Mary thought for a moment. ‘Not really. Miranda came every day to see her. I saw her yesterday afternoon, she knew that the end was near. I tried to make sure that she was ready…’
‘And was she?’ asked Judy.
‘Yes,’ said Mary. ‘As much as you can be. She’s seventeen or eighteen—a good person, a strong young woman. Clear, well-focused, not given to panic… Mature for her age. Ideal, really.’
‘Are there any other relatives?’ asked Dr Peterson.
‘Just one son. He moved to Argentina years ago and rarely comes back. I think—I think he had problems with Mrs K. He wasn’t planning to come back for—for the end of her life.’
‘Can’t see them fighting over £400,’ said Dr Peterson and looked at Mary, who shook her head.
‘Well, the documentation’s in order, the facts are clear, now we must wait for the police. But please remember: we must not speculate.’
Ayesha had wedged the office door open—the heating was always too hot in winter. Mary could hear the radio as she approached.
‘Nothing was prepared, nothing.’ It was a woman with a Welsh accent. ‘We’d known for years that this could happen, but nobody listened to us. And now—well, this flooding’s the wake-up call we needed—’
When Mary came in, Ayesha looked up and turned the radio off.
‘Well?’ she said.
Mary shrugged. ‘Nothing. Dr Peterson told us not to speculate.’
‘Very useful.’
Mary sat down, thinking over what she knew. ‘I feel sorry for Miranda. What will she think when she finds out? After all she’d done for her mother—for it to end like this…’
‘They didn’t get on that well, Mary.’
‘No?’
‘I heard them arguing a few days ago. I mean, I wasn’t snooping, but they were shouting so loud, you could hear it all along the corridors.’
‘What were they arguing about?’
‘I couldn’t tell. But Miranda was angry, really angry. She was trying to get her mum to agree to something. They stopped once they realised I was in the corridor.’
‘I thought they got on,’ said Mary.
There were two rapid knocks on their door and they turned to see Judy there.
‘Mary: it’s the police.’
‘Are they here already?’ Mary began to get up.
‘No, no, just the opposite. The floods—they can’t get in. They need a tractor. They’ll be at least another couple of hours.’