Death in Practice

by Hazel Holt

  But while we were having our coffee they passed our table on the way out and Keith stopped and spoke to me.

  “Hello, Mrs Malory, fancy seeing you here!”

  “We’ve been shopping,” I said, “and Taunton was too crowded to eat in. It’s nice here, do you come often?”

  “Actually, someone I know has just taken the place over so I thought we’d come and see how he was getting on.”

  “It seems to be doing well,” I said. “I can’t remember when I’ve seen it so full at lunchtime.”

  “Well,” Rosemary said when they’d gone. “Fancy that.”

  “It never pays,” I said, “to jump to conclusions.”

  “They certainly seem to be an item, though. Do you want another cup of coffee or shall we go?”

  I was curious to know what Kathy made of this new development but I didn’t see her by chance in the town and, after our talk about Ben, I felt reluctant to ring her up in case she thought I was trying to force confidences out of her. I did, however, find myself next to Anthea in the queue at the supermarket checkout. It was a long queue and Anthea was very cross about it.

  “Just look,” she said scornfully, “at people doing their Christmas food shopping now! No wonder the place is so crowded.”

  The woman in front, whose trolley contained dates, satsumas, boxes of crackers and a large Christmas pudding, stiffened but pretended she hadn’t heard the comment.

  “When we were young,” Anthea continued, “it was all done in the last week – I remember always going out with my father and sister on Christmas Eve to buy my mother’s present. That was the real Christmas spirit! Now it all starts in October and children have Advent calendars with chocolates when they open each door. I can’t believe it sometimes.”

  “Are you all going to Jean’s for Christmas?” I asked, anxious to introduce a topic of conversation less offensive to the woman in front of us.

  “Oh no,” Anthea said. “Jean wanted us to, she said the boys liked to have their presents at home, but I told her that I’ve always done Christmas for us all and I have no intention of giving up now! Besides, when would she have time to do everything – do it properly I mean – when she’s got her job and everything?”

  “It will be a lot of work for you,” I said.

  “Oh, Kathy will help me. She always does the vegetables and the bread sauce, and sees to the table.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “I think I told you how much better she’s been since that dreadful man died.”

  “Yes, when I saw her last she looked very well.”

  “The whole set-up at the surgery is fine now the police have stopped harassing them. They seem to have dropped the whole thing, at least I haven’t heard anything, and a good thing too. The world’s a much better place without him!”

  The woman in front was agog now and visibly straining to hear our conversation.

  “Yes, well, it’s nice to see the girls there so relaxed again.”

  “And have you heard the latest? That girl Julie, you know the one who’s supposed to be having his baby, she’s only gone and got herself engaged!”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, to young Keith. I couldn’t believe it when Kathy told me. Why he wants to go and saddle himself with another man’s child I can’t imagine. He seemed such a nice young man.”

  The queue had now moved forward and the woman in front was obliged (reluctantly I thought) to get the things out of her trolley and go to the far end of the checkout, obviously deeply frustrated at not hearing the end of the story.

  “It will be good for the baby to have a father, poor little thing,” I said.

  “I suppose so,” Anthea said grudgingly. “Still it does seem a waste somehow.”

  I wondered if, in spite of the age difference between them, she had earmarked Keith for Kathy.

  “She sounds a rather silly girl,” Anthea went on, shovelling her purchases onto the moving belt. “There’s no excuse for a girl to get herself into trouble in this day and age. It was different years ago – in fact they do say Cynthia Burton had to marry that man Barnes because this girl was on the way.”

  “Nobody has to marry anyone nowadays,” I said.

  “More’s the pity!” Anthea said, signing her credit card slip with a flourish. “All these single parents – no wonder the crime rate’s what it is.”

  “Well there’s one baby that won’t be having a single parent now,” I said.

  “True, and I suppose it’s better that it should be brought up by someone as steady as Keith rather than by that dreadful Malcolm Hardy.”

  She stood and waited impatiently while I piled the bags of groceries into my trolley.

  “Oh, I don’t think Malcolm Hardy would have had anything to do with bringing it up,” I said as we emerged from the store. “I believe he wanted Julie to get rid of it. They split up because she wouldn’t – at least, he wouldn’t have anything else to do with her.”

  “Have an abortion!” Anthea stood stock still in the middle of the car park so that an elderly man driving an old Fiesta had to swerve to avoid her. “But that’s dreadful! That poor girl! I wouldn’t be surprised if she killed him. I know I would have!”

  “There’s no reason to suppose she did,” I said. “Anyway, she doesn’t sound like the sort of girl who’d do a thing like that.”

  “Who knows what anyone is capable of,” Anthea said darkly, “if the circumstances are powerful enough, and goodness knows they were in this case.”

  “Well, I don’t think…”

  “Anyway,” Anthea said firmly, tying the plastic bags securely before putting them away in the boot of her car. “If she did kill him, I for one wouldn’t blame her.”

  As I drove away I turned Anthea’s theory (if such it could be called) over in my mind. Certainly, what I had heard about Julie didn’t lead me to believe that she would be capable of actually killing someone, especially in such a calculated way. On the other hand, she must have been in a highly emotional state and full of resentment and, perhaps, revenge. On my way home I went down to the sea wall, a place I often go when I want to think about something. I parked the car and walked a little way, disturbing the flock of seagulls roosting on the rails, who rose in a cloud and hovered hopefully in case I might be going to throw food for them, then settled back again on their perches or down on the shingle below. It was quite a mild day with no wind and everything was quiet so that I could hear the swish of waves on the pebbles as they endlessly advanced and retreated.

  I wished I actually knew Julie, or at least that I’d had more than a brief exchange with her at the surgery, so that I could form my own opinion of what she might or might not be capable of. Asimple girl, Kathy had said, easily influenced, easily impressed, but a girl, nevertheless, who had been unpleasant to her workmates and had spied on them for her lover. She had also lied to her parents, though that was perhaps not surprising given the circumstances and their lack of sympathy.

  It suddenly occurred to me that she might have known about old Mr Hardy’s will. It was just possible that Malcolm might have mentioned it in some context or other. If she had known about it, then she would have had a very good motive for killing him. Malcolm would be dead and his child (and the child’s mother at least for the early years) would inherit a great deal of money. It certainly was a motive; I wondered if Roger had considered it. It also occurred to me that if Julie could establish the child’s paternity (and there seemed to be very little doubt that it was Malcolm Hardy’s) then not only would she be very well off, but that Keith, when they were married, would also share in the good fortune.

  I wondered when Keith and Julie had first got together. Was it, in fact before Malcolm Hardy’s death? Had Julie confided in him and how had he reacted? Could he…? My mind shied away from the thought but I resolutely brought it back. Could he have helped Julie to kill her former lover? I immediately rejected the idea, but somehow I kept coming back to it. After all – Keith and Julie,
it was an unexpected combination. Was there a more sinister reason for it than simple need on one side and sympathy on the other?

  I saw a small figure approaching. It was an old friend of my mother, Mrs Patterson, walking her dog, as she always did at this time of the afternoon. As she drew near I saw that the King Charles spaniel was limping and had a bandage on one of his front legs.

  “Oh dear,” I said, when we had exchanged greetings and commented on the unseasonable mildness of the weather, “is Benjy all right?”

  “He’s better now,” she replied, bending down to pat him, “aren’t you, poor boy? But he had a nasty cut on his leg. Some dreadful boys riding their bicycles on the pavement! They came up behind us – I didn’t hear a thing – and gave poor Benjy a terrible knock.”

  “That’s really disgraceful!”

  “What can you do? They’re out of control. I called after them but they took absolutely no notice and I was too worried about Benjy to do anything else.”

  “You managed to get him to the vet all right?”

  “Oh yes. By a merciful coincidence, Mr Sully, you know, he lives two doors down from me, was passing so he took us there in his car – so good, he waited and took us home as well.”

  “So what did the vet say?”

  “It was that nice young man Keith. He was so kind. When I told him what had happened he said that I’d had a shock as well as my poor boy here, so he got one of the girls to make me a cup of tea.”

  “That was very thoughtful.”

  “Oh he is! When my poor Barny had to be put down – he was the one I had before Benjy – he came to the house to do it and was so kind and understanding. Well, he checked that there was nothing broken and bound the paw up and now Benjy is much better. Well, you see he wants to go for his usual walk so he must be feeling well!”

  I smiled. “That must be such a relief for you.”

  “Oh it was. You see Benjy is all I’ve got since Arthur died and now that Tony’s gone to live in Dundee.”

  Tony is her son and, to my mind, doesn’t give his mother the attention she deserves.

  “Will you see him at Christmas?” I asked.

  “Well, they did invite me, Tony and Fiona, and I would like to see the children, but I really don’t think I can manage the journey and, in any case, I couldn’t take Benjy – Fiona doesn’t care for animals. No, I shall be having Christmas lunch with my friend Doreen – you remember Doreen Vasey, I’m sure – we’ll go to a hotel so that neither of us will have to cook. And what about you, my dear? That precious little girl’s first Christmas – I was so pleased they gave her your dear mother’s name.”

  “Yes, I’ll be going to them for Christmas. It should be great fun.”

  Benjy gave a little whine and held up his injured paw, reminding his mistress that no one was paying attention to him.

  “Oh look at him, the little love,” Mrs Patterson exclaimed. “Telling me to stop chattering on!”

  I watched them out of sight and then walked slowly back to my car.

  I was having supper with Michael and Thea that evening and I tentatively told them my theory about Julie.

  “Well, I suppose she might have done it,” Thea said. “After all, she must have been feeling dreadful, especially if, as you say, she was completely besotted with the ghastly man and then he let her down so badly just when she needed support over the baby.”

  “And, of course,” I said, “she probably knew by then about his carrying on with Claudia Drummond.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Mind you,” I continued, “from what I’ve seen of her she doesn’t look capable of doing anything as positive as killing someone.”

  “What was it old Mrs Mac used to say?” Michael said. “‘Even a worm will turn if it’s trod on’? Possibly the worm turned.”

  “Or,” I added, “she may have had help.”

  I told them about the engagement and the possibility that she and Keith might have managed it between them.

  “Mmm, I don’t know,” Michael said. “Surely the timing’s a bit tricky. Would there have been time for that relationship to have developed before Malcolm Hardy died?”

  “It’s just possible,” I said, “that Keith was in love with her before Malcolm Hardy behaved in such a caddish way and he leapt at the chance of being her knight in shining armour.”

  “Possible, I suppose. Does that sound like him?” Thea asked. “I’ve only seen him a couple of times when I took Smoke for injections, so I don’t know what he’s really like.”

  “That’s just it,” I admitted. “It’s not like him at all. Well, the knight-in-shining-armour bit is, but he’s such a kindly soul and he’s so marvellous with animals, so gentle – he really loves them.”

  “Oh come on, Ma,” Michael said. “A love of animals doesn’t necessarily mean anyone’s whiter than white. After all Hitler liked dogs!”

  “I know that, of course, but no, I can’t believe Keith had anything to do with the murder.”

  “But you think Julie might have?” Thea asked.

  “I really don’t know. Like everyone else at the surgery, she had the means, she could have done it.”

  “Oh well, I’ll just go and see how the food is doing. Do you feel like giving Alice her bath?”

  As I gently rubbed shampoo into my granddaughter’s hair while she tried to catch the bubbles in the water, and laughed as they slipped through her fingers, I decided that this was more important than theories about a murder that didn’t really concern me and gave all my mind to the intricacies of a game that Alice liked to play with her plastic ducks and the loofah.

  Chapter Sixteen

  * * *

  When I heard the clicking noise Tris’s claws made on the tiled floor of the kitchen I realised that it was time to take him to have his nails cut. I was able to get an appointment with Diana, though when I got there I had to wait quite a while until she was free and when I finally saw her I thought she looked decidedly flustered.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, “but it’s a bit hectic this afternoon. I mean, it’s lovely that we’re so busy but we are one person short these days.”

  “Yes, it must be difficult for you.”

  “And to make things worse,” Diana went on picking up the clippers, “Julie is off at the moment.”

  “Oh dear, what’s the matter?”

  “She had a bad fall.”

  “How dreadful. Is she all right? What about the baby?”

  “They’re both OK, but they’re keeping her in hospital for a bit to be on the safe side.”

  She picked up another of Tris’s paws and began to clip the nails.

  “She must have been lucky,” I said.

  “Keith was with her and he called an ambulance straight away.”

  “Oh yes, Keith – I was quite surprised to hear about the engagement.”

  Diana looked at me quizzically. “You’re not the only one,” she said. “We were all amazed.”

  “They never seemed to be particularly close?” I enquired tentatively.

  “Not that I was aware, but then there was that business with Malcolm…” She broke off, presumably aware of the impropriety of discussing the affairs of one of her employees.

  “Right then, there’s the nails done.” She ruffled Tris’s ears affectionately.“Is there anything else?”

  “Oh yes please, if you wouldn’t mind giving him a general look-over – ears, teeth, heart and so on. It’s always such a business getting him here that we might as well do the job properly now he is!”

  While she was examining him I asked, “Have you been able to find someone to replace Malcolm Hardy?”

  “We’ve got a locum coming in next week but nothing definite’s been decided.”

  “It must have been awkward for you, having the police around and so forth.”

  “Yes, it’s been awful. And they still don’t seem to have got much further with the affair. They keep coming back to look at this and that and ask m
ore questions. It’s very unsettling for everybody.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “I mean, there’s no way anyone here would have done a thing like that! You know us all, Mrs Malory, can you believe any of us could be a murderer?”

  Her voice rose slightly and I realised just how much she must have been under stress.

  “No, of course not!” I said warmly. “And I’m sure no one would ever think such a thing.”

  She smiled faintly at my vehemence. “Thank you. I’m sorry, what must you think of me? It’s just that the whole thing is getting to me – the fact of it still going on and no solution yet.”

  “It must have been a dreadful strain,” I said, “especially for you. After all it’s your practice. I can see that you really do need to have it cleared up. I’m sure everybody must feel for you.”

  “Thank you.” She picked up her stethoscope and listened for a moment to Tris’s heart and then smiled and patted his head.

  “There’s a good boy. No, he’s in very good shape for a dog of his age. You are watching his diet, aren’t you? Extra weight does put a strain on the heart and I know it’s very tempting to give him titbits.”

  When I got back to the waiting room it was empty so I was able to have a little chat with Alison while I was paying my bill.

  “I was sorry to hear about Julie,” I said. “How did it happen?”

  Alison waited until the computer had disgorged my bill and then came back and leaned on the counter.

  “Well,” she said, “four of us – Julie and Keith and me and my boyfriend Ian – went to the Dunster by Candlelight thing. You know, the shopping evening. It’s very pretty, all the decorations and the candles, all the shops lit up.”

  “How lovely,” I said.

  “They had carols and the morris dancers too,” Alison went on, “it was really nice and of course it’s very popular. The trouble was it did get very crowded and after a bit Ian and I got separated from the other two so we didn’t actually see what happened.”