1 The Cuckoo's Calling

When he saw Robin and Alison come to a halt beside a BMW he assumed
must be Bristow’s, he too slowed up, and cut across Bristow’s rambling recital of
Rochelle’s stormy relations with her family.
“John, I need to check something with you.”
“Fire away.”
“You say you heard your uncle come into your mother’s flat on the morning
before Lula died?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
“Are you absolutely sure that the man you heard was Tony?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You didn’t see him, though?”
“I…” Bristow’s rabbity face was suddenly puzzled. “…no, I—I don’t think I
actually saw him. But I heard him let himself in. I heard his voice from the hall.”
“You don’t think that, perhaps, because you were expecting Tony, you
assumed it was Tony?”
Another pause.
Then, in a changed voice:
“Are you saying Tony wasn’t there?”
“I just want to know how certain you are that he was.”
“Well…until this moment, I was completely certain. Nobody else has got a
key to my mother’s flat. It couldn’t have been anyone except Tony.”
“So you heard someone let themselves into the flat. You heard a male voice.
Was he talking to your mother, or to Lula?”
“Er…” Bristow’s large front teeth were much in evidence as he pondered the
question. “I heard him come in. I think I heard him speaking to Lula…”
“And you heard him leave?”
“Yes. I heard him walk down the hall. I heard the door close.”
“When Lula said goodbye to you, did she make any mention of Tony having
just been there?”
More silence. Bristow raised a hand to his mouth, thinking.