ask it, anyway. Did you see anyone else around the back of the kitchen?”
He shook his head. The action must have banged the bridge of his glasses against his nose. He winced before replying, “No. No one. Well, that is to say, I saw the bikers making their getaway. And that little Smart car.”
“Yes,” Jude mused, “I wonder who was in that Smart car?”
“Anyway, I didn’t see anyone else who was on their feet. Till you two appeared. I was only out there less than a minute.”
“And you’re sure Dan Poke didn’t go into the kitchen?” asked Carole.
“Not after he’d finished his act, no. He was waiting there before Ted introduced him.”
“While you were still tidying up?”
“Yes, Jude.”
“Did he say anything to you?”
“Not a word.”
“A bit standoffish of him.”
“Well, he was about to do his act. He probably needed a bit of quiet time to, you know, get his concentration together.” Ed Pollack was clearly one of those people who could find excuses for anyone’s behaviour.
“And…it’s hardly worth asking this either, but did you – ”
Ed was ahead of Carole. “No, I did not see Dan Poke take one of my knives while he was here.”
Jude sighed. “So we aren’t really a lot further forward.”
“Further in what?”
“Well…” She felt surprisingly embarrassed by the question.
“Further in our investigation,” said Carole firmly. “Jude and I are determined to find out who killed Ray Witchett. And indeed why.”
Ed Pollack nodded, rather more cautiously this time. “Good for you,” he said. “If I remember anything else relevant, I’ll let you know. But I think it’s unlikely. The police covered all of the ground with me, and you now know as much as I told them.”
“Did you know,” said Jude suddenly, “that Ray admitted to me that he’d changed round the tray of scallops in the fridge on that Monday?”
The chef looked really amazed by the news. “But why?”
“Someone told him the ones in the fridge were poisoned. The exact opposite of the truth. Ray thought he was saving the Crown and Anchor from an attack of food poisoning.”
“But who the hell told him that?”
Jude chewed her lip with frustration. “That’s the one thing that I don’t know. We were interrupted when Ray was about to tell me.”
“And,” said Carole tartly, “to stop him telling anyone is quite possibly the reason why he was murdered.”
The door from the bar clattered open and Zosia entered with a small pad from which she tore off a couple of sheets. “Food orders, Ed. We have actually got a few customers out there.”
“Oh, right, I’d better get on,” he said, taking the orders. Zosia returned to the bar. “By the way,” Ed asked Carole and Jude, “what are you two having?”
“What do you recommend?”
“Actually,” he replied hesitantly, “I do have some very nice scallops. Doing them with crispy bacon and leeks today.”
Jude, on the principle that lightning never struck twice, did go for the scallops. Carole, for whom the very idea revived her terror of being sick, opted for the shepherd’s pie. The chef started to busy himself at the stove.
“Ed,” said Jude, “just going back to the Monday morning when the scallops were switched…”
“Right,” he murmured, preoccupied with pouring olive oil into a pan.
“As I recall, you said you and Ted and Zosia were all out of here shifting some beer barrels in the cellar…”
“Yes, they’d got jammed down the chute when they were taken off the delivery van.”
“And did the delivery man help you down in the cellar?”
Ed Pollack let out a sardonic laugh. “No way. The day he does anything helpful, pigs’ll fly.”
“Oh, so he’s a regular delivery man, is he?”
“Yes. What’s more, you two have probably met him.”
Both women looked bemused. “Have we? Who is he?”
“His name’s Matt. He’s the one who’s knocking around with Ted’s ex-wife.”
Carole made eye contact with Jude. “Is he now?” she said.
? The Poisoning in the Pub ?
Eighteen
Carole and Jude wanted to talk to Ted Crisp, but he wasn’t back from his visit to the bank by the time they’d finished their food. A few other customers had arrived in the pub, but they were mostly French or Dutch tourists, who presumably did not know the Crown and Anchor’s sensational recent history.
Because business was slack, Carole and Jude managed to talk again to Zosia, but she couldn’t add much to their stock of information. Yes, she knew Matt sometimes drove the van that made deliveries from the brewery, but she didn’t know much else about him. And she hadn’t noticed him doing anything unusual the morning of the food- poisoning debacle.
So the two women left the Crown and Anchor in a state of some frustration. The discovery about Matt might be a breakthrough, but they couldn’t quite see how. And they really needed to find out more about Ray, who his contacts had been, how he used to spend his time. Jude wondered whether another visit to Nell Witchett might glean some more information, but she wasn’t over-optimistic.
Almost every other potential line of enquiry involved talking to Ted Crisp, and even when they finally found him they weren’t sure how cooperative with them he would be.
Mind you, Jude’s scallops had been delicious.
¦
When she got back to Woodside Cottage, the light on her answering machine was flashing. There was a brief message from Sally Monks.
That morning Nell Witchett had been found dead in her bed.
? The Poisoning in the Pub ?
Nineteen
Carole also had a phone message when she returned to High Tor. It was from Sylvia. She just said ‘Sylvia’ on the phone. Carole hadn’t really considered before what the woman’s surname might be, but she supposed it was probably still ‘Crisp’. Sylvia Crisp. What on earth could she want? Dutifully Carole returned the call.
“Hello,” said the distinctive nasal voice.
“How did you get my phone number?” asked Carole.
“I am capable of using a phone book.”
“Oh.”
“Look, is Ted with you?”
“Is Ted with
“I can’t raise him at the pub, he’s not answering his mobile. I thought he might be hiding out with you.”
“Why would he want to hide out with me?”
“Well, you two are an item, aren’t you?”
Carole’s instinct was to deny the allegation hotly, but then she stopped to think. Sylvia might be more forthcoming if she believed she was talking to her ex-husband’s girlfriend. No harm in letting the deception run for a
