‘Now, now, Mrs P. you know that we have to ask questions of anyone who has met the victim. And your grandson was out with the girl who was killed last night.’
June Perkins gasped. ‘Oh, no! Not Jodie!’
‘I’m afraid it is. And we know you have met her too. In fact you were able to help her find a place in the hostel for the homeless. But she didn’t go there last night. Mrs Watts got onto us this morning from the hostel as soon as she heard about the girl’s death.’
June Perkins`s usual bright colour vanished from her round cheeks. ‘That poor little girl. Raymond liked her. Liked her a lot. He told me so. She was nicer than that stuck up Maureen. And Jodie came from a good home. I could tell. But she didn’t make him feel small when he asked her out. The other day when she had a shower here I heard her singing. She had such a sweet voice. I meant to ask her if she wanted to sing in the chapel,’ she said, clapping her plump hand over her trembling mouth.
‘I hoped I could get her to phone her parents from here. I was working on it.’ The tears were running down over the plump cheeks unchecked. ‘She hated that horrible step-father. She wanted to live with her real daddy. And now - now she’s dead. And it’s too late.’
She sniffed and felt blindly for a cologne scented hanky from her pinny pocket. ‘I’m sorry. Oh dear. I have hay fever again. It always catches me by surprise.’ She blew her nose heartily and blinked back the tears. ‘Sorry. I’ll be all right in a minute.’
‘Take your time, Mrs Perkins. Did Jodie mention meeting any other people besides Raymond?’
‘Roger Welbeck first off gave her a lift to the hostel, Mr. Turner. His cousin Mrs Watts runs it. She seemed so relieved about it. She’d been sleeping rough. And living off scraps literally.’
‘Where had she been sleeping? Did she say Mrs Perkins?’
‘She said she slept sometimes in shelters on the sea front. And in a blanket in the underground car park. Or on good nights under the pier on the beach. And in the park garden most times if she could get in late at night. She said that there was a small gate often left open.’ The detectives looked at one another. ‘Anywhere she wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone. She was afraid of the junkies and alkies.’
‘She wasn’t into drugs?’
‘No, she wasn’t, Mr. Turner! She hadn’t been eating right. ‘Cos she claimed no benefits. She was much too thin. She was living hand to mouth. She told me she’d found a shopping bag with some money in it one day and kept the money.
‘She was desperate, Mr. Turner. Mrs Frost said she’d begged for food from the hotel kitchens. Cliff Jones gave her some rolls and cheese after Mrs Frost saw her foraging through the bins the other week. She was only a child. Mr. Ludlam said he was going to tell the police about her when he caught her looking at the hospital charity box in the chapel. But I promised I would take her in hand and fix her up with the hostel. And then Roger Welbeck, he’s a good man, spoke to his cousin who runs the hostel.
‘I couldn’t have her staying here. I didn’t think it would be right with Raymond at such a funny age,’ she said awkwardly. ‘If you know what I mean.’
Turner wondered whether Raymond’s fooling around with Maureen had got back to her via Mrs Flitch. Possibly it had. So she got help from the chapel people.
‘And you say that Aiden Ludlam had reason to question Jodie?’
‘What’s she done?’ Raymond Perkins coming in through the door interrupted the conversation. ‘If you’ve come to ask me about Jodie. I don’t know nothing. She didn’t wait for me, she bunked off last night. I was going to take her back to the hostel. Has she done something silly?’
‘What time did you come home last night, Raymond?’
He shrugged and blinked his eyes, stretched his face into a strained grimace and then scowled fiercely. ‘I dunnow. I was fed up when she ran out on me. So I went to the pub. I only had a couple of shandies, Gran. I was fed up, yeah.’
‘So she gave you no warning that she intended to run out on you, son. Did you quarrel?’
‘No, we didn’t. It was great at first. She was a nice kid. I felt sorry for her, yeah. She was worried about getting to the hostel. S’pose I can’t blame her. Wish I hadn’t left her. She must have got frightened. With those girls getting murdered. Why are you asking me all this?’ He looked from his Gran’s face to the police officers. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Did you notice anyone else hanging around near you in the crowd? Anyone taking an interest in Jodie. Anyone, a stranger perhaps. Or did you see anyone there you knew, son?’