Every district in Resovia had at least one Sarma supermarket and since Mercy loved shopping in different parts of the city on Saturdays, they had been to all of them. Nevertheless, Edmond believed the Old Town chain store was the most spacious, most organised, and most supplied in Resovia.
The Old Town Sarma looked like all the architecture in that district: old, shabby, and dilapidated. The locals called that historical value, but Wojcik was of a different opinion. The supermarket was housed in an old but capacious factory building. Edmond didn't remember what they used to manufacture in that mill, however its size justified its supermarket qualification, instead of being labelled a village shop.
Wojcik shrugged his shoulders as he walked in. The store hadn't undergone a make-over in years. Everything was preserved in its initial state: factory windows on the rooftops, industrial brick walls, and concrete flooring. Because of this interior design and non-existent isolation, the warehouse was very cold and humid.
Wojcik asked the store manager where he could find Helena Grom. She directed him to the dairy aisle.
Helena was unloading a trolley with milk cartons by the refrigerator in the back of the store. Wojcik could see why someone would get obsessed with her and climb into a tree to catch a glimpse of her. She wasn't his type, so he wouldn't describe her as beautiful. Besides, because of the thick layer of make-up he couldn't tell whether there was any natural beauty about Helena. Sexy was the right characterisation of a woman like her. She had a great body, Wojcik couldn't deny that. Helena's bosom was the most eye-catching asset about her, and she made sure to emphasise it by wearing clothing too tight for her body shape.
Helena had the red and green Sarma hoodie on, zipped up half way through, exposing her voluptuous breasts in a white T-shirt like a Minoan goddess. There was a print on the T-shirt, but the letters were stretched out to the extreme on her mighty chest and Wojcik couldn't read what it said. Helena turned her eyes on Wojcik as the latter was staring at her bosom, walking towards her. She smirked, half flattered, half disgusted by the attention she got from the middle-aged man in the worn grey coat.
"Did you have a good look, pervert?" she asked, while mean mugging him.
Wojcik grinned and showed her his badge.
"I'm Inspector Edmond Wojcik from the Resovia Police Department, Miss Grom."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is it about Agnes from downstairs?"
"Yes, it's about Miss Agnes Gott. Your manager told me it's okay for me to talk to you."
The Inspector noticed the nasty look Helena gave her manager who was busy with customers in the bakery and bread aisle.
"Could you tell me something about your neighbour? Did you know her well? Have you noticed anything unusual about her lately?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can tell you, Inspector. I didn't know her; I've never even talked to her. I just knew her by name, and I have seen her a few times outside with her cats. Besides, what can I have in common with a crazy cat lady?"
"Why do you say she was crazy?"
"Well, all those cat ladies are! They can't get a man, so they start picking up street cats. Loneliness and cat pheromones drive them mad."
"Do you have a man, Miss Grom?"
"I'm seeing someone at the moment," Helena said, flirtingly eyeing him up and down.
"The community police officer told me something strange had happened to you yesterday evening."
"Yes! My friend and I were watching TV in the bedroom. The window looks out on the church and a big tree. At some point we heard this loud bang against the glass. When we looked outside, we saw some guy climbing down that big tree and running away. That asshole almost shattered the window, leaving a huge crack in it! Now, I'll have to explain this to the landlord!"
"No matter where I go, I meet stalkers!" she added indignantly.
"You aren't a local, Miss Grom?" Wojcik asked curiously.
"I'm from Wroclaw. I moved to Resovia a month ago."
"What was the reason for such a drastic change?"
"What's so drastic about moving?!"
"It's remarkable when someone, especially a young woman, leaves the capital for Resovia."
"I had personal reasons," she replied briefly.
Wojcik realised he wouldn't get more out of that woman and that there was nothing important she could tell him about the night Agnes Gott had died.
"I thank you for your time, Miss Grom. If you remember something, anything at all, from that night, please call me on this number," he wrote his mobile number on a piece of paper from his bloc note and handed it to Helena. She mumbled something inaudible and resumed her work.
Wojcik hurried to leave the musty store. Since Farnicki wouldn't be back for some hours, Edmond decided to interrogate other witnesses. The community police officer gave him the complete list of all residents who lived at Liberation Street and the places they worked at. A few worked in the neighbourhood, so he talked to them at work, but most of them he found at home after lunch. However, no one had anything significant to share from that night. The people had nothing bad to say about Agnes, and they couldn't recall of ever seeing strange men, or women, visiting her or noises coming from her apartment the day she had died.
The information the Inspector had gathered didn't make him any wiser. He hoped that Ivan's investigation was more productive.