Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6) (15 page)

“Cheat!”

“It’s no more cheating than when everyone developed their
photos in darkrooms. They still messed around with exposures and so on. They
dodged and burned parts of the image, they cropped and they highlighted; it’s
just that it was done physically.”

“I suppose. Show me some more.”

Penny flicked through the album of her images, and then
returned to the photo site’s homepage.

“Now that is a good photo!” Cath said, pointing to another
star scene.

“Huh. That one’s not mine,” Penny said. “They’ve done
really well there, though. You can actually see the milky way!”

“You’re PennyWithADog?”

“You’re channelling Sherlock again. Yeah. That’s WhiteDeer.”

Cath stuck her tongue out and they both laughed. “Right,
I’ve got to get on. I promise I’ll keep you posted, as much as I can.”

It was an instant reminder of the current situation and
Penny’s smile died. “I have a really bad feeling about all this,” she said.

“Don’t. If nothing else, Linda is guilty of wasting police
time and not telling us everything when we asked her. Don’t worry. We’ll get to
the bottom of it.”

* * * *

Penny wasn’t sure how to tell Drew about the latest
incident. After Cath had left, she sat down and played with her phone for a
while, drafting out various text messages. Eventually she simply called him.

“Hi, are you busy?”

“Sort of … but I’m free later on,” Drew said, his voice
muffled.

“Can you come over?”

“Sure I can.” He paused. He obviously picked up on her
tone; she wasn’t exactly speaking in a flirty way. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, don’t worry. But it would be nice to see you.”

“Right.”

* * * *

“Everything’s
not
okay,” he said as soon as she
opened the door to him. “I can see it in the way that Kali is standing close to
you.”

Penny hadn’t even noticed that until Drew mentioned it. She
looked down to see that Kali was pressed against her leg. She would usually be
bounding over to Drew to say hello. Instead, she was protecting Penny.

“I’m rumbled,” she said. “Come on through.”

Her laptop was open and she pointed at the screen which was
still showing her photos. She’d been editing some more.

“Did you take those last night?” he asked as he sat down.
“They’re good.”

“Thank you. Yes, and something happened last night. I don’t
want you to panic or over-react…”

He was sitting up straight immediately. “Nothing makes me
panic more than being told not to panic. Was it that car driver again?”

“No. Yes, maybe. But not in a car. And first of all, let me
tell you that the police are involved, and I phoned them right away, and it’s
all in hand, and in fact, someone’s been arrested for it.”

He frowned. “I heard Linda had been arrested. But surely
that can’t be connected …”

Penny explained everything.

Drew listened, and she went to great lengths to reassure
him, over and over, that Cath had been there, that the police had attended, and
that everything was under control.

 “I really think you ought to consider going away for a few
days,” he said. “We could go on a break together. School’s out for the
holidays, you know. I’ve got some free time.”

“It’s a great idea. I had considered it. But there’s the
Christmas market coming up, don’t forget.” She smiled at him. “We’re going
together, remember? I’m looking forward to it. And I’m supposed to be the
stand-in for Santa Claus, and I want to be around for Ariadne, too. It’s the
kids’ first Christmas without their dad around. It’s an important time for
them.”

“Ah. Yes. That’s a big one,” Drew had to concede. “But I am
still concerned.”

“Speak to Cath yourself if you’re at all worried,” she
said. “I understand. I mean, I’m not exactly happy myself, you know. But I
trust the police.”

“That’s a new turn for you,” he said. “You’ve always
thought you could do better than them in the past.”

“That was before I was the potential target,” she said.
“Now I’m utterly out of my depth.”

Drew smiled and took her hand.

Penny was just getting ready to go out for that evening’s
carol singing, later that day, when she heard a knock at her front door. Kali
bounded through, tail wagging, relaxing a bit from her on-guard attitude. Drew
had stayed for an hour or two, and his presence had calmed Penny, which had, in
turn, calmed Kali.

It was Cath at the door. Penny was pleased to see her.

“Are you off out?” Cath said, eyeing her coat with a
strange expression on her face.

“Yes, I’m carolling.”

“Again? Would you like to do something more interesting?”

“I’ve made a commitment,” Penny said.

“That’s not a yes or a no. Okay, let me tell you the latest
news, and then you’ll decide to come with me.”

“Will I?”

“Oh yes,” Cath said cheerily. She waved a plastic bag at
Penny. “Look what I found!”

Penny watched as Cath unfurled the bag and revealed a
bicycle pump.

“Are you taking up cycling?” Penny asked. “Don’t forget
that Haydn thinks it’s not for the likes of us poor delicate women. Our wombs
might get rearranged or something.”

“It’s to do with Haydn, as it happens. Linda has been
released, you’ll be pleased to hear. I can’t find much out about what’s going
on there, because of not being on the case. I went down to the incident room to
ask, but Inspector Travis chased me out with a staple gun.” Cath looked
affronted, as well she might.

“So where is the pump from? Haydn’s bike?”

“Potentially – but I found it lodged in a clump of grass
and weeds, by the side of the road, where you were attacked the other night. I
went back in the daylight.”

“Oh!” Penny peered more closely at it. “That fits,” she
said. “I fended it off with my camera’s tripod. There, there’s a mark on it.”

“And I think we both know that Linda is not, and would
never have been, a cyclist,” Cath went on. “But Haydn is, and so is Jared.”

“Jared’s more of a runner,” Penny said. “Except for his
recent bout of tendonitis.”

“How long has he been a runner?”

“I don’t know. But he’s always been sporty.”

“I was aware he’d always been a cyclist,” Cath said. “Basically,
both of them are now suspicious in my eyes. What do you think?”

Penny had to agree that both men had argued with her, and
both could be seen as having motive. The motive, however, was very slight. She
said so. “The thing is, Cath, if I had a million pounds that one of them
thought was rightfully theirs, or if I had harmed a member of their family,
then I’d understand why they had it in for me. But no one kills someone, or
even attacks someone, on the basis of a bit of a disagreement. The motive is
not strong enough.”

“You ought to come and work Saturday night around the bars
and clubs of Lincoln, with me,” Cath said. “Someone will glass someone else in
the face for the sake of a look, you know.”

“Eww. But is it common?”

“Sadly, yes, due to alcohol and drugs. People can be
idiots, they really can. Emotions are more powerful than we give them credit
for.”

“Can I have a look at the pump?” Penny asked.

Cath handed it over. “We’ve dusted for prints, but got
nothing,” she said. “Do you recognise it? Apart from the fact that it hit you
on the head, I mean.”

“It’s unusual,” Penny said. “It’s odd, being a full-size
frame pump.” She cast her mind back to the meeting with Haydn outside his
house. “Most cyclists now use those little carbon dioxide cartridges. Or at
least, a mini-pump. This sort of pump is more likely to hang around someone’s
garage.”

“So it wouldn’t be carried out on a ride?”

“They used to be.” Penny held it out horizontally. “It
would be clipped to the frame. A long one like this was usually underneath the
top tube. It’s quite an old-fashioned thing to do. Or, as Haydn would put it …
retro. Vintage.”

“The case against Haydn is looking bleaker,” Cath said.

“Except for motivation. Jared has more motivation to harm me
than Haydn, because I’ve spurned him.”

“They’re both at the top of the list then?”

“Yes,” Penny said.

“Right. So we’ll go and visit them both – now.”

“What, officially?”

Cath gestured at her baggy hooded sweatshirt and jeans
which were frayed at the bottom. “Do I look like I’m on official business?”

“You could be undercover…”

Cath shook her head. “No. I’m not on the case, remember?
I’m frustrated. Now I think I know how you’ve been feeling, especially on those
other cases when you weren’t technically allowed to get involved. So, whatever
happens, none of this is happening, and we never spoke about it, right?”

“Er… are you sure? Won’t you be jeopardising your job?”

“Only if we mess it up. So let’s be sure to get it right.”

“I’m confused. Get what right?”

Cath smiled, and there was an evil glint in her eyes now.
“Give me the pump back, and let’s get in my car. We’re going to drive up to
Lincoln, and pay this Haydn a visit…”

* * * *

Penny was experiencing a heady mixture of trepidation and
excitement as she sat in the passenger seat of Cath’s car. She was glad she had
bought some sensible new boots to replace what the police took away to examine,
because the footwell was a sea of litter and discarded wrappers.

“You are a slob,” Penny said, keeping her hands on her lap.
She didn’t want to touch anything.

Cath was driving fast through the unlit country roads. She
tossed her head and laughed. “I am far too busy to do any cleaning,” she said.
“I’m a career woman and a mother and a wife. When I’m on my death bed, looking
back over my life, I’m going to be very satisfied that I spent my time doing
things like this. I am sure I won’t be regretting my lack of cleaning.”

“You’ve got a point,” Penny said. “But I swear there’s
something living down here. Something just brushed against my ankle.”

“You are joking.” She paused, then said, “Are you joking?”

“No, not entirely. There’s half a packet of crisps down
there that’s twitching.”

Their bickering lasted for the full half hour’s journey to
Lincoln, which was a far preferable way of spending the time than using it to
worry about what they were doing.

But the worry flooded back when Cath pulled up at the end
of a suburban street and killed the car engine.

“What’s the plan?” Penny asked. She wanted to say “are you
sure?” but she didn’t want to be the party-pooper.

“Don’t panic,” Cath said. “I want to look in his shed or
garage and see whether his bike is missing a pump.”

“Is that it?”

“Yes. See? Nice and straightforward. I’m just having a look
for anything suspicious.”

“Hmm.”

They got out. The residential area was quiet. Most of the
curtains were closed, and the houses were decked out in Christmas lights. “The
thing is,” Cath said as they progressed along the pavement, “with all these
decorations, we don’t look out of place. Everyone expects strangers to gawp at
their displays. We can go slowly and stare, and it is fine.”

“I still feel dodgy,” Penny said. “I’ve done this before
and it has never ended well for me.”

“Hush, what could possible go wrong?” Cath said. “Ahh,
there it is. That’s his house.”

“Oh yeah, great, the only one on this street that doesn’t
have any Christmas lights on it,” Penny pointed out.

“That’s a talking point in itself. I can’t see any lights
on in the rooms, can you?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t home. And before you
ask, no, I’m not going to knock on the front door.”

“You could pretend you are out carol singing,” Cath said.

“Nope.”

“Worth a thought.”

They were outside his house now. It was a semi-detached
house, and had a driveway leading up to a garage. There was a passage between
the house and the garage that led to the back garden.

“It just looks like a normal house,” Penny said.

“You sound disappointed. Did you hope for a signed
confession taped to his front door?”

“It would make things easier. You know, he might be at one
of his other houses. He said he was staying in Upper Glenfield while he
finished some stuff off.”

“That would be excellent,” Cath said. “But we don’t know
for sure. Okay, we’ll go slowly and quietly. Ready?”

“Ready for what? Oh – wait!”

Cath’s “slowly” was a fevered dash along the driveway and
into the passageway that ran to the back. Penny launched herself to follow and she
caught up with Cath as they reached the far end.

But as Cath stepped out into the patio area at the back of
the house, she was suddenly outlined by a flash of bright light as she
triggered some motion sensors. She whirled around and cannoned straight into
Penny. Cath clutched at Penny’s arms.

“Turn, go, run, go, leg it!” she hissed, forcing Penny to stumble
backwards.

Penny hit the garage wall and Cath burst past her, but she
still clung to Penny’s arm and dragged her along. They pelted down the driveway
and turned left, towards where they had parked the car, but they had only got a
few steps when they heard a door open.

Cath flung herself to the pavement and hauled Penny down
too. They crouched behind a privet hedge. Penny strained to hear something,
anything, but her own heartbeat was drowning everything else out.

After a few minutes, Cath stood up cautiously and peered
over the hedge. “He’s gone back inside,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

Penny got to her feet with difficulty and brushed the grit
from her knees. “That was a close one,” she said. “So much for your plan.”

“It’s a start,” Cath said. “Come on. Let’s go and see if
Jared is home.”