“Okay. I’ll find it.”
“Be careful, Jill. If this guy is half as bad as you said, he could be dangerous.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Will you let me know how you get on?”
“Of course I will.”
***
It was late afternoon, and I was thinking of calling it a day. We had the amdram play that evening, so we were going to have an early dinner. I was just on the point of leaving when Mrs V came through to my office.
“Jill, there’s a Mrs Elizabeth Judge out here. She wondered if you could spare her a few minutes?”
What was Elizabeth doing here?
“Yes, of course. Send her through, would you?”
Elizabeth, who was clearly flustered, hurried into the room. “Thanks for seeing me, Jill. I assume you’ve heard about Mulgrave?”
“Your sister called me over to the manor this morning. I have to admit I didn’t see that coming at all. Mulgrave seemed fine when I saw him yesterday.”
“Something about this doesn’t ring true.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ransom is acting very peculiarly. Did you know he planned to stay on at the manor house?”
“Yes, I saw him this morning, and he said he was going to stay with your sister for a few days to make sure she was okay.”
“That’s a joke.” Elizabeth scoffed. “He’s never shown the slightest interest in her wellbeing before. Whenever she’s been poorly, I’ve always been the one to look after her. Why the sudden about-turn? That’s what I’d like to know. But it’s not just that, Jill. I’m finding it really hard to believe that Mulgrave would have taken his own life.”
“What exactly are you suggesting? Do you think someone might have murdered him?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“Did you know the goblet was found in his room?” I said. “Maybe the guilt at what he’d done overwhelmed him?”
“I don’t buy that. I simply can’t convince myself that Mulgrave would have taken the goblet in the first place.”
“Did you mention your suspicions to the police?”
“Yes, for all the good it did. They seem to believe it’s a straightforward case of suicide. That’s why I came to see you.”
“What exactly is it you want me to do?”
“Keep an eye on my sister and try to find out what really happened to Mulgrave.”
“Caroline has told me to consider the case closed.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m quite happy to pay you from this point on. I just don’t want anything to happen to my sister. Will you do it?”
“Of course. I’ll go around there tomorrow and see what I can find out.”
The truth was, I shared Elizabeth’s concern for Caroline, and I certainly didn’t trust Ransom.
“Thank you, Jill.”
“Before you go, could I ask you something?”
“Yes, of course. Anything.”
“Mrs Jones told me she heard you and Ransom arguing on the night of the birthday dinner. Do you remember what that was about?”
“We argue all the time, that’s nothing unusual, but yes, I do remember. He accused me of not caring about my sister. He tried to tell me that he was the only one who had her interests at heart. I’m afraid I saw red and let him know exactly what I thought about him.”
***
When I pulled up outside the old watermill, there was no sign of Jack or Florence. I’d just got out of the car when I heard someone calling to me.
“Hi there! Hello!” A woman in her early forties waved to me. Sporting a bright orange top, she was struggling to walk due to the combination of high heels and a tight pencil skirt. When she did eventually reach me, she said, “Hi, I’m glad I caught you. My name’s Olga. I’m your next-door neighbour.”
When we’d lived in Smallwash, our next-door neighbours had lived in the adjoining house. Here in Middle Tweaking, the nearest house was a good fifty yards up the road.
“Pleased to meet you, Olga. I’m Jill.”
“We’ve only recently moved to the village ourselves, about six months ago. We’re from the West Midlands.” I’d already gathered that from her accent. “I’ve been meaning to come over and introduce myself ever since you moved in, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had the chance. I’ve seen your husband and your little girl a number of times.”
“Jack works from home. You’ve probably seen him taking and collecting Florence from school. She’s just started there.”
“We have two children. Olivia is twelve, and Oliver is ten in a month’s time. You’ve probably already seen my husband, Oscar.”
“I don’t think so.”
“He’s the postman. We were lucky that he was able to transfer his job down here.”
“Do you work, Olga?”
“Not at the moment, but I’m on the lookout. Something in retail, preferably. If you hear of anything, let me know, would you?”
“Sure.”
“I wanted to say we’d love for all of you to come over to our house some time. For a cuppa and cake, maybe.”
“That would be nice. Thanks.”
“I’d better let you get going. Speak soon, I hope.” She turned on her (very high) heels and made her way slowly—very slowly—back up the road.
Jack was all by himself in the lounge.
“How come Florence didn’t come to meet me? Is she with Buddy in the garden?”
“No, she’s upstairs, in her bedroom. She’s been up there for the last thirty minutes.”
“What’s she up to?”
“I’m not sure. Playing with her toys, I imagine.”
“I’ve just been speaking to our next-door neighbour.”
“I didn’t realise we had one.”
“She lives in the next house up the road. Her name’s Olga. She has a weird dress sense but other than that, she seems okay. Her husband is the postman and they’ve got two kids. A boy and a girl. Twelve and ten,
