He listened for a moment but the silence thickened, so this time he pressed his face even closer to the letter box, yelling as loud as he dared: ‘I’m sorry to disturb you when it’s so late, but I’m really worried. Molly hasn’t come home, and I don’t know where she is. I was hoping you might be able to help me.’
Upstairs, Peggy Benson and her husband, Roger, woke with a start.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ Leaning up on one elbow, Roger looked a sorry sight with his wild, ginger hair standing on end, and his eyes like two sunken holes in his features.
‘Dammit! Can’t a person get a decent night’s sleep after a long working day?’ Peggy grumbled. When her husband fell back and seemed to be nodding off again, she shook him violently. ‘Roger, wake up!’
He groaned as though in agony. ‘Aw, dammit! Leave me alone. It’s probably some drunk lost his way. He’ll soon get fed up if we ignore him.’
‘How the hell can we ignore him? We’d best get rid of him, or he’ll wake the entire street.’
Roger lazily opened one eye. ‘I said leave him. He’ll soon get the message. Go back to sleep, woman.’
‘I can’t!’ She shook Roger again. ‘Listen! He’s causing a commotion out there.’ She gave a long yawn. ‘Please, Roger. It’s all right for you; you’ve been out for most of the day, while I’ve been stuck behind the bar. I’m bone tired. Please, Roger! Just go down and chase the bugger off, whoever he is!’ Frustrated when he didn’t move, she gave him a hard dig with her elbow. ‘Go on then!’
‘Why can’t you “chase the bugger off”?’
‘’Cause I’m a woman, and you’re a man … or you should be.’
‘Like I say, ignore him. He’ll get fed up when he realises we’re closed.’
The shouting stopped and they lay back to catch up on their much-needed sleep. But after a few minutes the peace was broken yet again.
This time the voice was even louder. ‘It’s John Tanner. I’m looking for Molly … my wife. She hasn’t come home yet. Is she in there?’
‘Well, I never,’ Peggy said, hearing clearly this time. ‘It’s Molly Tanner’s husband. He’s asking after Molly. He says she hasn’t come home yet.’
‘Damn and bugger it, woman!’ Bleary-eyed, Roger sat up again. ‘What makes him think she’s still here? For pity’s sake, get down there and tell him we need our sleep, and that his wife left ages since.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I didn’t see her leave but she must have gone while I was fixing the light in the cellar. But do I recall you saying she left with some bloke?’
‘That’s right. They went off ages ago, both of ’em the worse for the drink.’ Now Peggy was concerned. ‘You don’t think something’s happened to them, do you? I mean, they were more than a bit jolly. What if they wandered into the road and got run over, or fell into a ditch or something?’
‘Don’t be so dramatic, woman. She’s probably gone back to her friend’s house for a good old time – lucky beggars! And there’s us, can’t even get a decent night’s sleep, let alone enjoy a bit o’ slap and tickle.’
‘Aw, you poor thing. Well, unlike you, I’ve been up since five this morning, and I need my sleep more than you do. So get down them stairs and get rid of him. Oh, and you’d best not mention how Molly left with a man on her arm.’
‘You needn’t worry about that because I am not getting involved. Please, sweetheart, you’re much better at this kind of thing than I am.’
‘But I’m so tired, Roger.’ She tried a change of tack. ‘I don’t know where Molly is any more than you do. So please, help me out here, will you?’
He turned away, saying, ‘Get down there and see him off! You can have a lie-in, and I’ll get up and oversee the brewery’s delivery.’
‘No. What if I work the late shift again tonight instead?’ She much preferred that.
‘Nope.’
‘Hmm. Call yourself a man?’ Slinking out of bed, she gave him a parting slap across the shoulders. ‘And don’t think you can have your wicked way with me when I get back.’
‘Spoilsport!’ He turned over and gave her a cheeky little wink. ‘I really hoped I might be on a promise.’
‘Well, you were wrong.’ She threw her dressing gown over her nakedness. ‘You get back to sleep. I won’t wake you because I’ll be sleeping in the spare room tonight.’ She thrust on her slippers and strode angrily across the room, banging the door behind her. ‘Lazy git.’ Her sharp cursing echoed back to him.
‘Yeah, you too!’ Making a face, he turned over again and went back to sleep.
John Tanner was relieved when he saw the lights going on. A moment or so later, the door was opened by the landlady, who looked harassed and dishevelled in her hastily thrown-on dressing gown. ‘What the devil d’you think you’re doing, banging and shouting through the letter box? We were fast asleep in bed. Don’t you know what time it is?’
‘I’m sorry,’ John said. ‘I’m looking for my wife, Molly. She hasn’t come home from work yet.’
‘Well, I’m sorry, I have no idea where she might be. She ended her shift as usual, and then she had a last drink or so with her friend. As I recall, it was past closing hour when I turned them out.’
‘Who was it, this friend?’ John asked.
‘I have no idea.’ Peggy recalled that Molly and her friend had had a relationship before Molly married John Tanner, but she decided it would be best to keep her mouth shut.
‘Did they go off together?’
‘Well, I suppose they parted company once they were out of here … I don’t know.’ She was wishing she had not even mentioned Molly Tanner’s ‘friend’.
‘What did this friend look like?’
‘Sorry, I was run off my feet … too busy to take notice.’
‘When they left, though, did you see which way they went?’
‘Nope.’ The landlady hunched her shoulders. ‘Like I said, I was run off my feet. But I’m sure she’ll be home when you get back. Now, I need to go to my bed. I’m up at five in the morning.’
John was feeling desperate. ‘So you really can’t describe this friend to me?’
Increasingly uncomfortable at being put in this position, the landlady replied with a slow shake of her head.
‘Was it a man or a woman?’
Peggy cautioned herself against getting drawn into any business of Molly’s. Although she had never actually met John Tanner before she was well aware of his reputation as a decent, hard-working man and a fine husband. However, jealousy could change the situation in a minute.
‘I really must get back to bed,’ she pleaded. ‘Like I say, she’s bound to be home by the time you get there.’
Peggy was not the only one who had been surprised at John Tanner’s marrying Molly. It was local belief that he had settled for the wrong woman, although he appeared happy and contented.
For her part, Peggy Benson tried to distance herself from the gossip. It wasn’t good for business to be known for spreading tittle-tattle, especially about her own staff. She saw Molly as a good barmaid, but possessed of a sense of her own importance.
Peggy found herself feeling for John, who was obviously not aware of his wife’s devious nature.