True Love Ways (7 page)

“Well, you might be,” said Peg. “But I think I'm
going to have a tot of whisky first.”

Chapter Five

If the next few days proved anything to Meredith, it
was that detecting was very much a waiting game.  She had expected to be rushing
around, picking up clues, talking to people, but in reality, it was a matter of
awaiting the chance to do all those things. She ambled around Midchester,
picked more strawberries, made jam for the first time in her life, and
generally got to know the area again.

She saw Drew a couple of times in the distance, but
he didn't approach her, and she didn't go to him, even though she was desperate
to know what Jimmy had said. She realised she was cutting off her nose to spite
her face by not asking, but if she was honest, she was still irked by being
left out of it all. If he wanted to tell her, he would, but he clearly did not
want to share information. That's fine, thought Meredith. I'll do this on my
own.

It wasn't until early on Saturday morning, when she
was picking up some groceries at the corner store that she saw him to speak to.

“Morning, Meredith.”

“Morning, Reverend Cunningham.” Meredith returned to
perusing tins of baked beans on the shelf, whilst idly wondering if Aunty Peg
had ever eaten them. She doubted it. Aunt Peg was very much a cook from scratch
sort of person. She picked up a tin, deciding to introduce Peg to the
comforting wonder that was baked beans on thick crusty toast. It would make a
colourful and filling change from all the boiled eggs, rice pudding and other bland
white food Nurse Chalmers forced down Peg.

“My we are formal this morning.”

“Hmm?”

“When did I become Reverend Cunningham?”

“I thought you always were.”

“You know what I mean.” He sighed. “Never mind. Are
you and your aunt coming to dinner at the vicarage tonight?”

“I am. Aunty Peg still has to rest. Doctor's orders.
Will you be there?”

“Of course, I've been staying there all week.”

“Oh.” Damn, thought Meredith, rather irreligiously.
Once again, Drew Cunningham was one step ahead. He'd probably had loads of
chances to talk to Peter and Clarice Mortimer. They probably looked on him as a
son, and had told him all their secrets. “I'll probably see you there then.”
Meredith took the beans to the counter, along with her other purchases, and
paid for them.

“Aren't you going to ask about Jimmy?”

“Yes, sorry. How is he?”

“Not bad for someone accused of killing an old man.
Actually, he's in a bit of a state, given that his knife was used to kill
someone. I don't think he realised until now just how dangerous a game he's
been playing.”

“No, I can imagine,” said Meredith. “Has he...” She
stopped, suddenly unsure of herself.

“He says that he was playing with the knife in the
buffet car, then got up to go to the toilet. He thinks he must have left it on
the table, but when he came back, it had gone. Betty and Bert had been sitting
at the table, but they were gone too. He thought one of them must have taken
it, but they deny it.”

“I suppose you've already ascertained that neither
Peter or Clarice could have had anything to do with it?”

“Actually no. I've hardly seen them all week. Peter
has been busy with parish business, and Clarice is arranging the summer fete.
It's going to in the grounds of Bedlington Hall next Saturday, so she's been there
most of the week, making the arrangements. I've spoken to Peter about the
accounts, of course, as well as the curate and others involved in the upkeep of
the church. I believe they haven't got a clue where the money has gone.”

“I can't see that's anything to do with Turner’s
attack anyway,” said Meredith.

“Probably not, but it is the original reason I'm
here. The murder is just a … sideshow to the Church of England, for want of a
better word.”

“Oh well, I'd better be getting back.” Meredith
finished loading her shopping into her bag, and started towards the door.

“Meredith?”

“Yes?”

“Peter has given me the loan of his car. I'm
planning to see Jimmy in Shrewsbury this morning. Would you like to come with
me?”

“Won't I be unwelcome?”

“Not if you’re with me, you won't. I'd like you to
hear what he's got to say and I think he'll speak to you if I'm there.”

Deep within Meredith resented that, but she put her
pride aside. “Yes, I'll come. As long as Aunty Peg doesn't need me.”

“Great! And maybe afterwards we could find somewhere
to have lunch. It doesn’t have to be a date. In case you were worried I
intended to draw you into a life of sin and debauchery.”

***

Shrewsbury town centre was bustling by mid-morning
on a Saturday. The town was relatively unspoiled, still boasting timber framed
Tudor buildings, along with other medieval landmarks. Their first stop was the
police station, where Jimmy was being held, pending an appearance in the
magistrates' court on Monday morning.

Meredith wore her favourite green v-necked sweater,
with a full circle skirt in a grey herringbone pattern. She'd tied a pale green
silk scarf around her neck.

It was only on that morning that she truly learned
the power of the clergy. All the police officers deferred to Drew, allowing him
access to Jimmy that might be denied to anyone else.

They were shown to a tiny room, which had three
chairs around a wooden table. Jimmy sat on one side, whilst Meredith and Drew
sat on the other. A police officer stood in the corner, watching for any
trouble.

“Here,” said Drew, sliding a packet of cigarettes
across to Jimmy. “I brought you these.”

“Thanks, Drew. You're a gent,” said Jimmy. He looked
at Meredith suspiciously.

“She's alright, Jimmy. Meredith wants to help.”

“I saw you on the train, didn't I?” asked Jimmy.
“Sitting near the window.”

“That's right,” said Meredith.

“I said to Bert, she's a pretty piece. Like one of
those actresses.”

She had never been referred to as a 'piece' before,
but she took the compliment in the spirit intended. “Thank you.”

“I suppose you think I hurt the old man.”

“Drew says not,” she replied. “And that's good
enough for me.”

“Yeah, he's alright, Drew is. Not like those other
stuffed shirts in the church.” Jimmy lit a cigarette, offering the packet to
Meredith and Drew.

“I'll smoke it later,” said Drew, putting one behind
his ear. Meredith suspected he wouldn't – she had never seen him smoke a
cigarette. It was just a way of letting Jimmy know he could be trusted.

She politely declined, saying, “I'm trying to give them
up.” She was rewarded with an appreciative glance from Drew, and a feeling that
for once she had gauged it just right. “Drew said you left your knife on the
table in the buffet car.”

“Yeah, and when I come back it had gone. I thought
Bert was pulling my leg. He does stuff like that.”

“Who else was in the buffet car with you?” asked
Meredith, adding quickly, “Forgive me if you've already answered this. Drew
didn't tell me.”

“There was me, Bert, Betty. That old vicar, and
those two women he was with. The good-looking piece, and the old bag with a
face like a bag of spanners.”

Meredith coughed and swallowed hard so as not to
laugh at his description of Edith. She tried to look disapproving instead. “No
one else?”

“Well there were people coming in and out, but not
when I went to the lav … toilet.”

“Were Reverend Mortimer and the two women still in
the buffet car when you got back?”

“I can't remember. No, I think he'd gone. The two
women were talking. In that really polite way people do when they hate each
other's guts. The pretty one had just brought the old … woman … a cuppa, and
the older one was saying 'Oh you're so kind, Clara', or whatever her name was.
But you could tell that she'd like to kill her.”

“Bert said he saw the old … Edith … talking to Mr
Turner. Did you see that?”

“No. But I wouldn't trust anything Bert says. He's
stolen my girl!” Jimmy turned to Drew. “Betty dropped it on me yesterday. Said
she couldn't go on living a lie. She watches too many films that girl.”

“I'm sorry to hear that,” said Meredith. It was no
surprise to her.

“Yeah, you think you know a bloke and can call him
your blood brother from womb to tomb,” said Jimmy, giving the distinct
impression that not only Betty watched too many films, “then he goes and does
that. I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't stuck the old bloke so that I'd get
arrested. Get me out of the way.”

“It seems a bit drastic,” said Meredith. “They could
have just told you.”

“Nah. Bert knows that if I wasn't in here, I'd
probably ...” Jimmy stopped and clamped his hand over his mouth. The policeman
in the corner was watching with great interest.

“You'd probably understand that sometimes love
affairs don't last,” said Meredith. “All's fair in love and war and all that.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's exactly how I feel,” said Jimmy,
clutching at the lifeline gratefully. “I mean, there's other girls, ain't
there?”

“Exactly.”

“And when I get out of here, I'm going to get a
decent job, be a proper man. Then Betty will see what she's missing.”

“Good for you,” said Drew.  Meredith wasn't sure if
he was speaking to her or Jimmy.

“Jimmy is a nice boy when you get below the swagger,
isn't he?” Meredith said to Drew as they walked back through Shrewsbury town in
search of a restaurant.

“Yes. He's just directionless, like a lot of these
kids. It probably sounds old fashioned but if he'd been set a few firm
boundaries, he'd have done well in school. He's not stupid by any means, even
though he sometimes acts like it.”

“You think a lot of them, don't you? The youngsters,
I mean.”

“Like I said, I wasn't that far off being just like
them. You may not think it to look at me, but I went through a pretty wild
period in my teenage years. I stole cars, put a brick through an employer's
window.”

“Really?” Meredith looked at him askance. “What
changed?”

“I got myself into so much trouble, I daren't go
home and face Aunty Gloria. I ended up spending the night in a Salvation Army
hostel. There were others in there, much older than me, but they'd been on the
road since they were teenagers. I asked myself whether that was what I really
wanted out of life. So I went home to Aunty Gloria, confessed what I'd done,
and she wasn't nearly as angry with me as I'd thought she'd be. Disappointed,
yes, but angry no.”

“I realise now what a sheltered life, I've led,”
said Meredith. “Aunty Sheila protected me from everything. Too much cold, heat,
rain, strangers, other peoples' dogs, other children. You name it, she made me
afraid of it. In the end, I was frightened of my own shadow. Not that she did
it to be cruel. She's not a cruel person at all. She just loved me very much.
Perhaps a bit too much.”

“I've never heard anyone complain of being loved too
much before.”

“No.” Meredith laughed. “It's pretty pathetic isn't
it? Poor little me with a roof over my head, plenty to eat, warm clothes and a
kind aunty and uncle to take care of me. It's a wonder I've lived to tell the
tale.” She became more serious. “The trouble is that it means I don't
understand people in the way you or Aunty Peg do. I tend to make snap
judgements.”