Barking Mad

Chapter 3

10

We left the café in heavy rain which showed no sign of letting up. Poppy and I hurried back to Rosecroft, skirting the puddles, and decided not to venture out again that evening. Having rubbed Poppy with an old towel and had a bite to eat, I changed into pyjamas and dressing gown, and settled down on the sofa. Everyone had been talking about the television detective series based on the Geraldine Steel books. Although I had read the books, I hadn’t yet got round to watching it. Even my mother had seen it.

‘You should watch it,’ she told me. ‘You’ll love it.’

‘Should’ was one of her favourite words when she was addressing me. Usually I took scant notice of her advice, which had never yet proved particularly helpful, but on this occasion, I agreed with her. Poppy curled up at my feet with one of her favourite dog chews, as I made myself comfortable. With a large packet of crisps and a glass of white wine to hand, I prepared to immerse myself in what had been promoted as ‘a gripping crime drama’. I was not disappointed, and was feeling duly gripped, when someone knocked at my door. Assuming it was Hannah or Toby come to visit me, having missed me at The Plough that evening, I paused the television and checked my phone but neither of them had called me. It was still raining as I reluctantly heaved myself off the sofa, sending my packet of crisps flying off my lap as I stood up. Poppy, who had nodded off at my feet, leapt up with alacrity, and I hurried to pick up the fallen crisps before she could guzzle them all.

‘No,’ I scolded her. ‘You can’t have them all. They’re really salty and that’s bad for you. Wait just a minute and I’ll get you a treat. Let’s see who’s here first.’

The knocking continued and I hurried to open the front door, wondering if my bell wasn’t working. To my surprise, it wasn’t either of my friends on my doorstep, but Richard’s son Ralph. There was something vaguely menacing about his stern expression that made me hesitate to invite him in, even though the shoulders of his coat looked damp and it was still raining. While I prevaricated, Poppy scurried over to stand beside me, growling softly. Her hostility decided me. Besides, I was in my dressing gown and slippers, had paused my programme, and was impatient to get back to it.

‘Do you want something?’ I asked, not caring if I sounded rude.

Ralph cleared his throat. ‘My father is in a very vulnerable situation just now,’ he began, and paused, looking awkward.

Poppy growled again, and Ralph’s words made me shiver. It was something of an understatement, if the general suspicion was correct and his father was hoping to evade a murder charge.

‘What do you expect me to do?’ I asked, taking an involuntary step back.

‘You live next door to him,’ he replied fatuously. ‘Look, it’s all right as long as I’m here to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, but I need to get home and I’m worried about leaving him on his own. I really have to go home tomorrow, and I’m not sure I can trust him in his present state. We both know what’s being said about him, and it’s not helping.’

I stared at him silently and he glared back me, his dark eyes forbidding under lowered brows.

‘What do you want?’ I demanded.

‘Just to tell you that you and all your friends in the village need to watch what you say, or I can’t guarantee what might happen.’

‘Are you threatening me?’ I asked, doing my best to hide my alarm.

‘You can take it as a warning, if you like,’ he replied. ‘But if you go spreading any more stories about my father, you’ll have me to answer to.’

With that, he spun on his heel and strode away leaving me shaking. I returned to the television but somehow the drama of a murder investigation seemed slightly less relaxing now that I was convinced my next-door neighbour had killed his wife and might be a threat to my life as well. And clearly his son was no less dangerous a man to cross. After taking Poppy out in the back garden, and checking that all my doors and windows were securely fastened, I went to bed and spent a restless night dreaming about a ghostly woman who crawled out of the river, festooned with water weeds. Pointing a bony finger at me, she accused me of throwing her in the river to drown.

I didn’t intend to mention my uninvited caller to Hannah, but when she asked me if I was all right, my resolve crumbled.

‘You look terrible,’ she said, gazing at me with genuine concern. ‘Is everything all right?’

Admitting that I hadn’t slept well, I added that Ralph had been to see me to warn me not to say a word against his father. He seemed to be under the impression that I had started the rumour that Richard had murdered his wife.

‘He as good as told me to watch out, because Richard might kill again once he was left unattended. He said it was safe while he was there to watch over his father, but he was worried what might happen once Richard was left unsupervised. He said Richard couldn’t be trusted and there was no knowing what he might do, no guarantee. And Ralph threatened to deal with me himself if he found out I’d been talking about his father.’

Hannah seemed even more horrified than I was. She insisted I go straight to the police.

‘And say what?’ I replied. ‘That my next-door neighbour’s son asked me not to gossip about him? Seriously, Hannah, nothing’s happened. He didn’t even really threaten me, not in so many words.’

‘A woman was fished out of the river,’ she reminded me solemnly. ‘That’s hardly nothing.’

Just then a couple of women came in for breakfast, and we were kept busy for a while. By the time the rush was over, Hannah seemed to have reached a decision.

‘I’m going to speak to Barry,’ she said. ‘I know he visits Maud for tea some Sundays. I’ll check with her and find out when he’s next going to be there.’

‘She might not want you there as well,’ I said. ‘I mean, he must be like a son to her. If she only sees him every few weeks, she probably likes to have him to herself.’

‘We’re not going to tell her in advance. We’ll just turn up. She can hardly refuse to invite us in.’

‘Us?’ I echoed, shaking my head. I wanted nothing to do with her scheme.

‘You have to come with me or there’s no point in my going. I don’t know what Ralph said to you, do I?’

I could hardly recall the conversation myself, and said so.

‘But you must remember how he made you feel?’

I nodded, because she was right. I could hardly forget the sinister expression in his eyes as he had warned me about his father’s violence and his own threat to ‘deal with me’ himself if I refused to comply with his demands. I promised to think about it, but she already seemed to assume my agreement. That evening I took Poppy for a walk down to The Plough, planning to stop for a swift half before supper. Without even pausing to greet me, Hannah told me she had already spoken to Maud.

‘What are you two plotting now?’ Toby asked.

Speaking very quietly, Hannah outlined her plan.

Toby laughed. ‘You just want to see Barry again,’ he said.

‘That’s not what this is about,’ she protested, blushing furiously. ‘I’m thinking about Emily’s safety, that’s all.’

‘If you’re concerned, don’t you think we ought to be reporting Ralph’s threats to the police on official channels, not mentioning it to a local constable at a social gathering? I mean, either this is serious or it’s not,’ Toby said.

Having given his opinion on Hannah’s strategy, he stood up to buy another round, but I said it was time for me to leave as I had left my dinner in the oven. I didn’t add that I felt more comfortable walking home while it was still light. Musing over what Toby had said, I thought he was probably right to suspect Hannah was using my incident as an excuse to try and see Barry again. All the same, I found myself wishing that Toby had been a little more concerned about me. At one time he had intimated that he was keen to have a relationship with me, but somehow we had settled into a comfortable platonic relationship. It was tricky, because were I to say anything to Hannah about my feelings, she might let something slip to him. If he was no longer interested in me romantically, it would be embarrassing for us both. On balance, I decided to say nothing and hope that he would take the initiative. If all else failed, I might resort to buying some mistletoe for Christmas, but that was still eight months away, and a lot could happen in that time. Hannah and Barry might actually get together, unlikely as it seemed, and that might encourage Toby to approach me. In the meantime, the problem of Richard and his missing wife was more pressing.