“It’s catching, Bert,” laughed Suzie. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Gus and Suzie found a quiet corner in the beer garden and watched the sun disappearing behind the trees on the far hillside.
“Do you think Bert will take any notice of the gentle nudge we gave him?” asked Suzie.
“Gentle?” said Gus. “Brett might have hit on the best argument to persuade Bert and Irene to move in together. Irene hates the idea of going into a home just as much as Bert.”
“If we see Brett and Clemency later, we can organise a two-pronged attack,” said Suzie.
“I’m not sure the Reverend can actively encourage co-habitation,” said Gus. “Although there have been so many radical shifts in policy from the General Synod in the last twenty years, who knows?”
Bert Penman had disappeared when Gus returned to the bar to get their second round of drinks. As he left the bar and returned to their table, Brett and Clemency were just walking into the beer garden from the car park.
“Did you drive tonight, Brett?” he asked. “Shall I fetch two soft drinks?”
“We cycled here,” said Clemency. “Our bicycles are chained together against the wall.”
“I can afford to risk drinking one pint and be safe to cycle home, Gus, can't I?” grinned Brett. “Don’t worry. I’ll get our drinks and join you in a minute.”
“How long has Brett owned a bicycle?” asked Suzie.
“He bought a mountain bike at the weekend,” said Clemency. “It rather puts my classic steed to shame, but fewer trips in the car will mean more chance of me shifting some of this excess weight. In the summer, it will be fun cycling together through the nearby countryside. Brett has also offered to accompany me during the winter months when I visit my sick parishioners. He says it isn’t safe to cycle alone at night.”
“It’s going well, isn’t it?” said Suzie.
Clemency blushed.
“It’s early days, but we do enjoy one another’s company.”
Brett returned with a pint of bitter and a white-wine spritzer for the Reverend.
“Anything interesting happening at work, Brett,” asked Gus.
“The usual fare, Gus,” said Brett. “We had a budgie in for a beak and nail trim, a string of routine vaccinations, and a bulldog with diarrhoea—the everyday life of a country vet. I sometimes understand why owners are afraid to bring their beloved pets to the practice because they dread hearing bad news, but one poor dog I saw today might not be suffering as much as he is if we’d seen him sooner. What about you? Another murder mystery to solve?”
“A nasty stabbing from seven years ago near Salisbury,” said Gus.
“On your old patch?” asked Brett.
“I was working on another case,” said Gus. “We only started looking at it today, so I haven’t formed an opinion yet.”
“Both our jobs are a series of beginnings and endings,” said Brett, taking another sip of his beer.
“The victim in our latest case had a vicious ending,” said Gus. “From my initial look at the murder file, we might need to go back to the beginning to find her killer.”
“Something struck you as strange in her past?” said Brett.
“A sixth sense,” said Gus.
CHAPTER 4
“Last night made a refreshing change,” said Gus.
“Fine weather and pleasant company,” said Suzie.
“Which would you prefer, fruit and yoghurt or cereal?”
“Scrambled egg on toast.”
Gus made their breakfasts, and they ate in silence.
“Steak and cheese tonight,” said Gus as he headed for the shower.
“I’ll have the same,” said Suzie, “but without the grilled cheese.”
Gus stood under the shower, wondering whether their child would have odd eating habits.
Gus didn’t consider himself to be a fussy eater. His parents had made sure of that. His mother cooked one meal for the three of them, and you ate that or went hungry. Gus was rarely hungry. Whatever she put in front of him, whether he loved it or hated it, hadn’t done him any harm. In the long run, it made life simpler to go with the flow. There was a large enough part of your life when you could make your own choices.
“How much longer will you be in there, Gus Freeman?”
“Sorry, boss,” said Gus.
Suzie took her turn in the shower while Gus dressed, ready for another working day. Gus wondered what sort of person was Theo Reeves. Before Theo had retired, he had been a graphic designer with a small company with offices in Wilton. While waiting for Suzie to finish in the bathroom, he ran through the list of questions he had settled on as he lay awake in bed earlier. The dawn chorus could be a blessing and a curse.
This morning, it allowed him to think about what Brett said last night. Beginnings and endings. A young Marion married an older, wealthy man, Graham Street, and gave birth to Martyn. Marion divorced and soon married someone only six years younger than Street. To a man who was on the same rung of the social ladder, was that normal, or could that be considered a strange beginning?
Suzie joined him in the bedroom.
“What’s taking you so long to get ready this morning?” she said. “Are you daydreaming again?”
“I’m just organizing my affairs ahead of my first interview,” said Gus. “It’s important I ask the right questions and understand how the answers I get will influence how we handle this case in the future.”
“Are you ready now?” said Suzie.
“Yes, Mum.”
“Come here. Your tie isn’t straight.”
Suzie adjusted the offending necktie and stood back to check Gus’s attire from head to toe.
“You’ll do,” she said.
“I didn’t polish my shoes, but rubbing the uppers on the backs of my calves has served me well for forty years.”
“Incorrigible. You’ll need to buck up your ideas from next
