Game, Set and Murder by Elizabeth Flynn

Author:Elizabeth Flynn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lion Hudson
Published: 2013-08-23T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Huge tears welled up in Joanna’s eyes and poured down her cheeks but she said nothing as she gazed into Angela’s face.

“Would you like a cup of tea?” asked Angela. Joanna nodded silently. The tears rolled unabated. Angela telephoned the instruction to Gary and looked at Joanna with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“I’ve been absolutely frantic.”

“I’m sure you must have. Most people, as far as I’m aware, have been thinking you’re anxious about your form and the… the situation with Stewart.”

Joanna managed a grim smile through her tears. “I’ve let people think that; it’s been convenient. Actually, I got over Stewart very quickly. I was devastated at first but about a week after I knew he’d had his first date with Candy I realized I felt relieved. Does that sound strange?”

“Not at all,” responded Angela. She thought back briefly to a time in her late teens when a boyfriend had dumped her. Instead of the sorrow she might have imagined, she had felt only as though a burden had fallen from her shoulders.

“Mmm… I mean, I loved Stewart, or thought I did, at least, but it took me a long time to realize that I could never quite relax with him. I always felt I had to look good, dress to impress and stuff like that, and kind of behave in a particular way. It’s his parents as much as him. You can’t slob out with the Bickerstaffs.”

Angela thought back over her meeting with Stewart’s parents and knew exactly what Joanna meant. “I can understand that,” she said. “I’m assuming, though…” Her voice tailed off and she dipped her head in the general direction of Joanna’s abdomen.

“Oh yes, it’s Stewart’s baby.” Joanna’s tears were drying up now.

“Does he know?”

“Oh yes. To be fair to him, he said he’d do the necessary.”

“What does he consider ‘the necessary’ to be?”

“I think he means he’ll pay for an abortion. When I spoke to him he just said that when I’ve sorted out the operation to let him know and he’ll do the necessary.” Joanna shuddered and tears started up in her eyes again. “I’ve been beside myself,” she said again, “wondering what to do, how to handle it. And it’s really odd to have this tremendous sense of well-being at the same time – physically, I mean.”

There was a brief pause as the door opened and Gary came in with a cup of tea, and the coffee that Angela had ordered earlier. He glanced at the two women, realised that his presence wasn’t required and left the room. Angela was impressed with his sensitivity.

Once the door had closed behind him, Joanna spoke again. “How did you know?”

“Well, when you’re conducting an investigation you get pretty well attuned to when people have things on their mind and when they’re not telling you everything. It was obvious that you’ve been preoccupied and though, believe me, I’ve got nothing but sympathy for your predicament, my concern has got to be whether or not what’s troubling you is related to the investigation.

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