Authors: Janet O'Kane
Weren’t those the exact words Gregor had used in Zoe’s consulting room a few hours earlier?
Zoe sighed, once more feeling the burden of knowledge she could not share.
‘You sound like you need cheering up, and I know just the man for the job,’ a voice said behind her.
Zoe jumped, knocking over the remains of her tea. Neil grabbed a tea towel hanging on the Aga’s front rail and wiped the table, pausing for an instant as his eyes scanned the open newspaper.
‘All gone,’ he said.
There was a brief silence.
‘Sorry if I pissed you off on Sunday night.’
‘I shouldn’t have left in a huff,’ Zoe said. ‘Though you’re right, you did piss me off.’
‘I was worried about you.’
‘Why?’
‘I heard about you crashing your car and wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt.’
‘As I keep telling people, it hardly qualified as a crash. I slid, very slowly, into a gatepost, that’s all.’
‘How was I supposed to know, when you didn’t tell me yourself?’
‘Make me another cup of tea and let’s say no more about it.’
Neil put the kettle on the Aga. ‘So what brings you here, apart from the opportunity to scold me again?’
‘I was at the coach house. It seems as though you’ve done me a favour. Aye, a favour.’
Neil laughed. ‘You’ve seen Gerry.’
‘Oh yes.’
‘And?’
‘It seems that giving folk the impression you and I are romantically involved is the key to getting things done around here.’
‘So he’s putting his men back on your job?’
‘Not only that. He’s promised to take them off all their other jobs to be sure the coach house is ready for me to move into by Christmas.’
‘You’ll be pleased at that news.’
‘I’m glad he’s at last going to do what he should have done all along. But on the other hand . . .’
‘What’s wrong now?’
‘I can’t say I’m happy you used our relationship to persuade him to do it.’
‘So now you’re admitting we have a relationship?’ Neil wore a broad grin as he lifted the kettle and poured boiling water into their mugs. ‘In which case, will you give me your mobile number?’
‘It’s no good trying to change the subject.’
‘What do you want me to say? You asked me to intervene with Gerry and I did.’
‘Okay. Thank you.’ Determined today’s encounter would not end in a row, Zoe pointed at the newspaper on the table. ‘Have you seen this? It’s an interview with a friend of yours.’
‘She’s no friend of mine.’
‘Sounds like she wanted to be.’
‘Alice was looking for a way out of her marriage to Tom. She mistakenly thought I was it.’
‘You weren’t interested?’
‘She’s just a lass. That may be some men’s idea of heaven, but not mine.’
‘She’s very attractive.’ Zoe tapped her finger on the photograph.
Neil glanced down at it. ‘They must have paid her to smile. In the flesh she’s as hard as nails, with a face to match.’
‘That’s unkind.’
‘True, though. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. For a while I couldn’t get away from her, she turned up all over the place.’
‘Poor Tom.’
‘He’s a bit of a wimp if you ask me. Must have known what she was up to. And that mother of hers encouraged it.’
‘In what way?’
‘She made out Jimmy was going to treat her to a new kitchen at Horseshoe Cottage. I must have gone there three times at least, to measure up and talk about what they wanted. Alice was there every time, and they always made sure I ended up alone with her.’
‘I can’t picture you being unwillingly pursued by a woman.’
‘Believe me, I was.’
‘How did it end? Did she eventually lose interest?’
‘Not before I had it out with Chrissie. The last time she rang me demanding yet another visit, I asked if Alice would be there. When she said, “If you want her to be”, I told her in no uncertain terms that I didn’t and I’d be happy never to see either of them again. She put the phone down on me.’
‘And that was it?’
‘Not likely. She spread a rumour that I’d planned to rip Jimmy off by designing a kitchen way more expensive than he could afford and bullying him into ordering it.’
‘That’s awful,’ Zoe said.
Maybe Kate was right in her condemnation of the dead woman
. ‘I didn’t realise Chrissie was so ruthless.’
‘When it came to Alice she was. They say she only married Jimmy to provide a home for the girl.’
‘Had she been married before?’
‘No one knows. From what I hear – it was before my time – she got a job in the pub and was soon running it and Jimmy’s life.’
‘Who do you think killed her, Neil?’
‘Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s change the subject. Does this relationship of ours stretch to going out for dinner?’
Zoe studied the man sitting next to her. The more time she spent with him, the harder it was to deny the warmth she was starting to feel towards him. Giving him any encouragement was a bad idea, but after the events of the past week, she deserved a night out. ‘Maybe. When?’
‘Saturday week? I’d prefer it sooner but I’ve got something on this weekend.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘A mate of mine runs a restaurant in Kelso. You haven’t lived until you’ve tasted his haggis and mozzarella filo parcels.’
Zoe groaned. ‘I was looking forward to it until you told me that.’
On the way home a short time later, while glancing at her mobile for texts from Kate, Zoe realised she had forgotten to give Neil the number. At least that reduced the chances of them falling out again before their date.
The cottage phone started to ring as she walked in the door, someone calling from Hawick with a message from Mather. He was in the area tomorrow and would like to call round to see her. Would ten o’clock be convenient?
He’d never made an appointment before
.
Mather arrived ten minutes early the next morning, making Zoe wish she had waited until later to prepare her weekly batch of bread. Her heart sank further when she opened the door and saw his spotless navy blue suit. He could not have worn a better flour magnet.
She sat him down at the far end of the kitchen table. ‘You don’t mind if I work on this while we talk, do you?’ she asked, plunging her hands back into the dough. ‘I’ve got to go out as soon as we’re finished. It’s my first appointment with my new dentist and it would be a professional discourtesy to be late.’
‘I won’t keep you long. I’m due to see someone in Duns later, which is why I thought I would call in rather than telephone.’ Mather smoothed down his expensive-looking paisley tie. ‘This is the first time I’ve found you here alone.’
He sounded disappointed.
‘I haven’t heard from Kate. But there’s no guarantee she won’t just turn up.’
‘You’re obviously good friends.’
‘Yes. She’s really helped me settle in.’ Zoe reached for more flour.
‘Her family’s lived in this part of the Borders for a long time.’
‘Even if she was new to the area herself, Kate would do her best to make me feel at home. She’s that sort of person, isn’t she?’
Mather made no comment. Zoe pummelled her dough.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I’m sure you didn’t come here to discuss my friends. What can I do for you?’
‘Now you’ve had time to think, can you remember seeing anyone else on Saturday morning during your walk?’
‘Near where I saw Jimmy Baird, you mean?’
‘Anywhere along your route.’
‘I’ve gone over it in my head so many times, but I’m still certain there wasn’t a soul around. And the only vehicle I saw was the Andersons’ Volvo.’
‘That’s the main reason I’m here. Mr and Mrs Anderson are both adamant it couldn’t have been their car because Mrs Anderson travelled to Kelso that morning. Is there any chance you made a mistake?’
‘Over the letters on its plate? Definitely not. LTM was my mother’s initials.’
‘Could it have been another dark colour – black or green perhaps? You said it was travelling fast and your eyes were drawn to its number plate.’
‘I don’t think so. Perhaps Hazel’s lying. To her husband as well as you.’
‘Do you have any reason to believe she’d do that?’
‘Their relationship definitely seems strained. I overheard them arguing in the kitchen on Sunday night, then my asking about their car seemed to spark off an even bigger row. Whatever it was about, Hazel drove off, despite knowing people like you and your mother were coming for a meal.’
While Mather considered this, Zoe concentrated on shaping the bread into a ball. Then she transferred it into a greased bowl and covered it with a clean tea towel. The woodburner kept the sitting room at a perfect temperature for dough to rise. It would be ready for a final kneading by the time she returned from the dentist.
The policeman took her by surprise with an abrupt change of subject. ‘There was an animal in the bonfire too. A sheep. Its flesh burned away completely, but we found bones and they’ve been identified. You’ve no idea who may have put it there, I suppose?’
‘None at all,’ Zoe said, running her hands under the tap. ‘Is it important?’
‘Probably not.’
Another pause. Zoe looked at the clock. She would have to leave soon to keep her appointment. First, though, she had some questions of her own. Mather would probably refuse to answer them, but it was worth a try.
‘Have you had the results of Jimmy’s post mortem?’ she asked.
Mather thought for a moment, then lifted his briefcase onto the table, popped the locks and took out a sheet of paper. ‘This is the summary. Your practice will be sent a copy of the full report eventually. It must stay confidential at this stage.’
‘Of course.’ Zoe took the sheet, studied the close type, then gave it back to Mather. He blew gently to dislodge the floury deposit she had left on it before returning it to his case.
‘So the head wound I saw was the result of him falling against the bridge, rather than being hit by something,’ Zoe said.
‘That’s one of the conclusions. The internal damage on the opposite side of the head to the impact –’
‘It’s called contra coup.’
Mather smiled briefly, acknowledging her familiarity with the term. ‘The contra coup injury tells us that it was Mr Baird’s head which was moving, not what it came into contact with. The question to be answered is why he fell in the first place.’
‘You haven’t ruled out someone pushing him?’
‘Without a witness or a confession we have no way of knowing if that’s what happened. As you’ve read, there was water in his lungs, so the fall didn’t kill him. He drowned. As did his Jack Russell.’
Zoe shuddered, remembering the dog lying dead on the bank. ‘You got a post mortem done on Talisker too?’
‘It’s called a necropsy.’ Mather allowed himself another brief smile. ‘According to the vet.’
Touché
.
‘If Jimmy was pushed, do you think it was by the same person who put Chrissie into the bonfire?’
‘That’s what I’m trying to find out.’
‘May I see her post mortem results too?’
‘No.’
‘Kate’s not here now and I’m a doctor. Can’t you at least tell me how she died?’
The policeman frowned. Zoe interpreted this as meaning he had lost patience with her incessant probing, but then he said, ‘It’s important her injuries don’t become public knowledge at this stage of our enquiry.’
‘I won’t share anything you tell me in confidence. Not even with Kate.’
‘Especially not with Kate, I hope,’ Mather said. ‘Mrs Baird suffered a head wound, and then she was strangled.’
Zoe gasped. ‘He certainly wanted to make sure she was dead.’
‘That’s one interpretation.’
‘Was it manual strangulation or done with some sort of ligature?’
‘That’s less easy to determine.’
The tone of Mather’s voice warned Zoe off trying to find out more. However, emboldened by his relative candour so far, she asked, ‘Had the Bairds written wills?’
‘Why do you want to know?’
‘I’m curious.’
Mather stared at her. ‘I think it’s more than that.’
‘Honestly, it’s not.’
‘All I can say is that Mrs Baird, being much younger than her husband, would have expected him to predecease her.’ He was clearly choosing his words even more carefully than usual.
‘So Jimmy left a will but Chrissie didn’t?’
‘This isn’t a game, Doctor Moreland. Someone in this community has killed once, maybe twice, and could be planning to do so again. We need to find him.’
Zoe glanced at the kitchen clock.
Mather rose from his chair, brushing specks of flour from the undersides of his sleeves. ‘You have somewhere to go and so do I.’
On the doorstep, he repeated, ‘We need to find him,’ then turned to walk towards the road.
A few minutes later, Zoe swept some fallen leaves from her car’s bonnet and slid into the driver’s seat. As she emerged from the gateway and checked in each direction for other vehicles she saw Mather parked up a short distance away, talking on his mobile. She hoped she wasn’t the subject of that conversation.
She had not travelled far when his blue saloon appeared in her rear view mirror. Zoe frowned. Sixty was perfectly safe for this stretch of road, but being followed by a policeman would make anyone nervous. Trying to forget the vehicle behind, she concentrated on enjoying the drive. Led Zeppelin had come on as soon as she started the engine; she turned up the volume.
As Robert Plant told her there was still time to change the road she was on, she sensed something wasn’t right. Her car failed to respond to a light touch of the brakes as it started to descend the hill past Billiewick Farm. A harder push had no effect either.
Unchecked, the car gathered speed. Glancing in her mirror, Zoe saw the distance between herself and Mather become larger as he slowed in anticipation of the corner coming up and she didn’t. She pumped at the brake pedal. Still no response.
She had only two options: try to take the corner and probably end up overturned or embedded in a tree, or aim for the narrow entrance to a stubble field that lay ahead. At this speed, the second alternative would be a bumpy ride, but it offered a better chance of coming out unscathed.