‘The short straw.’ That’s what Alex had told Tony. She had drawn the short straw and was in Folly, supposedly working normally while he researched Walter Lovelace’s story.
They had agreed that they shouldn’t be seen looking as if they were on a joint mission, and driving around together two days in a row.
Walter Lovelace had existed, that had been easily corroborated on Tony’s computer. And they found a lot of minor facts about the now defunct Lovelace Meats, but details of what had led to the company’s failure had been scanty so far and tied to the death of the owner and founder. He had a minority partner who sold out to Lovelace suspiciously close to the company’s demise but that partner was now also dead.
Lovelace Meats had operated for three decades as a successful purveyor of high-quality meats to specialty stores, then slipped away in a matter of months.
Those who worked in the plant had apparently been in great demand by outfits anxious to take over Lovelace’s spot.
Alex walked slowly and without her crutch, using a protective shoe, wearing her sling and holding Bogie’s leash. He was ecstatic and behaved as if his mistress had abandoned him for so long that a lone walk with her was an almost forgotten joy.
He carried an overly long and crooked stick in his mouth and each time he swung his head to look at her she feared he would whack her legs, but she didn’t want to spoil the bliss in his black eyes.
Sun struggled to compete with a bank of dark cloud and the wind that had plagued them lately had picked up again. Still Alex smiled at the fresh air on her face and the waving fronds of goldenrod as she got closer to Leaves of Comfort.
Noon approached but after coping with the morning crowd, she hadn’t felt like fending off questions from the lunch crowd at the Dog, and a call from Harriet Burke urged her to visit Radhika who had been agitated and asking when Alex might come.
Tony, he of the long straw, was closeted away with the computer in his offices while the answering service fielded routine calls. So far the computer search hadn’t turned up the most important details they wanted and Tony had an old school friend with a mysterious government job helping him open up the dead ends. Tony and Stephen Hansen didn’t make contact often but Tony’s respect for the other man was evident.
Mist hung on the hillsides, the sun disappeared and a darkening sky promised rain and soon. Alex passed the unmarked police car without glancing at its driver and followed Bogie, who turned in at the gate to Leaves of Comfort as if on remote control and pulled to get to the front door and the promise of treats.
She went into the fragrant tea rooms and found Harriet going through piles of newly acquired second-hand books. ‘Anything?’ Alex asked, unable to control the urge to search for her beloved children’s books.
‘Hmm, one or two possible. I’ll put them aside for you, don’t worry.’ Harriet smiled, but quickly became serious. ‘I didn’t like taking you away from your work but Radhika is upset, I’m certain she is. You know how she tries not to be any trouble, which she couldn’t be, but I heard her crying this morning, very softly. And she sits in a chair in the corner of her room where I’m sure she’s keeping an eye on the door and the window. She’s jumpy, Alex. It’s not normal even for someone recovering from a shock, not when she’s being closely watched. I don’t think so anyway. She hardly eats a crumb and we can only get her out into the sitting room in the evening when the shop’s closed and everything’s locked up. She checks to make sure the police car is across the way.’
‘And she actually asked to speak to me?’ Radhika’s trust felt like a heavy responsibility.
Harriet nodded, yes, and Alex returned the nod. She took off Bogie’s leash and went upstairs.
Mary sat with Maxwell on her lap casting Oliver smug blinks. His purr sounded like a small chainsaw in need of oil. ‘Hello, Alex. I think your little friend will be very glad to see you.’ Mary smiled and indicated for Alex to go into Radhika’s room.
As Harriet had described, the small woman sat in a corner of the old-fashioned room, farthest from the window and the door, where she apparently kept watch. Dressed in green and gold, exotic despite her bruises, Radhika’s drawn expression shocked Alex who shut the door behind her and went directly to take her hands. She drew back when the bandages and splints reminded her of the woman’s injuries.
‘You must sit,’ Radhika said. ‘Sit now. On the bed. I should not have troubled you but I’m glad to see you.’
Roses in a china bowl scented the air. It all, the room, the fragrance, Radhika herself, seemed unreal.
‘We’re all a little scared,’ Alex said. She perched on the white-painted metal bed close to Radhika’s chair and Bogie put his head on the woman’s knee. ‘It’s serious. They say … the police say they’re getting close but until they have whoever has done these things, we’re going to stay scared.’
‘I don’t know how to say it,’ Radhika murmured. ‘What you say is true, but … there are other things. Alex, do you think I have been concussed? Was I unconscious? I think perhaps I was.’
Alex frowned at her.
‘I can’t remember what time I walked with dear Katie that night.’ She stroked the dog’s head. ‘I think it was very late, but it was morning when they found me, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, early morning. I’m not sure how early the reverend got there.’
‘Could I think of things in little pieces … not in complete memories? I know how it felt when he hit my head. It was the back of my neck, I think. I was too shocked to think of what was happening or what might happen next.’
The window rattled. Alex looked around to see tree limbs waving. The wind was picking up in earnest. ‘Have you talked to Doc James about this? He would know the answers to your questions.’
‘No!’ She put a hand to her mouth. ‘I am not happy talking to men about such things. The doctor is so kind. Perhaps I can ask his advice soon but not yet. There is too much else to consider. I think I am in great danger, Alex. If … I am found by people who think they should … it is so hard to explain. They think I have dishonored them and that I should be punished.’ She finished with her eyes downcast and her hands still in her lap. The bruises, fading to green and yellow, were an insult on her smooth skin.
‘I don’t understand things like that,’ Alex said honestly. ‘I know what you’re talking about, I think, but not enough to deal with it. We have to have help from people who do know it all.’ She hadn’t expected this.
‘A man from my family thinks he must do this thing. I have been warned that I’m not safe anywhere. And now I have been warned again … in a different way, I think.’
Alex wanted to be receptive; she didn’t want Radhika to stop talking because she decided Alex was shutting out what she said. ‘Why now? You mean, you’ve heard from this man?’ Where was he? Until now she’d only read of these issues and heard snippets on the news.
‘I don’t know.’ Radhika closed her eyes and bowed her head. ‘I think I was told again. I left Cornwall because I heard from my brother that I had been found wanting because I would not marry the man my family agreed to. He said I could still go to the man – but I could not. I left, ran away, and was lucky to come here to Pamela. She understood what I told her and had me stay with her. We knew each other from the clinic where I worked before. And she was the kindest person I have ever met.’
‘But you’ve heard from your brother again?’
‘I don’t know. In my head, I hear it. Perhaps I am not well – really not well, in my mind.’
‘You’ve had a horrible experience,’ Alex said. ‘It’s too soon to be over what happened to you.’
‘I think I should go away again and hide but it’s hard until I am really well. Everyone would look at me like this. How should I make sure I am not noticed?’
‘Look at me,’ Alex said, and waited until Radhika raised her face. ‘You must not go anywhere. We have to find out if what’s happening … no, what’s happening in Folly is nothing to do with you. I’m going to help. Please let me help you. If you run, you put yourself in danger. You shouldn’t be alone and we can keep you safe here.’
She didn’t know how much of Radhika’s story she believed. It was possible the thump on the head and the shock she’d sustained had caused a subconscious issue, but how would anyone but an expert know?
‘I would trust Tony,’ Radhika said softly. ‘Perhaps you might ask him what he thinks. When I close my eyes I think I am losing my mind.’
Three light taps on the door startled both of them.
‘Who is it?’ Radhika asked, her voice surprisingly steady.
‘Sergeant Lamb,’ the man said as he opened the door. ‘The ladies said you were visiting Radhika, Alex. I need you to listen to something and tell me if it means anything to you. You, too, Ms Radhika, if you would.’
Lamb’s smile at Radhika made a different man of him. Charm and interest glowed in his light-blue eyes. Now here, Alex thought, was a cause lost before it began.
‘Of course,’ Radhika said with a shy smile that almost made Alex groan.
Lamb closed the door. ‘Thanks. It’ll only take a few seconds. He took out his mobile and pressed a button. Music played, slightly tinny, only a few bars then it stopped.
Alex swallowed. Her skin prickled.
‘Ah, yes,’ Radhika said, touching first one, then the other suddenly damp eye. ‘It is the music someone left for Pamela quite often. On her answering machine. She called it a message to make her happy, and she would laugh.’
‘What is it?’ Lamb said a few minutes later when Alex followed him hurriedly from Radhika’s room. ‘What’s on your mind?’
There was no helping Mary’s presence in the sitting room. ‘I’ve heard that music, too, but not on Pamela’s phone,’ Alex said. ‘It was on a small recording device on Harry Stroud’s kitchen counter.’
His narrowed eyes and full attention were to be expected. ‘Stroud’s?’
‘I will tell you all of it later but it’s too long now. I was there. He wasn’t at the time. I did something foolish and got stuck in his flat. I was looking for a mobile.’ She shook her head emphatically to stop his next question. ‘Let me finish. I think something’s going to happen and you have to find Harry. Why would he have the same little snatch of “Greensleeves” on a recorder as you found on Pamela’s phone?’
‘They were friends,’ he said slowly. ‘Good friends. Could have been a joke between them.’
‘Yes. Or it could have been their signal to get together. What if on the night Pamela went to Ebring Manor – which must have been where they usually met – that message was left to let her know he expected her?’