The Sculptress by Minette Walters

to the posh Convent
where they learnt their times tables and didn’t
learn the facts of life.’
    ‘Why didn’t Amber have an abortion? Were they
Catholics?’ She thought again about Olive and foetuses
being washed down the sink.
    ‘They didn’t know she was pregnant, did they?
Thought it was puppy fat.’ He cackled suddenly.
‘Rushed her off to hospital with suspected appendicitis
and out pops a bouncing baby boy. They got away with it, too. Best kept secret I’ve ever come across.
Even the nuns didn’t know.’
    ‘But you knew,’ she prompted.
    ‘The wife guessed,’ he said owlishly. ‘It was obvious
something untoward had happened, and not appendicitis
neither. Gwen was well-nigh hysterical the night
it happened and my Jeannie put two and two together.
Still, we know how to keep our mouths shut. No
reason to make life harder for the kid. It wasn’t her
fault.’
    Roz did some rapid mental arithmetic. Amber was
two years younger than Olive which would have made
her twenty-six if she were still alive. ‘Her son’s thirteen,’
she said, ‘and due to inherit half a million
pounds. I wonder why Mr Crew can’t find him. There
must be records of the adoption.’
    ‘I heard they’d found traces.’ The old man clicked
his false teeth with disappointment. ‘But, there, it was
probably just rumour, Brown Australia,’ he muttered
with disgust, as if that explained everything. ‘I ask
you.’
    Roz allowed this cryptic remark to pass unchallenged.
Time enough to puzzle over it later without
claiming ignorance yet again. ‘Tell me about Olive,’
she invited. ‘Were you surprised that she did what she
did?
    ‘I hardly knew the girl.’ He sucked his teeth. ‘And
you don’t feel surprised when people you know get
hacked to death, young lady, you feel bloody sick. It did for my Jeannie. She was never the same afterwards,
died a couple of years later.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’
    He nodded, but it was clearly an old wound that
had healed. ‘Used to see the child come and go but
she wasn’t a great talker. Shy, I suppose.’
    ‘Because she was fat?’
    He pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘Maybe. Jeannie
said she was teased a lot, but I’ve known fat girls
who’ve been the life and soul of the party. It was her
nature, I think, to look on the black side. Never
laughed much. No sense of humour. That sort doesn’t
make friends easily.’
    ‘And Amber did?’
    ‘Oh, yes. She was very popular.’ He glanced back
down the passages of time. ‘She was a pretty girl.’
    ‘Was Olive jealous of her?’
    ‘Jealous?’ Mr Hayes looked surprised. ‘I’ve never
thought about it. What shall I say? They always
seemed very fond of each other.’
    Roz shrugged her bewilderment. ‘Then why did
Olive kill her? And why mutilate the bodies? It’s very
odd.’
    He scowled suspiciously. ‘I thought you were
representing her. You should know if anyone does.’
    ‘She won’t say.’
    He stared out of the window. ‘Well, then.’
    Well then what? ‘Do you know why?’
    ‘Jeannie reckoned it was hormones.’
    ‘Hormones?’ Roz echoed blankly. ‘What sort of
hormones?
    ‘You know.’ He looked embarrassed. ‘Monthly
ones.’
    ‘Ah.’ PMT? she wondered. But it was hardly a
subject she could pursue with him. He was of a
generation where menstruation was never mentioned.
‘Did Mr Martin ever say why he thought she did it?’
    He shook his head. ‘The subject didn’t arise. What
shall I say? We saw very little of him afterwards. He
talked about his will once or twice, and the child – it
was all he thought about.’ He cleared his throat again.
‘He became a recluse, you know. Wouldn’t have
anyone in the house, not even the Clarkes, and there
was a time when Ted and he were close as brothers.’
His mouth turned down at the corners. ‘It was Ted
started it, mind. Took against Bob for some reason
and wouldn’t go in. And others followed suit, of
course, the