Death is a Word (13 page)

‘Yes, but I couldn’t give him any reason why anyone would want Daniel dead. No reason, no person – it’s all so frustrating. But I just
know
it was deliberate and I’m sure he thinks so too. I don’t know what to do, Sheila, that’s why I want you to speak to him. You know him and he’ll listen to you.’

‘I’ll try, but, really, I have nothing more to say to him than you have.’

‘Please, Sheila!’

‘I’ll mention it to him when I see him, if that’s any use. But I don’t believe there’s anything else he can do, whatever he may feel about it.’

As it happened, I did run into Bob Morris in the library.

‘Are you looking for gardening books for your father?’ I asked casually.

‘No, something on the First World War – there’s been a lot on TV lately and he got interested.’

‘How is he? I really meant to drop in on him again but I seem to get caught up in things. And, of course, there’s been all this terrible business about Daniel.’ I paused for a moment. ‘I believe Patrick, his partner, doesn’t think it was an accident.’ I looked at him enquiringly.

‘Well, not an accident, exactly – a hit-and-run.’

‘And you’re no nearer finding the driver?’

‘No witnesses – there hardly would be on that road at that time of day.’

‘Surely that’s the point. Who
would
have been driving along there then?’

‘Some drunk returning from a night out.’

‘But where from? That lane – not a road even – doesn’t lead anywhere that someone like that would be coming from and it’s not a short cut.’

‘I know,’ he said, ‘that puzzled me. I can only imagine it wasn’t a local but some visitor who’d got lost.’

‘At that time of day? Anyway, if, as you said, the vehicle was probably a four-by-four, possibly a Land Rover – that sounds like a local to me.’

He shook his head. ‘Believe me,’ he said, ‘I’ve thought about all that, and if it wasn’t an accident but a deliberate attempt to run someone down, well, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of motive. At least his partner hasn’t been able to come up with anything.’

‘I do see all that,’ I said, ‘but there might be something none of us – not even Patrick – knows about.’

He smiled. ‘I see you want to make a mystery of it.’

‘Yes, I know, but this time it’s sort of personal, my best friend’s cousin. So you do see why I had to listen to Patrick and why I wonder too.’

‘I can only assure you, Mrs Malory,’ he said, ‘that I’m keeping an open mind on the subject and if you can find anything at all that might help I’d be glad to hear it.’

I rang Patrick and told him what Bob Morris had said. ‘At least,’ I said, ‘he’s thinking about it. If only there was any sort of reason for wanting Daniel out of the way.’ A sudden thought struck me. ‘Has that farmer been onto you about taking water across the field at the cottage?’

‘Yes, he has, as a matter of fact. Quite soon after the funeral. Too soon – I gave him a pretty sharp answer. Why, do you think—’

‘There’s quite a lot of money involved. He wants to set up some sort of super camping site with yurts, or whatever they’re called, and so forth and he needs to get the water to his fields for that. And I’m sure
he
would have a Land Rover.’

‘But surely that wouldn’t be sufficient reason for actually
killing
someone.’

‘I suppose not,’ I said reluctantly. ‘Well, keep on thinking – I’m sure you’re right about it being deliberate and I do believe Bob Morris thinks so too.’

‘I think of nothing else,’ Patrick said wearily, ‘but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do.’

I’d finally nerved myself to clean out my kitchen cupboards when Rosemary arrived.

‘Oh dear.’ she said, looking at all the tins on the kitchen table, ‘sorry if I’ve arrived at a bad time.’

‘No, it’s a perfect time,’ I said, cheerfully putting
them back into the cupboard again. ‘I’ve been trying to decide how many of these things that are out of date I can still use. Too depressing!’

‘Oh, I know – I’m sure things in tins are OK if they
look
all right. Anyway, remember Captain Scott’s jam – it was years and years old when they dug it out of the snow and that was fine.’

‘Well,’ I said as I shut the cupboard door firmly, ‘it’s lovely to see you. I’ll put the kettle on. Is it anything special or just a chat?’

‘Both really – it seems ages since we got together, but, what with Mother … she’s home now and expecting the same level of service she had in hospital. Poor Elsie’s been having to cook all sorts of complicated things that Mother says she’s been so looking forward to and I’ve been run off my feet looking for little delicacies she might fancy. If it wasn’t for Patrick I do think I’d have gone mad!’

‘He still comes round?’

‘Oh yes, nearly every day. He’s so good with her and encourages her to do all the exercises the physio says she must do and she won’t do for me.’

‘Well done Patrick. He’s a strange person. I still don’t feel I really know him.’

She thought for a moment. ‘No – I feel the same. He’s perfectly normal, agreeable, chatty – just a polite young man, but you always feel he’s holding
something back. I mean, sometimes I feel he’s too good to be true, especially with Mother. But then, I’m not used to anyone getting on so well with her, especially someone of such a different generation.’

‘Just what I feel. I did, I think, catch a glimpse of what might be the real Patrick once when he let his guard down, but, in general, he does seem to feel the need to put up this front.’

‘How was he with Daniel? I never really saw them together.’

‘Whenever I saw them he’d put on that “front”, as you call it. I don’t know how they were in private. I do know Eva said that Dan relied on him a lot – all the practical things, business, daily living and so forth, but she never said anything about their personal relations. I suppose she felt that might seem like prying. Certainly Dan’s death really seems to have got to him. I suppose he’s told you that he doesn’t think it was an accident – quite obsessive about it, but, really what sort of motive would anyone have for killing someone like Dan?’

‘I know.’

‘Anyway, I’m glad to say he seems to be settled at the cottage; Mother would be devastated if he went away. Which reminds me. He was quite worried about what to do with Alan’s papers. He asked me if I wanted to have them, but really I wouldn’t know what to do with them.’

‘Eva said that Alan’s publisher wanted to publish some of them or to get someone to do a sort of biography appreciation. Perhaps Patrick could just send them to him.’

‘That would be best.’ She thought for a moment. ‘There’s just one thing. There might be some personal stuff there that Eva might not have wanted published. Sheila, would you mind going through them, just to have a look? I know how busy you are with reviews and things but I don’t think I could do it and it would set my mind at rest.’

‘Yes, of course, I’d be glad to. I’d like to feel I was doing something for Eva.’

‘Bless you. There’s no rush. I’ll tell Patrick and he can bring them over to you sometime.’

‘That’s fine. The kettle’s boiled – tea or coffee?’

Patrick brought round the papers a few days later in cardboard boxes which he nobly carried up to the spare room.

‘I’m afraid there’s rather a lot,’ he said. ‘I hope it’s not too much for you.’

‘No, it’s all right, I knew how much there was. Rosemary and I helped Eva carry them in from the garage after there was that fire.’

‘A fire?’

‘Yes. Fortunately it didn’t do too much damage,
they caught it in time. Some sort of fault in the wiring. These must have been taking up quite a bit of room in the cottage. Eva had been going to sort them out but she never got round to it. Anyway, I’ll go through them and separate the letters from the articles and scripts and take out anything personal that she wouldn’t have wanted printed. Then the publisher can appoint someone to prepare the articles for press and perhaps do a critical bibliography.’

‘Couldn’t you do that?’

‘Goodness, no. It’s not my field. Geoffrey Bailey, he’s the publisher, probably has someone in mind.’

Foss, who had been prowling round the boxes in a supervisory capacity, selected one, jumped up onto it and composed himself for sleep.

‘Come and have a coffee,’ I said, ‘and possibly some cake. You must need some sustenance after all that heavy lifting.’

I led us both into the kitchen hoping that an informal atmosphere might make him more relaxed. He made a fuss of Tris, who greeted him enthusiastically and then settled down near his feet.

I got out some tins. ‘Sponge cake or chocolate?’

‘Oh, chocolate, please. Comfort food.’ He smiled. ‘We used to have a lot of comfort food – sort of nice everyday things as a treat after all the peculiar things Dan had to eat in his job.’

‘Yes, I remember he asked Rosemary for the local sausages and mash when she had you both to dinner and was worried about cooking for him.’ I cut large slices for both of us. ‘What do you cook for yourself?’

‘Not very much …’ He turned his head away and I busied myself switching on the kettle and fussing with the cups.

‘Don’t you think it’s strange,’ he said quietly, ‘Alan, then Eva and then Daniel … all dead?’

‘It is tragic,’ I said, ‘like some Greek play, but Alan and Eva died of natural causes.’

‘But did they?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I suppose I’m just looking for some explanation other than a particularly cruel fate. But, think of it,’ he went on eagerly. ‘Alan managed to survive all those dangerous experiences and there
could
be something odd about Eva’s death – there was no one there when she died. And then, Dan …’

‘Yes, I know,’ I said, ‘and I do agree with you about Daniel’s death, there’s something really wrong there, but not the other two; it’s just not possible.’

‘No, you’re probably right – I’m just clutching at straws. It’s so hard to accept.’

‘I know, and this business about Daniel – there are a lot of questions there – makes it even harder. I’m glad you’re staying on here.’

‘I’m not going until I find out who killed Dan,’ he said.

‘So you see,’ I said to Rosemary the next day, ‘it looks as though he’s here for quite a while. Your mother will be pleased, but, poor boy, I really don’t see how anyone can ever say how that terrible thing happened.’

I was surprised to get a phone call from Bob Morris.

‘I thought I’d let you know,’ he said. ‘I’ve just heard from Mrs Porter, she’s the elderly lady who lives in the cottage further down the lane. I did hope to interview her at the time but she’s been away. Only just got back and was very shocked to hear about the accident – she’d really taken to “the two boys”, as she called them, had them to tea and so forth. Anyway, that morning she hadn’t been able to sleep and had got up to make herself a cup of tea round about the time it happened. Her kitchen faces the road and when she heard a vehicle coming she was curious to know who was about so early.’

‘And she saw the car?’ I asked eagerly.

‘She saw a Land Rover, and since it’s not likely there would have been two going down that lane at that time, I think we can assume it was the one. It was quite light by then and it was going slowly so she had a good view. She said it was a Land Rover with a
metal top – which sounds like a Land Rover Defender, which narrows it down a bit. It struck her as odd, someone out at that time of day, and it wasn’t one she recognised – not belonging to anyone round there.’

‘I don’t suppose she got the number?’

‘I’m afraid not, but then, people don’t, more’s the pity. And unfortunately she couldn’t see the driver. Still, it’s a step forward.’

‘If it was going slowly,’ I said, ‘that might have been because the driver was looking out for Daniel – might have known he’d be out there running at that time. He did it nearly every day.’

‘Yes.’

‘So it must have been someone who knew him, knew about his movements.’

‘Exactly.’

‘You’ve told Patrick?’

‘Of course. I wanted to know if he’d seen anyone about in the days before it happened.’

‘Someone who might have been checking Daniel’s movements? And had he?’

‘He said he was usually in the kitchen, theirs is at the back of the house, getting breakfast for when Daniel got back. But, of course, the person might have been waiting somewhere further down the lane – off the road, even. There’s the turning that leads to the farm, quite a high hedge, and you could park in there
and not be seen by anyone driving casually by.’

‘Oh dear – it’s so frustrating. Still, you can check on all the Defenders, I suppose.’

‘I can if it’s someone from inside the area, but it may not have been.’

‘But you’re sure now that it wasn’t an accident – was deliberate?’

‘It certainly needs thinking about.’

I was thinking about it as I took down the kitchen curtains to be washed. It really did look as if Daniel’s death was deliberate – Bob Morris seemed much more certain now that he’d heard from Mrs Porter. I knew her slightly and she was someone who took an interest in things and people around her, a keen observer (or just plain curious), so I was sure she would have got her facts right, and certainly Bob hadn’t hesitated to accept her evidence. It was wonderful that she had been there at that particular time but so frustrating that she hadn’t been able to see the driver. If it was someone local I was sure she could have identified him. Still, it
was
a step forward, especially if it convinced Bob that there really was a case to answer. I was glad there was something for Patrick to feel good about.

I balanced carefully on the small stepladder (I’m not very good on ladders) and began to unhook the
curtains. It was such a pity, too, that Patrick’s kitchen didn’t face the road or he might have seen the car as well. It did seem possible that the driver might have stopped in that gateway, waiting for Daniel to come by. As I took the hooks out of the curtains I thought that perhaps I might take Tris for a walk along that part of the lane. I’d have to be sure that Patrick was with Mrs Dudley – I wouldn’t want him to think I was being insensitive, looking at the site of the tragedy. As I folded the curtains I suddenly decided that I really didn’t like them. They had a sort of square Greek key pattern round the bottom, quite unsuitable, it now seemed to me, for a kitchen. I stuffed them in the machine to wash them before I took them to the charity shop. Then I went up to the airing cupboard to see what I could find to replace them.