Gregory's Game by Jane A. Adams

said.
    â€˜I saw the news report and recognized the house. So I found out what I could before Ian came home. I knew he probably wouldn’t have seen anything.’
    â€˜Oh, and why is that?’
    Nathan laughed. ‘Because Ian’s idea of a break is getting away from everything. I doubt he even had his phone with him. Anyway, everyone’s been busy with the wedding and catching up with relatives; I doubt they’d have paid much attention to the news or made the connection even if they had.’
    â€˜Apart from Ian’s wife. Kat is it?’
    â€˜Kat, short for Katherine. She might.’
    â€˜Lucky you watch the news, then.’
    Nathan raised an eyebrow and Tess realized that her tone had been a little sharp. There was something about the younger man that put her on the defensive, but she couldn’t have said what.
    â€˜How long have they lived here?’ Vin asked.
    â€˜Since they left Church Lane. This was Kat’s family home. She inherited after her mum died about a year ago. The plan was to put both houses on the market and buy something bigger, but the market’s been dreadful, as I’m sure you know. They moved here – no mortgage – and rented out Church Lane. The plan’s still on, it’s just been delayed a bit.’
    â€˜And I suppose not having a mortgage gives them a bit more to put aside,’ Vinod said. He sounded rather envious.
    Nathan nodded. ‘I suppose it does,’ he said.
    Ian came into the room at that moment, a tray in his hands loaded with mugs and sugar and a milk carton perched on the edge. ‘I know we’ve got a jug somewhere,’ he said. ‘But I couldn’t tell you where.’
    He sat down in the other chair, setting the tray on a little table. ‘Please,’ he said. ‘Help yourselves and then tell me what happened to Mr Palmer. I can’t believe anything could happen in a place like Halsingham. Nothing happens there. Ever.’
    â€˜Well, I’m afraid something did now,’ Tess said. ‘Professor – Ian – did you ever meet your tenant?’
    â€˜No. I wasn’t all that keen on renting the house out, but it made financial sense. Kat set everything up with the agency. She saw his references and all that, but I never really got involved apart from signing the relevant paperwork.’ He looked expectantly at Tess and Vinod. ‘Do you know who did it? What happened?’
    â€˜As yet we know very little,’ Vinod said.
    â€˜Was there any conflict, between you and your wife, if you weren’t keen on letting the house?’ Tess asked.
    Ian Marsh frowned. ‘Why would there be?’ he said. ‘It’s just a house; we planned on selling it anyway.’
    â€˜But you had doubts about it?’ she persisted, not sure why she was bothering. Habit, she supposed. If you saw doubt, you pushed.
    â€˜No, I would have just rather held out for a sale, so we had cash in the bank ready to go if we found somewhere. Anyway, what does that have to do with anything?’
    Tess ignored the question. ‘You’ve not been back to Church Lane since …’
    â€˜Since we moved in here. April. Start of April. Mr Palmer moved in a couple of weeks later. We left the place part furnished; the agency said that was the best way.’
    â€˜And you never thought of staying there and renting this place out?’
    Ian shook his head. ‘No, never. I had no particular attachment to Church Lane, but this place was different for Kat. She just wasn’t ready to do that and anyway, there was still so much stuff here. Her parents’ things. Kat’s mother died just before Christmas but it was a while before she could bring herself to deal with everything. I don’t know, it just all worked out so it was better to come here for a while. When Janice was ill, Kat practically lived here for a while. Come to that, we all did, and Kat had started to take