by Kim M Watt
She unlocked the door and smiled at the younger woman. “Good morning, Miriam. You just caught me.”
“Oh, I’m so glad I’m in time.” Miriam kicked her flip-flops off and padded into the room. “I had this whole disguise figured out, but then I couldn’t find my sunglasses, so I gave it up as a bad job.”
“I see.” Alice tried to imagine what would count as a disguise for Miriam. Probably clothes more like the ones she wore herself.
“Was that a bad choice? I just thought, if we’re going to the council, everyone knows who you are, so there’s no point my dressing up. Plus, I feel strange in trousers and cardigans.” She smoothed the front of her top, which had a dragon embroidered on it.
Alice picked up her bag from the table. “I think you’re quite right. I take it you’re coming with me?”
“Of course! I wasn’t joking about all that stuff yesterday. I’m not letting you wander around unprotected.”
Alice took her cane from where it leaned next to the chair and wondered what exactly Miriam thought she was going to do. To be fair, the younger woman had been rather handy with a cricket bat when there were goblins to deal with, but she had a feeling that the enemy might be a little more subtle this time. Aloud, she just said, “Thank you, Miriam. It’ll be good to have the company.”
The drive to Skipton never failed to please Alice. The greens were always just slightly different, the shadows always drew new shapes across the fields, and even though it was summer the roads were mostly empty. She drove more slowly than usual, in deference to the fact that Miriam could be a bit of a nervous passenger, and only overtook a handful of pottering tourist cars. Miriam still looked a little pale by the time they joined the A65 and turned toward Skipton.
“Are you alright, dear?” Alice asked.
Miriam nodded vigorously, and slowly released her grip on the door handle. “I must have eaten my breakfast too quickly.”
Alice was of the opinion that Miriam looked as if she might lose said breakfast, despite what she considered to be very sedate driving, but kept that to herself. “What will you do while I’m in the meeting?”
“I’ll wait,” Miriam said, in the tone of someone who doesn’t intend to be argued with.
“You’re very welcome to, of course, but I may be some time. You could always take the car and do a spot of shopping or have a cup of tea somewhere. I can call you when I finish.”
“I suppose I could do with some more potting mix,” Miriam said. “But I really shouldn’t leave you alone.”
“I’ll be perfectly safe in there,” Alice said, although she wasn’t entirely sure if that was true or not. She didn’t think anyone would come after her wielding the office stapler, but there were quieter forms of attack.
At the car park not far from the town hall, she left Miriam parked in the shade of the trees with the radio on and her knitting – a rather luminous purple and blue concoction that was, apparently, going to be a dragon beanie – out, and headed inside and up to the meeting room. She was early, and when she pushed the door open Lily and Len were talking in low voices at the far end of the room. Lily was propped against the table, Len leaning back in his chair, and the silence that fell as Alice walked in was one of unfinished business.
“Good morning,” she said as they stared at her. “I was so sorry to hear about Charles. I do hope you’re both alright.”
Len nodded. “Yeah. Shame that.” He sounded as if he was talking about graffiti on a bus stop, or a flowerbed dug up by a dog.
“It was awful,” Lily said. “The poor, poor man!”
“Have the police said what happened?” Alice asked, sitting down and organising her notebook. She had meant to ask DI Adams last night, but had deemed it advisable to hang up before the inspector tried to order her off the council. The conversation had been going that way.
“Choked,” Len said. “Probably scoffing his cakes. Some people just ask for what they get.”
“Oh?” Alice said. “Asked for it how?”
Len met her gaze with an unpleasant little smile on the corners of his lips. “Gluttony. It’s a sin, isn’t it?”
“So was sloth, last time I checked.” She set her bag down on the table. “And what sin would you like to ascribe to our poor Thomas?”
Lily clapped her hands. “He’s just being rude, aren’t you, Len?”
“That’s me. Rude all over.”
Lily gave Len a playful little swat on the shoulder. “You are that. And, I mean, there but for the grace of God and all that, right?”
“We’re not all shovelling pastries in our face,” Len said, then leaned back and closed his eyes.
Lily rolled her eyes rather dramatically and hurried over to Alice, putting her hand on the older woman’s arm. “And you? Are you alright?”
“I only met him the once,” Alice said, trying to resist the urge to shake Lily off. Why did people have to get so touchy over things?
“Still, to have just seen him on Monday, and then for this to happen. It’s awful. Just awful.”
“Not for everyone, evidently.” Alice didn’t bother lowering her voice, and Len opened his eyes to grin at her.
“I don’t do crocodile tears. He got what was coming to him.”
“Is cake such a crime in your life?”
“He made things hard on himself. Made bad choices. And yeah, there’s such a thing as too much cake.”
“You poor, misguided man,” Alice said, but she was thinking, he made things hard on himself. You can make it very hard for yourself. That was what he’d said on the first day, when he’d accused her of asking too many questions. She wondered what questions Charles had been asking.
“That’s enough,” Lily said, her voice serious for once. “It’s not a joking matter, Len.” She turned back to Alice. “Thank you for coming to this meeting. I know it was short notice.”
“Of course. And how are you, Lily? Are you coping?”
“Well, yes.” Lily tipped her head to the ceiling and sniffed, tears glittering in the corners of her eyes. “One must carry on, mustn’t one?”
“One must.” Alice looked back at her notebook and tapped the pen off it gently. “Most odd, two deaths like that, just one after the other.”
“I know. I do hope it isn’t a case of things happening in threes.”
Alice looked at Lily sharply, but the younger woman had her hands clasped gently in her lap and was looking at Alice with huge dark eyes, her mouth an uneven line of sorrow.
“Well,” Alice said. “That’s just superstition, isn’t it?”
“I do hope so,” Lily said. “One wouldn’t want this sort of thing to continue.”
The meeting wasn’t terribly long, which Alice was happy about. She didn’t like the idea of Miriam waiting out in the car like an abandoned dog. But things moved along swiftly – it was mostly a chance to discuss what flowers to send to Charles’ widow, and who would step into his place as needed.
“We’re operating on a much-reduced ship, here,” Rob said, his face even redder in the heat that had come sneaking back with the day’s sun. “It’s going to have to be all hands on deck.”
Alice glanced around the table. Len was snoring, whether genuinely asleep or not, and Ed and Lee had their heads together, peering at something under the table. Alice presumed their phones – she hadn’t seen the pair put them down yet. Only Lily was paying attention, her elbows on the table and her eyes wide.
“You can count on us,” she said, nodding with her chin in her hands. “Anything you need, Rob.”
“Well done, Lily,” Rob said, leaning back in his chair with his belly pushed against the table. “It’s good to have someone to rely on.” He threw a pointed glance along the table, and Len gave a particularly loud snore.
Alice folded her hands and said, “I take it that’s all for today, then?”
“Hmm? Oh, yes, yes. We’ll reconvene on the first of next month, as per usual, by which time everyone should be back. Summer, huh?”
“Indeed.” Alice packed away her notebook, and Lily waited next to her.
“Do you want to go for lunch, Alice?”
“I can’t today, I’m afraid. I have a friend waiting for me.”
“Oh.” Lily looked almost comically disappointed, her shoulders drooping and her chin dropping toward her rather impressive chest. “Okay.”
“I’m sorry,” Alice said. “Next time?”
Lily sighed. “Alright. That’s weeks away, though.”
“Well, I suppose it is.” Alice headed for the door with Lily trailing after her. “I’m sure you must know plenty of people to lunch with in Skipton, though.”
“Well, I know some, but people get really funny about outsiders, you know?”
“Ah. Well, I’m sure that’ll fade in time,” Alice said, trying to sound reassuring. She didn’t really want to put Lily and Miriam at a table together. At best, Miriam would get all awkward when she heard Lily had owned clothing stores, and would start talking about the dangerous beauty standards encouraged by the fashion industry. Or would start recommending homemade skincare. At worst – well, at worst she’d blurt out something accusatory, and the whole reason Alice was there would be revealed. No, it was best to keep Miriam out of anything even remotely resembling a delicate situation.
Lily stopped at the front desk and said, “Alice, have you checked for mail?”
“Mail?”
“Yes, memos and minutes get printed and left in your pigeonhole, as well as anything addressed to you by constituents.”
Constituents. Alice wasn’t sure she liked the idea of having constituents. She very much hoped she’d be able to stand down to make way for an actual candidate before it got to the stage of having constituents.
“You do have a couple of things,” the woman at the desk said, handing Lily a few notes before ducking through the office door behind her. She returned with a handful of white envelopes, and gave them to Alice. “There you go.”
“Thank you.” Alice shuffled through them - none of them were postmarked. Two had Alice Martin handwritten on the front, a couple just said, Representative for Toot Hansell, and the other had her name typed out. She frowned at that one. The envelope was of a different sort, the paper heavier and coarser under her fingertips, and something about the feel of it made her want to drop it, as if it were poisonous or filthy. She suppressed a shiver and flipped it over, but there was nothing written on the back. Just that Alice Martin on the front, in some heavy typeface.
“What is it?” Lily asked, peering at the envelope. “I didn’t get one of those!”
“I do need to get going,” Alice said, tucking the envelopes into her bag and starting for the door. “I’ll have to take a look later.”
“Oh. Right.” Lily hurried to keep up with her, and as they stepped through the doors the younger woman hesitated at the top of the stairs, as if hoping Alice might relent. Alice said nothing, although she knew if Miriam had been there she would have insisted Lily come to lunch with them, awkward or not. She just continued down the stairs, and after a moment Lily called, “See you next month,” somewhat plaintively.
“See you then, Lily,” Alice said, giving her a quick little wave and not pausing. She hurried around the corner and into the car park, and was halfway to where she’d left the car when she stopped. The car was gone. Miriam must have taken it to get potting mix after all. She checked her watch. Well, they had been rather quick in the end. She’d just call Miriam and see where she was.
As she reached into her bag for her phone, her fingers touched the envelopes. She hesitated, and drew the odd one out, the one that made her skin crawl. She may as well see what it said.
She stood there in the strengthening sun and read the two sheets inside, her hands still and her eyes dry, but when she folded them up again she had to swallow hard.
“Oh dear,” she said, and heard the shake in her own voice.
Miriam’s phone rang, rang, rang. Then there was a click, and Miriam said brightly, “Hello!”
“Miriam!” Alice said, her hand so tight on the phone she could feel pain blooming across the knuckles. “Miriam—”
“You’ve reached Miriam Ellis,” Miriam’s voice continued, still sounding as if she’d drunk three cups of coffee with a generous serving of sugar before recording the message. “I’m sorry I missed you! Please leave a message, and I’ll call as soon as I can. Happy travels!”
The phone beeped, and Alice said quietly, “Miriam, please call me immediately. Immediately.” She hung up and looked around the car park, as if Miriam might have just moved the car to a more shaded spot and left her phone on silent. It wasn’t impossible. But nowhere she looked was the familiar silver roof of the little SUV, and after a moment Alice turned and walked back to the building. The receptionist smiled at her.
“Did you forget something?”
“Not quite.” Alice showed her the heavy paper envelope, having to resist the urge to pinch it between her fingertips like a rag she’d found in the gutter. “When did this come in?”
“Um.” The woman frowned at it. “This morning while you were in the meeting, I think?”
“Did you see who dropped it off?”
“No, I popped to the loo and it was on my desk when I got back. But a lot of locals just drop things by. Quicker than posting, you know?”
“Right. Thank you.” Alice turned back to the doors, and almost bumped into Len.
“Hello, Alice. Still here?”
“So it would seem.”
“Are you alright?” He examined her. “You look a bit peaky.”
She gave him a cold look, and raised the envelope. “Do you recognise this?”
He looked at it for a moment too long, then said, “No. Can’t say I do.”
“Are you sure?”
He met her eyes. “It’s an envelope. What’s to recognise?”
“This one has some unexpected contents.”
“Does it, now?” He leaned past her to take his mail from the receptionist, who wasn’t making any pretence not to listen to them. “What sort of contents?”
“I imagine you know.”
“I said I didn’t recognise it.”
“Do you think I don’t know when a man’s lying to me? I’ve seen it plenty of times.” Alice kept her voice steady, but it took an effort.
Len headed for the door, shuffling through his mail. “I have no intention of listening to this.”
Alice followed him, not speaking again until they were on the steps outside. “I think everyone on the council’s had a letter like this.”
He looked at her finally. “Yes. I think probably. The smart ones among us only got one letter. The ones that got more …? Well. You don’t want to be getting more, Alice.” He smiled at her, then marched down the steps and across the road, not looking back.
Alice watched him go, then took out her phone again and pulled up DI Adams’ number. Certain things she could handle alone. This, she couldn’t.
16
Miriam
Miriam’s phone was ringing in her bag, but she didn’t reach to answer it. She didn’t so much as look at the phone when she was driving her own car, let alone someone else’s. And Betsy, her little old (but perfectly maintained) VW Beetle, was much more sedate than Alice’s SUV. Every time she put her foot on the accelerator the car lunged forward like a dog after a rabbit, and she’d stalled in fright three times already. She certainly wasn’t about to answer any phone calls.
She indicated around the mini roundabout and turned onto the road that ran down to the skinny bridge over the river. It was one-way over the bridge, the traffic coming toward her, but she was going to turn into the car park on the right before she reached it and leave the car there. Someone would have taken her spot near the town hall by now, and it being market day she probably wouldn’t find another parking space in the centre of town. She’d just park up here and call Alice to let her know. It wasn’t more than a five-minute walk, anyway.
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She put the indicator on and coasted down toward the bridge, the hill short but steep, feeling a little better now she was almost there. Driving Alice’s car always made her terribly nervous. Well, the one time before this had, and this one was as well, so she figured that was a pattern.
A car came over the bridge and started up the hill, and Miriam tapped the brakes to slow down so she could turn after it passed.
The SUV kept going.
She pressed the brake pedal down with a little more authority.
She was gathering speed, heading for the bridge and the next car crossing it. She stomped the brake down as hard as she could.
The SUV didn’t even hesitate. It kept rolling, and now she was past the car park entrance with no chance of turning, into the start of the one-way street, and the car approaching her braked hard, a woman in the front waving wildly, shouting something Miriam couldn’t hear over the scream of blood in her ears. There was another car behind the woman, and another behind that, and the woman was trying to back up but she couldn’t. There was a second one-way road that fed into the one-way section, not far before the bridge, and Miriam jerked the wheel over, hard, still pumping the brakes uselessly. She was going too fast, the SUV’s momentum piling up, and the wheels skidded and bit, giving the car a horrible little tottery motion that set her heart scrabbling for escape in her throat.
Another car loomed up, coming out of the road that had been her one escape, turning toward her, not checking in her direction because of course no one would be coming down this way, and there was a small boy in the front seat and she could even see him saying Dad, look, and she pulled down on the wheel even harder. She flailed for the handbrake, realised there wasn’t one, and stabbed the electronic handbrake lever as the man in the car shot into reverse.
Nothing happened. She was still trundling down the hill, but now the other car was fishtailing away from her up the side road, and she grabbed the gear stick, hoping this was even possible in an automatic and wishing fervently for Betsy. She slammed the car straight into reverse and hung on.