Phil and Nawa disembarked from their Corolla as soon as they arrived at Claire's house in Northmead. They found flat 8 and Phil knocked at the door. They waited for a while in silence before he knocked again, louder than last time.
The door was opened and a tall light skinned woman in a red skirt and black blouse stood in the doorway looking at them curiously.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked, looking first at Nawa and then at Phil.
"My name is Phil and this is my partner Nawa. We are officers from central police station," said Phil removing his identity card from the top pocket of his black coat and showing it to her.
She looked at it without taking it from Phil.
"What is this about?" she asked defensively.
"We want to discuss a recent suicide case with you madam."
"I see. In that case come inside," she said, opening the door wide for the two to enter. Once inside the simply furnished living room, Phil sat on a sofa facing the TV. Nawa sat next to him. Claire pulled a stool and sat close to Phil.
"I suppose this is about Molly," she said as she sat down. She rubbed her round cheeks as she spoke.
"Yes it is, we are hoping you can be of help in clearing a few things," replied Phil.
"Alright, you want to interrogate me?"
Phil let out a laugh. Nawa did so too. It clearly lightened the tension in the room.
"It sounds heavy when you talk of interrogation, as if we are dealing with a suspect. You are not a suspect so this is basically a friendly discussion between us," replied Phil.
"Alright."
"Jacqueline informed us that you and Molly were close."
"That is right."
"How close were you?"
"Closer than sisters. We were together from primary school all the way to university."
"What did you study?"
"Economics."
"How was she as a person?"
"She was a friendly and loving person, frank, quiet, open but stubborn."
"Stubborn?"
"Once Molly decided on something, she was impossible to change."
"How was her social life?"
"She had no social life."
"Did she have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"She spent a night here on Sunday and on Monday she left for work in the morning."
"Can you remember what she was wearing?"
"Yes she actually picked a navy blue suit from my wardrobe here. She said she couldn't go all the way to Woodlands just to change her clothes."
"Did she have many enemies?"
"Enemies? Many?"
"Yes enemies, like at her place of work."
"Not really. She ran things pretty much as she pleased."
"Can't you recall any incidence where she was depressed?"
"Depressed?"
"Oh angry or something."
"Work related?"
"Yes."
Claire remained silent with her eyes facing the ceiling board of the roof. After a few sends she said, "Hmm I really can't recall. To the contrary the last conversation she appeared happy. She said she had finally cracked a difficult puzzle and she was happy."
"What puzzle was it?"
"She didn't elaborate. She preferred to keep me in suspense. Also I didn't ask. But she mentioned the name "Jane". She said Jane had helped her crack a puzzle at work."
"Do you know who Jane is?"
"No, not at all. Like I said it was a small issue."
"Small talk?"
"Yeah like maybe Jane had announced her wedding day or something. Girl talk basically."
"Outside her office did Molly offend anyone else?"
"Such as?"
"A business partner for instance?"
"I am not aware of any of that."
"And she never belonged to other clubs or associations?"
"She belonged to the Red Cross."
"As what?"
"As a volunteer."
"One more thing. Did Jane take drugs?"
"No. Drugs? From where are you getting these ideas?"
"Actually we need to cover all angles, that's all."
"Well if you say so."
"Here is my card," Phil offered his business card to her. "In case you remember anything else that will help us in our investigations, please call."
Claire took it, looked at it carefully and then said, "Alright. I will."
They shook hands and then headed towards the door.
"From your line of questioning," said Claire, once the two cops were outside, "it would appear that you suspect something different from suicide. Is that correct?"