IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG to get from the church to Constance’s house, and once there Melissa sat at the kitchen table while her grandmother bustled about, making tea and setting out a plate of biscuits and cake. Melissa would have helped, even made the tea herself, but she knew better than to offer; her grandmother was a proud and vigorous woman, who insisted on doing everything possible for herself, claiming that it was good for her to keep busy.
Nothing was said by either woman until the pot had been filled and set in the middle of the table.
“So, what is it that has you so troubled that you’re lost in thought in the church first thing on a Monday morning?” Constance asked of her granddaughter. “Something to do with recent events, I take it.”
“Yeah.” Melissa nodded. “The murders, and the s
