‘Shit,’ Hugh said with feeling. ‘What are those two doing here?’
Frowning and walking with a lot of purpose, Harry Stroud and Vivian Seabrook walked toward the cottage from the same direction Tony and Reverend Davis had come earlier.
Tony shaded his eyes from early rays of sun and levered himself up from an age-worn wooden bench. His dad and Alex were in the cottage with Radhika and Ivor Davis had returned to St Aldwyn’s for a service.
‘I asked O’Reilly and Lamb to hold off. There won’t be much they can do anyway if Radhika continues to say she doesn’t know who did it and isn’t filing a complaint.’ Tony braced his feet apart and waited for the company to arrive. ‘They didn’t like it but they’re biding their time. How the devil did Harry and Vivian get wind of this?’
‘Let’s see what they say,’ Hugh said quietly.
When they were close, Vivian speeded ahead of Harry. Her hands were rolled into fists at her sides and there was no missing the shock on her face. ‘I want to see Radhika,’ she said. ‘Is she still in there?’
‘Yes,’ Tony told her. ‘But no visitors yet. Doc James is with her. Alex is in there to help if she can.’
Vivian made to push past but it was Harry who relieved Tony by holding the woman back. With difficulty, he turned her around and held her close. ‘Best wait, old thing,’ he said.
‘She’s a good friend.’ Vivian’s sniffling wasn’t a comforting sound. ‘She came here because of Pamela. Now look what’s happened. Both of them attacked. How could anyone hurt a gentle soul like Radhika? What’s happening in Folly? It’s terrifying.’
Harry rubbed her back awkwardly and Vivian shrugged away. ‘Alex shouldn’t be there – I should. If Alex has her way, the next thing I’ll hear is that I could be guilty of something to do with this.’
‘Bollocks,’ Hugh said. ‘They’ve already said it wasn’t Alex who called in that tip about you. Anyway, that’s history, lass. Sit on the bench and rest yourself. It’s a shocking thing. Meaningless. But the doctor’s already said she can be cared for here, although she’ll need a wee trip to the hospital for X-rays in case anything’s broken.’
‘It’s true then,’ Harry said. ‘Someone … this is awful … someone did attack her?’
‘They did,’ Hugh agreed. ‘She’s so small she would have been easily knocked down and beaten.’
‘Don’t!’ Vivian said. She sat on the bench and covered her face.
Hugh crossed his arms and asked of Harry, ‘How did you hear about this?’
‘We were walking. The delivery driver from George’s Bakery stopped and told us,’ Harry said.
Hugh and Tony both shook their heads from side to side.
The front door to the cottage opened and Tony’s father came out. He shut the door behind him. ‘Where’s the bloody ambulance?’ he said. ‘Radhika’s unlikely to say much but we had to let the police know what’s going on; more or less. I didn’t give much detail, though. That Dan O’Reilly’s a sensible chap. He’ll tread lightly, and he’s agreed to hold off trying to question her for a bit. He told me they were off to the parish hall where his team is. Radhika can’t be subjected to anymore pressure at all yet.’
Tony raised his brows in question.
Doc Harrison pulled him aside and murmured, ‘Her fingers were deliberately broken. Some of the ends are crushed.’