At Death's Door by Robert Barnard

Author:Robert Barnard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner

Chapter 11

THE NEXT MORNING was a terrible time for Roderick and Caroline, the more so because nothing was happening that involved them. After breakfast they rang the police station at Cottingham and were told that Chief Inspector Meredith had talked to Cordelia the night before and that she was being held there for further talks, once the inspector had completed his work at the Red Lion, which was where he was at that moment. No, they couldn’t say anything about when she would be released.

They felt completely helpless. The whole matter was in other hands, and God knew what the outcome would be. Roderick took Becky down the lawn to look in the tent, but he found that Pat had gone.

“He must have gone to the village early,” he said to Caroline. “Probably to go to the Red Lion or to pick up any gossip that’s going.”

So there was nothing to do but wait. They played ball in the garden with Becky and tried not to let any of their worry get through to her.

Pat came back about half past ten. He was carrying a plastic bag laden with goods, for he had gone from shop to shop, intent on gleaning information from customers or shopkeepers but forced in all conscience to buy, as well.

“I rang the police from the call-box,” he said, coming across the garden toward them. “They’re not saying when they will let her go.”

“We know. We rang them, too. We should have known they’d give nothing away. Did you find anything out?”

Pat slung his bag into the tent, and they all went and sat on the garden seat.

“The greengrocer had the most news. I’d forgotten he was actually there, in the Saloon Bar. I wasted time before that at the butcher’s and the general store. You can imagine what it was like. Everyone went very quiet as soon as they saw me come in. They’d obviously decided already that Cordelia did it. Most of their information, when they unclammed, was punk: They said that Cordelia had been arrested, they said she’d shot her mother at the climax of a row, and so on. I hadn’t got the full story then, so I couldn’t contradict them with any confidence, but when I said I was sure that Myra was still alive when Cordelia left the Red Lion, they all got this obstinate look in their eyes, and I could tell they didn’t believe me and would go on spreading their punk information.”

“What about Mr. Allenby—the greengrocer?” asked Caroline.

“The whole of Maudsley’s turning vegetarian for the day,” said Pat dryly. “He’s making a great thing of it. But presumably what he is giving out is accurate. When he says the row was long over when Myra was shot, people believe him, where they think I’m lying to shield Cordelia. He says Granville was in the bar all evening telling theatrical stories and getting quite a little group around him. Didn’t even go out for a call of nature. The shot was heard about ten to ten.

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