Ronnie began to back away under the attack, shaking his head at the barrage of questions.
‘What? No, I didn’t kill David! I didn’t kill Iris! Why are you saying all this?’
‘Because David wrote it all down,’ Janet said, her shoulders suddenly slumping, her voice dropping back to its normal level as the emotion seeped out of her, leaving her quiet and calm and grimly accepting.
Again Ronnie felt himself sway as fear rolled over him in great waves. ‘What? What did he write exactly?’ he whispered, not wanting to hear it, but knowing that he couldn’t go on a moment longer without it being said.
Janet looked at him now almost with pity. ‘He said you killed her. And then he hung himself in your barn. Except he didn’t, did he? You killed him. Unless you really did break his heart, and he killed himself after all?’
Trudy and Clement waited to hear what Ronnie would say next.
But Ronnie seemed incapable of saying anything. Instead he was staring at her as if one of them must have gone mad.
To both Trudy and Clement, who’d been watching and listening, hardly daring to breathe, let alone move, lest they make the situation even worse and more dangerous, it seemed as if Ronnie just froze. His jaw dropped and his face went slack. His eyes widened in total surprise. He looked as if he’d just been pole-axed.
‘What?’ Ronnie finally managed to whisper. ‘Are you saying David wrote down that I killed Iris?’
Something of his astonishment obviously reached Janet for now she stopped advancing towards him and stopped at stared at him instead, her head cocked just a little to one side. ‘Why are you looking so surprised?’ she asked, sounding half accusing and half genuinely puzzled. ‘He was your friend; you knew how clever he was. Did you really think he wouldn’t figure it all out? That you killed her?’
‘But I didn’t,’ Ronnie denied once more.
It was then that his father appeared around the corner of the house, a shotgun in his hand.
Chapter 33
‘What’s going on?’ Ray Dewberry asked, his eyes travelling from his son to Janet, to the coroner and then back to his son again. He strolled up to them, the shotgun broken casually across the crook of one arm. ‘I could hear raised voices all the way from the cowshed.’
At the sight of the older Dewberry, Trudy felt herself relax a little.
Beside her, Clement did not.
Instead he took a long, slow, breath, then moved one foot a little to the left, to make his balance more perfect. He clenched and unclenched his hands slowly, flexing his fingers and unutterably relieved to feel that neither of his hands were shaking.
He wasn’t a religious man, but in that moment he nevertheless offered up a lightning-quick prayer, amounting to little more than an appeal, really, that everything would be all right.
He wasn’t sure, but he thought he might die very soon.
‘Dad, it’s all right, it’s nothing,’ Ronnie said quickly, the first of them to speak.
His father looked at him, his bluff, ruddy, handsome face, frowning slightly. ‘What’s she doing here?’ he asked mildly, nodding at Janet.
‘We were going on a picnic,’ Ronnie said, feeling somehow very foolish.
Ray Dewberry smiled. ‘That sounds nice. A good-looking lad and pretty lass like Janet – that’s just the sort of thing you both ought to be doing. Off you go then, enjoy yourselves.’
Clement went more than a little cold. His mind instantly started calculating the pros and cons. On the one hand, getting Janet and Ronnie out of the equation limited the potential number of victims. On the other hand, it heightened the risk to Trudy, and himself, significantly. He didn’t mind so much on his own account – he was virtually an old man, and bloody Parkinson’s would soon start to erode his quality of life anyway.
But Trudy was so young …
Ronnie hesitated visibly. ‘Dad, I don’t think …’ he began to say, but didn’t get the chance to finish.
‘Mr Dewberry,’ Janet said. ‘There’s something—’
‘Janet, be quiet,’ Ronnie said harshly, urgently.
Janet, astonished, just gaped at him. ‘I will not!’ she eventually huffed. ‘Just who do you think you are to be telling me what to do? Besides, he’ll have to know sooner or later. Shall you tell him, or will I?’ she added aggressively.
Clement felt himself begin to sweat. He had to do something before it was too late. ‘Janet, I think we should drive you to the hospital to see your mother,’ he said quietly but firmly, glad to hear that his voice sounded calm and casual.
As he spoke, he tested his balance again. With his feet now planted firmly, it would give him the best chance of good propulsion if he had to suddenly spring forward …
Trudy looked at Ronnie, then at Clement, then at Ray, not sure what was going on. She had a slightly giddy feeling, as if she was looking down a kaleidoscope that kept twisting and turning slightly, altering reality around her. What the hell was going on here? What was she missing?
‘Mother can wait,’ Janet said
