There was just something I had to do.’
‘There’s plenty to do here/ said Murfin.
Cooper kept quiet. Friday afternoon wasn’t a time when he should have been in Somerfield’s looking for old men with walking sticks.
But hold on. He shouldn’t even be thinking about Friday afternoon. He should be thinking about Sunday morning - that was when the old man did his shopping. In Edendale, the bus companies ran limited services on Sunday. In fact, some routes didn’t operate at all. The man with the walking stick left Somerfield’s at the same time every Sunday morning, about 10.30 a.m. He walked slowly, too. So, allowing him fifteen minutes to get to the town hall, he couldn’t be expecting to get a bus home before 10.45.
Cooper looked around the office. There must be a bus timetable somewhere.
He went to the shelves that contained their reference library. They also contained a lot of other stuff that nobody knew what to do with, including a stack of urgent memos from county headquarters that was about a foot high and threatening to topple over. But Cooper eventually found what he was looking for.
‘Route 19. The 10.53 bus to Southwoods,’ he said aloud.
Gavin Murfin paused in his transcribing. ‘A bus to where?’
‘Southwoods.’
‘Southwoods? Ah.’
‘Do you know it?’
‘Of course I know it. There’s a decent chippy up there, near the community centre.’
As usual, Cooper found his attention turned off when Murfin got on to the subject of food.
‘Would the 10.53 on Sunday morning be a busy route, I
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wonder?’ he said. ‘And would it usually be the same driver on duty?’
‘Sunday morning? No, that’s no good at all/ said Murfin.
‘Why not?’
‘The chippy isn’t open on a Sunday.’
‘Gavin, will you get on with your notes and leave me be?’
Cooper got up and crossed the room to get his coat. Murfin watched him until he was nearly out of the door.
‘What I can’t understand, Ben/ he said, ‘is why you’re going to Southwoods on the bus, anyway.’
It took only a couple of phone calls to the bus depot in Baslow to establish that the driver he wanted was currently operating the Route 19 service between Edendale Town Hall and Southwoods Estate. Cooper managed to obtain the times when the bus stopped for a few minutes at the terminus outside the town hall, and he was waiting there when the vehicle pulled in and discharged its passengers.
The bus driver looked at his warrant card. ‘You’re looking for an old chap with a walking stick and shopping bag? Yes, I know him. I have to help him on board sometimes. He has some days that are better than others, if you know what I mean/
‘That’s wonderful. And where does he get off?’
‘Corner of Wembley Avenue, near the Unitarian church.’
‘Does he live on Wembley Avenue?’
‘Well, I couldn’t be sure of that. But he heads in that direction. He might be visiting somebody, for all I know.’
‘Visiting?’
‘Well, a girlfriend or something. Or his mother. 7 don’t know/
Cooper stared at him. ‘His mother. Yes/
‘I didn’t mean his mother/ said the driver. ‘He’s getting on a bit. His mother will most likely have passed on/
‘Have you ever noticed how far up Wembley Avenue he goes?’
‘No. He’s not too nippy on his pins, so he’s hardly got up the street when I pull away. There are two more stops between there and the terminus/
Passengers were starting to squeeze past Cooper to get on the bus as he stood talking to the driver. He became aware that a couple of old ladies had sat down near the front of the bus and were listening to his conversation, with their hands folded on their laps and their eyes bright with interest.
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‘Can you drop me off there?’ he said.
‘Where?’
‘Wembley Avenue.’
“Course. But you’ll have to wait while I finish getting passengers on.’
Cooper sat down opposite the old ladies, who nudged each other and eyed him eagerly. He looked out of the window at the town hall, desperate not to meet their gaze. He had a horrible premonition of what they were going to say to him, given a minimum of encouragement.
The facade of the town hall boasted four decorative pillars. They stood on ornate bases, which had been partially obscured by the disabled ramps and handrails installed a few years ago to make the place accessible. The building had been edged with decorative stones that had been carved with a wavy pattern. There were so many of
