They realized then that one of the boys had fallen and was crying. Lily went reluctantly to pick him up and dust the shavings from him.
“I’ll have to go back,” she said. “Get them some tea.”
“Where’s their mam?”
“She’s gone into Otterbridge to see James McDougal.”
“What would she do that for?” His voice was suddenly sharp.
“Nothing suspicious.” She was laughing at him. “A gesture of sympathy, that’s all. I’m not expecting her to be long.”
She bundled the boys roughly into the buggy and fastened the straps.
“Do you want a hand up the hill with that?” Hunter said, imagining the jibes of his mates when he returned to the incident room if she agreed. “Never had you down as a family man, Gordon,” they’d say. Sniggering.
“No,” she said easily. “I can manage.”
He walked with her to the edge of the park. There, their ways would separate.
“We’re not just cranks, you know,” she said.
“No,” he said, unconvinced.
“Look,” she said, ‘talk to Rebecca in the Alternative Therapy Centre. That might give you some idea what happened to Faye.” She walked on quickly and though he called after her asking what she meant, she did not turn back.
Gloom had settled once more on the incident room. Ramsay was back and had reported in a clipped detached voice on the interview with Wes and Lorna. Hunter came in just in time and glowered silently for the rest of the day. The frustration was more than any of them could bear. They’d all had Sean Slater down as the murderer the midnight wanderings, that crappy alibi, a feeling that he was really weird. Weirder than that crowd at the Old Chapel. Whatever you might think of them at least they made a decent living. And Hunter was feeling ratty.
The phone went. A uniformed WPC took the call. She grinned at her friends and shouted to Hunter.
“I think you should take this one, Sarge.”
“Why? What is it?”
“A witness. It might be important.”
“Put it through then,” he said grudgingly.
He listened for a few minutes, grunted, then replaced the receiver.
“Very funny, constable,” he said.
“Who was it, Sarge?” They sensed a wind-up and they needed cheering up.
“A lunatic,” he said. “Some poor bugger who’s spent too long up here in the hills. He says he’s just seen the ghost of Ernie Bowles in Mittingford High Street.”
They all laughed and Hunter stomped out.
Chapter Twenty-six
Hunter drove from the incident room to the Abbots’ house. When Lily opened the door he was surprised but pleased to find her still there.
“Oh, it’s you again,” she said. The confiding mood had gone and she was prickly, bad-tempered. “What do you want now?”
“A few words,” he said.
“I’ve nothing more to say to you…” But she stood aside to let him in. “I’ve been giving the kids their tea. I expected Win back by now.”
In the kitchen there was food on the floor and a smell of charred toast. A piece of mashed banana stuck to his shoe.
“I want to talk to Rebecca,” he said, ‘like you said. But I need her address. Unless you want me to bother her at work.” He knew it was an excuse. Really he wanted to talk to her.
“No,” she said quickly. “Don’t do that. She lives with her parents in one of those modern bungalows up on the hill. I’m not sure of the number. It’s got a blue gate. You’ll find it easily enough.”
“What’s her surname?”
“Booth.” She paused. “Look, perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything. You mustn’t blame me if this is all a waste of time.”
They stood, awkwardly. The children were suddenly quiet.
“It would be a lot simpler if you told me what’s going on,” he said.
She shook her head.
“I’d best go and talk to Rebecca then,” he said sharply. “She will be home by now?”
They looked at the hall clock. It was five-fifteen.
“I think she finishes at five, so she’ll be back in the next few minutes.”
When she saw him to the door he hesitated, but inside one of the children was crying and she slammed the door shut without a word.
In the car he swore out loud and wondered how he could have come to make such a bloody fool of himself. He’d go and see the girl anyway, he thought. See if he could salvage something from the afternoon. But a call came on to the radio summoning him back and he did not get to see Rebecca Booth that night.
James McDougal left school early again. At lunchtime he wandered down the drive with a gang of sixth-formers who were going to the chip shop and just didn’t bother going back. That afternoon was double English which he usually enjoyed but he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on The Waste Land. He had other things to think of.
He walked home along quiet suburban streets dappled with sunshine, lost in thought. In the house he drank a can of Coke and played some music but he could not settle. On impulse he picked up the telephone and dialled the number he had found in the local paper. A voice on the other end of the line said, “Mittingford incident room.” He hesitated for a moment then replaced the receiver. He could have asked to speak to Ramsay but what would he say? That his mother had become disillusioned with alternative medicine? So what?
A little later he left the house and began the walk to the cemetery to visit Faye, only because he could think of nothing else to do. He stopped, as usual, to buy flowers at the garage. He walked with his head bent and he did not look round. There was a big red-brick primary school on the main road which he had never really noticed before, because he’d always come at weekends, when it was quiet. Now it was home time and the pavement was crowded with parents. There were cars parked all the way back to the garage and on as far as the cemetery wall. A lollipop lady was shepherding children across the road. The girls wore red and white gingham dresses newly bought for the summer. They chased past James to find their mothers. Still he did not look behind him.
There was no sign of the flower seller at the cemetery gate. Her trestle table was still set up as normal but it was empty except for an upturned bucket. James missed the confrontation with her and imagined her at home. She would live in a council house with a Rottweiler in the garden and a brutish lover who drove a truck and had tattoos. He smiled briefly at the cartoon picture. What would his mother have thought of his prejudice? Then he walked in between the massive wrought-iron gates.
He had never known the cemetery so quiet. There was bird song but it seemed to come from the surrounding gardens. There were no joggers, no dog walkers, no other mourners. It was the hottest day of the year so far, and after the walk he felt drained of energy. He came to a bench which had been donated by an Alderman of Otterbridge Town Council in 1961. He sat there and began to doze. A peacock butterfly settled on the wooden plank beside him. It was the last thing James saw.
James’s body was found on the grass next to Faye’s grave at five o’clock. The old man who had almost stumbled over it was quite sure of the time when Ramsay questioned him later. Five o’clock exactly. He was a retired railway man and knew the importance of precision. He said he came to the cemetery every afternoon for a constitutional before his tea. Not to visit one of the graves. His parents were buried in Newcastle and his wife was still alive, thank God. They’d celebrated their golden wedding in February. No, he liked the cemetery because it was a quiet and pleasant place to walk. Better than the main road with all those diesel fumes at any rate, and he wasn’t one to be bothered by the thought of dead bodies. He’d been a stretcher bearer in the war.
“Did you touch the body?” Ramsay asked gently. They were standing by the cemetery gate. The whole area had been cordoned off. It was evening by now, and the place was in shadow.