religious belief, I’d be joining a monastery as well.”
“Not if you loved your wife, you wouldn’t.”
“So do you think you’ll be able to live with it?”
“Yes,” said Agatha. And with increasing surprise: “Yes, I think I can. It really is all over now.”
? The Love from Hell ?
EPILOGUE
“AND is he definitely coming back?” asked Bill Wong. “Or we have to send out men to bring him back?”
“Oh, he’ll be back any day now. To wrap things up.”
“I don’t see that we can really charge him with anything,” said Bill. “A good lawyer would get him off like a shot. Attacked and injured, not himself, thought he was dying, didn’t look at newspapers. How did he get over to France?”
“Friends with a yacht.”
“I can understand James not knowing about the hunt for him, but his friends surely would. He’d better come and see us when he gets back and make a statement. I haven’t asked you: How did you know where to find him?”
“It was that diary of his.”
“But we went over it. Nothing there.”
“There was a bit about the monastery and the spiritual peace. Charles said it was a long shot, but James had been interested in miracle cures and he said it was worth a try.”
“Amazing how you pair discover things. Where is Charles by the way?”
“He felt like staying on in France, and he’d done so much for me that I got him to drive me to Marseilles and got a plane from there.” Agatha laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“I thought Charles had turned all generous, but before I left he asked for my share of the petrol money, and then he’d bribed some old fellow, and he asked for the money he’d given him because it was to find James. But it was good of him to urge me on to going to that monastery.”
“Megan is not going to trial.”
“Oh, why?”
“Unfit to stand. We’ve had every sort of psychiatrist to try to prove she’s faking it, but she does seem to be really mad.”
“I’m relieved I won’t have to go to court.”
“You still will have to. Luke Sheppard is being charged with conspiracy to murder. I’ll let you know the date of the trial. My bosses would have been really angry to find you were out of the country. They’d have expected you to be available for further statements. So I suppose I’d better put in a report about James.”
“Can’t you leave it? He’ll be here. The man of God has promised. And he does want that divorce.”
“All right. I’ll give it another week, and if he isn’t at police headquarters by then, I’ll send the gendarmes to get him.”
“But you said he wasn’t going to be charged with anything?”
“That’s true. But to wrap things up, he’ll need to make a statement about his long disappearance, and Wilkes will no doubt give him a dressing down about wasting valuable police time. But then, he didn’t murder Melissa, knew nothing about it, so he cad hardly be blamed for anything. And if someone hits you on the head with a hammer and you don’t report a crime – well, that’s that.”
“James said he thought Melissa was just someone with a personality disorder, not a dyed-in-the-wool psychopath.”
“Then he’s probably right. But if she hadn’t been so manipulative, holding out the offer of riches after her death to Megan, she’d still be alive. I wouldn’t blame James. I think even if he had reported her, she would have bided her time until the fuss died down, and then she would have killed Melissa anyway. I can’t see that one waiting years to see if Melissa died without helping her on her way. Oh, there’s one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“As far as we can gather, Melissa had not made a previous will. She had lied to Megan.”
“Why?”
“I think it might have amused her to think that if she died first, Megan was going to be one very disappointed woman.”
“And James got involved with someone like that?”
“He was thrown by his illness. Most of the people we interviewed seemed to find her very friendly and charming. What will you do now?”
“I’ll wait for James and we’ll go to a lawyer and start proceedings for a divorce. After that, I don’t know.”
“You’ll find something. Let’s hope it’s not another murder.”
“I don’t care if a body drops at my feet,” said Agatha. “Never again.”
“We’ll see. Now what about you and Charles coming for Sunday dinner?”
“Charles is in France and I can’t really think of anything other than getting things straight with James,” said Agatha. “I’ll let you fix a date when this is all over.”
“All right. I’ll hold you to it. What does Mrs. Bloxby have to say about all this?”
“I haven’t told her yet. I only got back last night. I’ll drop along and see her this afternoon. How’s your love life?”
“Dead. Nothing happening. Didn’t work out. We’re quite a pair.”
“You’ll find someone,” said Agatha, although she privately thought if Bill would stop taking them home, he’d find someone. “It’s different for you,” she went on. “You’re young. Lots of girls around. At my age, if the man isn’t married, then there’s something up with him, and nice widowers don’t pop up all over the place.”
“You could join one of those dating agencies,” said Bill, “You know, one of the good ones, where they try to match up people.”
“Thanks, Bill. But right now I feel like steering clear of involvements.”
¦
After Bill had left, Agatha fed her cats and was about to go along to the vicarage when the doorbell rang.
When she answered it, she stepped back a little and tried to wipe the look of dismay off her face. Jimmy Jessop and his wife, Gladwyn, stood on the doorstep. “We were touring the Cotswolds,” said Jimmy, “and I found I still had your home address. So I said to Gladwyn, ‘Agatha will be thrilled to see us.’”
Gladwyn gave Agatha a small, thin smile.
“Come in,” said Agatha reluctantly. “Can I offer you lunch?”
“No, we had some in a pub.”
“We only have a few minutes,” said Gladwyn. “What a quaint little cottage you do have. Me, I like modern. Still, it takes all sorts.”
“Where is your baby?” asked Agatha.
“My mum’s looking after him.”
“I heard they got someone for that murder,” said Jimmy. “You didn’t have anything to do with finding out who did it, did you?”
“I did indeed,” said Agatha, glad of an opportunity to show off. She outlined how she had discovered that Megan was the culprit while Gladwyn fidgeted and yawned.
“That’s fascinating,” said Jimmy when she had finished. “But what about your husband?”
“Oh, he turned up,” said Agatha airily.
“Everything all right?”
“Marvellous,” said Agatha. “We’re a very happy couple.”
“So where is he?” asked Gladwyn, her eyes boring into Agatha’s.
