Police Doctor

by Laura MacDonald

  ‘Do they have many of them?’ asked Adele curiously as they began to climb the stairs.

  ‘A couple or so a year,’ Toby replied. ‘I gather this one is in your honour.’

  ‘So I believe.’ Adele nodded. By this time they had reached the first-floor landing where Toby paused for a moment. ‘Would you like a lift there?’ he asked.

  ‘That’s kind of you,’ said Adele. ‘But I can take my car.’

  ‘Wouldn’t hear of it,’ said Toby. ‘Can’t have the guest of honour unable to have a drink. I’ll meet you down here…what, about seven?’

  ‘Yes, all right, thanks, Toby.’

  Adele found herself getting ready with extra care that evening, taking more trouble than usual over her make-up, hair and nails. When she had finished she carefully stepped into the pair of black crêpe trousers she had bought in Chester, and which had cost her nearly a week’s wages, but when she went to put on the new top she had told the girls about she was unable to find it. She had only bought it a few days previously in one of the local high street shops especially to wear at the dinner party. She searched her wardrobe and the chest of drawers, and even went through the rubbish bag, fearing it may have got caught up with things she had thrown away, but there was no sign of it. In the end, in desperation she took from the wardrobe a gold sleeveless top with a roll neck, and by the time she had pulled it over her head and rearranged her hair it was time for her to meet Toby.

  He was waiting for her on the landing looking somehow very boyish in evening dress, almost like a student going to a freshers’ ball. He had obviously just washed his hair, which still flopped across his forehead and over his glasses. ‘You look nice,’ he said admiringly as together they made their way down to the courtyard.

  ‘Thank you.’ Adele smiled. ‘You don’t look so bad yourself.’ She was amused to see the colour touch his cheeks as if he wasn’t used to compliments.

  ‘I was going to ask Casey if he wanted to come with us,’ he said as he opened the passenger door of his car for Adele, ‘but there was no reply when I knocked on his door. Either he’s already left or he’s been called out. Knowing Casey, anything’s possible.’ He started the engine and they drew out of the courtyard onto the high street. ‘Have you been to the Fletchers’ home?’ he asked as he joined the flow of traffic.

  ‘No.’ Adele shook her head. ‘Do they live far away?’

  ‘About a mile and a half. It’s west of the town up at Jacob’s Rise. It’s an exclusive area that has been developed in the last ten years or so. As you’ll see, there are some pretty impressive properties up there.’

  ‘What’s Celia like?’ asked Adele after a moment.

  ‘Celia?’ Toby gave a rare chuckle. ‘Oh, she’s all right really, I suppose. But she does have the tendency to want to organise things which, I guess, is fine to a point, but unfortunately she includes other people’s lives in that as well. She’s notorious as a matchmaker,’ he said, throwing Adele a sidelong glance. ‘To be honest with you, I’ve been dreading tonight,’ he admitted, ‘because I’m sure she’ll have someone lined up for me. On the other hand, I dare say she may have given up on me by now. She must think I’m a dead loss.’

  ‘I’m sure that isn’t true,’ protested Adele. Casting him a sidelong glance she said, ‘But would she do that? Have someone lined up, I mean?’

  ‘She’s done it before,’ Toby replied darkly. ‘The last one she lined up for me was impossible. I felt obliged to take her home and she kept ringing me for weeks afterwards.’

  ‘Oh, poor old you,’ said Adele sympathetically. ‘What a nightmare! I say,’ she added in sudden alarm, ‘I hope she hasn’t lined anyone up for me.’

  ‘I expect you’ll escape this time as she hasn’t yet met you,’ said Toby solemnly, ‘but be warned for the future.’

  ‘The answer, I suppose,’ said Adele thoughtfully ‘is to ask if you can bring someone along or, failing that, to at least say that you’re seeing someone even if you aren’t.’

  ‘I was going to do that tonight,’ admitted Toby sheepishly. ‘I was going to ask Penny then if…if she agreed I would have checked it out with Celia. But, then, I don’t know, I chickened out.’

  ‘Penny?’ Adele turned to him. The surprise in her voice must have been obvious.

  ‘I know, pathetic, isn’t it?’ Toby must have thought her surprise was over his lack of courage rather than his choice of partner. ‘I’m afraid I’m always chickening out over things like that.’

  ‘No,’ said Adele quickly, ‘I didn’t mean that. I was surprised that you were thinking of asking Penny, because of Casey. After all, she wouldn’t want anyone to think that you and she—’

  ‘What about Casey?’ Toby cut her short. He threw her a startled glance, taking his eyes from the road then, as the car swerved slightly to the left, being forced to concentrate again.

  ‘Well, they’re an item,’ said Adele weakly.

  ‘Are they? I didn’t know that.’ Toby looked shattered, leaving Adele in no doubt that he hadn’t only been wanting Penny as an escort to fend off Celia’s matchmaking. Suddenly she felt guilty at being the one to impart news that had obviously had such an impact. He risked another glance in her direction. ‘How did you know?’ he asked.

  ‘Penny herself told me,’ said Adele. ‘The day I arrived. She said she and Casey were an item, that it was early days but that she was very hopeful.’

  ‘Good heavens!’ said Toby. ‘I had no idea.’ He paused, as if allowing the news to sink in, then he said, ‘Well, I have to say Casey’s a dark horse—he’s said nothing.’

  ‘I know,’ said Adele. ‘I thought that, then I came to the conclusion that it was probably because he didn’t want a lot of gossip and speculation amongst the staff.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Toby miserably. ‘I dare say.’

  They travelled on in silence for a while, each apparently lost in their own thoughts. It had been a beautiful day, slightly autumnal but still with the warmth of late summer, and as they climbed the hill out of the town, before them in a spectacular crimson sky the sun was sinking into great banks of gold-edged clouds.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Adele at last, breaking the silence, ‘that I had to be the one to tell you.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Toby gloomily. ‘It’s the story of my life. I always leave things until they’re too late. It’s my own fault. I’ve been plucking up courage for ages to ask Penny out…’ He trailed off with a shrug. ‘I had no idea she was seeing anyone else.’ He paused then shook his head. ‘But Casey,’ he went on after a moment, ‘that does surprise me. I wouldn’t have thought Casey was her type at all. In fact, I would have thought that Casey was perhaps more your type…’

  ‘My type? Oh, no,’ she said quickly, ‘not me. Besides, I’m off men at the moment. Present company excepted, of course,’ she added.

  ‘In that case,’ said Toby, suddenly brightening up, ‘why don’t we pretend we are an item this evening—just to thwart any plans that Celia might have?’

  ‘What an excellent idea,’ agreed Adele with a laugh.

  They arrived at the Fletchers’ residence a few minutes later, only to find that the practice Land Rover was already parked on the drive alongside Edward’s Jaguar and Rachel’s VW.

  ‘Casey’s here,’ observed Toby as they climbed out of the car. ‘Let’s hope if he’s come straight from a call-out that he changed first. I wouldn’t put it past him to turn up wearing jeans and a sweater.’

  ‘And what would Celia make of that?’ murmured Adele as they approached the house, an imposing mock-Georgian residence.

  ‘He would be forgiven—simply because he’s Casey,’ Toby reached out and rang the doorbell. ‘In Celia’s eyes Casey can do no wrong.’

  ‘I have a feeling we could be in for an interesting evening—’ Adele began, breaking off as the front door opened.

  Edward stood on the threshold, immaculate and distinguished-looking in evening dress but with a drawn tiredness around his eyes
that reminded his two young colleagues of his present medical problems. ‘Adele! Toby! Come on in.’ He stood aside, allowing them both to enter the spacious hallway. As he closed the front door behind them a tall, exquisitely groomed woman came through into the hall. Her blonde, almost white hair was cut into a fashionable, jaw-length bob and she was dressed in a close-fitting, ankle-length black dress. She wore a minimum of jewellery—pearl studs in her ears, a pearl choker at her throat and a single gold bracelet on one of her slim wrists—but the overall effect was stunning. Adele found herself thinking that Celia Fletcher must have been a very beautiful woman in her youth, but as her gaze met that of her hostess she was momentarily puzzled by the expression in her cool grey eyes. If asked, she would have sworn that Celia Fletcher’s reaction on seeing her for the first time was one of shock, but later she would question that for it was swiftly replaced by other fleeting expressions—recognition, puzzlement? Adele couldn’t be sure, and as the older woman came forward to greet her she even wondered if she might have been mistaken.

  ‘Adele, my dear.’ Not waiting for her husband to make the introductions, Celia took Adele’s hands in hers. ‘How good to meet you at last. I’ve heard so much about you.’

  ‘It is kind of you to invite me,’ said Adele, surprisingly touched by the warmth of the older woman’s welcome.

  ‘Toby, hello, how charming you look.’ Briefly Celia touched Toby’s arm. ‘Come into the drawing room. We are all here now except Jeanette. She called to say she was running late but she’ll be here shortly.’

  As Celia led the way into the drawing room Adele had to fight a sudden overwhelming urge to giggle as Toby suddenly offered her his arm. In order to keep up the pretence they had agreed upon she took it, but as they entered the room all such notions of hilarity flew as she caught sight of Casey. He was standing by a magnificent Adam fireplace, a drink in one hand, talking to Rachel’s husband Matt. He must have seen a flicker of interest in Matt’s eyes for he turned and looked towards the door, his gaze immediately meeting Adele’s as she and Toby entered the room.

  She wasn’t certain whether it was the sight of that powerful body in a tuxedo or whether it was the expression in his eyes that caused her heart to miss a beat, but, whatever it was, for a moment it threw her and she was glad that Edward caused a diversion by asking Toby and herself what they would like to drink.

  But that moment seemed to set the tone for the evening for with every movement, every glance Adele was excruciatingly aware of Casey.

  Jeanette eventually arrived, apologising profusely for her lateness, full of stories of a difficult patient and her even more difficult teenage children—her daughter, whom she’d reluctantly allowed to go on a sleep-over at a friend’s, and her son, who had just dropped out of his college course in order to hitchhike to Morocco.

  ‘Lord,’ said Toby with feeling, ‘I don’t think I ever want kids.’

  ‘Well, ours are still small,’ said Rachel. ‘And I have to say we don’t seem to have had too much trouble yet.’

  ‘You wait until they leave home,’ said Edward darkly. ‘That’s when your problems really start. At least when they’re small you know where they are.’

  Gradually they drifted into the dining room, to a table bathed in candlelight, gleaming with silver and cut glass and dotted with ivy leaves and fresh cream rosebuds. Once again Toby was at Adele’s side and once again she took his arm, only to find that Celia had almost pre-empted their motives and seated them together.

  ‘Do you think we could have been the object of her matchmaking this time?’ murmured Adele under cover of them taking their seats.

  ‘Who knows?’ Toby murmured in her ear as he eased her into her chair. ‘But let’s not disappoint her.’

  ‘No, quite.’ Adele smiled dazzlingly up into his face, only to find when looking across the table that Casey’s gaze was upon her again—and this time there was no mistaking the scowl on his face.

  Toby had certainly been quite right when he’d said that Celia went to a lot of trouble when she gave a dinner party. Smoked salmon and goat’s cheese preceded succulent rack of lamb with rosemary sauce and tender vegetables, followed by summer pudding and whipped cream.

  The conversation around the table ranged from shop talk—everything from staffing problems to the NHS—to some amusing incidents about local characters. Then Celia drew attention to her with a question about her home and family.

  ‘Adele was at a hospital in Chester, weren’t you, Adele?’ It was Toby who replied. A slightly flushed, unusually animated Toby whose condition must be attributed to the circumstances rather than the mineral water he was drinking.

  ‘Yes,’ Adele agreed, ‘that’s right. I was an SHO.’

  ‘No desire to specialise?’ asked Jeanette, leaning forward slightly to peer down the table at Adele.

  ‘For a time maybe,’ Adele replied. ‘But general practice had long been an ambition, as had police work. Stourborne Abbas has presented an opportunity to combine both.’ As she spoke, once again her gaze met Casey’s but still his expression was set without so much as a flicker of emotion or amusement, leaving her feeling suddenly rather nervous.

  At Celia’s suggestion they moved into the drawing room for coffee, with Toby once again taking Adele’s arm and cosily seating himself by her side on one of the two vast sofas. And it was while sipping her coffee that Adele realised that Casey wasn’t there. Idly she was wondering where he was when suddenly he strode into the room, his mobile phone in one hand.

  ‘Celia,’ he said, ‘I’m so sorry but I have to go.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ said Celia, ‘not the police again. Can’t they leave you alone for one evening?’

  ‘That’s the way it goes, I’m afraid.’ He turned and looked at Adele and she suddenly found herself holding her breath. ‘I’d like Adele to come with me on this one.’

  ‘Oh, surely not,’ protested Celia. ‘After all—’

  ‘She has much to learn,’ said Casey firmly. ‘And this is the only way.’

  ‘I’ll come,’ said Adele, setting her coffee-cup down and rising to her feet. ‘Of course I will.’ She turned briefly to her hosts. ‘Thank you, Celia, and you, Edward, for a truly delightful evening,’ she said, and then she fled, following Casey out of the room.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ‘WHAT the hell was all that about?’

  They had left the house in silence but no sooner had they climbed into the Land Rover than Casey almost exploded.

  Adele, who was more concerned about her expensive black cre^pe trousers and what might befall them in the rather dubious interior of the staff vehicle, threw him a startled glance. ‘All what?’ She frowned, wondering what on earth he meant.

  ‘All that rubbish between you and Toby, that’s what!’ He positively growled in response and for a moment she still didn’t understand to what he was referring. ‘He’s been drooling all over you like some lovesick puppy since the moment you arrived.’

  ‘Oh, that!’ Adele chuckled as at last it dawned on her what he was getting at. ‘Actually,’ she explained, ‘we travelled together—’

  ‘Why did you do that?’ Casey demanded as he started the engine and with a squeal of tyres on the loose gravel path drove out onto the main road.

  ‘Well, Toby suggested it…’

  ‘I bet he did.’

  ‘He said as I was the guest of honour it would be nice for me to be able to have a drink,’ she carried on, ignoring his interruption and at the same time fastening her seat belt. ‘I thought it was very kind of him. Obviously he thought it was silly taking so many cars when we were all going from the same place. He even knocked on your door,’ she added, ‘to see if you wanted a lift, but you weren’t there.’

  ‘That would have cramped his style a bit,’ muttered Casey.

  ‘So where were you?’ Adele shot him a puzzled glance, wondering just what the reason was for his surly mood.

  ‘I had a police call-out.’

  ‘And you didn’
t call me?’ Adele raised her eyebrows.

  ‘I thought you’d be getting ready,’ he said abruptly. ‘I was already dressed.’

  ‘Well, yes, actually, I suppose I was getting ready but…but I have to say I feel a bit bad about Toby now.’

  ‘Why? Why should you feel bad?’ There was a contemptuous air about Casey now that somehow irritated Adele even further.

  ‘Well, he was good enough to bring me and now…well, now I feel as if I’ve just dumped him.’

  ‘We can go back if you like.’ Casey eased his foot off the accelerator. ‘I’ll turn around and drop you off.’

  ‘No, of course not,’ said Adele hastily. ‘I have to go with you now. You made it plain enough to everyone that you felt I should go.’

  He didn’t answer and after travelling in silence for a while at what seemed to Adele like a speed bordering on the dangerous she said, ‘So what is it?’

  ‘What is what?’ His voice was tight now, controlled, but his gaze was directed firmly at the road ahead.

  ‘This call-out.’ She struggled to keep the impatience out of her tone for increasingly there was something about Casey that night that was downright infuriating. ‘Did the police say what it was? Was it anything to do with the first call-out or was it something new?’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ he replied tightly.

  ‘What do you mean, you’ve no idea?’ She frowned. ‘Didn’t the police give any idea why they were calling you out? They usually do, don’t they?’

  ‘Yes,’ he agreed, ‘they do. But on this occasion they didn’t, mainly, I suppose, because they didn’t phone.’

  Slowly she turned to look at him but his expression was still fixed, giving away nothing. ‘I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘You say the police didn’t phone you but back there at the Fletchers’, you went out of the room and came back some considerable time later with your phone in your hand, saying you had to go.’