“Well, if you imagine that’s what you are…does that make it any easier?”
“No.” Carole switched off the ignition. “Ten minutes we’re going to wait here. If he doesn’t come out within ten minutes, we’re going.”
“But look, if he’s come here for a swim, or a work-out in the gym…well, that’s going to take him more than ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes,” Carole reiterated firmly, and folded her arms behind the steering wheel. She wished she had brought the
They didn’t have to wait ten minutes. In just over five Theo emerged from the Yeomansdyke spa entrance, and moved briskly across towards his Fabia.
He was unrecognizable. Gone were the tinted glasses and the black gear. Now he was dressed in beige chinos and a light tweed sports jacket. His whole body language had changed too. There was no longer any feyness, but a firm resolution in his stride.
“What on earth…?” breathed Carole.
“Wait till he gets back into the car, then follow him,” said Jude.
They watched the Fabia parked in front of them for what seemed an inordinately long time. Then their attention was drawn by the gunning of a powerful engine. They turned as one to see a silver BMW sports car speeding past them out of the car park. At the wheel, unaware of their presence, was the new Theo.
By the time they reached the road at the end of the Yeomansdyke drive, the car had disappeared, whether to the right or left they had no idea.
? Death under the Dryer ?
Seventeen
As the Renault nosed its way back along Fethering High Street, Jude suddenly shouted, “Park!”
“What?” demanded Carole, obeying nonetheless. She brought the car to a halt behind a muddy Land Rover. The back was sticking out and she began to manoeuvre so that the wheels should be exactly parallel to the kerb.
“Don’t bother with that.”
“But I must. I hate messy parking. What is this, Jude?”
“When we went past the salon, I noticed Connie was in there on her own.”
“So?”
“Well, we can go in and ask her about Theo.”
“Just ask her? Just like that?”
“Yes, of course. Why not?”
“It’s a bit obvious, isn’t it?”
Jude sighed with exasperation. “And what’s wrong with the obvious? We ask Connie about Theo. There’s probably nothing sinister in what he’s doing. There’ll be a perfectly simple explanation. We ask her and she tells us.”
“But we can’t just walk in. She’ll think it’s odd.”
“No, she won’t. She owns a hairdressing salon. People walk in and out all the time.”
“But not without an appointment.”
“Carole, are you coming?”
“I should really be getting back to Gulliver…”
“Fine. You do that.” There were times, thought Jude as she opened the car door, when being friends with Carole could be quite difficult. “Do you mind taking my vegetables? I’ll drop by and pick them up later.” She was tempted to say she’d drop by ‘without an appointment’, but restrained herself. Carole agreed she’d take the vegetables.
Jude looked back just before she reached the salon. Carole had straightened up the Renault first, made sure it was exactly parallel to the kerb, before driving it out of the space on the way back to High Tor. Her neighbour shook her head in bewilderment.
As Jude entered Connie’s Clip Joint, Barbra Streisand was trembling from the CD, doing one of those misleadingly quiet bits which always presages a full-volume screech. Connie herself was sitting with a cappuccino and a
“Hi. Good to see you. Like a coffee?”
“Please.” So much for Carole’s worries about not having an appointment. Jude wasn’t even sure that she needed a cover story, but just to be on the safe side, she produced the one she’d quickly prepared. “Actually, I wanted to ask you about Theo…”
“Yes?” Connie called from the back room by the coffee machine where she was preparing Jude’s cappuccino.
“I was talking to someone who was asking about hairdressers who might come and visit…you know, cut their hair at home. I know you told me you don’t do that. I was wondering if Theo ever ‘makes house calls’.”
“Don’t think he does. He’s never mentioned it.”
“I suppose it’d depend a bit where it was…you know, if it was near his home…”
“Maybe.” Connie came back into the salon and closed the back room door. “There’s your coffee.”
“Thanks.” Jude took a sip and wiped off the moustache of froth before asking, “Where does he live, actually?”
Connie looked surprised by her own reply. “Do you know, I don’t actually know.”
“Really? But if he’s a member of your staff…”
“No, I thought I told you.”
“Oh, that’s right. He rents the chair.”
“That’s right. And he pays me in cash, which is very good news. I’ve always believed there are some areas of one’s life that should be kept a secret from the taxman.”
“I agree,” said Jude. “So you really don’t have an address for Theo?”
“No. I always contact him on his mobile. I mean, I just had a call from one of his clients this afternoon. Wants a cut and highlights tomorrow afternoon. Two o’clock. So I’ll put it in the book and call Theo on the mobile so he knows to come in.”
“Is that the only booking he’s got tomorrow?”
“Yes. Neither of us doing particularly well at the moment.” But it didn’t seem to worry her. “I haven’t got a landline for Theo, so I’ve no idea whereabouts he lives. But then why should I? I mean, I get on with him fine, but it’s purely a business relationship. We don’t socialize together outside work.” Connie Rutherford pulled a lugubrious face. “I may be looking for a man, you know, but Theo wouldn’t be highest on my list of possibles.”
“No.”
“He’d be very good for my ego, keep telling me how wonderful I looked, but in other departments…” she giggled ruefully, “…I think I might be disappointed.”
“I think you might.” Jude took a sip of cappuccino. “So you don’t know whether he’s in a relationship?”
“I don’t know anything about his private life. Theo’s a great one for gossip, he loves earwigging on everything all the women who come into the salon talk about, he really encourages them, they open up to him…but, now I come to think of it, he never gives away anything about himself.”
“Good trick if you can do it,” said Jude, who could do it and recognized the technique. She asked a few more questions about Theo, but got similar answers. Connie had no idea about his private life. He didn’t volunteer any information, and few of his clients wanted to probe. Many Fethering women got quite a charge out of having their hair cut by a gay man, but they didn’t want too much detail. And Connie seemed equally incurious.
One thing Jude felt pretty sure of after she’d finished her questioning was that Connie had no idea about the change of persona that Theo had effected at Yeomansdyke.
“If you like,” the hairdresser concluded, “I’ll ask him in the morning.”
“Ask him what?” asked Jude.
