Death Comes to Hawbury by A J Ford

Author:A J Ford [Ford, A J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

‘Right then. Let’s see what Rachel has to say for herself, shall we?’

13

Rachel Eaves lived with her father in an ex-council house on the edge of Battley Common. The property was semi-detached and had been built in the 1960s. A cypress tree, almost as tall as the house and still wrapped in Christmas lights, dominated the front garden.

The two women climbed out of Verity’s car, and Leeanne led the way to the house.

A vintage caravan with flat tyres was parked on a paved area to the side of the house. A yellow transit van was alongside it, side door open, the radio playing a 90s hit from a “Madchester” band that Verity had disliked intensely back then, and her position on the matter hadn’t changed in the intervening years. Leeanne pushed open a metal garden gate, which grated against its hinges, with Verity following closely behind.

A skinny man in his forties stepped out of the caravan. He was wearing a red bucket hat, a yellow tracksuit top, and blue tracksuit bottoms.

‘’Kinell, Leeanne!’ he said, holding his hands before his face and making a show of averting his eyes. ‘Does that top come with sunglasses? It’s well trippy.’

Pretty rich coming from a man who looks like he’s trying to blend in with a soft play area, Verity thought.

The man dropped his hands and smiled at Leeanne, revealing small grey teeth. ‘Aright, our kid. How’s it going?’

‘Not so bad, Danny. How are you?’

‘Yeah, sound. Who’s the posh totty?’

‘This is my friend Verity,’ said Leeanne. ‘And before you start, she’s married.’

Danny eyed Verity up and gave her a cheeky wink. ‘Alright, love?’

Verity was sure she felt her ovaries shrivel as some primitive defence mechanism kicked in.

‘I’m very good, thank you,’ she replied coolly.

He turned back to Leeanne. ‘You after our kid, are ya?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Is this about that fella who died?’ he asked, adopting a solemn demeanour.

Leeanne nodded.

‘Bad news, that.’

‘Yeah, it is,’ said Leeanne, her chin lowered to her chest. ‘We just want to see how she’s doing, really.’

‘Top banana. We had that Dibble round, mithering, a couple of days ago, but we’ve heard nowt since. Have they had a word with you, an’ all?’

‘They’ve spoken to all of us, I think,’ Leeanne said, pointing between herself and Verity and then vaguely behind her to indicate those not present.

Danny removed his hat and ran his fingers through his thirty-year-old hairstyle. ‘Do they know what happened to him?’

Leeanne shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything either.’

He parted his mop of a fringe before putting his hat back on, then turned to the house and shouted up to the bedroom window.

‘Rachel!’

There was no movement from upstairs. He shouted again, this time cupping his hands around his mouth. ‘Rachel!’

He shook his head. ’She’s probably still in bed, the lazy cow.’

‘Don’t worry, we can always come back,’ said Verity.

A window, partially obscured by a huge satellite dish, flew open. Rachel’s head shot out.

‘What?’ she said irritably.

‘You’ve got visitors, you deaf cow!’

‘I heard you. I was in the shower!’

‘Again? Bloody hell, girl, you’ll dissolve if you carry on.

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