A MAN accused of murdering his estranged wife said their children would soon forget their mother days after she disappeared, a court has heard.

Arlene Fraser's father said Nat Fraser seemed agitated at the time and also spoke of something costing him £5000.

Fruit and vegetable wholesaler Fraser was also calm, collected and "not fussed" two days after the mother of two vanished 14 years ago, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

Fraser, 53, denies acting with others to murder Mrs Fraser and he pleads alibi and incrimination. She disappeared at the age of 33 on Tuesday, April 28, 1998.

The trial has heard family members gathered at Mrs Fraser's home in Smith Street, New Elgin, Moray, after she went missing.

Her father Hector McInnes, now 71, arrived in New Elgin on Thursday, April 30, after driving from Lancashire.

The retired aircraft fitter, now of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, said when he saw Fraser that day he was "just the usual – calm, collected, not fussed".

Mr McInnes, who became divorced from Arlene's mother in 1974 and has since remarried, also described an encounter he had with Fraser in the kitchen of the New Elgin house on Thursday, May 7, that year, nine days after disappearance.

He said of Fraser: "He sat down on the chair with his back to the patio door, facing me. I thought he was a wee bit agitated.

"He just mentioned that something was going to cost him a sum of money. I thought he said £5000. And then he said the bairns would soon forget their mother."

Mr McInnes said he assumed the money reference was about the cost of the possible divorce between Fraser and his wife.

Mr McInnes said he left the kitchen after Fraser made the comment.

The conversation happened on the same day three of Mrs Fraser's rings were found in her house, jurors were told.

The court has heard how her engagement, wedding and eternity rings were found on a peg in the bathroom by Mr McInnes's wife Catherine, just over a week after the disappearance.

Mr McInnes told the jury he had been in the bathroom frequently and had not seen the rings there before that day.

Bill Thompson, 67, married to Mrs Fraser's mother Isabelle, agreed with defence QC John Scott the discovery of the rings was not initially seen as significant.

As time went on they became the "cornerstone" of a 2003 trial over Mrs Fraser's alleged murder, the court heard.

The trial continues.