‘It was … um …’ KK looked uncomfortable. ‘It didn’t work out. Artistic differences.’
‘Oh yeah? And, incidentally, what’s in it for you?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Money, KK, money. Because if you think I’m going to pay you, as well as giving you use of the Function Room for free, then you’ve got another—’
‘No, no, you wouldn’t have to pay anything. The participants’d pay me a fiver a time, something like that.’
‘Hmm …’ Ted still wasn’t persuaded. ‘And it’d be your kind of music?’
‘Yeah, stuff I always play, you know my repertoire. And back in the day, when I did the gigs here, it never drove anyone out, did it?’
‘That’s a matter of opinion.’
‘Come on, you did all right out of those nights. A lot of drinks got bought.’
‘Yeah, but all the profit went on providing you with free Guinness.’ There was a joshing quality in the way the two men argued. They were enjoying the negotiation. Clearly, they’d known each other for a long time.
The landlord looked at his watch. ‘I got to go and check through tonight’s menu with Ed.’
‘Oh, do say you’ll let us try having the choir here, just the once,’ Heather pleaded.
Carole and Jude could see that Ted was about to say no, but suddenly he relented. Maybe he was susceptible to Heather’s new-found flirtatiousness. ‘When do you have in mind?’
‘Monday week,’ Heather replied quickly. Clearly, she and KK had it all worked out. ‘Go on, let us try; see what happens.’
‘All right. Just the once, though. No promises of any more, till we see how that one goes.’
‘You’re on.’ Heather beamed. ‘I can’t thank you enough, Ted. You’re a real sweetheart.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ he mumbled, as he went back into the kitchen. But he was clearly pleased by what she had said.
KK Rosser needed to go off to give a guitar lesson, so Carole and Jude had serendipitously achieved something they had both wanted since Leonard Mallett’s funeral – the opportunity to talk to his widow on her own.
Jude was at the bar replenishing their drinks. The Polish bar manager Zosia poured two large New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs without being asked. Heather wanted a gin and tonic. ‘Make it a large one,’ said Jude.
Carole didn’t quite know how they were going to get round to the subject they really wanted to discuss, so at first she continued the previous conversation. ‘Have you been involved in another choir like the one you’re trying to set up here?’ she asked.
‘Not really. It was KK’s idea, and I thought, well, why not give it a go? I’ve sung in lots of choirs over the years, though. At school and university. I was at Manchester.’ It was strange; for no very good reason, Carole wouldn’t have imagined that Heather Mallett had been at university. ‘Then, I joined some others while I was working in London, but, since I got married, it’s only been the church choir.’
‘Yes.’ Carole recognized that this was the perfect springboard for a question about Leonard Mallett’s death and funeral, but couldn’t find the right way to phrase it. Fortunately, at that moment, Jude appeared with their drinks. And, smoothly as ever, she went straight to the relevant subject by saying, ‘I was sorry to hear about your husband’s death.’
‘Thank you,’ Heather replied formally. ‘It wasn’t totally unexpected. He was getting very frail. It’s strange, if you marry someone considerably older than yourself, from the start you kind of subliminally take on board that they’re likely to die before you. That doesn’t mean it’s not a shock when it happens, though.’
‘I’m sure it doesn’t.’
‘Are you married, Jude?
‘No. Have been a couple of times. Not currently, though.’
‘Carole?’
‘Divorced,’ came the crisp response.
‘And how are you feeling now, Heather?’ asked Jude. Carole envied her gentle directness, something that was partly instinctive and partly developed through her work as a healer. Carole knew if she had asked the same question, it would have sounded brusque and clumsy.
‘I’m not in too bad a place,’ Heather replied. ‘I don’t think it’s any secret that Leonard and my marriage was … well, let’s say not made in heaven.’
‘So, you actually feel some level of relief?’
‘Yes, Jude. I know that’s not the kind of thing the recently bereaved should say, but … yes, I am looking forward to the next stage of my life, to doing different things.’
‘Like starting the choir here?’
‘That kind of thing, yes. And of course, I’m busy helping to organize Alice’s wedding. That’s my main priority at the moment. Do you know Alice? She’s my stepdaughter.’
‘Yes, I met her,’ said Carole. Then, rather pointedly, ‘At the funeral.’
‘Of course. Well, I’m afraid you didn’t see her at her best then.’
‘No,’ Carole agreed, wondering if Heather was about to comment further on the incident which had galvanized Fethering.
But all the widow said was: ‘Grief affects people in different ways.’
‘And in Alice’s case, it made her aggressive?’ asked Jude. ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t actually at the funeral, but I did hear what happened.’
Heather Mallett grinned wryly. ‘I think everyone in Fethering heard what happened.’
‘Probably.’
Again, Jude’s gentle manner easily prompted further confidences. ‘Alice had a very complicated relationship with her father. She’s never really recovered from her mother’s death. She was at a difficult early teenage stage when it happened. I tried to fill the gap, but I know I wasn’t wholly successful. And Leonard was not an easy man. It’s no surprise Alice’s behaviour got a bit out of hand.’
Carole couldn’t suppress her instinctive response to that. ‘“Out of hand”? I think that’s something of an understatement. The girl did actually accuse you of murdering her father.’
Heather Mallett looked awkward. ‘I agree, that’s how it may have sounded.’
‘It wasn’t just how it sounded. It was what she actually said.’
‘Yes. I’m afraid it was the drink talking. She was very upset and confused, and I found out later she’d got through most of a bottle of vodka before the funeral started. Still, that’s in the past. And, as I say, she’s about to get married. I’m hoping that will settle her down a bit. Did you meet her fiancé, Carole?’
‘Briefly.’
‘Roddy may come across as a bit of a buffoon, but his heart is very definitely in the right place. They’ve known each other for years. I think he’s very good for Alice.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ said Carole, without much enthusiasm.
Again, Jude’s intervention was less acerbic. ‘It must have been tough for you, Heather, all the Fethering gossip following on from the funeral.’
‘It wasn’t great. Normally, I wouldn’t hear much of that stuff, but I was making a very positive effort to get out more around the village, so I couldn’t escape it.’
‘Bob Hinkley even said the police got involved …’ Carole dangled the thought, fishing for more information.
And she got a bite. ‘That was even before the funeral. They got in touch with me on the Tuesday, because someone had contacted them, making accusations about my having killed Leonard.’
‘Was it Alice?’
‘Oh, good heavens, no. I’m sure she wouldn’t have done that.’ It sounded as though she was entertaining the idea for the first time. ‘Just some local busybody with too much time on their hands, I imagine.’
‘Did Alice hear about the accusation?’
‘Yes, Jude, she did. I told her … which was perhaps not such a good idea, considering the emotional state she was in. Probably that’s what prompted her outburst in the church hall.’