"I understand Hayley lived nearby. Did you see her often? Were you close?" May asked.
Mrs. Meakin nodded. "Yes, we were very close. She lived on the farm, although she stopped working for us a couple of months ago, and began doing pottery instead."
"Did she go out walking and running often?" May then asked.
"She used to go at least three times a week. She used to be a keen hiker, although she didn't do that anymore," Mrs. Meakin replied.
"Did she mention anything unusual to you?" May then asked. "Anything that happened while she was out? Anyone following her? Any incidents at all that might have led up to this?"
Frowning, Mrs. Meakin shook her head. "I can't say I do."
"She didn't mention anything like that," Janet confirmed. "We used to have a drink together some evenings, and we saw each other twice in the past week. She definitely didn't have any incidents while out and about, and she would have told us if she had."
"Yes, she would," Mrs. Meakin confirmed. The way she was speaking, very decisively, made May curious.
"Why do you say so?" she asked.
Mrs. Meakin smiled sadly. "Hayley was actually a lucky survivor," she said. "That's why this has felt especially cruel."
She bowed her head, reaching for the box of Kleenex on the coffee table, and Janet continued the explanation.
"Hayley was caught in a snowstorm about four months ago, when she went on a hike in the mountains. The weather turned bad suddenly, it was totally unseasonal for early summer. A freak storm."
"Is that so?" Owen asked sympathetically.
"We were so worried about her. She was gone for days. Her phone was off, we couldn't find her. We sent out search parties. We thought she was dead. Mom even phoned the funeral house because we were wondering what to do in the case of a missing person who was presumed dead."
"And then she turned up?" May asked, thinking what a cruel twist of fate this was that she'd been killed after surviving that.
"Yes. She'd managed to shelter in a tiny hut, up in the mountains, but the snow literally piled up around the door and froze there, so that she couldn't get out. She managed to break the window glass, and she kept alive by drinking handfuls of melted snow, until she finally managed to push her way out when it thawed. She was in a bad way, and had to spend the night on a drip, but she was alive. The paramedics were wonderful, so concerned. They called a few times afterward, to ask how she was."
Mrs. Meakin looked up, sighing sadly. "So after that, she made sure to always tell us when she was going farther than the immediate neighborhood. And she would have told us if she'd experienced anything strange. After that incident, she didn't want us to have a moment's worry about her."
May nodded. "I can understand," she said.
"That's why she started doing the pottery," Janet explained. "She felt as if she'd been given a second chance, and she decided she wanted to make a career out of making hand-crafted items."
"We gave Hayley the cottage as a rent-free gift when she began pottery," Mrs. Meakin said. "That way, she could put everything into building her business and still live on the farm, so it was an ideal solution."
May nodded. Without a doubt, Hayley had not had any trouble on previous walks.
“Did Hayley know a local woman called Jenna Brand?” she asked, wondering if the two victims had any connection. “Did she mention Jenna at all?”
Janet shook her head. “I think I’ve heard of the name, but don’t recall Hayley mentioning that person at all.”
So there was no obvious connection between the two victims. May realized that Janet had most likely not yet heard about the most recent murder and decided not to traumatize her with the details.
"Did Hayley have a boyfriend?" she then asked. "Anyone close to her in her life?"
She hadn't noticed any mention of a boyfriend being interviewed in the case file on her death, although the local police had taken statements from her mother and sister.
But to her surprise, Janet nodded.
"Yes. Hayley has a boyfriend. Had a boyfriend," she amended sadly.
"Tim Walters is his name," her mother added. "He lives nearby. Two towns over."
"Has she been seeing him for a while?" May asked.
"For a couple of months, I think," Janet said. “She met him soon after her hiking disaster.”
"And has he been in touch with you at all since her death?" May asked, wanting to probe into this because it seemed strange that a grieving boyfriend would not have been more prominently mentioned by the family, and the police report.
"No. No, actually, he hasn't," Mrs. Meakin said, as if only realizing the fact now.
Janet was frowning too. "It's been a couple of weeks since I saw his car here. So maybe there was an issue between them, but Hayley didn't mention it. Come to think of it, she didn't mention him either, the last time we spoke." Janet looked at Mrs. Meakin, confused.
May looked at Owen, feeling as if they now had a direction to go in this case.
A boyfriend who'd suddenly fallen out of contact, and not rallied round when his girlfriend had been murdered, was a definite red flag.
It was time to go and speak to Tim Walters, and find out exactly why he had disappeared from Hayley's life, so soon before her death.
CHAPTER SIX
May hurried out to the car after saying polite and sympathetic goodbyes to the bereaved family. There were things she needed to discuss with Owen that were better left unsaid in front of Hayley's mother and sister.
From the way Owen hurried purposefully to the car, she knew he felt the same.
"May, this boyfriend," Owen said, as soon as the door had closed. "That's just strange. Why isn't he around? Why isn't he devastated?"
"I don't know, but we need to find that out from him," May said firmly.
"I'll look up his address. Two towns over — that would be in Forest Hill. Tim Walters, Forest Hill. Okay, I've got his address." Owen scrolled through his iPad. "But seeing it's now ten a.m. on a Wednesday, I'm also going to have a look for a recorded place of work. If he has a job, he’s unlikely to be at home."
"That's a good idea," May said.
She started the car and drove along the rutted, winding driveway that led out of the scenic small farm.
"I can't find an up to date place of work on his record," Owen said. "I guess we have to go to his place, and take it from there."
Researching and tracking down suspects was not always an easy job, and May acknowledged that records and information were not always complete or up to date. Sometimes, puzzle pieces fell into place and other times they had to be searched for.
"Let's do that. In a small town, hopefully someone living nearby will know him and know where he works."
May began the drive to Forest Hill, but as she headed along the main road, she saw Owen was still hard at work, tapping the iPad with an intent look on his face.
"Now this is interesting," he said.
"What?" May glanced at him.
"I'm having a look online. I’ve called up Tim Walters' profiles on two social media sites. It’s definitely the right guy. But on neither of them can I find any mention of Hayley Meakin."