‘What do you do with all that?’ I asked Dad Phillips. ‘You can’t handle it all, surely?’
‘Of course we can,’ he said. ‘We’re not completely Norman Rockwell, you know. We do have a freezer. Everything we can’t eat fresh goes in there, potatoes included, either cut into chips or sauteed.’
Naturally, there were raspberries for desert.
As we sat over our coffee, Mr Phillips looked across the table at Dawn over the top of his big glasses. Suddenly he was stem. ‘Now, young lady. Perhaps you’ll tell us why we had the police at our door yesterday, looking for you.’
Dawn went white for a second, then flushed bright scarlet.
‘Didn’t they tell you?’ said Prim, with a combative edge to her voice.
At once, Dad Phillips abandoned his attempt to be the heavy father. It isn’t a role that suits him, anyway. ‘No, they didn’t. They said something about wanting her to assist with an enquiry in Edinburgh.’
‘Yes, that’s right. But it’s got nothing to do with Dawn really. A man was found dead in a flat in Ebeneezer Street, on my stair. The police want to talk to all the neighbours, to find out if they saw anything. But Dawn was here when it happened, so she can’t tell them anything. End of story.’
I could tell that he didn’t believe her. But I could tell also whose word is law in the Phillips family, when push comes to shove, and that, whatever was happening, he trusted her to handle it. Dad and Mum don’t really want to play in the Nineties, and sometimes the world frightens Dawn just a bit. If Semple House, Auchterarder, was an independent state, Prim would be Foreign Secretary.
‘Poor chap,’ he said. ‘Yet it was a bit much of the police to come chasing Dawn up here, in the circumstances. Could you two talk to them when you go back to Edinburgh?’ He glanced at me.
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘That’ll probably keep them happy.’
‘What did you tell them?’ Prim asked.
‘They asked me a straight question, so I gave them a straight answer. I said that Dawn had been here, but that she was away for a day or two with a friend in Perth. I said that she’d be back on Sunday, and we’d ask her to contact them as soon as possible. They seemed happy enough with that.’
‘When are you two going back?’ said Mrs Phillips.
‘We thought we’d stay overnight,’ said Prim, ‘if that’s all right?’
‘All right! Of course it is. Your bed’s made up, Primavera. I put sheets on it after you phoned. Thee’s fresh linen under the stair for the fourth bedroom.’ My heart sank, and I think my face must have gone down with it, for Prim kicked me under the table. I supped my coffee to cover my tracks.
There’s not a lot you can do to escape a Scottish Sabbath, but eventually, after the girls had washed the dishes, Dad had massacred my goblin army on the chess-board a few more times, and we’d had totally unnecessary tea, scones and jam, Prim came up with a cover story. ‘Mum, I think I’ll take Oz to meet Julia.’ It was around 6.30 p.m.
‘Who’s Julia?’ I asked.
‘My best pal from school. I visit her every time I’m here. She lives at the other end of town. We’ll walk. Dawn, you come too.
‘Oz, go and get our stuff out of the car, there’s a love.’ Mrs Phillips was crossing the hall when I came back inside. When she noticed that I was carrying just one bag, she glanced at me and I’ll swear a tiny smile flickered around the corners of her mouth. I guessed that there was something left of the woman who had christened her daughter after the time of her conception. She’s a great believer is Prim’s Mum. She believes in God, in her family and in all of life’s certainties; the return of the seasons, and all that.
Of course, Julia wasn’t in. We could have telephoned first, but we didn’t. Instead we walked all the length of Auchterarder’s Main Street to find out, then made a detour up to the Gleneagles Hotel, which turned out to have been our real objective after all.
I thought we’d be lucky to be served in denims, but the Phillips sisters are well known there. We sat in the big bar sipping half-pints of Pimms, which Dawn insisted on buying with her movie money. Eventually I asked her how much she was being paid. When she told me I think she heard me grind my teeth. Sometimes it takes me more than six months to make the dough that Dawn was earning for a couple of weeks’ work.
‘Don’t think it’s all like that. Once this gig is over, chances are I’ll be back in Edinburgh, doing stock plays at the Lyceum and being paid sweeties for it. That’s if I’ve got a job at all.
‘I won’t complain if that’s how it turns out. I like the Lyceum. You feel really close to your audience there, and the regulars feel close to us. Our Chairman came up with a really good idea last year. He started a theatre club for us performers and for our season ticket holders and regulars. We’ve got our own bar, and we can go in there after rehearsal — anytime really — and mix with the punters, making them feel part of the theatre family. We get some odd sorts turning out.’ Her expression darkened all of a sudden. ‘That’s where I met Willie.’ She sat there for almost a minute, in silence. Prim and I said nothing, letting her come through it in her own time. At last a faint smile returned to her lips. ‘Willie. A bird with a broken wing all right.
‘But he was just one among many. We’ve got a real cross-section of members. We’ve got civil servants, lawyers, a couple of hairdressers, housewives, flash young guys out to pull an actress. We’ve even got a member who’s a prostitute. She offered Rawdon a freebie one night! I doubt if he took her up on it though! Oh yes, and we’ve got one policeman. A real Mr Plod, but he’s dead keen. Surprising: you’d never guess it to look at him. McArthur, his name is.’
My eyebrows rose. ‘What! A big beefy bloke with a red face?’
‘Yes, that’s him. He comes to every play, and he’s in the bar about every second night.’
‘My God,’ I said, shaking my head in disbelief. ‘McArse the theatregoer. You never know the hidden depths of people.’
It was just after nine-thirty when we finished our third round of Pimms and decided that it was time to call it quits. Night was still a way off as we strolled up the Gleneagles driveway and out towards the road, but the sun had gone and there were patches of darkness under the trees. IfAuchterarder is famous for anything other than Gleneagles, it’s because it lays claim to the longest Main Street of any Scottish town. All of it lay between us and Semple House as we turned into it and set off three abreast, with me in the middle and Dawn on the outside.
A pint and a half of Pimms seemed to have relaxed Dawn. As we walked she asked us how we had traced her, and laughed as Prim described our encounter with Rawdon Brooks. ‘Poor old Rawdon,’ she laughed. ‘You shouldn’t be hard on him. I know he’s outrageous, he’s a bit of a junkie, and he could seduce the College of Cardinals, but he’s really nice. Gay men can be the kindest people, you know. There’s no-one better when it comes to sharing your troubles. No offence, Prim, but they’re even better than sisters.
‘You can tell them anything you like, and they won’t hold it against you, or tell a soul. So many people have cried on Rawdon’s shoulders, they must be mildewed. He helped me a lot when I was going through agonies with Willie. He did his best to help Willie too, being a friend, and making him ask himself whether he was certain about what he was doing.’
‘A real heart of gold,’ I said, and she dug me in the ribs with her elbow.
‘So tell me, you two. What d’you think I should do, then?’ she asked, lisping slightly.
‘No doubt about that,’ I said. ‘First thing tomorrow you should get your shapely arse back up to Connell or wherever the next stop is, and cuddle up to the leading man. “Tell her if she’s got a problem, Old Miles’ll sort it out.” That’s what he said. I’ll tell you, I reckon he could, too. When you’ve got as much clout as Miles Grayson, you can sort out most things.
‘Yes, Dawn. You head back to the Highlands and cuddle up to Miles.’
She looked up at me, then across at her sister. ‘Hey, Prim,’ she called. ‘Where did you find this guy? I like the way he thinks!’