‘Gabrielle.’ His wife corrected him firmly. ‘She always wanted to be called by her full name.’
‘Sorry, darling. Well, Gabrielle had been living abroad and then she came back to England on holiday. She didn’t give us any advance warning at all, even though…’
‘Darling, that was just her way,’ his wife interrupted. ‘She loved to do things on the spur of the moment. I suppose that was one of the things I liked about her. Poor Gabrielle, she was so much fun, always.’
‘It was a pleasant surprise when she turned up,’ Simon said with a grin. ‘I was working at home one afternoon. Tash had driven up to Ennerdale for a day’s painting. The doorbell rang and I found this gorgeous lady standing outside. She told me she used to know Tash back in Leeds.’
‘We both shared the same dreams,’ Tash said. ‘We fancied ourselves as actresses. Failing that, as models. Magazine front covers, television, you name it. Of course it never happened. We both did plenty of photo-shoots, but the big break never came.’
Miranda said, ‘So you moved to Cumbria?’
‘Gabrielle and I both drifted out of the business and we drifted apart as well. We were both sick of city life. I fancied moving to the countryside, Gabrielle decided to emigrate. Last time I heard from her, she was leaving for America. She wasn’t good at keeping in touch, I didn’t have an address or phone number for her. To be honest, I’d almost forgotten about her. So I hardly expected to come home one day and find her telling Simon all the embarrassing stories about the way I used to fluff my lines whenever I had an audition, even for the simplest voiceover.’
‘Just think,’ Simon said lazily, ‘if your acting career had taken off, you could have a part in a soap instead of living out here in the middle of nowhere.’
‘I know which I prefer,’ Tash said. ‘It was a wonderful surprise to see Gabrielle again. And so heartbreaking that she died such a cruel death.’
‘Did she stay with you?’
Tash took another sip from her glass. ‘We offered, but she’d booked into The Moon under Water for a few days and she didn’t want to put us to any trouble. Or so she said. I did wonder if she liked having Joe Dowling follow her round with his tongue hanging out. When you’ve lived in Brackdale a while, Miranda, you’ll find out what he’s like. Anyway, Gabrielle was just bumming around, stopping off in the Lakes on her way further north. She said she’d seen more of America than her native country and she wanted to put that right. Later on, I couldn’t help thinking, if only she hadn’t looked me up on the off-chance…’
‘You can’t blame yourself,’ Simon said.
‘But Barrie met her through me. You can’t deny that.’
Her husband shrugged. ‘He didn’t have a history of violence. Nobody could have foreseen the murder.’
‘How did you come to introduce Barrie to Gabrielle?’ Daniel asked.
‘We’d asked him to varnish the pergola. He’d finished for the afternoon just as I came home from Ennerdale. When I drove into the courtyard, he was filling the bins. He always liked to chat and we were having a word when Simon came out with Gabrielle. When I saw her, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was so much to catch up on, but of course I introduced Barrie before the three of us went back inside. His jaw dropped at the sight of her. I could see at once that he was smitten, but it never occurred to me that there might be any harm in it.’
‘He used to watch you,’ Simon said. ‘I guess he fancied Gabrielle just as much. I suppose there was a resemblance. Two tall, glamorous blondes, both totally out of reach so far as he was concerned.’
‘Perhaps he didn’t realise that Gabrielle was out of reach,’ Miranda suggested.
‘In his own funny way, he was rather sweet.’ Tash nibbled at her lower lip, casting her mind back. ‘Always trying to do little kindnesses for me. Trouble was, he was so clumsy that he usually made a mess of things. He made sure he bumped into her the very next morning. When he offered to show Gabrielle round Brackdale, it sounded like a ham-fisted chat-up line. She turned him down nicely, but I could tell he was upset. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.’
‘It’s a fault of our sex,’ Simon said lightly, giving Jean Allardyce an affable nod as she returned to clear the coffee cups. ‘Let’s not spend the whole evening discussing the murder. Too depressing. Take it from me, Daniel, Tarn Cottage is a bargain, even with all the work it must need. I saw the price the agents were quoting and I’d have put a bid in myself, if it hadn’t been for the memory of Barrie Gilpin.’
‘So you believe he was guilty?’ Daniel asked.
Simon drained his glass. ‘He was the obvious suspect.’
‘The obvious suspect isn’t always the right one.’
A dismissive wave of the hand. ‘Don’t let it worry you. By the time you want to consider selling the cottage, his name will be long forgotten and there won’t be any need to factor a discount into the price.’
Tash said quietly, ‘You’d like to think that Barrie didn’t kill Gabrielle?’
‘I’m not convinced he was capable of it,’ Daniel said.
There was a clatter as one of the cups slipped off Jean Allardyce’s tray. Simon picked it up off the carpet and said, ‘No harm done, Jean, it was empty already.’
Turning to Daniel he said, ‘This is nothing to do with the fact that you’re making a big investment in Tarn Cottage, by any chance?’
‘Nothing whatsoever. I don’t like trial by innuendo, that’s all. Barrie Gilpin is everyone’s favourite suspect, but he never had the chance to defend himself. It seems unjust.’
‘He was never charged because he fell into a ravine before the police caught up with him, simple as that.’
‘Maybe that was very convenient.’
‘Who for?’
Jean Allardyce banged the door shut after her. Perhaps alarmed that the conversation had acquired a prickly edge, Tash said, ‘I’ve been wondering, Daniel. I suppose it’s pure coincidence, but…’
‘What?’
‘When Gabrielle was killed, Simon and I both talked to the police, as you’d expect. They needed to check on her movements and how she came to know Barrie Gilpin. I’ll never forget the stink of the mortuary when I had to identify her poor broken body. I remember being comforted by the detective in charge of the case, he was called Kind too. It’s not such a common surname…’
‘It’s not a coincidence,’ he said. ‘Ben Kind was my father.’
‘I don’t think it’s the best way to make friends, that’s all,’ Miranda said an hour later. She’d driven back to Tarn Fold with an elaborate caution intended to compensate for the effects of a couple of drinks, but without any luck. In the darkness she’d clipped a jutting wall with her bumper, and her humour had suffered even more than the paintwork.
‘They were happy to talk,’ Daniel said as he unwrapped Tash’s gift from its packaging. It wasn’t a bad picture, he decided, but probably best not inspected too closely. ‘All I did was ask a few questions.’
‘You sounded like a bloody police officer yourself,’ she grumbled. ‘As for happy, I wouldn’t count on it. Simon looked distinctly pissed off and poor Tash seemed quite embarrassed by the end.’
‘We’d had a few drinks.’
‘Even so. They obviously couldn’t understand what had prompted Ben Kind’s son to move to Cumbria and buy Tarn Cottage.’
‘I did try to explain.’
‘Well, I’m not sure they believed you,’ she snapped. ‘It must be very hurtful for Tash, when the woman killed was an old friend. They obviously feel responsible for having introduced Barrie Gilpin to Gabrielle. People want to forget a tragedy like that, not be cross-examined on it.’
‘I spent years teaching students to challenge assumptions,’ he said. ‘I’m sure the Dumelows can take it.’
Miranda snorted. ‘I don’t want us to finish up without a friend in Brackdale. Surely you’ve found out as much as you need to about Barrie Gilpin and his murder? There can’t be any more questions to ask.’
‘There are always more questions to ask.’