‘You’re not going up there.’ Will Cummings’ raised voice carried through to Alex before she’d had time to close the front door to the Black Dog. ‘She asked you to go riding with her? Why would Heather Derwinter want you to go anywhere with her, did you ask yourself that? That woman’s nothing but trouble. If she wants you up there she’s got some motive we haven’t figured out.’
‘You’re hard on Mrs Derwinter.’ This sounded like Kev Winslet. ‘She’s all right. She treats the people who work for them well.’
Cathy said, ‘Excuse us, Kev. Will’s decided to have a domestic in public. In case you’ve forgotten, Will, I went to the same school as Heather Derwinter.’
‘Toffee nosed, aren’t we?’ Will said. ‘So you think she’d want you as a member of any club she belongs to? Wake up, Cathy. How long d’you think it was after you left the school before she even got to the place? It was years. She found out you went there and now she’s pretending that’s a reason to be your friend. What a load of tripe.’
This didn’t sound like Will, who usually treated Cathy with respect.
‘What school was that then?’ Kev Winslet asked.
‘Drop it,’ Will said. ‘That was before Cathy’s parents decided I wasn’t good enough for them and—’
‘Shut up!’
Alex hurried into the bar before things got any more out of hand. She glared at Will, who still had his mouth open from being barked at by his quiet wife. She was relieved there weren’t more customers.
‘You and Cathy used to live up there,’ Kev said to Will. ‘Heather would have known Cathy.’
‘That was probably before Heather was born. Leonard was just a little nipper. By the time Heather and Leonard got together we were long gone. And by the way, Cathy, you didn’t even finish at the academy so you and her aren’t sister alumnus or whatever rubbish you’re spouting about.’
‘That’s mean,’ Alex said, going to stand beside Kev Winslet at the bar. ‘Whatever’s going on here is none of my business – or anyone’s but yours and Cathy’s.’
‘Sorry,’ Cathy muttered. ‘I used to love to ride when—’
‘When you lived with Mummy and Daddy and had your own horse?’ Will broke in. ‘Know what I think? I think that woman wants to find out if there’s any gossip down here about the murder and she knows you’re in the middle of things. She just wants to use you.’
Cathy was pale but seemed resolute. ‘Thanks for the advice, Will. Maybe she’s got a right to be interested in anything that happens right now. She did get thrown from her horse and nobody’s said much about it but there was a dart involved. Heather said that.’
‘Good excuse for a so-called wonderful horsewoman taking a fall, if you ask me.’ Will threw down a tea towel and crossed his hefty arms. ‘Maybe she stuck it there. Have you thought of that?’
‘Oh, Will.’ Cathy shook her head. There were tears in her eyes.
‘You worked for Cornelius Derwinter,’ Kev said. ‘You had a good cottage on the estate to bring Cathy to after you were married. The Derwinters were good to you. Old man Derwinter even paid for you to take courses when you wanted them. And you used to say how cushy it was. Whatever the old man wanted, you did, and gladly. But it wasn’t enough for you, working for other people. You couldn’t wait to get to this place and run things. What was that all about – impressing Cathy to try to show you were as good as her and her family? Anyways, I didn’t intend to interfere. None of my business.’
‘What’s the harm in wanting to better yourself?’ Will said, clearly past caution. ‘We were only managers to begin with but I came into money. This was a good investment.’
‘Cathy, could I have a Britvic orange juice,’ Alex said, just wanting to stop this back and forth. ‘It’s been a difficult day.’
‘Now you’re back to being managers.’ Kev nodded around the bar. ‘You couldn’t hang on to this. You lost it. You’re lucky to be here at all. At least you’ve still got a chance to dig yourself out of debt.’
‘Kev!’ Alex shoved her face in front of him so he had to give her his attention. ‘Stop. Now. That’s history. We’re all very happy with the way things are.’
While Will continued to fume silently, Cathy emptied a bottle of Britvic orange into a small glass and put it in front of Alex.
Kev turned his back on Will. He nodded toward the front of the building. ‘Flies on a jam pot up on the hill,’ he said. ‘Never saw so many plods in one place.’
Alex had seen the swarm of police fanned across the hill, searching, and dared to hope they’d find something to make all this go away. ‘I wish them luck,’ she said. ‘I don’t see how they’ll find anything new, though.’
‘If we knew what they were looking for we might be able to help,’ Kev said, his florid face thrust forward and pugnacious. ‘Too much secrecy. It’s not as if we aren’t all involved – or our lives, anyway. Has anyone said what it is? The man’s wallet, maybe?’
‘They’re not saying anything. We probably won’t find out until it gets leaked to the press.’ This wasn’t a conversation she wanted to continue. ‘I’ll take this upstairs with me, Cathy. See you later.’
‘The coppers were by earlier looking for you,’ Will called after her. ‘I didn’t know you were out so I sent them up. It’s too bad you found that body.’
Alex raised her glass and said, ‘I think so, too,’ without turning around.
First she wanted to go to her rooms, take a bath and change her clothes. She had been a bit short with Tony when she said she was coming here before picking up Bogie from her mother. He hadn’t deserved that, but he’d heard what she’d heard before they’d gone into the parish hall and she owed it to him to give some sort of explanation. She wasn’t ready for that yet.
Halfway up the stairs from the closed restaurant, Alex paused. If she never said another word about her baby, or Michael, Tony wouldn’t ask. Darn it, if he didn’t have other plans already she’d invite him for dinner although it would have to be at her mum’s, which would probably thrill Lily.
Carrying on slowly, she balanced the glass against her chest while she punched in the number on her mobile. ‘Hey,’ she said when he answered on the first ring. ‘We need some downtime. I thought I’d ask my mum if I could have you to dinner at her house this evening. Sounds funny but I think O’Reilly would have a cow if I went back to the lodge at this point. Mum’ll be here working and she likes me at her place anyway.’
‘Sounds great,’ Tony said. ‘What time?’
Her key locked rather than unlocked her door. Alex reversed the process and went in. ‘Around seven?’
She didn’t hear his answer. Impotent rage threatened to choke her. ‘Tony,’ she managed to say, ‘they’ve bloody well turned my room upside down. They’ve searched it.’