The house was quiet: too quiet. What was wrong? Bear. Where was the dog? Why hadn't he barked when his mistress fell? A cold hand tugged at Libby's chest. She stepped with care around Mrs Thomson and set off up the stairs.
‘Where are you going?’ Mandy squeaked.
‘The dog's missing.’ Libby went through the house, opening one door after another. ‘Bear, where are you? Come on out, it's me.’
Mandy sat on the stairs, transfixed by Mrs Thomson's body. ‘Maybe he's outside?’
Before Libby could search the garden, horns blared, lights flashed, and the emergency services arrived in force. Joe Ramshore was first. ‘Mrs Forest. What are you doing here?’
Mandy said. ‘We found Mrs Thomson.’
‘Did you?’ He frowned at Libby, eyes narrowed, suspicious. The ambulance crew whispered in his ear. ‘Another body,’ he said. ‘And once again, you're on the spot.’ He took Libby's arm. ‘Might I ask what you were doing here?’
The wooden chair at the police station, designed for utility rather than comfort, made Libby's back ache. She stared ahead at uninviting walls, bare of pictures or notices, painted dull grey. Mandy sat next to her at the plain wooden table, swirling cold, undrinkable tea inside a paper cup. Detective Sergeant Ramshore tilted his chair back, until only two legs touched the floor, waiting blank faced for an explanation.
‘We went to the house to look at a photo,’ she said. ‘Mrs Thomson showed it to me earlier when I visited. To walk the dog.’
His expression didn't change. ‘You were looking after Bear?’
‘Max – your father – he's away.’
Joe raised one eyebrow in disbelief. ‘And he asked you to take over the dog walking?’
Libby held his glance. ‘Why not?’
He shrugged. ‘So, you came back here in the evening, to visit an old woman? Didn't you realise you'd frighten her at this time of night? It looks like she tried to get to the door, wearing her ragged old slippers, and tripped on the stairs.’
‘What?’ Furious, Libby leaned forward. ‘Are you saying it's my fault?’
‘Have you got a better idea?’
‘The dog's missing. Maybe she was going out to look for him?’
Joe crossed an ankle over the other leg, tapping his cup with a long finger. ‘In the dark? We'd know more about that if you hadn't broken in, making such a mess of the back door, wouldn't we?’
‘We had to get in.’ Libby was indignant. ‘We could see her at the bottom of the stairs. She could still have been alive?’
‘OK.’ He uncrossed his legs. ‘Fair enough, I suppose. Anyway, I'm afraid the poor old soul's gone. She must have been almost ninety, and she lived all on her own. Something like this was bound to happen one day.’
‘You think it's another accident, then?’
The detective laughed. ‘Mrs Forest, please don't start imagining someone murdered Mrs Thomson. Old ladies fall all the time. It's amazing she lasted so long, alone in this place. No one broke in. The only damage is to the kitchen door, thanks to you.’
‘Can we go home, then?’
When Joe smiled, he looked like his father. ‘I'll get one of my men to drive you.’ Tired, Libby and Mandy trudged along the drab corridor of the police station. ‘And Mrs Forest.’
She stopped. ‘Yes?’
‘Try not to find any more bodies for a few days.’
16
Bear’s Adventure
Libby tapped out a brief text for Max before she fell, exhausted, into bed.
Can't send photo after all. Explain later. Please text addresses of band members
She was asleep even before the whooshing noise sounded, announcing that the text had gone.
A series of messages greeted her when she woke.
What's going on?
Hope everything OK.
Here are addresses
She smiled. Max was no more able to use text speak, full of gr8 and thx, than she. She copied the addresses onto a scrap of paper and folded it, sliding it into a pocket in her handbag.
‘I'm worried about Bear.’ She poured cornflakes into a bowl. Mandy, white faced, a faded grey dressing gown pulled up to her chin, looked like a vampire. She cradled a coffee cup in both hands and grunted. Libby hid a smile. It was good to have a teenager about the place again, failing to communicate. ‘I'm going back to see what happened.’
‘You know it's not half past six yet, don't you?’
‘You can talk.’ Concerned, Libby considered Mandy's pale face. ‘Couldn't you sleep?’
Mandy shivered. ‘I kept thinking about that poor old lady.’
‘I know. We'll talk about it later, after you get back from the bakery. In the meantime, I'm going to find out what happened to Bear.’
I can't face Max if something happens to the dog, as well as to Mrs Thomson. She longed to email or ring, to tell him, but she couldn't. It would be unfair while he was too far away to help.
Fiercely, she chopped a banana into tiny pieces and dropped them into her bowl. ‘I can't just leave him any longer.’ Besides, she wanted to get to the Thomson house early. There was a job she meant to do.
Mandy heaved a sigh and pushed herself up from the table. ‘I'll come with you.’
‘No.’ She wouldn't involve Mandy any further. ‘You have to get to the bakery. I landed you in enough trouble yesterday, and I won't do it again. If Detective Sergeant Ramshore finds out we've been back to the crime scene, we'll go straight to the top of the suspect list. That is, when he works out Mrs Thomson didn't fall.’
Mandy's mouth hung open. ‘You think she was pushed?’
‘Of course she was. How many unexplained sudden deaths does a place like Exham have in the average week? Yet, here are two in a few days.’
Mandy sucked at a corner of toast. ‘There are lots of old people here. You know, in Haven House and that new place near the kid's playground. There must be dozens of people dying every week.’
‘I hope you're exaggerating. Anyway, Susie wasn't old and it's too much of a coincidence.’ Libby stirred the banana into her cereal. ‘Think about it. She comes back to Exham for some reason, we don't know why. Next minute, she's dead. Then, one of the few people who really cared about her dies.’
She pointed her spoon at Mandy. ‘I was beginning to think the police were right, and Susie's death was an accident, but this is one coincidence too many.’
Mandy got to her feet and stacked her bowl in the dishwasher. ‘In that case, I'll definitely come with you. You can't go alone. Someone has to keep you out of trouble.’
Libby choked on her cornflakes. ‘Nonsense. I'll be careful. Anyway, Frank can't bake bread and serve at the same time, and we mustn't let him down.’
If she hadn't been so worried about Bear, Libby would have enjoyed the walk to Mrs Thomson's house. The wind had died away overnight, and the rain had stopped. The sun was almost up, peeping from between heavy clouds that threatened more storms before long. She'd offer to take Shipley out soon. She'd been neglecting him, deserting the poor animal for Bear, and she doubted Marina would have exercised him.
They'd have a good run on the beach later, before the weather broke