses. And find out where Tony Ferdinand’s bedroom is. Tape it, and get an officer on the door. I’ll be down as soon as I can.’
    Joe nodded and left the room. He was used to Vera