an end approach?” she asked cautiously, not really expecting a positive answer.
Rodney shook his head. “The Germans are not going to give up that easily. I have a bad feeling that they’ve got something up their sleeve. If we don’t invade Europe soon and get this war over with, we could be in for a good deal of trouble.”
Elizabeth sighed. “It’s hard to believe the war has dragged on this long. Five years. Who would have thought it could last so long.”
Rodney nodded, his bleak expression chilling Elizabeth’s bones. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t last another five years.”
The thought was so depressing, she dismissed it from her mind. Besides, right now there was an immediate concern that had to be addressed. She hated to heap more worry on him when he looked so downcast, but the problem had to be faced, and as soon as possible. She took a deep breath. “Rodney, we really need to talk to Tess about what happened to Mr. Sutcliffe.”
He seemed to stir himself with an effort, and his face was drawn with anguish when he looked at her. “I know. That damn inspector will be here soon, and I dread the thought of what will happen to her.”
“You think she was responsible for his death.”
It was a statement rather than a question. He buried his face in his hands for a long moment, then slowly withdrew them. “I knew that wretched man spelled disaster from the first moment I set eyes on him. I tried to warn Tess, but she wouldn’t listen to reason. She has my temper… I don’t know…”
“Why don’t I talk to her,” Elizabeth said, her heart going out to the distraught man. “Where is she?”
“With her mother.” He looked up, his eyes dull with pain. “I don’t know what Daphne will do. Tess is all we have…”
“Let us not assume the worst until we know the truth.” Elizabeth rose, bringing Rodney to his feet. “I’ll send your wife down to you. I’d rather talk to Tess alone.”
He gave her a brief nod. “Very well. I’ll think of something to tell her.”
She left him alone with his agony, her heart aching.
A few minutes later, she found Tess alone. Daphne, it appeared, had felt the need for some fresh air and was taking a walk. Tess sat fully dressed on the edge of the bed, as if at a loss as to what to do next.
She looked terribly frail and helpless. Her dark eyes seemed to have sunk into her head, and the hollows in her cheeks were even more pronounced.
Elizabeth had to stifle the urge to put her arms around the child and hug her. “I thought we’d have a little chat,” she said, when the young girl invited her to sit down. “I know you lied last night, when you said you didn’t know who went into Brian’s room with him.”
A large tear squeezed out of Tess’s eye and rolled down her cheek. “I didn’t want to talk about it,” she whispered.
“Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened yesterday,” Elizabeth said, as gently as she could.
Tess shook her head. “No, I… can’t.”
“I think you know you’ll have to talk about it eventually. If not to me, then to the inspector. He’ll want to know everything that happened.”
Naked fear turned the girl’s face white. “What will happen to me?”
Elizabeth felt a spurt of anger for the events that had caused this young girl so much heartache. It wasn’t until that moment she realized just how much she’d been hoping she was wrong about Tess’s guilt. “That’s something we’ll have to worry about later,” she said, knowing she could offer little hope. “Just tell me what happened. Did he threaten you?”
“I pushed him,” Tess said dully. “He was standing in the doorway of the cellar with his back to the steps. I told him I knew about Fiona being in his room and that I didn’t want to see him again. He laughed at me and called me a silly little prude. I lost my temper and picked up the knife.”
Elizabeth briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them again she saw tears rolling down the girl’s cheeks.
“I would never have hurt him,” Tess whispered. “I thought he would have known that. But he grabbed the knife from me and I was afraid he’d…” She gulped and pulled in a deep breath. “I pushed him. He sort of stumbled back and I slammed the door and locked it.”
Elizabeth studied the tear-stained face. “And you left the key in the lock?”
Tess’s brows drew together as if she didn’t understand the question. “I don’t know. I suppose so. I didn’t take it with me.” She started crying in earnest. “He just kept pounding and pounding… I ran away. He must have fallen down the stairs in the dark and… and stabbed himself.” She buried her face in her handkerchief while Elizabeth waited for her to recover some control.
After a while she blew her nose, then laid her hands in her lap and continued. “I went back to the main hall to find Sadie. I saw my father and he asked me why I was upset but I couldn’t tell him. I just left him and ran outside. Sadie must have seen me and followed me out there. She persuaded me to go back in until after Wally and Aunt Prissy left. Then I changed my clothes and we walked down to the Tudor Arms where she’d left her bicycle.” She looked up, tears still rolling down her face. “I never meant to hurt him. Really I didn’t.”
“It’s all right, Tess.” Elizabeth got to her feet. “Try not to worry. I have a feeling this is going to work out all right for you, after all.”
She left the girl alone, hoping that her hunch was right. Everything depended on how soon she could talk to the people involved, and how long the inspector would be delayed before he arrived to question the Winterhalters. She could only hope she had enough time.
“Are you getting up, Polly?” Edna Barnett’s shrill voice echoed up the narrow staircase. “You’ll make us late for church if you don’t hurry.”
Upstairs in her bedroom, Polly pulled a face at her image in the mirror. “I’m coming!” she yelled back, and picked up the silver-backed hairbrush her mother had given her for Christmas. Pulling it through the tangles in her hair, she wished, as she had a thousand times, that she had Marlene’s lovely red curls.
She’d tried putting curlers in her own hair, but she only had to look at the rain and her curls would vanish, leaving her with the same boring flat hair.
She’d thought about getting one of those permanent waves, but the idea of being hooked up by a bunch of wires to a machine terrified her. Besides, if she didn’t like the results, she’d have to wait for it all to grow out again and that could take years and years.
Polly sighed and put down the brush. She wished Marlene would come home. She always felt better when her sister was around. Marlene used to cheer her up when she got the miseries. Now there was no one, except Sadie, and she spent most of her time with Joe lately. She missed her dad, too. Even if he was always telling her off.
Polly glanced at the photo of the smiling man in navy uniform that stood on her dressing table. It had been so long since she’d seen Pa she’d almost forgotten what he looked like.
“Polly?
“I’m coming! Keep your bloody wig on.” Polly jumped to her feet, grabbed her handbag and her jacket, and stomped from the room. She was wearing her best high-heeled platform sandals and on the way down the stairs she turned her ankle.
Limping into the kitchen, she felt like crying. Nothing was going right anymore. Nothing at all. It didn’t seem worth going to church. God didn’t listen to her prayers anyway. She’d prayed that Sam would come back from America and tell her he’d missed her too much to live without her. She’d prayed that Marlene would be sent back to England. She’d prayed for the war to end and all the soldiers to come back home. None of it had happened. None of it.
“Take that miserable look off your face,” Edna Barnett ordered, as the two of them set off for the long walk to the church. “What has a young girl like you got to be so gloomy about?”
“Everything,” Polly mumbled. If only Sam hadn’t gone and left her. Summer was coming, and she could have looked forward to picnics and rides in the Jeep and walks along the cliffs and cuddling in the car park behind the Tudor Arms. She got a pain in her chest every time she thought about him. When was it going to stop hurting? That’s what she’d pray for today. To stop hurting when she thought about Sam. Or maybe even to stop thinking about Sam.
