Lavender had been expecting this and was glad she and Matt had planned their version so carefully a few weeks ago. ‘No. I didn’t, because only the intended recipient of the love potion should drink it.’
‘But Matt…’ Price looks at him quizzically. ‘Didn’t you notice Lavender wasn’t drinking the wine on the table?’
‘No.’ Matt spreads his hands. ‘Because Lavender went to the kitchen each time and came back with two full glasses. She was drinking normal red wine, I found out later. You know, when she’d come clean to me.’
‘Which took you a good long while, Lavender,’ Vincent says, furrowing his brow.
‘I know. I wish I’d told him earlier, but as I said, I was afraid of getting blamed for everything and Morvoren had told me so many lies about Matt by then… especially the ones…’ Lavender stops and swallows hard. She needs to explain about the teacher molesting her when she was a kid, but it feels so hard to muster the courage.
Matt puts his arm round her and she wishes he hadn’t, because her eyes well up. He gives her shoulder a little squeeze and says, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll tell them.’ He looks at the two police officers and takes a breath. ‘Lavender wants to say especially the lies Morvoren told her about me and my old school. She said I’d touched young girls inappropriately. This was calculated to have the maximum effect on her granddaughter, because this is what happened to Lavender when she was ten. A teacher at her school did it.’
Price’s mouth drops open. ‘What a terrible thing for a grandmother to do.’
‘Indeed,’ Matt says.
Lavender wipes her tears away with the heels of her hands and Price pushes a box of tissues across the desk. ‘So, I hope you’ll understand why it took a while to come clean, DC Vincent,’ she says, plucking a tissue out.
Vincent looks much more sympathetic now. ‘I do. And I’m very sorry you had to go through such an experience as a child. I have a daughter of my own…What happened to the teacher?’
‘Prison. No idea if he’s out now, but he won’t be teaching.’
‘No. Thank goodness,’ DC Vincent says.
Matt says, ‘I won’t be pressing charges against Lavender, obviously. Can we just leave the matter there?’
Price shrugs. ‘If that’s what you want.’
‘And you’re convinced your grandmother was involved in the fire and Jessica Blake’s death, even though we only saw a man on CCTV – this Jamie Penhale, according to you?’ Vincent says.
Lavender nods. ‘Totally. Even if she wasn’t there, which I find hard to believe, she will have orchestrated it – given Jamie my bracelet to plant. All to pin everything on me because I dared to defy her. She’ll see Matt and I as the ultimate betrayal.’
‘She could well have been out the back garden waiting for Jamie,’ Matt says. ‘As you know, access is simple through a side lane and a rickety old gate. It’s easy for anyone to slip in undetected, start a fire and then get out again.’
‘But how could it be a set-up? We had no clue the bracelet was yours until you told us today,’ Vincent says.
Lavender has puzzled over this herself. ‘Perhaps she was going to tell you lot, but then discovered I was in the pub at the time and had loads of witnesses. I imagine she thought she was burning Matt alive in the cottage too. Must have been furious when she found he wasn’t there.’
Price and Vincent talk quietly to each other for a few moments and then Price says, ‘Thanks, both of you. The information you’ve given us has been extremely valuable. We have enough now to question both Mrs Penhallow and Mr Penhale. We’ll let you know when there’s more news.’
* * *
Outside the station, Lavender takes a deep breath of air. It’s not as fresh as in the countryside, but it lightens her heart. The weight of their story is shed and, thank God, it looks like she and Matt are being taken seriously. Matt drops a kiss on her lips and leads her across the road to the car park in the court nearby. ‘I don’t know about you, Miss Nancarrow, but I could murder a pint. It’s been a hell of a day.’
‘I could murder one too. And let’s hope that we’ll soon see the back of hellish days.’ As she gets behind the wheel, she makes a wish that hope is on their side.
Chapter 30
Matt loads the washing machine and Lavender shows him how to operate it. Yesterday, after the interview, the police gave him some clothes of his that had been retrieved from the cottage, and now he needs to wash them to get rid of the stench of smoke. Lavender’s debating about whether it’s worth getting the clothes line out of the shed because the weather, unseasonably warm for the first day of November, shows signs of turning. Matt joins her at the kitchen door and looks out over the rolling Cornish countryside. Not far away, a huddle of grumpy clouds are arranging themselves across the blue sky, and in the distance, more dark rain-bearers are making their approach.
‘Go and look out the front, over the sea, would you, Matt? The wind normally comes from that direction and if it’s clear, I’m putting the clothes on the line. I know it’s past noon, but if it stays fine, it should give them a good blow before the damp returns.’
Matt walks through the kitchen into the living room, a warm feeling in his chest. It’s been a long time since he enjoyed simple pleasures like just being at home with someone he cares deeply for, talking about normal domestic tasks instead of murder and mayhem. He has a sense of being grounded… settled. Just as he’s about to open the front door, his phone rings on the seat of the armchair. It’s DI Karen Price.
‘Afternoon, Matt. Just to update you about Morvoren Penhallow and Jamie Penhale.’
Matt sighs inwardly. More murder and mayhem. ‘Okay, thanks. What’s happened?’
‘Not an awful lot with Morvoren. We called to see her today but there was nobody in. A neighbour said she’d been taken to hospital in the early hours. The hospital told us she’s got suspected pneumonia, but they’re doing more tests. They couldn’t say more than that at present.’
Great. Matt’s not sure whether Lavender will be upset about that, given the way things are between her and Morvoren at the moment. Still, a seventy-nine-year-old woman with pneumonia… She might never come out. ‘Hmm. You obviously can’t question her then… not until she’s better.’
‘’Fraid not. And Mr Penhale agreed to an interview. He was charm itself – wanted to help, but couldn’t because he had an alibi. At the time of the fire, he was in the bakery with his father, Bob. They were repairing a mixing machine until late that night. They needed it fixed for the following morning’s bread dough. Bob, of course, supports this claim. When asked about the night you were drugged and stripped, Bob also supports his claim that he was playing cards with Morvoren, Jamie, and Jamie’s grandma at the grandma’s house. Jamie was horrified by Lavender’s accusations and bewildered as to why she’d make something like that up, both about that night, and saying she recognised him on the night of the fire on the recording.’
The sinking feeling which had begun in Matt’s gut when Price talked about the mixing machine grew heavier with every syllable uttered, until she’d finished speaking. Damn it. The lying bastards. When are we they going to get a break in all this? They’d have to wait until Morvoren pulled through – if she did. And then she’d have some airtight alibi, no doubt. Then a thought occurs to him. ‘What about Jamie’s grandma, Annie? Did she corroborate his story?’
‘She wasn’t at home and a neighbour said she’d gone away for a bit of a break. She couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us where.’
‘Bollocks! This is a fucking nightmare.’ Matt begins to pace the room as Lavender comes through, drying her hands on a tea towel. She mouths, What’s wrong? He mouths back police and shakes his head.
‘Don’t despair, Matt. I know it sounds bleak, but something could turn up. We’ll wait for Annie to come back and Morvoren to get better. The truth has a habit of getting out.’
Price’s words are positive, but Matt can detect defeat behind them. She’s just trying to give him a bi
t of hope, but right now, he can see Morvoren and Jamie walking away scot-free. They have no evidence on them after all. ‘Right. Well, I hope so. Thanks for keeping me up to date. I’ll let Lavender know.’
Matt ends the call and glances at Lavender. She says, ‘You’ll let me know what?’
He tells her and afterwards, she slumps down onto the sofa, head in hands.
He sits next to her, puts his arm round her. ‘Come on. We’ll get the truth eventually. Price says it has a habit of getting out.’
‘You believe that as much as I do,’ she says with a sigh.
‘Morvoren might slip up… You said she was no good at lying to people’s faces in a serious situation.’
‘Yeah. But I might rethink that one. She lied to me pretty often about serious things.’
‘But lying to the police is different, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’
Matt thinks she looks completely beaten. Her ready smile is gone and the light in her eyes is dulled with worry. ‘Are you concerned about Morvoren being in hospital?’
‘No. If she dies, serves her right. She’s killed Jessica and tried to kill you.’
Matt has no answer to that, except he worries she’ll regret it in years to come. They were so close all through Lavender’s life; it’s such a shame for it to all go sour now. But he can totally identify with Lavender’s sentiments. ‘Funny your dad didn’t tell you she was in hospital, isn’t it?’
Lavender furrows her brows at this. ‘Yes, it is. I phoned him when I saw her last to say I wanted no more to do with her ever… told him about her awful lies too. He was sympathetic, but it’s his mother in the end. He must be worried about her.’
She gets up and searches for her phone. Matt helps her, but then she finds it down the back of the sofa and out of battery. When she plugs it in the kitchen there’s three missed calls and four messages all from her dad. She says, ‘I’m going to call him. Can I borrow yours while this is charging? I feel like getting some air.’
She takes Matt’s mobile outside and sits on the wall overlooking the sea. Matt watches her chatting through the window. Her expression is grave and he wishes everything could be different. Once she’s ended the call he goes outside. ‘How are things?’
‘Would you believe Morvoren had a terrible coughing fit when Dad went to visit her yesterday? He said he’d heard nothing like it.’ Lavender gives him a wry look. ‘I wonder where she got it?’
‘You think it’s smoke damage? But the police said suspected pneumonia.’
‘I absolutely think it’s from the smoke… but she also might have something more serious too. Dad said “suspected” pneumonia can cover a multitude of conditions. It might not be pneumonia at all. One of the doctors said it might be a severe chest infection, but until they’ve got test results back, they won’t know. She’s had a few chest X-rays and scans too, apparently.’
‘Who called the ambulance?’
‘Morvoren called Dad at 2am, coughing like a sixty-a-dayer and he went round there. Saw the state she was in and dialled 999.’
‘Do you want to go and see her?’
Lavender snorts. ‘I’d rather poke my eyes out with one of those clothes pegs.’ She nods to the peg bag on top of the tea towel by the kitchen door. ‘Talking of which, I’m going to put the washing line out. If it rains, it rains. I’m past caring.’
* * *
An hour later, Lavender decides to go to the supermarket and Matt remembers he must phone his gran about the recent events. He promised he’d keep her abreast of anything that happened when he visited her in London a few weeks ago. He grabs his mobile and settles himself on the window seat, looks out over the scrap of lawn to the lane and sea beyond. The weather has turned with the wind. It’s not raining yet, but the waves have whipped themselves into a frenzy and seagulls are shooting past the window as if they’ve been fired from a cannon. Despite everything, he adores this place. Whatever happens, he knows he will make this village his home, come hell or high water. The luck he’s having lately, he’ll probably see both if he’s not careful. Right, phone Gran…
‘My poor boy. I’m so sorry you’ve had to suffer so much,’ Gran says, a tremor in her voice. She’s listened to the whole story, asked a few pertinent questions, tried to hold it together, but Matt worries she’s on the edge now.
He can hear a rustling sound and then her blowing her nose. ‘Don’t cry, Gran. It will all work out eventually. The officer in charge said the truth always comes out in the end.’ She’d actually said it had a habit of coming out, but his gran needs comforting words.
‘Not always…’ Gran sniffs. ‘The old witch looks to have got away with it, now she’s sick in hospital. She’s been bloody sick for years. In her head!’
‘Calm yourself, Gran. She’ll get her comeuppance. Jamie too.’ He’s not sure he believes it – but what else can he say?
‘People like them never get their comeuppance. They have to be made to pay. And bloody Annie – where the hell is she? Mind you, she’ll be no use. Always was thick as thieves with Morvoren.’
‘No point in getting beside yourself. I wish I’d not told you now.’
‘You should have told me the day it happened. I’d have come down there and seen Penhallow. Can’t bring myself to say her first name. God, I wish I’d never said you should go back to the village. It’s brought you nothing but sadness and trouble.’
‘Hey, you always said I have a Cornish legacy. You and granddad inspired it, encouraged my spirit and strong will. A bit of magic from you too, though Lavender’s the potion-maker. One day, it will all work out as you’d meant it. We Trevelyars don’t do defeat, remember?’
Gran sighs, and when she speaks again her voice is softer, calmer. ‘I remember, my boy. And this Lavender… are you and she serious, like? Can you trust her, given who she is and what she did?’
‘I think it’s serious… Well it is on my part. We’ve not discussed it in detail, because of the shit that’s been happening. And can I trust her? If you’d have asked a few weeks ago I would have said no. But when she explained why she’d done it – the way her grandmother used her, manipulated her – I totally understood.’
‘Hmm. That woman is pure evil. My heart goes out to your Lavender. Poor maid’s had a tough time… What with the bloody teacher when she was a kid and everything that must have been done to her over the years… then her gran turning on her. But I’m glad you two have managed to salvage some happiness out of the misery.’
‘Thanks. I’m sure you two would get on like a house on fi…’ Matt pauses when he realises what he nearly said. ‘Anyway, I’d better ring Mum now, tell her too. She’ll go bananas and demand I come home, I expect.’
‘It might not be a bad idea. Just for a while. It’ll give you some thinking time.’
‘No. I’m not running away with my tail between my legs. Morvoren would love that… and besides, this is home now. I don’t belong in London.’
Gran snorts. ‘Me neither! That’s something else I’ll never forgive the old cow for – driving us out. Your granddad always says she didn’t, and he’d have taken the job anyway. I’m not so sure to be honest. Still, no use pondering on what might have been. It’s what we do now that matters. Once you’re settled and you’re sure you’ll stay in Cornwall one hundred per cent, we’ll move back. Move home. I expect your parents will do the same once they’ve retired and we can have a good few years all together in God’s own county.’ She gives a little chuckle. ‘Might even be lucky enough to see the descendants of the feud united in matrimony – grandkids too!’
Matt bursts out laughing. ‘I think you might be a bit ahead of yourself there! Give us a chance.’
Gran chuckles again. ‘I know what I’m talking about. Something in my gut’s telling me I’m right, and I’m a white witch, remember? Or so some say. And a damn sight better one than Morvoren. Lavender, on the other hand – hmm, she might give me a run for my money. The force is strong in that one, you
ng Skywalker.’
Matt laughs again. ‘You never fail to cheer me up, Gran. Even at one of the worst times in my life.’
‘Oh, my boy. You have had a few of those in a short time, haven’t you? Poor Beth will be happy for you, though. She’d give you her blessing, I know. She was one of the best.’
Matt’s throat closes over when he thinks of his wife and how she suffered. Eventually he manages, ‘Thanks, Gran. She was. I miss her every day.’
‘Of course you do. Things will get brighter through, they always do. This time next year it will all be behind you. I’ll let you go, but remember, any time, day–’
‘Or night, you’re there for me.’
‘That’s right. Always have been, always will be.’
Matt’s goodbye is almost drowned out by the sound of rain drumming on the roof. Marvellous. He runs out the back and grapples with the clothes on the line. By the time he’s back in the kitchen, he’s soaked through and mud-splashed. More washing. Things can only get better. Can’t they?
Chapter 31
Lavender is hanging up Matt’s ironed shirts in a space she’s cleared at one side of her wardrobe. He was surprised when she ironed them, saying he could do it himself. But she wanted to. She’s never really looked after someone else before, and she likes it. In the short time he’s been staying, a natural division of labour has happened. It’s not based on gender, just on the domestic tasks they each prefer. Lavender’s always liked ironing – it feels therapeutic. Perhaps it’s because she can see immediate progress: a crumpled bit of material turns into a crisp, smart shirt or dress. Matt prefers cooking and he’s much better at it than she is. They have a bit of a tussle over vacuuming because neither is a fan, but slowly a routine is forming that’s agreeable to both.
Shaking the duvet and plumping the pillows, she wishes life could be ironed out as easily as a shirt or dress. There’s been no news from hospital yet and Annie is still AWOL. Dad said he’d phone as soon as he knew more about Morvoren, but it’s been two days now. If he doesn’t ring later today, she’ll ring him. Matt’s sorting out another car in Truro. The car insurance covered the fire, but there’s always more red tape than anyone imagines in these situations. He’ll be back for lunch in a hire car, and soon he’ll look into getting a new car.
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