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Elliott blanched. He said, “It’s about the engagement ring, isn’t it?”
It wasn’t, but Maggie didn’t admit that. She moved over to the counter and gave Elliott a stern look. “It is about the engagement ring.”
He let out a sigh. “I knew you’d find out.”
“I have found out.” Maggie waited for him to reveal more.
Elliott said, “Typical Harvey. Buying a second-hand engagement ring when he could easily afford a new one.”
“Indeed.” Maggie kept her surprise under control. “When did he buy it?”
“About a month ago.”
“A month? Oh. Now I see. That must have been the celebration he was planning.”
“What celebration?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She hesitated a moment. “Who was he planning to marry?”
Elliott frowned. “Don’t you know?”
“No.”
“But if you knew about the ring then why don’t you know who Harvey was going to propose to?”
Maggie came clean. “I didn’t know about any engagement until you mentioned it. But now that I do, let’s talk about it. Who was Harvey going to propose to?”
Elliott folded his arms. “Can’t you guess?”
Suddenly, Maggie did know. “Polly?”
Elliott nodded. “Yep. Polly.”
“Did she know he was going to propose?”
Elliott’s laugh was bitter. “Yeah, she did. It was probably her idea. She’s been after him for months. I noticed it, and I know others did too. Polly’s not subtle about who she fancies.”
“Didn’t you mind? I thought you were a couple?”
“Dating someone is not the same as being a couple. Yeah, we had fun together. But I didn’t mind about the other guys she was dating.” He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know what she saw in Harvey. He was far too old for her.”
“Did Toby know about Harvey and Polly?”
“Of course he did. He’s obsessed with Polly. He watches her every move. He keeps every post she’s ever written online. He knew she had a thing for Harvey. It didn’t bother me, though. It didn’t even bother me when I found out Polly was telling Harvey about the extreme hunts I was organising.” A slow smile came to his face. “I sometimes gave her false information so Harvey could go off in the wrong direction. Served him right. I didn’t share a lot of my real hunts with Polly because I knew what she was up to. But I gave her enough information so she could share it with Harvey. I could see how happy it made her. And I like making Polly happy.”
Maggie gave him a curious look. That was a strange thing to say. She asked, “Did you sell the engagement ring to Harvey?”
“I did. He took great pleasure in buying it from me. He kept going on about the special woman in his life, and what a wonderful marriage they were going to have. We both knew he was talking about Polly, but he didn’t say her name.”
“Do you know if he did propose to her?”
Elliott shrugged in reply. “She might have posted one of those coded messages of hers online. She’s rubbish at disguising her messages. I know how she posts photos of dogs when she writes about me and Toby. Bit of a cheek if you ask me.”
“Did Toby know about the engagement? If he did, how do you think he would have reacted?”
“He’d be livid. He’s been in here a few times looking at engagement rings. He’s never bought any. That’s the trouble with Toby. He thinks about taking action, but doesn’t actually do anything.” He unfolded his arms, and scratched at his beard. “Hang on. I’m wrong about that. A month ago, he told me he wanted to impress Polly, so he asked me to let him know about the extreme hunts. Polly went on them with me sometimes, and I think he was hoping she’d be impressed with how macho and brave he’d become. But he never turned up to any.”
Maggie nodded. That would explain how Toby knew about the fatal last hunt which Elliott had organised. She asked, “Did Delia know about the engagement?”
“I’ve no idea. I imagine she would have been happy about it if she had known.”
“Why?”
“Then she wouldn’t have to listen to Harvey whining on so much. He could whine to Polly instead.”
“Has Delia been in here recently?”
Elliott replied, “I don’t think so. Why would she come in here?”
“Her neighbour thinks she’s got something of Harvey’s to sell. Maybe some watches.”
Elliott rolled his eyes. “Those watches of his! He was always showing off about his latest watch, and all the things it could do. His watches were more exciting than him.”
The bell behind them tinkled, and a couple came into the shop.
Maggie said goodbye to Elliott and left the shop.
A light rain was coming down. Maggie smiled to herself as she took her umbrella from her bag. Maybe hips don’t lie, especially the non-plastic kind.
Maggie put her umbrella up and set off down the street. She changed direction when she saw a man she recognised coming out of a café. She followed him.