A Cotswold Mystery Part 18

'Much the same, I think,' said Thea. 'It's rather hard to say not knowing how she usually is. She finds it impossible to remember that your grandfather's dead, which makes it difficult.'

'Poor old girl.' He shook his head, his thick black hair sculpted to his skull. 'Must have scattered her last remaining wits, I should think. She must be devastated, seeing they were such good friends. Well a bit more than friends, at one time, by all accounts.'

Thea resisted the urge to question him further on this point, merely smiling as he got back into the car. Only after they had disappeared did she realise she had no idea what the two were doing together, or where they were going.

It was after five when she got back to the house, half hoping that James would have gone. But not only was he still there, but there was a distinct atmosphere of impatience, suggesting they had been waiting for her to come back.

'At last!' Jessica exploded. 'We thought you'd only gone for some cake. What on earth have you been doing?'

'Cake!' Thea clapped a hand over her mouth. 'I forgot the cake. Hepzie and I went down to look at the silk mills. Then we got chatting with Nick and Ick.' She savoured the names again, a small secret pleasure.

'It doesn't matter,' said James tightly. 'We had a very nice chat.'

'Good. I hoped you would. Have you managed to persuade her she won't get the sack?'

James smiled and sent a conspiratorial glance at Jessica. 'There was never any question of that,' he said.

'You saw Nick,' Jessica prompted. 'What did he say?' Thea registered surprise that Nick had taken precedence over the famous Ick.

'He's looking for a house to buy and he hopes we weren't too upset. Something about Upton village as well. He and Ick met yesterday and now they seem to be bosom buddies.'

'What about Cleodie Mason?'

'No sign of her. Maybe she's gone back to work.'

'You know people here, do you?' James queried, trying to follow the thread.

'We met Icarus on Sunday evening, and Nick yesterday,' Jessica told him. 'Icarus Binns you know. The rap singer. He's beautiful. Mum met him first on Sat.u.r.day, actually, when Granny Gardner fell over.'

'Never heard of him,' James admitted proudly.

'Nor me,' said Thea. 'Thank goodness for that.'

Jessica scowled at them both. 'You're like that judge who didn't know who the Beatles were,' she accused. 'You, Uncle James I'd have thought it was part of your job to keep abreast of popular culture.'

He grinned. 'Whatever gave you that idea?' he demanded.

Jessica ignored him, gathering up the cups from the tea they'd finished some time ago. James turned to Thea. 'Nick Jolly, do you mean? Grandson to the murder victim? He's already spending his inheritance, you reckon?'

Thea silently applauded his mental agility. 'The very man,' she confirmed. 'And if he's looking at the same properties as a famous rap star, he must think his expectations are substantial.'

'We're checking the old man's will today. Sounds as if it's something to take seriously.'

Thea gave him a sceptical look. 'If he'd killed his grandpa for the money, he wouldn't be likely to splurge the news that he was house-hunting already, would he? Isn't that a bit of a giveaway?'

James shrugged. 'His alibi seems sound. He was at a dig near Dorchester all day Sunday, with several colleagues. They'll all vouch for him, I a.s.sume.'

'Working on a Sunday?' Thea queried.

'Yep, they're at it seven days a week. One of those sites with a new road going over it at any moment. They were staying in a hall, on camp beds, all in together. He could never have driven up here, done the deed and got back without being seen.'

'Stranger things have happened,' said Thea.

James sidestepped that remark. 'We should get the full forensic report tomorrow morning,' he said. 'If there are traces of Dorset mud in Mr Jolly's house, we'll go over young Nick's story again. Meanwhile, my interest is a lot more local.'

'He thinks Granny did it,' said Jessica softly. 'He doesn't want to, but he does.'

'Oh?' Thea found her heart thumping alarmingly. 'But-'

'That knife you found is definitely the murder weapon,' James told her. 'It fits the wound exactly, and the blood is Mr Jolly's. So now we have to work out how it got into that drawer.'

'And when,' said Thea, her heart thundering so loudly it deafened her to her own thoughts.

'Mum,' Jessica said gently. 'It must have been while you were out on Sunday. Did you leave the back door unlocked?'

'Yes, it was unlocked all the time. Ron said...he said it didn't matter. n.o.body would get in.' She frowned. 'He seemed to want want it left like that.' it left like that.'

James gave a small groan, and both women looked at him. 'Don't tell me that,' he pleaded. 'Do you realise what a sweat it would be to have to find them and bring them back for questioning?'

This was not a new idea for Thea. 'You'd be surprised,' she said, 'at how well I realise.'

'So we do what we can without them. Jess and I have gone over it in detail. Back door unlocked. Connecting door likewise. Key still on its hook. Key to back door in Julian's pocket.'

'Wait!' Thea held up a hand. 'I did lock the back on Sat.u.r.day night. And I left the key in the lock. Doesn't that mean it would be impossible for anyone to open it from outside?'

'Not entirely. If they were determined, they could probably push it out.'

'But it would clatter onto the floor and wake me up.'

'You can't be sure of that.'

'You said you heard some odd thumps and b.u.mps early on Sunday, anyway,' Jessica reminded her.

'Yes,' Thea agreed, thinking hard. 'But it would work better if it had been opened from the inside, wouldn't it.' She fixed James with a penetrating stare. 'You're thinking Granny came through into this house, out of the back, over into Julian's, killed him, came home the same way, locking up after herself as she went. Then she washed the knife, came back and slipped it into that drawer. Then, for some reason she went out of the front, setting off the buzzer. But that doesn't work.'

'Why not?'

'Because I know the connecting door was locked when I went to bed on Sat.u.r.day.'

'So? She must have a key to it.'

'So why leave it unlocked unlocked afterwards?' afterwards?'

'Plain forgetfulness.'

'Possible,' said Thea reluctantly. 'Perhaps she thought I'd heard her and panicked.'

'It's all guesswork at this stage, but it does fit the evidence,' James summarised, with no sign of satisfaction.

Thea's heart thundered even more powerfully. 'But surely she isn't clever enough. Besides...' But the thought had flown. In her imagination, she could see it all too clearly the old woman flitting silently through the hall and into the back garden, knife in hand. It paralysed her tongue and made her dizzy.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Tuesday ended much as Monday had done, with the time change stretching the afternoon confusingly. 'I still can't get used to the new time,' Thea grumbled. 'I suppose it's because it came as such a surprise.'

'Are we eating out tonight?' Jessica looked hopeful, but Thea could summon no enthusiasm.

'We had lunch out,' she objected. 'We can't keep doing it.'

'Why not? This is my holiday, remember. What about that Churchill place in Paxford? We'll never get there at this rate. I've only got one more full day here.'

'Phil said he'd take us.'

'When?'

'When he can get some time. I suppose that business with the bombs is still taking all his attention.' They had watched the television news, to find nothing whatever about bomb factories.

'They must have managed to keep it blacked out for the time being,' said Jessica. 'Maybe there's a raid going on at this very moment.'

'Isn't it always four in the morning when they do that?' Thea said.

'Usually,' Jessica conceded.

'So why doesn't he call and tell me what he's doing?' Thea embarra.s.sed herself by wanting regular contact from the man. It was so adolescent adolescent, she chided herself. But they never ran out of things to say and she had to admit she looked forward to his calls. Even a text message which she never thought she would manage lifted her spirits. It felt like invading a territory that strictly belonged to the under-35s, and discovering all sorts of delights across the invisible border.

'I want to go somewhere tonight,' Jessica insisted. 'It's boring just staying here.'

'You sound about twelve,' Thea said, thinking that if her daughter was twelve, then she might easily be under thirty-five herself. Perhaps there'd been a time slip and they'd lost ten years, instead of one British Summer Time hour.

'Well, call Phil and see what he's doing. Then we'll decide.'

Unable to think of a good reason to refuse, Thea did as she was told. Phil answered his mobile on the first ring and sounded pleased that she'd called him. When she asked about his mysterious operation, he evaded the question with a careless, 'Oh, we think it's gone off the boil for the time being. Although...' He paused, and then began muttering to someone in the room with him. 'Ah, Thea, I can't talk for long.' He then asked earnestly after their welfare and whether they were obeying his orders and staying clear of the murder investigations.

'It's not difficult,' Thea a.s.sured him. 'As far as we can see, there aren't really any investigations going on. Nothing to affect us, anyway. James was here this afternoon. He's the SIO or whatever it's called. He thinks he knows who did it.'

'Good,' said Phil inattentively. She could hear a man's voice, apparently requiring Phil's response. 'Seems I've gotta go,' he said. 'Something else has just come up.'

'Poor you,' sighed Thea, thinking it all sounded quite good fun. Phil's voice was animated, even excited. 'Well make sure your men don't go shooting any innocent South Americans, OK.'

She knew it was the wrong thing to say, even as the words formed themselves. Obviously it was. It should have been such a self-evident taboo that it would never even cross her mind. But Thea maintained her principles and opinions, regardless of who she was speaking to, and there were aspects of the police that she didn't think she would ever quite accept.

'Don't worry about that.' His voice was abruptly clipped and distant, which was hardly surprising. 'Although I could point out that if you were in a bus with a suicide bomber, you might be quite glad if-'

'Yes, yes,' she cut him off hurriedly. 'I know all that. Sorry I spoke. So when are we going to see you?'

'I can't say. Honestly, darling, it wouldn't be fair to raise your hopes. You'll have to a.s.sume it won't be before the weekend. If it does settle down a bit, you know I'll be there like a shot. That's the best I can do.'

It was the first time he'd been so uncompromising about his availability or the lack of it, even though they had been interrupted before by inconvenient crimes. On those occasions, Phil had been rueful, apologetic, sharing her sense of victimhood at the way things had worked out. Now he seemed to have gone over to a different side. Perhaps this was closer to the reality of how he felt about his work/life balance. Perhaps it was simply the romance fading, after eight short months. And if that was the case, then Thea might have to confront some uncomfortable implications. Phil Hollis was forty-six; he probably had another ten years in the job. That was too long to tread water or live in a half-relationship where promises could never convincingly be made. She would be forced to create her own ident.i.ty apart from him, maintain her own activities and interests for the times when he was emotionally and physically separate from her. And how did a person manage that balance? Switching from independent self-sufficiency to welcoming partnership at a moment's notice? Was it actually possible, and even if it was, did she want to live like that?

'We're going to have to talk about this,' she said, as if Phil had been able to hear her thoughts.

'What? Talk about what?' She could hear another man's voice in the background, his tone urgent. 'Sorry, love. I'll have to go. Be careful, won't you?'

And he was gone. Thea felt as if he had left her with her face pressed up against a brick wall, her words thwarted, her feelings ignored.

Jessica had tactfully withdrawn to the kitchen during the phonecall. Now she ventured back, eyebrows raised. 'So?' she said. 'You look a bit stressy.'

Thea gazed at her daughter, slowly remembering that she too was in the police. 'Doesn't it ever worry you?' she asked. 'That your job is incompatible with having a proper relationship?'

Jessica's eyes widened further. 'Hang on a minute,' she protested. 'Don't bring me me into it. I'm not a Detective Superintendent, and not likely to be. I get time off, like anybody else. Have you any idea how many hours the average plumber works in a week? Or systems a.n.a.lysts, or farmers, or AA men, or...' she ran out of jobs that removed people from their families, but the point was made. into it. I'm not a Detective Superintendent, and not likely to be. I get time off, like anybody else. Have you any idea how many hours the average plumber works in a week? Or systems a.n.a.lysts, or farmers, or AA men, or...' she ran out of jobs that removed people from their families, but the point was made.

'OK,' Thea put up a hand. 'Sorry. But that doesn't answer the point. It's all wrong. People should have time for each other.'

'Maybe they should just make better use of the time they have. It's probably good good for a relationship to see each other only for short spells of time. Concentrates the mind. Maintains the mystery. All that sort of stuff.' for a relationship to see each other only for short spells of time. Concentrates the mind. Maintains the mystery. All that sort of stuff.'

They both realised that it was new for the daughter to be counselling the mother. Jessica gave an embarra.s.sed little laugh. 'But what do I know? If I don't get myself a proper boyfriend soon, there'll be rumours about me being a lesbian.'

Thea closed her eyes briefly. Not now, she prayed. Let's not get onto that now. 'So let's go to Paxford,' she said. 'It's obviously no good waiting for Phil to escort us.'

'And who needs men, anyway?' said Jessica, squaring her shoulders and raising a feminist fist.

The Churchill Arms was friendly, una.s.suming and in possession of a remarkably adventurous menu. The atmosphere was emphatically that of a pub, rather than a restaurant, which suited the Osborne women very well. They were uninterrupted by the arrival of anybody they knew, and by mutual consent they devoted most of their attention to the gourmet delights of grey mullet, creamed parsnips, braised pork and thoroughly luxurious sauces.

'This is the life,' sighed Jessica, sc.r.a.ping the last of the vegetables out of the dish and onto her plate. 'I do love food.'

Thea laughed. 'Maybe you should post a review of this place on that website? The one that had the rude piece about The Crown. Redress the balance, or something.'

'I just might do that,' the girl nodded, with her mouth full.

It was dark when they got back, and again the two women had to resist the encroaching nervousness. There was a rea.s.suring light in Granny's front window, and no yapping from Hepzie as they let themselves in. 'You forgot to set the burglar alarm again,' Jessica said.

'And you never reminded me. It seems daft to me, especially with a ferocious spaniel guarding the place.'

The guard dog was squirming around their ankles, treating them both to her most lavish greetings, which included throwing herself onto her back and displaying a clean pink belly.

'We'd better watch the news,' said Jessica. 'There might be something about Phil's bomb by now.'