Small Town Christmas (Some Very English Murders Book 6)

by Issy Brooke

  You can teach an old dog new tricks, she thought. You just had to keep at it.

  On Friday she had a short session of text-message-tennis with Drew, and discovered her phone could add a whole new set of symbols and pictures to the messages. She annoyed him for a little while, and then let him go back to work.

  He popped over after his afternoon at the emerging Forest School, and gave her a pair of gloves with a matching hat. They appeared hand-knitted, and had gone a little bobbly with age and wear, but they were a nice colour of rusty brown and she wasn’t going to refuse. He left after a short time, citing some research work he had to do about how to motivate unwilling learners.

  She, too, had work to do. She was looking forward to seeing Cath, and this motivated her to get on with fulfilling the latest website orders. She had some more prints that had arrived which needed framing and mounting.

  With Kali supervising, she pushed the murder out of her mind, and got on with things.

  * * * *

  “Don’t laugh! Don’t laugh! Oh no, help, don’t let me laugh either…” Cath whispered, her hand jammed over her mouth and muffling her hiccupping giggles.

  Penny was crammed onto a small and uncomfortable chair beside her, in the centre of a packed school hall. Up on stage, one of Penny’s boys was dressed as a sheep but he was not sticking to the script. He had either forgotten his lines, or he was wilfully misbehaving.

  “It’s not a star,” he was telling the confused shepherd with the obligatory tea-towel head-dress. “I think it might be a plane.”

  “It is a star,” the shepherd informed him loftily. “It is a star of wonder. And we will sing about it.”

  The sheep shrugged and then bent his head to pretend to eat grass, ignoring everyone else around him.

  At the side of the stage, one of the teachers was frantically waving her arms. The shepherd glanced at her, and then looked to the audience and announced, “We are going this way,” and strode across to the opposite side of the stage, followed by his retinue of other shepherds who gathered around him. Some of them produced recorders and one had a triangle.

  Under the aural cover of a mangled version of “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night”, Cath passed Penny some boiled sweets.

  “I didn’t find a hip flask to bring. Sorry,” Penny said.

  “A large normal flask would have been fine.”

  “Got any gin?”

  “Back at my house. And we’re going to earn it…”

  * * * *

  “Yes,” Penny announced as she flopped into the wicker furniture in Cath’s conservatory. “We have definitely earned our alcohol.”

  Cath pulled the blinds down and put all the fan heaters on full blast, and the small space quickly warmed up, in spite of the metres of glass for windows. In the living room next to the conservatory, her children were merrily arguing over a video game. Cath didn’t allow them to have computers in their rooms, although each child did have their own phone. Cath pretended to know far less about technology than she actually did; she kept a close eye on what the boys were up to. As far as she could tell, they had not yet broken through the parental controls she’d set up.

  If they did, Penny thought, Cath would have to arrange for them to get jobs in cyber-security. Ethical hackers, and the like.

  “What’s on your mind?” Cath said. She unscrewed a cheap and cheerful bottle of red wine and poured it out. “And don’t judge me. Yes, it was less than a fiver. No, I’m not letting it breathe. And if you’re really lucky I might have some slightly soft crackers and elderly cheese in the kitchen.”

  “Just the wine will do. Fab, thanks.” Penny sniffed it and it didn’t make her eyes water, so it was a good start. “What’s on my mind? What do you think? I am a murderer, aren’t I?”

  “No, no, no. At worst, it’s negligent manslaughter.”

  “Now I feel tons better. Thanks for that.”

  Cath sighed. “I am not on the case…”

  “I know!”

  “Hey, don’t get shirty. It’s a good thing. We can gossip about it, like normal people.”

  Penny took a large gulp of wine. It stung slightly. She took another mouthful to help wash the burning sensation away. “What will happen to me?” she asked mournfully.

  “The police are concentrating on what happened once Clive was up that ladder,” Cath said. “I honestly don’t think you’re going to be scapegoated. It’s unlikely. You might be made an example of, but I can’t see you going to prison. I really can’t. It’s a side issue. If you were a big business, then you’re looking at corporate manslaughter, but that isn’t the case here.”

  “I’m still worried.”

  “Of course. I know.”

  Penny said, “What led the police to choose the suspects that they have done? Or are they looking at more people that I don’t know about?”

  “Who have you heard is on the list?”

  “Me, obviously. Jared Boot, Linda Osmond and Haydn, some bloke whose name I don’t know.”

  “Haydn McGinty,” Cath said. “He pops up here from time to time because he has a lot of property in Upper Glenfield.”

  “So I hear. Is that his job?”

  “No. It’s a sideline for him. He’s in some kind of project management role for a regional utilities company.”

  “Would this be the same company that Clive used to work for?”

  Cath nodded. “Yes. Clive was his line manager.”

  “Ah. They didn’t get on, did they?”

  “Now you see why the police are interested in Haydn,” Cath said. “From what I hear, there were ongoing complaints and counter-complaints between them throughout their work history. And it obviously didn’t stop when Clive retired.”

  “He likes a good feud, doesn’t he?” Penny said. “That Clive. He’s the same with his sister.”

  “He was,” Cath agreed. “And with Jared.”

  “That’s the one I don’t get,” Penny said.

  “They’ve had public rows too. Clive was a bully and you know Jared, so you know how easily cowed he can be. He’s pretty vulnerable. He’s no fighter. He never wanted to press charges though. Basically, when Clive retired, he felt useless. He needed things to do. So he tried to take over the town website and Reg Harris immediately slapped him down. You can’t make old Reg do anything he doesn’t want to do. That man is made from old Spitfires. So then, Clive went to Jared to pressure him, tell him what was wrong, what needed changing, all the usual Clive stuff.”

  “Oh. Jared never told me any of that.” But then, he wouldn’t, Penny thought. He wanted to impress me so he’s not going to confess anything that makes him look weak.

  “It got messy and came to police attention; that’s why Jared is on the list. Also, he was out that night.”

  “He was at the meeting,” Penny said, nodding.

  “More than that. This is between me and you, but you guys are on the list because you are all recognisable on cctv around the town. You were all out, alone, that night, at the time of the murder. Any of you could have pushed him off that ladder.”

  “I was walking my dog!”

  “I know. But you stuck to lonely places, and there are gaps in what we can track. Gaps we can’t account for. It’s the same with Jared; he was out running. We can see that. He was out for a long time. And Linda. She didn’t go straight home. We see her car go past the market area, and then we lose track of it, but she didn’t go home, so where was she? Finally, Haydn. He is seen walking towards his car, somewhat erratically. He’s stumbling and he’s dragging his feet. He gets in his car, stalls it, drives off … but he doesn’t get home to Lincoln that night.”

  “Maybe he stopped at the house he’s doing up.”

  “No one saw him enter there. His car doesn’t appear on the security camera that’s set up outside the shop at the bottom of the street. He also says he didn’t go to that house anyway; he claims he drove a little way, realised he was drunk, parked up, and slept in his car
.”

  “In this weather?” Penny said. “He would have frozen to death!”

  Cath nodded. “So you all have a motive and you were all out there that night.”

  “Oh. Oh, dear.”

  They lapsed into silence for a moment until Penny blurted out the thing that had been bothering her almost as much as the idea she might be responsible.

  “Cath, why do the police think it’s anything other than an accident?”

  “They did some experiments, the techie boffins. Because of the frost, there were scuffs on parts of the pavement and walls, and the police were able to isolate the area pretty quickly and preserve the evidence. They know that someone else was there, and there are marks on the base of the ladder. Someone was wearing gloves. Clive wasn’t.”

  “That’s why they took my gloves!”

  “Yes. And the way that Clive was hanging in the lights tells the police something about how he fell, and how the ladder hit the ground. They did some clever and frankly disturbing computer simulations, which was at least better than the other option.”

  “What was that?”

  “Sending someone up a ladder to test it all out. Like we used to.”

  “Right. Ouch.”

  “So they know he was pushed,” Cath said. “What we need to know, though, is did the person who pushed the ladder intend to kill him?”

  “Is that important?” Penny asked.

  “Oh, definitely.” Cath looked very serious. “Do we have an opportunist on our hands, or was this a targeted attack? If it’s targeted, it should be easier to solve.”

  “What if it part of something larger, though?” Penny said, and shivered.

  What if this was the start of something else…

  Chapter Nine

  Penny expected to wake up with a sore head on Saturday morning, and she was not disappointed. Kali had absolutely no sympathy whatsoever. It was a grey day, but dry and windless, and the dog was keen to get out and have a good run. Penny fortified herself with a great deal of coffee, and sallied out into the world. In spite of her bleary eyes and foggy thinking, having a prancing and happy dog by her side did help to cheer her up. And she liked the fact that she was wearing Drew’s hat and gloves.

  She took the long way around town, heading first to the north and then around the town to the east, following a footpath that ran between some houses and the flat fields. Most of the agricultural land was lying fallow now, but she was surprised to find herself walking alongside a vast, flat expanse of bright green growth. What on earth would start growing just as the winter clamped down on them all? It looked like particularly luscious grass, but in regimented rows, so it was clearly a crop. She made a mental note to ask Drew about it.

  Kali, with her thick-set Rottweiler body, was not very good at climbing over stiles. She tried, because she trusted Penny and would do anything for her, but she was clumsy and heavy. This restricted Penny and she tended to follow familiar, well-worn paths. She had been caught out too many times by a promising start only to be turned back within a few hundred yards by an impassable fence and stile.

  So they ended up approaching the slipe again, although they came at the meadow from the far eastern side. There was a quiet patch of grass which was empty of people and dogs, and Penny let Kali off for a good run-around.

  “Yoohoo!”

  Kali stopped running and turned to face the source of the calling voice. Penny glanced up and saw two people, a tall female figure and a lean man. She didn’t go towards them, but instead she went straight to her dog, clipping her back onto the lead. The woman was waving her hands and approaching in a manner that seemed expressly designed to unnerve the most placid of dogs. The man trailed behind.

  Some people had no sense at all.

  It was Linda, and with her was Edwin from the rambling group.

  Penny plastered a polite smile onto her face, but said, “Please don’t wave like that. You are startling my dog.”

  “He needs better training, then!” Linda barked, looking with distaste at Kali.

  Kali was looking back at Linda with much the same expression.

  “She,” Penny said. “Not he. Her name’s Kali.”

  Linda ignored her. “We need to talk to you about the footpaths, don’t we, Edwin?”

  Penny’s eyes met Edwin’s. He smiled but his eyes were scowling, and she knew that his annoyance was aimed at Linda.

  “Hi Edwin. How are you?” Penny asked.

  He was given no time to answer. “I’m talking about the footpath that runs from the industrial estate to the fields,” Linda said loudly. “It’s been used for generations and we need to get it open once more.”

  Edwin shrugged helplessly.

  Penny frowned. “Good luck,” she said.

  “And it’s exactly that type of defeatist attitude which would have lost us the war!” Linda exclaimed. “Now then. I hate to speak ill of the dead, and of course he was my brother I suppose, but he was one of the prime objectors and I think now is the time for us to move on regarding this issue. There’s nothing to be gained from shilly-shallying.”

  Penny gaped at Linda. “Are you talking about Clive Holdsworth?”

  “Of course I am,” Linda said in surprise. “What did you think I meant? Goodness me, do keep up. The utility company that he used to work for owns the land, you know. And when we applied to have the path officially recognised, he put in a call to someone he knew, and got it blocked. He had retired and he still meddled. Utter rubbish. He did it to spite me. Terrible man. Now he’s out of the way … I mean, obviously, great tragedy and all that … but, well, now is the time to get on with the footpath.”

  Penny was still staring. Could anyone be so callous?

  Obviously, yes – they could.

  Would Linda have pushed her brother off a ladder so that she could get a footpath re-opened?

  Surely not. That was deeply unrealistic petty spite.

  Even so, Penny took a step back.

  Linda took it as an invitation to step forward. She loomed into Penny’s personal space. “So, we’re starting a campaign and I’m delighted that the ramblers’ club is fully on board with this.”

  Edwin grunted. He looked about as enthusiastic as a Michelin-starred chef in a fast food restaurant.

  “And of course, we need someone to help design the promotional literature,” Linda said. “We need posters, adverts, forms, flyers and newsletters. That’s what we think you could do to show your support.”

  The woman was unstoppable, Penny thought. Dreadful in every way, but goodness, she had an admirable drive and commitment.

  “I am afraid I’m currently already over-committed,” Penny said in a stilted and formal way.

  “Oh, we don’t want you to do anything complicated. We’ve kept it well within your skill-set,” Linda said blithely.

  Did the woman intend to be so insulting? Penny couldn’t work it out. “No, Linda,” she said more firmly. “I’ve got my own business to run and it’s really busy at the moment with the run-up to Christmas. Then there are my commitments to the Christmas Planning Committee.”

  “But you’re not responsible for health and safety any longer, so I know you have some free time there.”

  “Not really. I’m singing with the local choir and we’re doing lots of evening practise. No, sorry; I have no time. But I wish you all the best with it.”

  Linda just could not hear the refusal. She said, “Oh, the carol concert! And you’ll be going door-to-door as well, won’t you? It’s marvellous. I mean, singing outside in the cold air, you’ll all destroy your throats and your voices yet you still carry on. How wonderful. I used to sing, you know.”

  “Why don’t you come?” Penny said. She thought, if you do something for me, I’ll do something for you. “Just turn up tomorrow night at the Academy. We use the gymnasium there. We often pop to a pub together afterwards, too. I walk, but they open up the school car park for people.”

  “No, dear,” Linda said, looking do
wn her nose. “I used to sing in a theatre, you know. It was technically an amateur outfit but I had offers, you know. Real offers. I don’t think this is my thing. However, I look forward to hearing you singing out and about. I’ll drop off our specifications for the flyers at your house later today. River Street, isn’t it? What number do you live at?”

  “I don’t have the time,” Penny insisted.

  “We’re all busy. I appreciate that. But you’re part of this community now … aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” Penny said wearily.

  Edwin finally spoke. “You can’t fight her, you know.”

  “So I’m beginning to see.”

  “A few flyers, nothing more,” Linda chirped, ignoring what passed between them. “The other stuff can all be based on the design you come up with for the flyer. I have sketched out some ideas to start you off. That’s why I need to know where you live.”

  Unwillingly, Penny told her. It was the only way to make her shut up and go away. Linda was all smiles and glee then. She patted Penny on the arm until Kali’s rumbling made her stop and retreat.

  Still relatively unfazed, she bid them both good day, and skipped off to hunt down another poor victim.

  Edwin waited until Linda was out of earshot. He then let off a string of cursing which petered out to an embarrassed apology.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, rather pink in the face. “It’s just that she absolutely riles me up and I cannot say anything against her, because if I start to challenge her, if I say anything at all, I am afraid I won’t be able to stop, and I will say or do something I’ll regret.”

  “I know what you mean,” Penny said. “I couldn’t say no, could I?”

  “Not if you value your life,” he said.

  There was an awkward silence.

  “I apologise again,” Edwin said with a cough. “That was rather poor taste.”

  “It’s fine,” Penny replied. “Even under these circumstances. I understand.”