‘Of course not,’ Angie replied. ‘He’s paying now for the caravan, so he could pay me rent instead. And I’ll be paying him anyway for working behind the bar.’
‘You’ve got it all worked out in a very short time,’ Kate remarked drily.
‘I’ve been thinking about it all day,’ Angie said. ‘I just need to check it all out.’ She paused. ‘Anyway, why are you looking so glum?’
‘There’s been another death at Seaview Grange,’ Kate said.
‘Oh my God! Who is it this time?’
‘Sharon, the cleaner.’
Angie sniffed. ‘So what was she up to? And how did she meet her end?’
Kate told her. ‘What makes it worse is that she was on the phone to me just seconds before, telling me that she knew where the evidence was and who the killer might be. But the person concerned must have overheard because the next thing we know is that Sharon’s at the foot of the stairs, dead. And her phone’s disappeared.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Angie, stifling a yawn, ‘but it’s not as if she was a friend of yours.’
‘We had become friendly,’ Kate snapped, ‘and it was on account of me asking her to look for evidence in the flats that this tragedy happened, so I feel responsible.’
Angie stopped in her tracks and glared at her sister. ‘Why do you always have to get involved? Try to forget this Karen.’
‘Sharon!’ Kate corrected. ‘And this is quite different. I’ve been involved right from the start when Edina Martinelli broke her ankle by falling down the same stairs. And I’m going to do my damnedest to find out who the killer is because it’s the least I can do!’
‘OK, OK,’ Angie said. ‘Look, we’re both tired, and you’re upset. We’ll both feel better in the morning I feel sure.’
‘Yes, you’re right.’ Kate hugged her sister. ‘Sleep well!’
After Angie had gone to bed Kate worried that she’d been a bit grumpy with her sister. After all, apart from the trip to the funeral in France, Angie was probably quite stressed about Fergal and about the purchase of The Locker. She had a lot on her plate; buying any kind of property was always stressful. Talking of property… Kate got The List out again and looked at her column for the Potter twins. They too had owned a shop that had changed hands, now Demelza’s Boutique. Could that be a lead? She decided to pay it a visit tomorrow.
Twenty-Five
As Kate walked up the main street in Middle Tinworthy, she wondered whether Demelza might have any knickers left over from the reign of the Potter sisters. She should really have bought some last time she went to Exeter but it wasn’t worth the long drive again.
There appeared to be a great deal of pink, both inside and outside the shop. A couple of faceless models in the window wore very glittery mini-dresses, which Demelza had pronounced as ‘perfect for the Christmas season’. Kate studied the thigh-high hemlines on the ultra-thin models and giggled at the thought of Woody’s reaction if she were to wear something similar to the police ball. Always assuming he asked her, of course!
Inside the girl sitting at the pink-painted desk was chewing vigorously while clicking frantically on her phone with sparkly purple nails. She had a forest of eyelashes and some bright pink streaks in her long dark hair. She also displayed an impressive front with a rose tattooed on one of her magnificent bosoms, and ‘Alan’ tattooed on the other. Whoever Alan is, she’s got him for life, Kate thought.
‘Can I help?’ The girl moved what appeared to be chewing gum to one side of her mouth. Kate saw her staring at the nurse’s uniform. ‘We don’t do much for older ladies,’ she added.
‘I guessed that,’ Kate said. ‘Are you Demelza?’
‘Yeah, that’s me.’ She stood up reluctantly and laid her phone on the table.
‘I don’t expect you can help me,’ Kate said, ‘but I wondered if you stocked ladies’ underwear, knickers, or whatever you call them these days?’
‘Well, we got a few. Is it for your daughter – or you?’ Demelza indicated a shelf at the rear of the shop.
‘For me,’ Kate confirmed.
‘We’ve not got much in the way of sixteens, though,’ Demelza said sadly.
‘Well, I sometimes fit into a fourteen,’ Kate said, already doubting her wisdom at coming over the doorstep. ‘But I believe this shop used to be an old-fashioned draper’s? Have you anything left over from then?’
Demelza sighed. ‘I suppose there might be something right at the back of the stockroom.’
‘Would you mind having a look?’ Kate asked.
Demelza shrugged and disappeared into the back of the shop, giving Kate an opportunity to have a look around. There were no drawers with folded-up items, only a few mini-dresses hanging round the walls and the blare of some pop music. She doubted if Daisy and Violet had ever crossed the door since they sold the place to Demelza.
Demelza returned. ‘No, we’ve got nothing.’
‘It’s just that I know the two old ladies who used to own this shop,’ Kate said.
‘A couple of tight-fisted old biddies,’ Demelza snorted.
‘Really?’ Kate was genuinely surprised. This was the first bad word she’d heard about the sisters.
‘Yeah, really,’ Demelza said. ‘Mean as muck they were! They wanted top price for this place and wouldn’t take a penny less. Apparently, they didn’t get the flat they wanted up at Seaview so they weren’t in the best of moods. They got quite nasty when I tried to talk them down. I pity anyone who got on the wrong side of them!’
‘Oh, you do surprise me,’ Kate said truthfully.
‘So would you consider a thong then?’ Demelza asked, coming up behind her. ‘I gotta lotta thongs. They’re ever so popular, you know.’ She looked at Kate. ‘Not so much with old people though.’
‘No, I really hadn’t considered a thong.’ Kate suppressed the desire to laugh. What would Woody say? Should she buy one just for the sheer hell of it? To see Woody’s reaction? She looked at Demelza’s bored face. ‘But I
