Dave agreed. Skippy was doing a fair imitation of a Rhodesian ridgeback. ‘Don’t touch anything, Phil. The cops are still across the road – I’ll fetch somebody.’
A nervous Philly waited with Skippy until Dave returned with a policeman. The dog was growling again. It was clear that she had no affection for the person whose scent she had pursued so avidly. The officer stopped and pulled on a pair of purple surgical gloves, picked up the cigarette butts and placed them in a small transparent bag. ‘Is this the famous three-legged dog that led us to the crime scene?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ Dave answered proudly. ‘She was a stray, but we took her in after she lost her leg. Anyway, we were walking her behind the church and she set off whining. She was very fretful near the brook, yet she wanted to turn back. There was nothing else for it – she had to go to Rose Cottage, and you know the rest. She wouldn’t sleep. The way she’s carrying on, there may be a chance that one of the criminals smoked those cigarettes. Before you go, can we ask how Mrs Boswell is?’
‘Not sure,’ said the policeman. ‘Last I heard, they were trying to stabilize her to make her fit for surgery. You may get good news in the morning, please God. Tell you what, though. We’ve a vanload of dogs out there, but we’d make room for this one. If it turns out that these fag ends are connected to the crime, yon dog will be declared a genius.’
‘She is a genius.’ Philly’s voice trembled with pride mixed with many other emotions. If Eve Boswell lived, it would be because of Skippy; if the poor woman died, Skippy had done her best. ‘Come on, Dave. Let’s get Madam home.’
‘She’s still not in.’ Babs glanced over her shoulder at Pete, who was lying on a sofa and trying to recover some energy. ‘She never goes out. If she did go out, she’d tell me where she was going and what she was doing.’
Pete groaned. He’d had a hard time tonight, and he genuinely needed rest. ‘Come away from the window, love. She’ll not get home any faster if you stand there worrying. Put the kettle on.’
Babs felt like screaming. If she drank one more cup of tea or coffee, she would drown. And there had definitely been a change in Lily of late. It had been quite sudden, too, and joy connected to the house she had bought was not wholly responsible for it. There was a new lightness in her step, and her skin, which had become dull in recent months, had started to glow again. ‘I can’t stand this,’ Babs moaned. ‘The hospital tells me nothing about Eve, Lily’s gone missing—’
‘And I’m tired after helping out across the road. You’ll be ill next if you carry on like this, lady.’
But Babs remained where she was. When the news had reached the pub, she and Pete had spilled out with the rest. After Eve had been taken away in the ambulance, Babs had gone straight to Lily’s house. But Lily had been nowhere and was still nowhere. Well, she was probably somewhere, but she wasn’t at the somewhere she was supposed to be. ‘She’d never, ever go out without telling me,’ she insisted.
‘You’ll drive yourself mad,’ Pete said. ‘You’re getting your knickers in a twist over nothing – Lily’s a grown woman. She doesn’t need to sign a late book or ask permission – she’s not on probation. If you like, I can get her an ASBO and she’ll be on curfew with a fancy tag bracelet round her ankle.’
Babs tutted. ‘The minute she comes home, I’m going over there. You stay here in case Cassie wakes. I have to be the one to tell Lily what’s happened. She’d grown quite close to Eve. In fact, I’m ashamed to say I was a bit jealous, which isn’t fair, because I’ve got you and Lily’s got no one.’
‘Glad to hear I’m better than nobody,’ he said.
Babs stamped a foot. ‘Stop twisting my words, Plod. You know what I mean, and you know I really care about you, so shut up. Where would she go on her own, though?’
‘How do you know she’s on her own? She might be talking about flowers with a bride-to-be, or perhaps she’s gone to see a film or a play.’ He closed his eyes and tried to rest. It had been a dreadful couple of hours, and the police dogs were still out there in the hollow behind the church. They would have to give up soon, because officers might be needed elsewhere, there was no light, and little could be done until forensics had tackled the bits of evidence that had been recovered.
‘Pete?’
‘What?’
‘Come here. Come on – hurry up – she’s back. And look who’s with her! Blood and Carter’s Little Liver Pills, I don’t believe it.’
Pete joined Babs at the window. ‘So what? They share a house from time to time, so why shouldn’t they go out for a meal or something?’
‘It’s the or something I’m wondering about. I mean, he’s a priest, and—’
‘Hey – are you in training to become the next biggest Lancashire gossip? You’ll be overtaking Mrs Wotserface soon.’
‘Mrs Barker. And I’m a south-westerner, thanks. Pete?’
‘Yes?’
‘He’s holding her hand. See? He’s pushed her into the house and he’s running past the church to Rose Cottage—’
‘Or you could become the new commentator for the Grand National. Give over, Babs. You’re getting on my nerves now.’
Exasperated, she abandoned him to his own devices and ran downstairs. Poor Lily. She’d probably had a nice night out, albeit with a Catholic priest, and she was returning to this. It was plain to anyone arriving that something serious had happened, because Rose Cottage was cordoned off by the familiar blue and white police tape. And the priest had gone and left her on her own in that massive place . . .
Babs knocked at the door, and it was opened immediately.
‘What’s going on?’ Lily asked.
Babs led her friend through to the kitchen and sat her down. ‘Now, don’t panic. We don’t want you back on the don’t-jump-off-the-roof pills, do we? Eve’s been attacked. She’s unconscious in hospital, her husband and son are with her, and the cops are still at the cottage.’
Lily’s face blanched. ‘Who did it?’
Babs shook her head. ‘No bloody idea, my lovely. One minute we were in the pub, Chas was doing tricks with darts, and Eve was sitting with me and Pete. She went home. Then Philly came in, Chas disappeared like a magician’s rabbit, someone shouted about an attack, and we all came to see what was going on. Next thing was the ambulance, then the police, then everyone was interviewed.’
Lily began to rock back and forth.
‘Don’t start that, Lee. You’ll have me seasick.’
‘Is she going to live?’
Babs raised her shoulders. ‘They won’t say anything at the hospital, except they told me the doctors were with her. I don’t like to keep telephoning, because those nurses are busy enough without me making things worse. The short story is we’d be better waiting till morning.’
Lily remembered those very words. ‘Wait till morning,’ the nurses had said repeatedly. Friends had come, friends had gone and, many times, she had wanted to shout, ‘I’m here – look.’ But she hadn’t been able to. Nurses had told people to try again tomorrow, that there was always the chance that she would wake at any minute. She hoped that Eve wasn’t in that condition. Hearing the voices of those around her, needing to talk, wanting to answer questions, trying to prise open her eyelids – it had been so hard. Eventually, Lily had woken properly, but the nightmare had been true. It had all happened; it hadn’t been just a bad dream.
‘Lily?’
‘What?’
‘You don’t think . . . ?’
‘Think what?’
‘Never mind,’ said Babs. ‘Forget it.’
‘I won’t forget any of it, Babs. She’s in a condition similar to mine, right?’
‘No. She got bashed on the head.’
‘So she’s unconscious. The method isn’t important – the result remains the same. I was out of it for a couple of weeks.’
Time ticked by while Babs allowed the possibilities to enter her mind. She didn’t want to ask the question, yet she knew she must. ‘Him?’ was all she said.
Lily bowed her head and thought. ‘Yes. Definitely. I’d bet my life it’s him.’
‘From prison?’
‘Yes. He’s in the ideal place for it, because the old lags will know people on the outside, and this isn’t far from Liverpool.’
Babs pondered for a while. ‘But your name’s changed. Where you live’s changed. All letters and stuff are addressed to Lily Latimer—’
‘At the shop. The shop is still my address. No mail comes here. Haven’t even had my driving licence altered. It’s changed to Lily Latimer, but the address is number seven Fullers Walk. How he found me I don’t know and may never know. But Eve has dark hair like mine used to be, and I’ve lost an awful lot of weight. To someone with a description of Leanne Chalmers, Eve would be the nearer match. I know she’s older, but she’s dark-haired and about my height.’
‘So someone’s found you for him? But presumably they’ve seen you in the shop and know you’re blonde. So why would they attack someone else? They must have looked at the village. Don’t they case the joint first?’
Lily shrugged. ‘I don’t know how he worked it out. Perhaps he paid off solicitors – I’ve no idea. The shop’s too busy, anyway, so they’d want to do it away from Fullers Walk. And the blonde in the shop could be Lily’s assistant. Clive knew I had money from my family as well as from my own job before I became Lily. And there was the compensation fund – I’m wealthy, Babs. I could afford an assistant.’
‘Yes.’
They sat in silence for a few moments, then Lily shot from her seat in one swift move. She ran to the dining room, only to return seconds later with a cardboard box. ‘You see?’ she said, her tone desperate. ‘It’s my fault – I should have changed it.’
Babs said nothing.
‘Look!’ Lily opened the package and took out a wooden sign. ‘Hope House,’ she cried. ‘Outside, this is still St Faith’s presbytery. Right. Listen to me. Say nasty people came to find me after he’d traced my new location by some means. And say they saw me in the shop, but I’m blonde.’
‘OK.’
‘Leanne Chalmers is brunette. So the woman in the flower shop would be Leanne’s assistant.’
‘All right.’
‘So if a man – or a woman, for that matter – wanted to know where I lived, anyone in the village might have said I’d bought the house across the road next to the church.’
‘Still with you so far, Lee.’
‘In the past, Rose Cottage would have suited me better than this place. I don’t know how much the attackers know about me, but I always had a cottage in Somerset, didn’t I?’
‘You did.’
‘So, these unknown criminals cross the road and check out the houses near the church. This one has St Faith’s Presbytery on the sign. It’s a priest’s home. No one would look twice at it if they were looking for a woman. Rose Cottage still has FOR SALE outside, but with SOLD plastered across the middle of the board. Which house would you choose? Eve dyes her hair dark brown to hide her grey—’
‘And they got her by mistake.’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, my God.’
It had nothing to do with God, Lily told herself inwardly. Poor Eve had been attacked by servants of Satan himself, and they had gone for the wrong target. They might come back; they might carry on picking off women until they got the right one. ‘It’s my fault,’ she whispered. ‘If I hadn’t come here, Eve would still be staining that beautiful staircase in her cottage.’
‘Stop it, because—’
‘And I never saw a happier marriage. Even when she’s telling him off for being daft, you can see how much they love each other. If she dies, he’ll die inside. Just perfect together, those two.’
‘You can’t blame yourself.’
‘Can’t I? Oh, I know I’ve done nothing – but neither has poor Eve. Babs, if I’d stayed away, none of this would have happened.’
‘And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’
‘My gran used to say that.’
‘And mine.’ Babs busied herself with tea-making, because she felt she had to do something that appeared sensible. It had been her experience in life so far that doing ordinary things meant staying inwardly sane and outwardly calm, and she had to be both. Lily was terrified all over again; someone had to give the impression of level-headedness. She set a tray with cups, saucers, milk jug and sugar bowl. Lee wasn’t a sweet-tooth, but she was in shock.
Lily stared unseeing at the tray when it arrived on the table. ‘He’s put a curse on me, Babs.’ A thought struck. ‘And what if he comes after you and little Cassie? He sees you as part of his downfall, and we know he doesn’t care about children.’
Babs swallowed hard. ‘I’ll get Pete to stay with us.’
‘Twenty-four seven? He does have a job.’
Babs gulped again. ‘What are we going to do, Lily?’
‘We’re going to run.’
‘What? I’ve got Pete and a job. I’ve got Cassie settled with Valda and her kids. I like it here.’
Lily nodded. ‘So do I. I like it very much. But after what’s happened here tonight, I don’t trust anyone – not even the police. We’re two hundred miles from Somerset, yet we’ve been found. Think about Cassie and only Cassie. Babs, we know he’d kill anyone.’
‘Tell the cops that he’s organized this from jail. Tell them he needs sending to Siberia or somewhere.’
‘Proof?’ Lily asked.
Babs poured the tea. ‘You’re having sugar, because you need it. We both do.’ She sat down. ‘You’re right, it’s down to proof. They’ll need to catch the people who did this and make them talk. And what are they going to do to him? Give him a longer sentence? He’ll still be there. He’ll still be able to pay people to come after us. And, at the end of the day, it could have been a simple burglary.’
‘It wasn’t. Lord, I hate sweet tea. You think there’s no hiding place? So do I, but we can play for time. Babs, we’re going. I’ll sell up here, then—’
‘No. If we go away, it’s just for a short break, to give them time to find the attackers and get them to confess. We can’t let him dictate our lives from now on. We belong here. You have to learn to compromise.’ She lowered her eyelids and glanced through the lashes at her friend. ‘Lily?’
‘What?’
Babs paused and took a sip from her cup. ‘What’s going on with Mike?’
Lily stared stonily across the table. ‘Shut up and drink your tea. Now, nothing will happen tonight. The offenders are on the run, and this village is too hot for them. Send Pete home. If he’s asleep, get rid of him as early as you can in the morning. Order a taxi to pick you up behind the shop, not at the front. I’ll be outside the village on the top road – near the telephone kiosk. Transfer your luggage from the taxi to my car, and we’ll bugger off for a few days. Or weeks. I’ll be there from about seven o’clock.’
‘If you insist.’
‘Bring Cassie’s child seat and clothing. We’ll buy her some toys when we get there.’
‘When we get where?’
Lily sighed. ‘To the end of whichever bloody road. I don’t know.’
The front door opened. ‘It’s Mike,’ said Babs.
‘Yes. Go now. Not a word to Pete.’
‘What about the shop?’ Babs whispered, standing up.
‘Closed till further notice. Can’t be helped.’
Mike entered the room. ‘Lily? Babs? Are you all right?’
Neither replied.
‘I’ll stay tonight,’ he said. ‘Though I’m expected in Harwood tomorrow morning. This is a terrible business, isn’t it?’
Babs, who was standing uneasily in the line of Lily’s penetrating stare, made her farewell and left the house.
Mike sat in the chair she had vacated. ‘Eve’s still alive,’ he said. ‘They’re trying to stabilize her for surgery, something to do with bloods and gases – I don’t understand medical jargon.’
Lily sighed. ‘I do
. I’ve been there. I’ve been in Eve’s position and I know she could die on the table if they took her in now. They have to get her body as balanced as possible before taking a proper look at the wounds. She’s already in shock, and the trauma of surgery might kill her. They’ll be working damned hard to save her.’
He looked steadily at Lily’s face and decided once again that he must ask no more questions about her own past crises. All he wanted was to comfort her, but she wasn’t here any more. The woman who had laughed herself silly just a few hours ago, who had enjoyed his tour of the countryside outside Bolton, had disappeared. In her place sat an animal as terrified as the rescued rabbit had been after its long containment under the tree. If anything, she looked worse than she had in the first few weeks after arriving in the north. ‘Go to Harwood now,’ she told him. ‘I need to be by myself.’
Mike leaned back in the chair. ‘Aren’t you afraid?’
‘It’s already happened, hasn’t it? They aren’t likely to come back tonight, because they’ll be too busy putting as much space as possible between themselves and this village.’
‘You don’t need me?’
Lily paused before speaking. ‘In the last couple of years, I’ve made sure I don’t need anyone. And I like my own space.’ She did need him, but she didn’t want him to get involved with the dreadful truth – not yet, not until she had decided what to do in the long term.
‘Plenty of space for you here, then. This house was built to contain more than one priest – and their housekeeper – so you’ll have plenty of room to rattle around.’ She wasn’t telling him anything. Instinct and experience informed him that what had occurred tonight in Eagleton impinged on her in some way. It was a great pity, because she had been making progress in leaps and bounds. ‘Eve and you have become friends,’ he said.
‘Yes. I like Eve. Chas is a good man, too.
‘I’m praying for them, Lily.’
‘Oh, good. Everything will be all right, then. I’m sure God will listen to one of his ministers who’s been breaking every rule in the book.’
‘Sarcasm doesn’t suit you.’
‘Sorry, Mike. But nor does the knowledge that someone I care about is in hospital with her head bashed in. Mike, will you please leave? I have to be alone tonight.’
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