[4][5] At the police press conference on 8 June 1991, Alistair Bell described Penny as having something on her mind the night before her death, that she fell asleep while watching the television news at 9pm and went to bed early.

[6] He noted that Penny did not wave him off as he left with their son in his car, as was her usual custom, but believed that this was due to the disruption caused by their kitchen renovation.

[10] A witness saw a man waiting by a brown or bronze coloured car get into a blue Jaguar XJS about 9.50am on the Fulmer Common Road opposite the Bridgettine Convent and Guest House adjacent to Black Park.

[11] Another witness next recalled a blue Jaguar XJS driving along Greenford Road at about 10:20 BST at 10–15 mph with its hazard lights flashing.

A third witness came forward six months after the murder and claimed he saw Bell driving into the car park with a passenger, and mouthing an appeal for help, which he ignored.

[14] Wallpaper samples for the proposed decoration of Penny and Alistair's bedroom were found laid out in the centre console of the car.

[23] He claimed he knew the identity of the murderer because he was asked to recommend a hitman to carry out a knife attack, but didn't know Bell was the victim.

[24] Police had also examined Bell's husband Alistair as a suspect, as he inherited the bulk of his wife's estate as well as a £200,000 life insurance payout.

However, they found no evidence to link him to his wife's murder and he had a verified alibi of being at work in Shaftesbury Avenue in Harrow on the morning of 6 June 1991.

[25] Bell had worked as a Samaritan until around 1982, and police explored the idea that the killer was someone she had counselled but this line of inquiry did not identify any further suspects.

[20] Lauren Bell announced in January 2021 that she was again offering a £20,000 reward for information that would solve her mother's murder in its thirtieth anniversary year.