“
She ignored this, and said blandly, “Did you have a nice holiday?”
He nodded quickly, and said, “I’d be glad if you could do my study first this morning? I want peace and quiet up there as soon as possible and no interruptions.”
“If that’s all right with Rachel,” Lois said, and added, “and the totally silent cleaner’s not yet been invented. Perhaps
Rachel was in the sitting room, plumping up cushions and stacking newspapers. “I don’t expect you to tidy as well as clean,” she said. She had said this every week before Malcolm’s disappearance, and then she couldn’t have cared less whether the house was clean, tidy or burnt down to its foundations.
Lois recognised the old catchphrase as a return to normality, and smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “If only all my clients were as thoughtful as you, Rachel. I’m to start upstairs, then?”
“Please, if you don’t mind,” said Rachel, apologetically.
Lois had all but finished in the attic study when she heard Malcolm’s step on the stairs. She rapidly rewound the cleaner flex and made for the door, but suddenly there he was, barring her way.
“All done?” he said, but he was not smiling. Lois nodded, moving forward. He put out a hand and took her arm. A shiver of fear made her start back. “Now, Lois,” he said, turning her back into the room. “I have meant to say this to you before, but now it’s even more important. A lot of my work deals with sensitive issues and anything you may see or hear in this room is strictly confidential. Do you understand? Papers, telephone calls, anything at all. Do I make myself clear?”
Stupid old fart! Suddenly Lois was angry. “Excuse me, Professor Barratt,” she said sharply, pulling her arm away from his restraining hand. “I’ll thank you not to touch me again, ever, and if I hear any more so-called warnings from you like that, I shall be handing in my notice at once. It seems to me,” she said, warming to the task, “that anybody who’s been away from home for weeks without letting his wife know where he is –
To her surprise, Malcolm smiled. “Wonderful!” he said. “I love it when you’re angry. Off you go, with your arms akimbo! Wonderful!” And he added to her departing back, “Don’t forget what I said, mind!”
Lois, furious, clattered down the stairs, all prepared to collect her coat and leave, but when she reached the hall she saw Rachel looking at her with a worried frown. “All right, Lois?” she said, her chin quivering.
“I suppose so,” said Lois wearily.
“I’ll make us a coffee,” said Rachel gratefully, and scuttled into the kitchen. Lois followed her and began to sweep the quarry-tiled floor. She hated it, with its liver-coloured tiles and dull surface that never came up to a good shine. As she simmered down, she reflected that after all it wouldn’t be such a good idea to give up the Barratts. She’d learn nothing more about Malcolm’s strange absence, nor about the reason he’d had that stain cleaned off his jacket. Maybe now would be a good time to get something out of Rachel.
“Oh, by the way,” she said. “Where did you take the professor’s jacket to be cleaned? Looks good as new. My Derek’s got a nasty oily stain on his and he won’t chuck nothing away…”
Rachel looked at her sharply. “Johnsons in Tresham,” she replied. Then she added, as if to herself, “Wretched jacket – what’s so special about it?”
“Special?” said Lois, taking her empty mug to the sink and rinsing it out. “What d’you mean?” she added casually. “Is it Exhibit A, or something?”
It was meant to be a joke, a tactful reference to the mystery of the disappearing professor, but Rachel’s reaction took her by surprise. “What d’you mean!” Rachel stuttered. “Has that Inspector been talking to you?”
Lois shook her head. “No, it wasn’t…I just meant…” She gathered her thoughts swiftly, and added, “Why, Rachel? Was he interested in the jacket?” But Rachel had withdrawn, taken up a vase of flowers and gone rapidly out of the kitchen.
Halfway through the morning, Lois was dusting upstairs in the big bedroom overlooking the drive. She straightened the curtains and saw a police car draw up at the gate. Since nobody seemed to be answering the door, she went quickly downstairs and opened it. “Morning, Inspector,” she said.
The Inspector’s smile was warm. “Good morning, Mrs Meade,” he said. “Is the Professor at home?”
“I’ll get him,” said Lois, but Malcolm had come up behind her.
“Thank you, Lois. I’ll look after the inspector now.” Dismissed, Lois walked slowly back up the stairs, straining her ears to hear what was said.
She managed to catch the tail end of a sentence, just before the sitting room door was slammed shut by Malcolm, “…and so I wonder if you’d mind telling me about that evening once more,” said the Inspector.
¦
“What made you think you’d be the only one to notice those jackets?” said Derek, pushing spaghetti around his plate. “Stands to reason. If an amateur like you can spot a thing like that, it’s a sure thing a professional will notice it, too. They’re highly trained, y’know. PC Plod is a thing of the past. But,” he added, looking at Lois crestfallen face, “he might not have come up with the connection. Not noticed the creosote on that trellis.”
“Bet he has,” said Lois miserably. Still, the whole jacket business might not be all that important. She’d only to find a reason why Malcolm Barratt visited Gloria, and she’d already come up with his oft-declared intention of ‘getting to know the locals’ by taking on the delivery of the village newsletter. And the doctor and the vicar had every reason to be there.
She brooded on this for a while, until Derek said, “Penny for ‘em,” as his fork chased the last piece of pasta across the table.
“Worth more than a penny,” said Lois, thinking quickly. “It’s the boys. They’ll soon both need new shoes.” She got up and kissed the top of Derek’s head, his springy hair tickling her nose. “You’d better get back to work,” she said. “Else we’ll never be able to afford them, the price trainers are these days. They’ll want the latest, of course.”
“Of course,” said Derek. “And as long as I can connect a couple of wires, they shall have the latest.”
¦
The shoe shop was crowded, as always on a Saturday. Most of the customers had helped themselves to a single shoe that took their fancy, and stood about trying to catch the eye of one of the very few assistants. After a long wait, the boys finally had their shoes, and Lois said they could go off for half an hour, but to meet her again by the entrance to John Lewis without fail. Josie had tagged along in the hope of new shoes herself, but Lois had very little money left.
“Next month, Josie,” she said. “Then it’ll be your turn.” They walked up the shopping centre boulevard, and Lois thought funds would stretch to an ice-cream while they waited for the boys. The ice-cream parlour was brilliantly lit. Too bright, thought Lois, to be welcoming. It’s like standing under a spotlight in a torture chamber. She squinted against the whiteness, wondering if they should go somewhere else, when Josie’s voice drew to her attention the tall figure of Melvyn Hallhouse standing in front of them, smiling broadly.
“Hi, Mrs Meade. Hi, Josie. Ice-cream all round? Er…like, it’d be an apology for getting it wrong the other night?”
Josie accepted quickly, before Lois could refuse, and they perched on uncomfortably high stools eating silently. Someone’s got to say something, thought Lois, and wiped her mouth with the paper napkin.
“Josie’s Dad came round, more or less,” she said. “Better not come to the house for a week or two, but after that I reckon it’d be all right…just at weekends.”
Josie beamed at her. “Fine!” she said.
But Melvyn shook his head. “Might not be around for much longer,” he said portentously.
A warm sense of relief flooded Lois, but Josie gasped. “Why? Where’re you going?”
“We might be movin’ away, up north,” said Melvyn. “Dad’s being moved in his job and Mum says where he goes we all go. They’ve sussed out a house to rent already. None of the rest of us want to go, but Dad says he has to be where the work is. Sensible, I suppose.”
Lois agreed quickly, adding that it always took a while to move house, so he’d be sure to be in Tresham for a few weeks yet.
Josie failed to cheer up, and threw her half-eaten ice-cream into the bin. “I’m going to look for the boys,” she said. “See you around, Melv.”
