‘Perhaps he didn’t,’ Clement said softly.
Over by the stove, Trudy noticed Ray Dewberry stop stirring the contents of the saucepan. It wasn’t hard to understand why. Her friend’s comment had had the same effect as that of a grenade tossed into the room.
‘But I thought the jury said it was suicide,’ Ronnie said, sounding puzzled.
‘Juries have been known to be wrong,’ Clement said mildly. ‘So you don’t think he was the type to kill himself?’
‘Nah, I don’t then,’ Ronnie said somewhat belligerently. ‘And nor I don’t believe he would ever hurt Iris neither. Now then!’ He shot Clement a challenging look, his chin jutting out slightly, but the coroner only smiled amiably and nodded.
‘I hear that you and David had a falling out over Iris not long before he died. Is that true?’
The boy’s father, not liking the way the conversation was going, stirred restively by the range, but his son shot him another scowl, this time his sharp blue eyes clearly carrying a warning. Whatever else his parent might think, he didn’t like his father fighting his battles for him.
At this display of grit, Trudy felt herself warming a little more to the unhappy lad. After all, he was clearly missing his best friend, and genuinely seemed to be mourning him, as well as sticking up for him and his reputation – unless, of course, it was all just an act?
‘Not to say a proper falling out,’ Ronnie answered the coroner, holding Clement’s mild gaze with his own, his jaw clenching slightly. ‘Me and David never really fell out about anything. Not bad like. He was the brother I never had, see.’
‘Me and the missus had three girls, straight off, before our Ronnie came along,’ Ray felt compelled to put in gruffly. ‘All of ’em married with kids of their own now of course. Wish the wife had seen ’em all … She’d’a loved the grand-kiddies … Ah well.’
Pointedly ignoring his father, Ronnie smiled grimly. ‘I grew up the youngest boy surrounded by girls who all delighted in telling me what to do. David was my ally, see. He helped me find frogs to put in their beds, and helped me dig up worms to put in their shoes …’
Clement grinned. ‘So you were still close, even after he’d gone off to university?’
‘He came back for the holidays,’ Ronnie said petulantly.
‘But wasn’t that more Iris’s doing?’ Clement asked, and the boy, after a quick scowl, grunted in acquiescence.
‘Yeah, I suppose it was,’ he agreed sadly. ‘Mad about her, he was.’
‘A lot of people in the village have remarked how lovely she was,’ Trudy put in, deciding it was time she added something to the mix. She watched Ronnie closely and sure enough, at this praise of the dead May Queen, angry colour swept up into his face.
‘Oh yeah, she was something to look at right enough,’ Ronnie said. ‘Pretty as a picture and rotten through and through.’
Once again his father moved a little agitatedly forward, as if to try and silence him, and then thought better of it.
‘You didn’t like her then,’ Clement said dryly.
‘That I didn’t, mister,’ Ronnie said flatly. ‘Everyone knew she was doing the dirty on him, seeing other men and what-not. She had half the silly old sods in the village wrapped around her little finger, and not just people our age neither, but married men who should’a known better. Old enough to be her dad, some of ’em! It was sickening. She even had some arty type promising to take her picture and make her famous and promising all sorts. And she lapped it up – all the attention. Made her feel like Gina Lollobridgida or something, I dare say.’ He shot his father’s stiff and disapproving back another scowl. ‘I don’t care if you’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead! Everyone saw her, going around in fancy clothes that she couldn’t afford to buy for herself, sprayed in French perfume and wearing gold. Where’d she get all those little gee-gaws, ey? From some silly old duffer who should have been old enough to know better, that’s who. Flirting, and playing up to them! The only one who couldn’t see it was David.’ He finally ran out of bile, his voice dropping to a more despairing tone now. ‘He would never hear a word said against her. Poor fool! And look where it got him!’
He slammed his hand down sharply on the table, making both his father and Trudy jump. Only Clement continued to watch him, unruffled.
‘I’m sorry you lost your friend,’ the coroner said gently. And for a moment, Ronnie Dewberry’s blue eyes swam with unshed tears. Then he shook his head and cleared his throat. ‘Yeah. Well …’
‘So you never fell for her charms yourself?’ Trudy ventured to break the small sad silence that followed.
‘No. Unlike some, I had more sense!’ Ronnie shot back.
‘She must have had some redeeming features though. Nobody’s all bad,’ Trudy tried again, but Ronnie was having none of it.
‘If she did, I can’t think of one. She was a nasty bit of goods through and through. She even treated her best friend like dirt. Now what does that say about her, hey?’
‘Her best friend?’ Trudy echoed.
‘Yeah, Janet Baines. Now there’s a decent enough girl,’ he added quietly. ‘She dresses proper, like, and doesn’t think she’s the queen bee. Mind you, she has a bit of a bad time with her mother, I reckon. She’s the over-protective sort,’ he added, as Trudy’s eyebrows rose in query. ‘Smothers her a bit, you know the kind. Janet’s her only child, and tries to keep her tied to her apron strings. I think that’s why Iris was able to get her claws into her – Janet, I mean. You know, she helped Janet get away from her mum for a bit and have some fun. If you can call it fun. Not that Janet … Well, it’s none of my business
