Small Town Shock (Some Very English Murders Book 1) (13 page)

She had never told him exactly why she had felt she had to leave
London. The truth was, that she had let many things “get to her” and it had
started to affect her life, both personally and professionally. Not that she
had had much of a personal life.

The stress had started to do things to her mind, and her
body. The blood pressure, the headaches, the dizzy spells, and strange mood
swings. She decided to keep it to herself.

She wasn’t ashamed – not exactly – but the person she’d
been, the past few years, wasn’t the “real” Penny. She’d become something else.

She was here in Upper Glenfield to reclaim the real Penny.
That was the only Penny that she wanted Drew to see.

Not that she wanted or needed to impress Drew, though, she
reminded herself sternly. All it was … all it was … she just didn’t want him to
think she was a bit pathetic, that was all.

She felt the negative thought and stamped on it.
Not
pathetic. Just … lost.

“Are you okay?” he asked in concern.

“Yes, fine. I’m just thinking. I know that David’s brother
Thomas lives with his wife Eleanor here in Upper Glenfield.”

“You have done a lot of investigating!” He folded his arms
in mock annoyance. She thought it was mock, at any rate.

“No, I just went to have my hair done at Agatha’s salon. I
didn’t meddle. Information happened to come to me while I was being styled.”

Drew looked embarrassed but she interrupted him before he
could say anything. “No, don’t tell me that my hair looks nice, because I know
you didn’t notice, and it wasn’t really a drastic enough style that anyone
should notice.”

“Sorry. You would have thought my mum would have trained me
better.”

Penny laughed at his contrite expression. “Anyway. So were,
or are, Eleanor and Mary good friends?”

Drew shook his head. “I have no idea, seriously. I don’t
know Eleanor at all, and I only know Mary by sight. And reputation.”

“Ugh. I was hoping you’d have great insight.”

“Sorry. Can I make it up to you by walking Kali, instead?”

“Oh, go on then.”

“Cheers.”

She watched him leave, the dog by his side, and felt funny.
It was a domestic sort of scene and one that was unfamiliar to her in so many
ways.

* * * *

Some pixies or goblins had broken in overnight and healed
her ankle. When Penny woke up on Thursday morning, she felt miraculously
better. Enforced rest had finally done the trick. She strapped her ankle up
carefully, but by lunchtime she felt bold enough to take Kali for a walk. She
was armed with lots of chopped ham and the head-collar.

She still went straight for the lonelier paths, however,
rather than chancing the busy town centre. She followed what she remembered of
the route she’d taken on Sunday with the ramblers. She made Kali walk to heel
while they were on the pavement and the road, with sudden turns and stops and
waits to keep the dog focused. Once they were on the bridleway, Penny slackened
off the lead and Kali plunged into the vegetation at the side, her tail
thrashing from side to side as she was inundated by thousands of scents and
smells.

It’s Facebook for dogs, Penny thought as Kali spent forty
seconds sniffing a small patch of grass. There’s some dog’s status update
there, all conveyed through the pungent medium of pee. Eww.

She kept an eye out for other walkers. Another person meant
potentially other dogs, and many would let theirs off-lead. She didn’t quite
know what she’d do if another dog came running at Kali. Would she still be able
to hold her back with the head-collar? She felt hot and anxious as she replayed
some disaster scenes in her head.

“Leave it!” she said out loud, and Kali stopped and looked
up at her, her brow furrowed.

“Sorry,” she said to the dog. “I meant me, not you.”

They walked on. The edges of this section of the bridleway
were bordered on the left by an impressive hedge, and on the right by a wooden
fence. The hedge grew taller and thicker as they went along, and the bridleway
up ahead curved around to the left, snaking behind the bushes and shrubs.

She was always nervous when approaching a part of the path
where visibility was reduced. She slowed, and Kali seemed to feel the tension
travel down the lead, because her ears flattened and her eyes rolled.

Penny realised that she was making the dog more reactive.
She took a deep breath and relaxed her grip on the lead. “Come on, girl,” she
said in an artificially cheery voice.

Of course, it was then inevitable that as she rounded the
corner, she would be faced with someone coming the opposite way. She hauled on
the lead in panic, which meant Kali lunged forward eagerly.

But it was only Ed, and he had no dog. Her hot fear turned
to a wash of relief that felt like cold sweat on her back.

“Hi, Penny,” he said. “Oh! What a lovely dog.”

It still amused her that having a dog was such a
conversation starter with people. And it made a refreshing change from the
usual conversation that inevitably followed: “aargh, a Rottweiler!” She smiled,
and said, “Thank you. This is Kali. She’s a bit bad-mannered,” she added in
apology as Kali pressed right up to Ed, stopping just short of planting her
muddy paws on his legs.

“No, she’s adorable! You could have brought her with you on
our walk last Sunday. How’s your ankle, by the way? It’s good to see you up and
about.”

He spoke to the dog, rather than to her. She said, “It’s a
lot better but I’ve spent the last few days just lying on my sofa. This is the
first time I’ve been out on it, properly.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re better. It was a nasty tumble. I
hope it hasn’t put you off.”

“No, not at all. I will certainly come again.” She
marvelled at the ice-breaking properties of Kali. The previous encounter
between them had been wiped away; Ed was talking with her quite sociably.
Albeit without looking at her.

“Excellent,” he said.

She felt bolder now she had Kali with her, and Ed seemed
quite approachable. She took a breath and plunged in. She decided she would
simply confront him straight out. “David Hart was electrocuted to death, and
you’re an electrician who didn’t like him. And I know you were questioned by
police and released. I’m really curious, though. You’re not a suspect and
that’s great. But…”

Oh. Oh no. She could hear what she was saying as if from a
great distance away, and it was all wrong. She would have crammed the words
back into her mouth if she could. Ed stopped petting Kali, and rose to his
feet, his fists clenched. Kali picked up on the tension in his body and
retreated to Penny, sitting on her foot and facing Ed, a low growl warning him
to stay away.

“Do
you
think I killed him?” he asked in a low
voice.

“I – er, obviously not, because, er, yeah, so I wouldn’t ask
a killer if he is a killer when we were out alone in the countryside because
that would be stupid,” she gabbled, thinking, I am
so
stupid. I am the
Queen of Stupid.

“And hang on one minute,” Ed continued. “How did you know
I’d been questioned? That’s a breach of trust. Who told you?”

“No one. I mean, I’ve been really nosey and I’m sorry and I
shouldn’t have and…” And don’t kill me, she added privately.

Ed’s face was ashen white, and his fists were blotchy,
hanging by his sides. He half-turned away, his lips in a snarl.

Then he sagged at the shoulders and kicked at the ground,
like a sulky teenager. “You’re just the sort of person with time on their hands
and a sense of entitlement that you won’t let it go, will you? You’ll dig and
dig. So let me save you some time. Yeah, they took me for questioning. Of
course they did. I have a record, don’t I? I’m constantly being punished for
believing that the Earth deserves better care than we give it. Whatever.” He
swore under his breath. “The thing is … I was involved in a group and we were
really passionate about what we did. We believed that we
had
to act to
make things better. And you know what? I still believe that.”

She didn’t dare speak even though he had paused to glare at
her. She nodded slowly.

“Right,” Ed said. “But this group went too far. Now me, I
believe all life is sacred.
All
life,” he said meaningfully. “I wouldn’t
take a life. But the others, they had a hierarchy and they thought that we were
literally in a war, and that in a war, it was okay if people got hurt. Or
worse.”

“So what happened…?”

Ed started to pace around them. Kali watched him warily. “I
turned grass. I became an informer. I fed information back to the authorities
because although I believed in the group’s aims, I hated their methods.”

“Oh my goodness.” He really was some kind of eco-warrior,
she thought.

He stopped abruptly, right by her shoulder, and whispered,
“And that’s why I’m here, all right? I’m lying low because right now, people
are in prison because of me. And I’d really rather you didn’t gossip about
that
,
thank you very much.”

She took a step back, gaping at him. “I won’t. I promise.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You promise? I don’t know you. I
don’t know if your promise means anything.”

“I feel awful. I am so sorry. It does mean something.”

“You feel awful? Tough luck. You went digging in things you
didn’t ought to have dug in, so I don’t care if you feel awful or not. I do
care if you end up blabbing and putting my life in danger.”

“I won’t. I absolutely won’t. I respect you. Is there
anything I can do?”

He started to walk away, but called back over his shoulder.
“Yeah. Keep your mouth
shut.
”

She would.

* * * *

Penny walked back to her cottage feeling thoroughly
chastened. Kali picked up on it through her body language, and mirrored it in
her own, slouching along with her head held low and the lead slack between
them.

She longed to tell Cath what she’d learned about Ed. After
all, Cath was curious about why he’d been so summarily dropped from the list of
suspects. Now Penny knew, and she couldn’t share it with Cath. And that felt
like she was betraying Cath’s confidence in her.

And did she have a duty to share it with the detective
constable? But if Cath’s superiors did not see fit to share the details with
the others, then Penny didn’t have the right, either.

It was a mess. Drew had been right. She should stay out of
it all. Now she understood what he meant about it being easier if you kept
yourself to yourself.

She let herself into her cottage and unsnapped the lead.
Kali bounded through to the kitchen and a moment later, Penny heard her lapping
at her water bowl. Penny remained in the hallway, still wearing her coat and
boots.

The cottage was quiet. Quiet and empty.

The more she dealt with other people, the more she realised
she was alone. For a second, she wondered if the answer was to simply become a
complete hermit.

No, that was nonsense. She bent to unlace her boots and
thought about Ed, though her memory of the encounter made her bristle with
shame. She really had acted like a twit. He was an admirable character, in
spite of his oddities. Penny tried to imagine being so passionate about the
environment that she would join a group and fight for it.

It was a great idea but such a commitment, and she was
lazy. She knew it. Most people were. Ed’s drive was inspiring.

There were smaller ways to give back to the community or
the land, she thought. All I do is take. I need to get involved in things and
that way I’ll be a positive member of society
and
I’ll meet more people.
The ramblers’ group is just the start. Maybe there is a litter-picking group
somewhere. Or I could go on those weekends where you learn hedge-laying. Or
volunteer somewhere. A soup kitchen, perhaps?

Are there homeless people in the countryside? To her shame,
she realised she didn’t know.

There’s poverty, though, she thought. I’ve seen that. The
thin people who wait for the clearance food to be marked down in the
mini-market. Little signs. She prised her boots off and dumped her jacket on
the post at the bottom of the stairs.

She thought again about the murder case. If I get to know
people and get involved in a properly altruistic way, then they will be more
likely to open up to me, and I can find David Hart’s murderer! She then thought
that her motives might not be entirely altruistic. Did that matter? It was all
about the end result, after all.

Perhaps. Something niggled at her, something in the
conversation she’d had with Ed, something about action and end results.

Something important.

She pushed it out of her mind as Kali padded back through
to see why she was still standing in the hallway.

“I’m coming,” she told the dog.

She went to the kitchen and looked at the mess of paperwork
on the kitchen table. She’d drawn up a list of suspects while she’d been bored
and inactive. She believed Ed and what he said about his history, but wasn’t
going to be too hasty and take him completely off the list. She just moved him
to the bottom.

This put Thomas Hart, the estranged brother, right at the
top.

I need to find out about him, she thought. So that means I
need to make friends with his wife, Eleanor. And probably her friend Mary, too.
Everyone’s been pretty disparaging about Eleanor’s snootiness, so Mary might be
the easier woman to get to know.

And that will allay any suspicion about my motives, too,
she thought in triumph. It will look more natural if I become friends with Mary
and then Eleanor, rather than going straight at Thomas – like I did with Ed.

And I know just how I can meet up with Mary. I know exactly
where she is likely to be, socially.

She felt quite pleased with herself then.