‘Well, yes.’ Fiona looked up. ‘It’s all a bit awkward, though.’
‘Oh?’ Libby stirred her cup, took a sip and discovered it was basically black coffee.
‘Well, it turns out David already knew Ossie’s father. That’s how he heard about the house.’
Once again Libby was taken by surprise. ‘Why is that awkward?’ she asked.
Fiona sighed again. ‘It makes a connection. I had that inspector – I told you, didn’t I? – here this morning asking about it. They’d found out about it.’ She scowled. ‘I wish I’d never heard of the bloody place!’
‘I don’t see how it could have anything to do with you,’ said Libby, and realised this was true.
‘I know, but the police are obviously suspicious. But I found the body, didn’t I? And apparently -’
‘I know,’ said Libby. ‘The person who finds the body is automatically a suspect. But in this case, I really don’t see it.’
Fiona smiled gratefully and impulsively reached over to squeeze Libby’s hand. ‘Oh, thank you! Honestly, I don’t feel as though I’ve got a single friend here. That’s why I went to that party last week. I thought I might meet people, but it – it wasn’t like that.’
‘No.’ Libby hesitated. ‘Was it Ted who suggested it?’
‘In a way.’ Fiona looked away. ‘Ted felt sorry for me. That’s why he suggested the Garden Hotel project.’
Libby felt as though she’d been hit by a truck. After a moment, she said, ‘But I thought it was your idea?’
Fiona shook her head. ‘He thought it would – I don’t know – get me in with the community. But after talking to you, I realised it wouldn’t. I’d tried already, joining the WI and that sort of thing. You know.’
‘Yes.’ Libby swirled the remaining coffee in her cup. ‘But you tried to do it on your own. You could have come to me.’
‘I didn’t know you.’ Fiona squeezed her hand again. ‘But would you help me?’
Ah, thought Libby. This was difficult.
‘Well, of course,’ she said, ‘but I’ll tell you what. My friend Donna, who works for the Pink Geranium in the village, is moving to Steeple Well soon, and she won’t know anyone here.’
‘But she already knows people in the area,’ Fiona looked sulky.
‘That’s just the point! And her husband’s a surgeon at the hospital, so he works long hours just like your husband does.’
Fiona began to look interested. ‘How would I meet her?’
‘I’ll introduce you,’ said Libby, wondering how this would be managed. ‘But tell me, how did Ted come up with the idea of the Garden project?’
‘Oh, he’d seen something else like it somewhere else. You know, they let people come and work in a dedicated space, there’s a café, and they run workshops. That sort of thing.’
‘And he thought it would be just the thing for you? But didn’t he tell you he was supposed to be sprucing up the building for sale?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘But as I said to you at the time, you wouldn’ t have got enough interest to raise the purchase price. And I can’t understand why he gave you the keys and didn’t come with you.’
‘The inspector asked that, too. I didn’t even think about it.’
‘How did you find him in the first place, by the way? He’s not exactly local.’
‘Oh, he was recommended by the Whitelaws. David saw to all that.’ Fiona looked back at her coffee cup. ‘And as I said, he was sorry for me.’
I’ll bet he was, thought Libby. She decided she couldn’t ask any more questions without Fiona becoming suspicious.
‘I’m sorry things haven’t turned out as well as you’d hoped. Do you think you’ll stay here?’
‘Oh, I suppose so.’ Fiona shrugged. ‘I’d prefer to go back to London, it would be much more convenient for David’s work, and I could go back to my old job, too. But David says he likes the country life. Although he doesn’t exactly see much of it.’
‘What did you do?’ asked Libby, filing this nugget away for future thought.
‘I was in PR,’ said Fiona proudly. ‘But there’s nothing down here.’
Libby nodded. ‘Well, I’d better get back to Cattlegreen. We’re out to dinner tonight, and I’m running late.’
She left Fiona standing in the doorway looking mournful, and drove straight to Cattlegreen to salve her conscience. She bought some unwanted vegetables and drove home.
‘And what I was thinking,’ she said, having called Fran to report on the visit, ‘was that it sounds to me as though David Darling wants the lovely Fiona out of the way while he lives the life of Riley in town.’
‘That’s jumping to conclusions, isn’t it?’ said Fran. ‘I’m more interested in why Ted suggested the Garden project to Fiona, and why he brought her to Edward’s last week.’
‘And whether there’s any significance in the fact that it was Ossie Whitelaw’s dad who recommended him to David Darling.’
Chapter Sixteen
Harry had managed to keep the round window table free for Colin’s party, and when Libby and Ben arrived, they found Colin, John and his wife already seated.
‘Libby! Ben!’ said Colin, getting to his feet. ‘You know John, don’t you? And this is Emma, his wife.’
Harry appeared with a bottle of white wine. ‘Red for you, Libby?’
‘Yes, please.’ Libby smiled at Colin. ‘He does know me well.’
For a while, time was taken up by selecting from the menu.
‘There was a time when Harry would cook me special Pollo con Verde in the kitchen upstairs,’ said Libby.
‘Haven’t got time any more,’ said Harry, placing a bottle of Libby’s favourite Shiraz on the table. ‘Or use of the kitchen.’
‘That,’ explained Libby, ‘is partly because the rise in the popularity of Mexican street food has meant Harry’s busier than ever, and partly because my son Adam lives upstairs.’
Adam, in his long Victorian style waiter’s apron, grinned at the company and waved his notepad. ‘Howdo!’
‘What’s Pollo con Verde?’ asked Emma.
‘Mexican green chicken,’ said Harry. ‘A sort of Mexican Thai green curry. Only much nicer.’
‘And why can’t you cook it here?’
‘Because this is a vegetarian kitchen,’ said Ben. ‘No meat allowed.’
‘Oh,’ said Emma, still looking confused. Libby wondered how, in today’s food aware culture, she could still be unaware of the upsurge in both vegan and vegetarian cooking, and its rules. She knew there were some people who considered it ‘a load of nonsense’, including Flo Carpenter, but that was a lot to do with their generation.
John, looking slightly embarrassed, changed the subject. ‘I hear you’re going to revive the old bat and trap pitch, Ben? Colin was telling us.’
‘We hope so,’ said Ben. ‘I’m looking forward to getting a team together.’
‘We’ve got a team in Felling,’ said John. ‘We’ll come and play you!’
‘Great!’ Ben was enthusiastic. ‘Friendlies only, of course, at first. Until we can join a league.’
Seeing all three men enter into the conversation, Libby turned to Emma. ‘John was saying the other day that you’ve been here several times?’
‘Yes.’ Emma perked up. ‘Of course it’s different when you come with people like you. We’ve always enjoyed it, though. It’s something a bit different, isn’t it?’
‘For rural Kent, yes, I suppose it is. Harry was ahead of the trend, really. What are the restaurants like in Felling? I’ve only ever been to the café in the square.’
‘The Tea Square? Yes that’s quite good. And there’s a couple of nice Indians and a Chinese takeaway. That’s about it.’ Emma looked vaguely dissatisfied.
‘We’ve only got this one and the pub,’ said Libby. ‘Did John’s family do food when they ran the Hop Pocket? Ben isn’t going to.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Now Emma simply looked vague. ‘I lived in Felling when I met J
ohn. Didn’t come over here much.’ She looked closely at Libby. ‘Have you always lived here?’
‘Goodness, no! I’m originally a Londoner. When I married we moved to Kent – the other side of Canterbury - and when I divorced, Harry and Peter, his partner, who were already friends of mine, found me my cottage. I’d met Ben years ago, and we met up again, both divorced, and sort of stayed together. There!’ she smiled brightly. ‘Potted history.’
‘I’ve only ever lived in Felling,’ said Emma, her eyes wide. ‘I don’t know how I’d go on anywhere else.’
‘Well, I expect your family are all there, aren’t they?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Emma nodded, blonde curls bobbing. ‘Mum and Dad, and my aunts and cousins, and my sister, of course...’
‘Of course,’ murmured Libby, the lines from HMS Pinafore running through her head: And so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts...
Adam took their orders.
‘Is there any more news about the murder?’ asked John, when Adam had gone.
‘No,’ said Ben and Libby together.
‘Not as far as we know,’ added Libby. ‘I expect the police will be working on it, though.’
‘Shouldn’t they tell you, as the owner of the property?’ John said to Colin.
‘I don’t think so,’ replied Colin, looking surprised. ‘It’s nothing to do with me, is it?’
‘Will you still sell it?’
‘Oh, yes. If anyone will buy it,’ said Colin, looking gloomy. ‘People don’t like buildings where there’s been a murder, do they?’
‘A developer wouldn’t care,’ said Ben. ‘That’s what you were thinking of, weren’t you?’
‘Yes, that’s why I told Ted Sachs just to give it a lick of paint. A developer would want to gut the place.’
‘I wonder why he suggested the community project to Fiona Darling, then,’ mused Libby.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Ben. Everyone was looking puzzled.
‘I thought the community project was Fiona’s idea,’ said Libby, ‘but apparently, Sachs suggested it.’
‘He must have thought she was a possible buyer,’ said Colin.
‘But she thought she’d get funding,’ said Libby. ‘At least, that’s what she told me.’
‘Funding? From where?’ asked Colin. By now, John and Emma were both looking confused.
‘Goodness knows,’ said Libby. ‘I told her she’d be lucky.’
At this moment, Adam arrived with their orders, and conversation revolved for a time around the food. But it wasn’t long before Ted Sachs cropped up again.
‘You recommended Sachs, didn’t you, John?’ said Ben. ‘Do you know him well?’
‘Not really. He’s a Felling man, born and bred. Emma knows him better than I do.’
‘I didn’t know him that well,’ protested Emma. ‘He was just part of the crowd I used to go about with. He was at that party you came to, Colin.’
‘Was he? I don’t remember him.’
‘I don’t either, not from then,’ said John. ‘He worked for a builder we used to do some work for us, and when he retired, Ted set up on his own. We knew he was good because we’d seen his work.’
‘Actually, he’d already done some work for the Darlings,’ said Libby, ‘and, apparently for the people they bought the house from.’
‘Really?’ Ben frowned. ‘You mean Ossie Whitelaw’s parents?’
‘So Fiona said. I don’t know how they knew Ted, though. They weren’t originally local either, so I gather.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Emma. ‘Is that important? Ted, I mean?’
Libby turned rather guiltily to John’s wife.
‘It’s just puzzling,’ she said. ‘If it hadn’t been for Ted, you see, Fiona wouldn’t have been there and the body wouldn’t have been discovered.’
Emma’s brow wrinkled. ‘But you could say that about anything, couldn’t you? If it hadn’t been for Colin’s parents buying his hotel, he wouldn’t be here buying us dinner. Or if Ben hadn’t been going to open John’s parents’ pub, we wouldn’t have known anything about it.’
‘She’s right.’ Harry leant over Libby’s shoulder to top up her wine. ‘Cause and effect. There’s no organised story, just one thing happening and as a result something else is tripped into being.’
Everyone was regarding him with awe.
‘What?’ he said.
‘I’ve never heard you so philosophical,’ said Ben. ‘Positively Grecian.’
‘Very wise, Hal,’ said Libby hastily, noting Emma’s puzzled expression. ‘And quite right, Emma. It doesn’t matter, anyway, does it?’
For the rest of the evening, she managed to keep the conversation well away from Ted Sachs and the murder, but encouraged them all to concentrate on the re-opening of the Hop Pocket and the bat and trap pitch. However there was nothing she could do when over coffee Colin suddenly said ‘You said Ted was at that party, John. Did you mean that one when the girl disappeared?’
John cast a quick look at his wife. ‘Er – yes.’
‘I don’t remember him.’
‘No reason why you should,’ said John. ‘You didn’t know anyone there except me, did you?’
‘No.’ Colin looked round the table. ‘It wasn’t a very happy experience. Sorry, John, that sounds ungrateful.’
‘That’s all right, but why? You didn’t say much at the time. I just thought you were upset about the girl.’
‘It sounds as if you’ve never met Sachs,’ said Libby. ‘How did you get the keys to him?’
‘I got the London office to send them.’ Colin looked thoughtful. ‘I wonder if I would have recognised him if I’d seen him.’
‘And decided against it?’ suggested Libby. Colin smiled. ‘Probably.’
Both John and Emma looked as if they wanted to ask why, so Libby jumped in with another change of subject.
‘Did Ben show you inside the Hop yesterday, when you were looking at the bat and trap pitch?’
‘Yes, he did. It’s actually in a better condition than the Garden, so I’m told.’ He turned to John. ‘You should get Ben to show you, John.’
John smiled unenthusiastically. ‘I’ll come and see when it’s open. Or when the bat and trap side’s up and running.’
‘And when will that be, do you think, Ben?’ asked Libby brightly.
Ben looked at her suspiciously. ‘We think we can get it cleared within a couple of weeks. Why?’
‘I just wondered if Colin would still be here to see it.’
‘I’ve already told Ben, if it’s that soon, I will. I can attend to some things in London.’
‘Have you got enough clothes?’ asked Emma. Everyone looked surprised.
‘Actually, Emma, no – but it’s a great excuse to buy more, isn’t it?’ Colin gave her a cheerful grin.
Relieved that the conversation had moved away from what she felt was dangerous ground, Libby sat back and relaxed.
‘But why did you think it was dangerous?’ asked Ben on the way home.
‘I don’t know.’ Libby stared into the distance. ‘I just felt Colin was unhappy about both Ted Sachs and that party.’
‘Well, yes, that was obvious. But it hasn’t got anything to do with Ossie Whitelaw’s body, has it?’
‘No, I suppose not. I suppose I’m making mountains again, aren’t I?’ Libby sighed. ‘I’ll shut up, now.’
Saturday again. Libby decided it was time for another trip to the supermarket in Canterbury, and when she bumped into Donna in the bread aisle, was very glad she had. Having explained about Fiona Darling, Donna was only too pleased to offer to go round and introduce herself.
‘Although as she hasn’t got children, she might not find me quite – what? Congenial, I suppose.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,’ said Libby. ‘She’s just lonely, and feels a bit of a fish out of water.’
Happy that she had solved a problem, or at least stuck a sticking plaster over it, Libby turned homewards, on
ly to receive another surprise when she arrived.
‘Look who’s here,’ said Ben, as she let herself in.
Edward stood up from the sofa and came to relieve her of one of her bags.
‘Sorry to barge in,’ he said. ‘I just came over to drop someone off.’
‘Oh?’ Libby paused with the fridge door open.
‘Yes.’ He grinned and put the bag on the table.
‘Go on, then. Who?’
‘Don’t tease her, Edward,’ said Ben with a grin.
Edward leant towards her and whispered, ‘Ted Sachs.’
Chapter Seventeen
Libby slammed the fridge door. ‘ Sachs?’
‘Yes. He turned up with my invoice and to collect some tools he’d left at the summerhouse,’ said Edward. Ben went to put the kettle on.
‘Didn’t he know the police were looking for him?’
‘Course he did. He’s already seen them. Apparently, it wasn’t such a mystery after all. He knew all about the body, but on the Sunday after my party he went away on holiday with his wife. Came back early yesterday and went straight to the police station.’
‘So all sorted out, then?’ Libby began putting things away, conscious of a slight feeling of anti-climax.
‘Yes. He said he was a bit surprised at the fuss. He’d given his name to the police on the day the body was found, and no one had told him to keep himself available, so he’d gone off in his campervan and thought no more about it until he received a phone call from the Hardcastle Holdings office in London. Then they came back.’
‘I wonder why the police didn’t think of asking Colin’s office to get hold of him earlier?’ said Ben, putting mugs on the table.
‘I don’t think they were trying very hard to find him,’
said Libby, emerging from the freezer. ‘Or they would have done so earlier. They’re obviously working away in the background and not telling us everything.’
‘Of course they are,’ said Ben. ‘So now you can settle down and find something else to worry about.
Libby sniffed and sat down at the table. ‘So why did you have to bring him over here, Edward?’
‘He said he was going to have to see Colin, so I said he was here and offered to bring him over. They’re in the pub together.’
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