“I reckon Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson will be there till throwing-out time,’ Bob remarked with amusement as he drove them along Pennine View.
‘Not the most cheerful of subjects, was it?’
“I hope Liz isn’t paying too much attention. If Tony comes up with the perfect murder, she might just put it into practice.’ He gave her a sideways glance. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t funny. Not with poor old Jim locked up in a cell.’
‘Dreadful thought that, isn’t it?’
‘It is,’ he agreed, slowing the van to a stop by Jill’s drive.
‘Will you come in for a minute, Bob? A coffee or something?
I’d like to give you those plans.’
‘OK. Yes, thanks.’ He killed the engine. ‘A quick coffee would be good, although I really do have an early start in the morning.’
‘Oh? Busy?’ she asked, as she took her keys from her bag and let them into the cottage.
‘I’m having a couple of days in Dublin. A chap who used to work for me lives over there now and I’ve been promising to visit for a couple of years.’
‘Very nice.’
‘Had any winners lately?’ he asked, following her into the kitchen.
‘Nothing spectacular,’ she told him with a laugh, ‘although I did have a couple of quid on Son of Sailor and that raced well. Not a very good price, though.’
She put the kettle on while he looked through the drawings.
‘Nothing too difficult here,’ he said, folding them and putting them back in the envelope, ‘and it should make a difference to this place. It’s a nice cottage - lovely spot.’
‘People always tell me it’s too remote,’ Jill said, handing him a cup of coffee, ‘but I like it. It’s good for the cats, too.
I wouldn’t want to be too near a main road.’
There was no sign of her cats at the moment. It had rained earlier so it was good mousing weather.
‘If you don’t mind me asking,’ he said curiously, smiling, ‘how come the celebrated psychologist spends half her time in the bookies?’
She laughed at that. ‘Ah, it’s terrible for my image, isn’t it? All my father’s fault. As a kid, I hung around while he was choosing horses to back, and then I’d be as excited as can be waiting for the results to come through. My mother, of course, was horrified. Let’s take our coffee into the sitting room/ she suggested, changing the subject. ‘It’s warmer in there …’
She didn’t want to think about her mum right now. The surgeon had found a tumour, a benign tumour, thank God, and had removed it. Mum still wasn’t well, though. Jill was convinced she was keeping something from them.
Jill had only been in the office for an hour, and twice Cornwall had asked if she was OK.
‘You seem a bit tense and jumpy,’ he said.
‘Really?’ She gave him a smile. ‘No, just tired probably.
I sat up reading until late last night.’ In truth, she’d spent the night wondering about him. She was determined to get hold of his career details.
‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she added. “I need to go and see Max about something.’
She was surprised to find Max sitting at a clear desk, and then she saw the leaning towers of paperwork on the floor.
‘Filing?’ she asked, and he smiled.
“I wish I could file the lot in the bin. So what brings you here?’
‘I’d like a word with you sometime. Not here, though.’
He frowned. ‘What’s up?’
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to discuss it in the building.’
He was surprised, but he didn’t comment. “I can grab an early lunch. Say an hour?’
‘Thanks.’
‘Meet me in the car park in an hour then.’
Feeling better, and guessing she was getting everything out of proportion, she went back to her office.
‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ Cornwall asked again.
‘You’re not going down with something, are you? Several people have been off with this flu thing.’
‘I’m fine, thanks. Really.’ She knew she had to tell him something. ‘It’s personal. I’ve agreed to have lunch with Max and I’m not sure I’ve done the right thing. I don’t like mixing business and pleasure.’
‘Ah.’ That was all he needed to know. ‘You and Max used to have a thing going, didn’t you? Lived together, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, we did.’
‘It always ends in tears/ he said briskly. ‘Business and pleasure never mix well.’
‘Do you speak from experience?’ Jill asked.
‘Only other people’s.’
Max already had the engine running when Jill arrived in the car park, and she climbed in, grateful for the car’s warmth.
He drove them a mile or so away, parked the car and then turned in his seat to look at her. ‘So what’s the problem?’
There were so many problems, she didn’t know where to start. ‘God, how long have you got?’ she asked with a smile. ‘I’ve lost all confidence I ever had, haven’t I?’ she murmured. “I used to be good at offender profiling, but not any more.’
‘You’re still good,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘but yes, you’ve lost confidence. You know how you feel, but you’re too scared to say so because of what happened to Hill. There are dozens of blokes out there who fitted your profile, Jill, and we would have arrested any one of them who’d been with the murdered girl.’
“I know that.’
‘What’s really bugging you?’
‘Don Cornwall/ she said softly.
She told him how he’d come into the pub last night, and how he and Tony had talked of the perfect murder.
‘And what the devil was he doing in Kelton anyway?’ she asked. ‘He said he was just passing, but that was crap.
I don’t trust him, Max. I want to know something of his background.’
Max thought for a moment. “I don’t know much about him,’ he admitted. “I do know that he applied to come here about five, maybe six years ago.’
Her eyes widened at that.
‘Jill, he might be a lot of things, but he’s no killer. He’s bright, he’s doing well. He’ll be Chief Constable one of these days.’
‘He’s not popular,’ she pointed out.
“I know.’
‘Mind you, that might be just his way. He’s very anti-me because he thinks I go running to you with any information I might have. He still hasn’t forgiven me for going to see Janie Fisher with you. It’s a clash of wills, I suppose.
He thinks I’m holding out on him and I’m convinced he’s holding out on me.’
“I’ll see what I can dig out,’ Max promised.
‘Thanks.’
He gazed at her for several moments. ‘So are you all right back at your cottage?’ he asked at last.
‘Fine.’ The reply was automatic. ‘Well, it’s OK,’ she said carefully. ‘Last night, I was going to get a taxi home with Tony Hutchinson ‘
Max’s eyebrows shot up at that.
‘And his wife,’ she added. ‘Tony’s a show-off and a general pain, but he’s not a killer. And yes,’ she added with a rueful smile, “I am sure of that.’
‘Killer or not, Jill, don’t spend any time alone with him. OK?’
“I didn’t,’ she explained. ‘As it turned out, I cadged a lift with Bob Murphy’
‘Good. Keep away from Hutchinson. I mean it.’
Max fired the engine, but didn’t drive off. ‘Hey, try to relax/ he said. ‘Your place is as safe as anything now.’ He gestured to a building across the road. ‘Do you fancy a coffee?’
‘Please.’
He was right; she must try and relax. It wasn’t only Don Cornwall, though, and the delivery of those roses. What worried her more than that was that she’d lost the ability to do her job. OK, so she hadn’t wanted to return to the job, but she had been good at it. Now, a kid of five could make as much progress as she had. Before Hill was arrested, she’d felt as if she actually knew Valentine. She had truly believed that if they’d met in the street, she would have recognized him. Now, she couldn’t get into his mind at all …
On the way home that afternoon, Jill stopped at Ella’s bungalow.
As soon as Ella opened the door, Jill was treated to a broad smile, but there was no mistaking that Ella had been crying.
“I heard Tom had gone into hospital,’ Jill explained, ‘and I thought I’d call round to see if there was anything I could do.’
‘Bless you. Come in, Jill, come in.’
‘How is he?’ she asked. ‘And what exactly is wrong?’
Ella automatically headed for the kitchen, but Jill’s words stopped her in the doorway.
‘He’s sworn me to secrecy,’ Ella said with a sad smile.
‘He doesn’t want any fuss so -‘ She swallowed hard. ‘So if you hear he has terminal cancer, you didn’t hear it from me.’
‘Oh, Ella, no.’ Jill could have sat and wept with her.
She’d only met Tom once, but even if she hadn’t, she would have known just how much he meant to Ella. He was responsible for Ella’s happiness, for her acceptance of life’s knocks, for her sense of fun.
‘Ella,’ she said again. ‘I’m so sorry. So very, very sorry.’
After the scare with her mum, and Jill still wasn’t sure all was well there, she knew just how terrifying the c-word was.
‘Don’t you start,’ Ella warned, ‘or we’ll both be in tears.
Seriously,’ she added, “I haven’t told a soul except you.’
Jill felt honoured, and touched. It was funny how she’d hit it off with Ella.
‘And all I’ve been doing,’ Ella said, ‘is going through our old wedding photos. Do you want to look?’
Jill hadn’t planned on stopping, but she couldn’t refuse now. Her own plans for the evening were very trivial compared to poor Ella’s worries.
‘I’d love to.’
They went and sat in the sitting room where a couple of photograph albums lay on the table.
‘Everyone has their own problems,’ Ella said briskly as she opened one of the large albums, ‘so I shouldn’t complain.
I’ve had a good life with Tom.’
‘That doesn’t make it any easier, does it?’
‘Not really, no.’ Ella smiled. ‘I’m just trying to concentrate on other people’s worries at the moment. There’s young Michael without his parents, Jim Brody - well, I still can’t believe that. He’s such a good, honest, decent chap.
The salt of the earth. Still, I suppose we’d all be surprised what lengths we’d go to if pushed. To think of him locked up in a cell, though. That’s awful. He needs the wind on his face, does Jim.’
She turned and looked at Jill. ‘And what about you, young Jill? What problems are you wrestling with?’
“Me? None. Touch wood,’ she added lightly, putting a hand on Ella’s coffee table.
‘No men trouble?’
‘No. What makes you ask?’
Ella laughed, a pleasant sound. ‘While everyone at the bonfire party was making eyes at Bob Murphy, you barely gave him a second glance. I thought you must have someone special in your life to make you blind to our Bob.’
‘Bob’s an attractive man,’ Jill agreed. “I did notice that much.’
‘He is. I keep telling Tom that if I was forty years younger, I’d be after that body of Bob’s.’
‘He’d make a fortune in TV advertising,’ Jill agreed with a laugh. ‘He’d have to do long cold drinks. You can just imagine him topless, sweat running down that impressive chest of his as he knocks back a can of something cold.’
‘Actually I’ve been meaning to catch him,’ Ella said, ‘and tell him about a girl I met. Like me, Gemma has been digging into her family history, which is why I met up with her. Anyway, her aunt is the same woman Bob refers to as Aunt Jenny. Apparently, she’s his foster mother. Isn’t it a small world?’
‘Isn’t it,’ Jill agreed, ‘and isn’t it strange how we all jump to conclusions? I’d assumed David and Lindsay Murphy were his parents. Is it David and Lindsay? Live up by the church?’
“It is, but no, they’re no relation. I don’t know about Bob’s father, never heard mention of the man, but I know his mother died in a house fire when he was only ten years old. A terrible business it was. They never did find out who started that fire.’ She broke off. ‘Hark at me. I’m turning into a worse gossip than Olive Prendergast.’ She opened the photograph album. ‘It’s just that it takes my mind off - you know.’
Jill did know. ‘Talk all you like,’ she told Ella. ‘I’m a good listener, and an awful talker. I won’t repeat anything, you know that.’ She tried to get Ella’s mind back to Tom.
‘Is there anything I can do, Ella? Anything I can get for you? Do you need ferrying to the hospital?’
Smiling, Ella shook her head. ‘There’s nothing, love, but thanks for asking. If I need anything, I’ll let you know. Promise. With any luck, he’ll be home again in a few days.’
Jill hoped so.
‘Meanwhile,’ Ella went on briskly, “I refuse to even think about the day he won’t be home.’ A teasing light crept into her eyes. ‘So this mysterious man of yours, and I know there is a man - it’s not that policeman who followed you into the pub last night, is it?’
‘Don Cornwall?’ Jill smiled, but she didn’t like the way Ella said ‘followed you into the pub’. Had he followed her? ‘Honestly, you can’t move in this place without everyone knowing about it. How did you know about that?’
‘Liz told me/ Ella explained. ‘She reckoned he spent the entire time mentally undressing you. A cute bum she said he had.’
Mentally undressing her?
‘He does/ Jill told her, ‘but he’s just someone I work with. Nothing more than that.’ She knew Ella wouldn’t rest until she’d got the truth from her. “I had a fling with someone, a detective, but we split up a year ago. The trouble is, I’m seeing quite a bit of him at the moment because of work.’
‘Ah, so he’s the one who makes you immune to our Bob?’
‘Probably.’ Max was the man all men had to measure up to. Few managed it.
‘And does he have a cute bum?’
“I haven’t inspected it closely for some time, Ella,’ Jill confided with amusement, ‘but, yes, it’s not bad.’
‘Don - Cornwall, did Liz say his name was? That name rings a bell.’
‘Oh?’ Jill was immediately alert. ‘In what context?’
“I don’t know.’ Ella looked impatient with herself. ‘That’s the trouble with getting old.’ She flicked through the album’s pages with a heavy sigh. “I can remember every detail of our wedding day, but I struggle to remember what I did this morning. Don Cornwall …’ She shook her head. ‘It’ll come to me.’
‘Will you let me know if it does?’ Jill asked. “I don’t know much about him, and I like to know who I’m working with.’
‘Of course I will. Mind you, I’m sure it’s nothing important.’