Swift drank some mead. A flash of sun danced through the window on Sofia’s freckles. ‘Elinor and Gwyn were like those women who used to attend to the dead — making him ready and placing familiar things around him.’
Sofia wasn’t impressed. ‘So kind of them. As you know, Elinor can’t keep things in. She believed that her husband had killed Afan because he always felt inferior to him, and it sent her into a panic. She’d no idea then that Guy had snooped on their conversations about Gwyn and Caris. Guy had seen the body as he cycled past the cairn and was overjoyed. He’d been wondering what to do about the growing problem of Afan, Gwyn and Caris. He’d been somewhat reassured when he’d heard that Gwyn didn’t want anyone knowing about her assault at school, but he was vulnerable now that Afan wanted to expose his part in it. Because he’s a nasty, malicious man he decided to collect the phone and weapon and throw them in the sea. Do the killer a big favour by way of thanks. His fist-pumping was sheer delight that someone had disposed of a man he hated, and who posed a threat to his comfy life.’
‘Doesn’t say much for the marriage, though, that Elinor immediately thought her husband was a murderer.’
‘It certainly unravelled her. She needed to keep Guy safe at all costs, so that the adoption could proceed. She worried that once the police started to ask questions, Gwyn’s school experience might come out and their plans would collapse. She walked around for some time, worrying at it. She knew that Gwyn didn’t want the incident to become public knowledge. If she told Gwyn she’d killed Afan because he’d discovered what had happened at the school, that would ensure Gwyn kept quiet. Bind her in, make her part of the awful secret. She didn’t weigh up what Caris might do or say in the aftermath. She was too muddled and confused, with her world crumbling. As soon as she found Caris’s body, she must have suspected that Guy had killed her. She’s on suicide watch at present. The loss of the dog seems to be affecting her as much as anything. She’s got his ashes, apparently. Sleeps with them under her pillow.’
There was a crash. Spencer had dropped a plate of sandwiches on the floor. Sofia shook her head. ‘He’s a pendafad, but he’s my pendafad. Well . . . I have to get back to the station. I can’t leave this complex case to the tender mercies of Spence. It’s been good to work with you.’
‘You too. Maybe we can meet when you’re in better health.’
‘Maybe we can.’ She put her good hand out and smiled. ‘Take care, Lone Ranger. It’s been interesting.’
He saw her out to her cab. The fleeting sun struck her hair and gleamed on dark gold strands as she climbed in carefully. Her coat snagged in the door and she had to yank it in. Her eyebrows danced. He waved as the cab departed. He was caught by a pang, a sensation of loss.
The day grew gloomy as the afternoon wore on. A sharp breeze whipped the trees. Swift walked Amira to the Bridge Arms. She was wearing a thin wool coat over a linen dress and shivered.
‘This must be a shock after the warmth of Lyon,’ Swift said.
‘Certainly is. But sadness chills you too, doesn’t it?’
‘It does.’
‘I haven’t had a drink yet,’ she said at the pub door. ‘Will you have one with me before you go, to toast Afan?’
The pub was quiet, the fire glowing warmly. They sat beside it with their glasses of Malbec. Swift could see how Amira had matured in the years since he’d last seen her. She was more composed, but she still had the open, frank expression that he remembered.
‘This is good wine. I needed it. Afan loved absinthe but I’ve never developed a taste for it,’ she said.
‘I haven’t drunk it in years. Probably not since I last sat in a bar with Afan.’
They sat quietly for a while. ‘I’ve been going over everything,’ she said, regarding him with her almost black, cat-shaped eyes. ‘Afan was beset by other people’s problems. They all came to him for help: Morgan and Caris, Bruno, Kat, Elinor with her marital woes and then Caris again, with her story about Guy and Gwyn. It demonstrates what a good, kind man he was but my goodness! He was just trying to live a simple life, but they wouldn’t let him.’
Swift agreed. ‘He was too kind, too willing to listen. If he could have concentrated on his bees and mead, he’d still be with us. But unless you’re a hermit, hiding out in the chapel, there’s no such thing as a simple life. Wherever there are groups of people, there are problems. Jealousy, cruelty, rancour, betrayal — Tir Melys had its fair share.’
‘More than its fair share, I’d say. Oh, Ty, you came here expecting to have a pleasant break with an old friend and see what you stepped into!’
‘Hmm.’ Typical of you, Ruth had said. Nothing can ever be straightforward. Have you ever thought that trouble seems to follow you around? Not that he expected any sympathy from that quarter these days. Although, to be fair to her, she had accepted his wish to discuss the wedding with Branna.
‘How did Guy get Caris alone so that he could stab her?’ she asked.
‘I’ve heard the outline. He decided that she posed too much of a risk after he heard her saying that she couldn’t keep quiet about Gwyn.’ He paused. ‘Although Caris carried a lot of angst and guilt about that, I’m not sure that she would have gone public. She had too much to lose, just as Gwyn had, and her overriding instinct was to protect Morgan and her mother.’
‘So she died needlessly.’
‘Quite possibly. Guy phoned Caris while she was on the train back from Cardiff, sounding guilty and remorseful. He told her that he needed to make amends and was trying to work out the best way forward. He said he was desperate not to do anything to impede the adoption, because it meant everything to Elinor. He begged Caris to meet him and talk it over. She agreed. He picked her up on the edge of town and said he’d like to speak to her in the chapel, where it would be private and quiet. He promised to have her home in time to cook lunch. He must have put on a good show of appearing genuine and repentant. In the chapel, he stood near the hermit’s chamber and then pushed Caris in and stabbed her.’
Pain crossed Amira’s face. She took a drink of wine. ‘How ironic, that Elinor found her body.’
‘That was a traumatic time for Elinor. Bryn had just announced that the Merchants were planning to sell Tir Melys. Despite all her efforts and sacrifices, her covering up for Guy, she saw the chances of adopting a child slipping away. Then, after a row with Guy, she found Caris. Even then, she tried to protect him and make Gwyn a suspect.’
‘Will Peter and Guy get long sentences?’ Amira asked.
‘Hard to predict. The minimum for murder is fifteen years. Elinor’s mental health will be taken into account. She told me that I must find her “unhinged”. She was driven to the edge and I’m not sure she’ll come back from there.’
‘And Gwyn Bowen?’
‘She’s on bail. Who can tell how things will go for her? Guy failed her when he had a duty of care so that will be considered. But in the end, she was a criminal.’
‘Such a sad young woman.’
‘I’m sad for her, but sadder for the victims. I’m sorry for the loss of Caris but it’s Afan I grieve for.’ It hardly seemed to matter now, but he’d wondered which of the many problems Afan had wanted to talk to him about. Given the timing, he’d decided that it must have been the situation with Kat. That was personal and would have made his friend uneasy. Afan would have been unable to see any end to the constant pressure. He told Amira.
She bit her lip. ‘What would you have said to Afan about that?’
‘The only thing I could have said — stop paying her, stop the manipulation. Forgive yourself for what happened at Ogmore.’
‘You were a good friend.’
Not in the end. ‘I’d have tried to be when I was here, if I’d had the chance.’
Amira raised her glass. ‘Here’s to Afan. Adieu.’
‘Adieu.’ Swift clinked his glass to hers.
The fire crackled. Raindrops blew against the window beside them. Swift watched the sprays of water and drank de
eply. Fountain rain.
THE END
ALSO BY GRETTA MULROONEY
THE TYRONE SWIFT SERIES
Book 1: THE LADY VANISHED
Book 2: BLOOD SECRETS
Book 3: TWO LOVERS, SIX DEATHS
Book 4: WATCHING YOU
Book 5: LOW LAKE
Book 6: YOUR LAST LIE
Book 7: HER LOST SISTER
Book 8: MURDER IN PEMBROKESHIRE
DETECTIVE SIV DRUMMOND SERIES
Book 1: THESE LITTLE LIES
Book 2: NEVER CAME HOME
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GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH USAGE FOR US READERS
A & E: accident and emergency department in a hospital
Aggro: violent behaviour, aggression
Air raid: an attack in which bombs are dropped from aircraft on ground targets
Allotment: a plot of land rented by an individual for growing fruit, vegetable or flowers
Anorak: nerd (it also means a waterproof jacket)
Artex: textured plaster finish for walls and ceilings
A level: exams taken between 16 and 18
Auld Reekie: Edinburgh
Au pair: live-in childcare helper. Often a young woman.
Barm: bread roll
Barney: argument
Beaker: glass or cup for holding liquids
Beemer: BMW car or motorcycle
Benefits: social security
Bent: corrupt
Bin: wastebasket (noun), or throw in rubbish (verb)
Biscuit: cookie
Blackpool Lights: gaudy illuminations in a seaside town
Bloke: guy
Blow: cocaine
Blower: telephone
Blues and twos: emergency vehicles
Bob: money
Bobby: policeman
Broadsheet: quality newspaper (New York Times would be a US example)
Brown bread: rhyming slang for dead
Bun: small cake
Bunk: escape, i.e. ‘do a bunk’
Burger bar: hamburger fast-food restaurant
Buy-to-let: buying a house/apartment to rent it out for profit
Charity shop: thrift store
Carrier bag: plastic bag from supermarket
Care home: an institution where old people are cared for
Car park: parking lot
CBeebies: kids TV
Chat-up: flirt, trying to pick up someone with witty banter or compliments
Chemist: pharmacy
Chinwag: conversation
Chippie: fast-food place selling chips and other fried food
Chips: French fries but thicker
CID: Criminal Investigation Department
Civvy Street: civilian life (as opposed to army)
Clock: punch
Cock-up: mess up, make a mistake
Cockney: a native of East London
Common: an area of park land or lower class
Comprehensive school (Comp.): high school
Cop hold of: grab
Copper: police officer
Coverall: coveralls, or boiler suit
CPS: Crown Prosecution Service, decide whether police cases go forward
Childminder: someone who looks after children for money
Council: local government
Dan Dare: hero from Eagle comic
DC: detective constable
Deck: one of the landings on a floor of a tower block
Deck: hit (verb)
Desperate Dan:
very strong comic book character
DI: detective inspector
Digestive biscuit: plain cookie
Digs: student lodgings
Do a runner: disappear
Do one: go away
Doc Martens: heavy boots with an air-cushioned sole
Donkey’s years: long time
Drum: house
DS: detective sergeant
ED: emergency department of a hospital
Eagle: boys’ comic
Early dart: to leave work early
Eggy soldiers: strips of toast with a boiled egg
Enforcer: police battering ram
Estate: public/social housing estate (similar to housing projects)
Estate agent: realtor (US)
Falklands War: war between Britain and Argentina in 1982
Fag: cigarette
Father Christmas: Santa Claus
Filth: police (insulting)
Forces: army, navy and air force
FMO: force medical officer
Fried slice: fried bread
Fuzz: police
Garda: Irish police
Gendarmerie: French national police force
Geordie: from Newcastle
Garden centre: a business where plants and gardening equipment are sold
Gob: mouth, can also mean phlegm or spit
GP: general practitioner, a doctor based in the community
Graft: hard work
Gran: grandmother
Hancock: Tony Hancock, English comedian popular in 1950s
Hard nut: tough person
HGV: heavy goods vehicle, truck
MURDER IN PEMBROKESHIRE an absolutely gripping crime mystery full of twists (Tyrone Swift Detective Book 8) Page 27