‘Are you coming up? I’ve got the kettle on.’
From the driver’s seat of her car, Maggie looks into the passenger-side wing mirror. ‘No, they’re watching me now. Waiting for me to leave. I think I’ve upset them enough for one night.’
‘I spoke to the landlord, by the way. They have a very nice double room on the second floor, a long way from mine, and the locks on the door are solid. You really should not be going back to that big spooky house on your own. Especially not tonight, not with all that palaver on Facebook.’
In the distance, Odi and Broon move out of sight. They are heading in the direction of the Town Hall portico.
‘Look, keep an eye on them, will you? It really is very cold.’
‘If you’re hinting I should offer them a bed for the night and buy them dinner, you can forget it.’
‘Oh, very compassionate. But they already have dinner. I put the stew you didn’t eat into a thermos flask.’
She cuts him off mid curse, starts the engine and drives home. If she feels a sliver of regret at leaving behind the promise of something new, she ignores it. The time for weakness has passed.
Chapter 55
‘MAGGIE, LOOK AT me.’
‘I can’t. You don’t exist any more.’
‘I’ll exist as long as you do. Look at me.’
‘No.’
Ignoring the voice behind her, Maggie lets the bedroom curtain fall back into place. Since the central heating switched off five hours ago, the house has grown a mid-winter chill. She lifts her dressing gown from the back of the bedroom door and wraps it around herself as she goes downstairs. On the front door the chain is in place.
She can’t see the street from here. She doesn’t need to. She’s already seen the car in the road.
It has become instinctive to head to the kitchen on nights that she can’t sleep. Maybe it’s the last trace of warmth that clings to the Aga that she is seeking. She places her hands flat on its hob lids, and thinks of Broon and Odi in the icy chill of the Town Hall portico. When her hands have warmed a little, she picks up the phone.
An indrawn sigh answers. ‘Hi, Maggie.’
‘I told you I didn’t need protecting,’ she tells Pete.
‘I’ve had to send someone over. A female constable. She’ll sit in the car outside if she must, but since you’re awake, I’d really prefer it if you let her in, allow her to check your doors and windows, and then sit downstairs for the rest of the night.’
‘What’s going on?’
‘I’d come over myself but there’s no way I can get away right now. I’ll explain everything in the morning, OK?’
‘No, explain it now.’
‘Maggie, I really have to—’
‘Now, or I come to find you. I’m guessing that won’t be strictly convenient.’
She hears a sharp intake of breath. ‘I’m in Wells, just outside the Crown. I got a call-out forty minutes ago.’
She closes her eyes and can see him, seeking the pale light of a streetlamp to make his call. He isn’t outside the Crown, strictly, he’s outside the Town Hall. Behind him, she can see the dark arches of the portico, concealing something unspeakable.
‘Broon and Odi.’ She means it as a question, it doesn’t come out quite that way.
‘They’re both dead. Killed in their sleep, from what we can tell. Or possibly in a drunken stupor, they both reek of booze.’
She needs time, to let the words sink in, for them to become real. ‘Well, they would, wouldn’t they? It’s how they keep the cold out. What happened to them?’
‘I’m not at liberty to give out details. I’ll come and see you in the morning. As soon as I can get away.’
The doorbell ringing makes her jump. If it is meant to reassure her, it does the opposite.
‘I think your friend’s at the door.’
‘OK, listen to me. Stay on the line until you can see her. She’s in her early forties, heavy build, short brown hair. Her name is Janet Owen. Open the door on the chain. Maggie, are you listening to me? Do not open the door to anyone but a female police officer.’
‘I’m sorry, Pete. Sorry for what you have to go through right now.’
He doesn’t answer. He is already getting on with his job.
Chapter 56
Daily Mail Online, Tuesday, 22 December 2015
TWO SLAIN IN WELLS