by Ann Granger
‘Putting on a bit of weight, Hal!’ she greeted him as he came towards her. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
‘I was in the area. Thought I might cadge a cup of coffee,’ Hal Briggs said. ‘And check on how you are.’
He stooped. Tess graciously allowed him to kiss her on the cheek, which he did in a brotherly sort of way. Even so, it disturbed her more than she would have thought possible.
‘Rubbish!’ she said crisply. ‘You haven’t driven all the way from Bath for that. Go on into the house. I’ll scrub up and join you. You can put the kettle on, if you want to.’
Fred had trotted up to inspect the newcomer and now accompanied him into the house. Tessa smiled to herself. Fred was keeping his eye on things! She followed man and dog to the kitchen door, where she paused to remove her wellingtons in the porch. Then she padded in her socks across the flagged floor past her visitor and made her way to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, changed into different trousers and sweater, and hopefully not still smelling of the stable yard, she went back to the kitchen. But it was empty now. She could hear Hal’s voice from the living room. He was sitting comfortably in an armchair, making a fuss of Fred. Two mugs steamed on the low table.
Tessa took one and threw herself down on the sofa. ‘How is the corn and feed business?’
‘Doing well, thanks. You look fit.’ He gestured generally in her direction and smiled.
‘I am fit, thanks! You were always a straight speaker, Hal. I haven’t seen you in Lord knows how long, and you don’t say I look well, or, heaven forbid, that I look nice.’
He grinned. ‘You look very well and, without the gumboots and smelly work gear, you look very presentable.’
‘Right. Well, I know what’s brought you. You’ve heard the news, I suppose?’
‘It’s been in the papers and on the local radio, not to mention the usual grapevine. Could hardly miss it.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘Odd business, especially since the police think it’s murder.’ He drained his coffee mug. ‘How are things up at the Old Nunnery?’
‘You could drive up there and see for yourself,’ Tessa heard herself say waspishly.
‘They wouldn’t be expecting me. Hattie probably wouldn’t recognise me now and I’ve never met the chap she married.’ He managed a wry grin.
‘Fair enough. You couldn’t just turn up there, I suppose. Things are hellish, if you want the truth. Hattie is falling apart. Guy Kingsley – the man she married – is about as much use as a leaky bucket, and the police keep turning up and stirring things. Yesterday, it got worse.’
‘Oh?’ His voice sharpened. ‘How?’
‘Some woman claiming to be Carl’s girlfriend turned up from London, with a man friend as back-up. She threw all kinds of wild accusations around. Guy wasn’t there. But, luckily, a carpenter was and he called the police. They came up and sorted things out. But it was the last thing Hattie needed.’
‘I see.’ Hal leaned forward and replaced his empty mug on the table. ‘I’m sorry.’
Tessa sighed, and said more mildly, ‘Yes, I know you are. You were always keen on her.’
‘Well, we were all young, and you know how it is.’ He sounded apologetic.
‘It doesn’t matter now, Hal!’ she told him.
He grimaced. ‘Well, I’m sorry she didn’t marry someone more supportive than the chap you describe. She could have had her pick. Nearly every male of suitable age in the neighbourhood fancied her. Yes, including myself, as you said. At least she didn’t marry Carl.’
‘What?’ squawked Tessa. ‘That would be preposterous! She’d never have done that!’
‘I think it was in Carl’s mind at one time,’ Hal retorted. ‘He’d never have admitted it, least of all to me, but he saw himself as lord of the manor, or at least calling the shots at the Old Nunnery. He was an envious sort of bloke, you know, and ambitious with it.’
He saw the expression on his ex-wife’s face and added, ‘Don’t look so pop-eyed about it. And don’t tell me you never had a moment’s worry over it. He wasn’t any kind of blood relative, or even a legally adopted brother. He was Nancy’s kid, that’s all. His natural father had vanished into the blue and his mother died five or six years after she married Hemmings. Carl had been hanging around the Old Nunnery, and it wasn’t just because he had a sentimental attachment to the place. He was waiting his chance once Hemmings was dead. Only someone else got there first, this fellow Kingsley, and put his nose out of joint. He was always very good at manoeuvring others, Carl, but that time he missed the signs. Now then, if you’d told me Carl had taken a shotgun and blown away Kingsley, that would be believable.’
‘You’re talking rubbish, Hal!’ Tessa said, but she looked shaken.
‘OK, I won’t mention it again. All theory now, anyway. But, talking of the locals, I passed Ron Purcell just down the road on my way here. I stopped to say hello. I was surprised to see him. I thought he’d moved away.’
‘He did. He moved back when his marriage broke up. He didn’t marry locally. I never met his wife.’
‘He was another member of the cricket club, way back. He was a demon bowler.’
‘Yes, well, now he paints.’
‘Paints? Paints what?’ Hal asked, surprised.
‘There’s some sort of an amateur artists’ club in the village, and he belongs to it.’ She pointed at the far wall. ‘That’s one of his.’
Hal got up and went to inspect the watercolour in question. ‘It’s this house!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s not half bad.’
‘He came along one afternoon in the summer and asked if he could use it as a subject. He sat out there in the yard for a week.’
‘And you bought it off him?’
‘Actually, no,’ Tessa told him. ‘He gave it to me. I offered to pay him for it, but he wouldn’t hear of it.’
‘Well, well, old Ron, a man of hidden talents!’ Hal returned to his seat. ‘Harriet isn’t the only one to be badly upset. It’s knocked you for six, hasn’t it?’
‘Of course it has. Hattie is my friend. We were at school together.’
‘You were always very fond of her, protective, mother hen!’ He grinned.
Tessa glared at him. ‘What’s really brought you here, Hal?’ she asked. ‘Don’t repeat that rubbish about being in the neighbourhood. And it’s not to catch up on old times with people like Ron. Please don’t say that you’re here on my account.’
Her former husband leaned back in the armchair and folded his hands. ‘Well, now, Tessa, you might say that is why I’m here. Of course, I wanted to hear from someone close to the people concerned just what’s been going on. This is my neck of the woods, too, you know! But also . . .’
He broke off, and was silent for so long that she began to redden under his steady gaze, and fidget. At last, when she could bear it no longer, Tessa burst out, ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Hal! Say what’s on your mind!’
‘All right!’ He sat up straight and unfolded his hands. ‘The whole thing has been worrying me. Tell me straight, Tessa, have you done something really stupid?’ He held up his hand. ‘Before you deny it and chew my ear off, listen, please! I am still quite fond of you, you know.’
‘Thanks!’ she managed, through gritted teeth.
‘So if you’ve done something you now regret, I might be able to help.’
‘Well, you can’t!’ she snapped, unwisely.
He heaved a sigh. ‘So, then, you have done something bloody daft. What is it?’
Unwillingly, she admitted, ‘I did try and arrange it so that Harriet wouldn’t have to admit she found the body. She phoned me first, you see, after she’d found him. She’d driven back home, but she hadn’t yet seen Guy. She was in a dreadful state over finding Carl and terrified of how Guy would react when he discovered she’d made a secret arrangement to meet him and discuss money.’ Tessa paused. ‘Carl was always nothing but trouble. I remember that scrap you had with him at the old cricket club, years ago.’
Hal nodded
. ‘It certainly was years ago. We wrecked the bar. Don’t ask me what it was over.’
‘Not over Hattie, then?’
Hal hesitated for the first time. ‘I may have dropped him the word that I’d guessed what his long-term intentions were – warned him off, if you like. He didn’t like that. Ron Purcell was captain that year, and he didn’t like it either, when the furniture started flying around the bar. A couple of other members took it upon themselves to try and break up the fight and ended up in the thick of it. He was beside himself with rage, old Ron. He took the good name of the cricket club very seriously. John Hemmings paid for the damage.’
He gave her a shrewd look. ‘So Carl needed bailing out again, did he?’
‘When did he not? He was always running into debt and asking Harriet to help him. Anyway, after she called in a blind panic about finding the body, I told her to stay put but to keep out of Guy’s way. I’d go down to the woods and find Carl. I’d phone the police and come back to the Old Nunnery as soon as I could so we could tell Guy together. That was the plan, anyway, and it might have worked.’
‘But?’ Hal raised a bushy eyebrow.
‘But I was too late, wasn’t I? Ruddy police had got there first. Someone else had stumbled over Carl and reported it.’
‘And the police know this? About the little plan you and Harriet hatched up?’
‘It wasn’t Hattie’s plan; it was mine. And yes, they know. There was another witness who saw Hattie’s car driving away from the woods and he told the police. Now I’ve got a Sergeant Morton round my neck.’ Tessa scowled. ‘He’s a gloomy-looking chap built like an oak wardrobe, and he seems to think it’s his calling in life to pester me with questions. He even turned up here. I thought, when I heard your car, he might have come back again. Thank goodness, he hadn’t!’
‘And it was only me?’ Hal’s smile held no amusement. ‘Why does he keep coming back, Tessa?’
‘How do I know?’ she retorted defiantly.
‘All right, I’ll hazard a guess. Because he thinks there is something else you’re not telling him – and I think you’re not telling me! Stop trying to give me the runaround, Tessa. I know you too well. So you tried to be the one to report the body, and you failed. But that’s not all, is it? What’s the other thing you’ve done?’
There was a silence. Then she said, ‘I can’t tell you, Hal. Not because I’m being obstinate. I can’t tell you because, if I do, you’ll be an accessory after the fact, or whatever they call it. You’d have to go to the police. I don’t want that. This isn’t your business, Hal. I appreciate you wanting to help. But really, just go back to Bath and let things take their course here.’
After a moment, he said, ‘All right. But you know you can pick up the phone if you need me.’
Tessa said gruffly, ‘Thanks.’ A little later, as she walked with him to his car, she asked, ‘Just out of curiosity, you understand, are you still together with whatshername – Alison?’
‘Yes.’
‘Does she know you’ve driven here this morning to see me?’
‘No, as it happens. She’s in London for the week. She spends a lot of time at her flat there, because of her job, you know.’
‘Still haranguing students about obscure bits of history?’
‘Neolithic cultures of Western Europe.’
‘How on earth—!’ Tessa broke off, coloured, and said, ‘Sorry, none of my business.’
‘How on earth did we ever get together? We met at a mutual friend’s place and got talking about farming and grain types. Men started clearing and cultivating the land in Neolithic times. They kept animals, mostly, of course.’
Tessa rolled her eyes. ‘You’ve got something to talk about then. Thanks for coming over, anyway, Hal.’
‘Not a problem.’ He stooped and sedately kissed her cheek again.
His breath brushed her neck and she felt a pang of loss. They had not been drawn together by passion. They had married, she thought now, because all their friends were getting married; and they’d got on all right for a while. Then, one evening, sitting by the fire, Hal had announced he was moving out. Somehow, it hadn’t surprised her. She wasn’t daft. There had been someone else for a while. What did they say? ‘A wife always knows.’ She’d known because there was a spring in his step and a gleam in his eye that she hadn’t put there. Nevertheless, you can’t just dismiss from memory a time of shared togetherness.
‘Remember what I said about the phone. Oh, and don’t do anything else daft!’ He was facing the entry to the yard as he spoke and suddenly straightened up and said sharply, ‘Who is this?’
‘Who is what?’ Tessa turned and saw that, on the further side of the gate, a shiny black Mercedes had pulled up and a young woman was getting out. She was a startling apparition, in a tight red sweater, black trousers and shiny boots. She had a mass of artfully disordered tawny curls and was bedecked with various items of chunky jewellery. Even Fred, who had trotted forward to give the new arrival the once-over, had stopped, and was staring up at her in a bewildered way.
‘Who’s she?’ hissed Hal, scowling at the vision. ‘And what is she doing out here, done up like that?’
‘Cat’s whiskers, isn’t she?’ observed Tessa. ‘Well, I don’t know her, but if I had to hazard a guess, it’s one of the pair of unwelcome visitors poor Hattie got yesterday. I told you about them. She – that girl – claims to have been Carl’s girlfriend. I don’t know where the man is – a beefy, red-haired fellow, Hattie said.’
‘So, what’s she doing here?’ muttered Hal.
‘How on earth should I know? I thought the police had warned the pair of them off and they’d gone back to London!’
‘Are you Mrs Briggs?’ called the newcomer loudly.
‘She is!’ retorted Hal, before Tessa could speak. She felt him give her arm a warning squeeze. Let me handle this, he was signalling.
‘Any chance of a word? I’d appreciate it,’ added the visitor, a touch belligerently.
Hal walked over to the gate and dragged it open.
‘That dog OK?’ asked the woman, as Fred gave an uneasy growl.
‘He is. Come here, Fred!’ Tessa ordered, and the collie trotted back to her. ‘It’s OK, boy.’ She dropped her hand to touch his head, and Fred acknowledged the contact by briefly licking her fingers.
‘I’m Hal Briggs,’ Hal said in a flat voice, not offering any further information. ‘What do you want a word about?’
The visitor flushed nearly as red as her sweater. Tessa thought, she anticipated finding me alone, as she and her man friend found poor Hattie. Only they hadn’t counted on Derek the carpenter yesterday, and she certainly hadn’t counted on finding Hal here now!
‘I’m – I was – a friend of Carl Finch. My name is Natalie Adam. I want to know what’s been going on, who killed him!’
‘Then you’d better speak to the officer in charge of the team investigating the murder,’ said Hal. ‘He’ll bring you up to date.’
Tessa spoke up, saying, ‘His name is Carter, Superintendent Carter.’
‘I’ve met him!’ retorted the visitor. ‘He didn’t tell me anything.’
Tessa, unable to contain herself, burst out, ‘You and your ginger-haired pal were at the house, giving Hattie a bad time. Superintendent Carter told you both to clear off. Where’s the other one?’
‘Henry – Henry Knox, who came down here with me – has had to return to London. He left me the car after I drove him to Gloucester, to the train station.’
‘Carter meant for you both to go back to London!’ stormed Tessa.
‘Superintendent Carter,’ came the icy reply, ‘can’t tell me where I can or can’t go. I want to know what happened to poor Carl. I believe he was lured into a trap. I’m not going to give up until I know who’s responsible.’
‘That’s enough!’ ordered Hal. ‘If you mean to interfere in a police investigation, Miss Adam, that would be a bad idea. You’ll find yourself in a lot of trouble.’
Hal drew a deep breath. ‘In any event, you’ve no business here, so kindly leave. We can’t help you.’
‘I bet you bloody could!’ challenged Natalie. ‘If you wanted to. But you don’t. No one down here does. You all had it in for poor Carl! Well, I’m not going to abandon him!’
‘Ms Adam!’ roared Hal. ‘Your visit here is over.’ His voice echoed around the yard, and even the horses in the meadow behind the house flung up their heads and stared curiously towards them.
Despite this, Natalie still looked for a second or two as if she would argue. But then she conceded defeat – for the moment. She tossed her long curls, causing her jewellery to chink, and stalked back to her car. As she opened the door, she turned her head for a last verbal volley at them. ‘There’s a conspiracy going on here, and you’re all in it! Well, sod you all, I’m going to find out what’s going on!’
They watched her back the Mercedes out into the lane and drive off.
‘Bloody nerve!’ exploded Tessa.
‘Yes,’ her ex-husband agreed. ‘But listen up, Tessa. If she comes back, with or without her friend, call the police immediately. Don’t muck about, and don’t try and tackle her, or them, yourself!’
‘I can deal with her!’ retorted Tessa.
‘Sure you can. But you shouldn’t. She’s half off her head, that’s my impression. I don’t know if it’s grief or what it is. But I suspect she’s liable to do almost anything. Here.’ He took a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘I’ve written down my landline and mobile numbers – and my office number, for good measure. If you need me, call. I’ll come over straight away.’
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.
‘Still sure you don’t want to tell me what you’ve done?’ he asked, more gently.
‘Absolutely sure.’
