Peridale Cafe Mystery 20 - Cocktails and Cowardice by Agatha Frost

Author:Agatha Frost
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Pink Tree Publishing LTD
Published: 2020-04-27T16:00:00+00:00

14

DOT

T he sun slid from the sky, bringing an end to another long, hot day in captivity. Alone in front of the television, Dot spun her wedding ring around her finger continuously. If anyone were to look through the window, they’d see the back of her head and assume she was transfixed on the programme. She occasionally glanced at the screen, but the mirror above the television provided a more interesting view.

Switching the picture above the TV with the mirror on the adjacent wall had been a simple but effective trick. The reflection gave her a perfect view of the clearing through the large window behind her, allowing her to keep watch without being caught. A stroke of genius, if she said so herself, and perhaps a trick she would employ if she ever made it home.

Dot’s fellow villagers had been accused her of being a ‘nosey parker’ and even a ‘curtain twitcher’ for her keen interest in the comings and goings of Peridale’s residents. She wasn’t arrogant enough to think there wasn’t an element of truth in their accusations, even if she did refute the claims that her keen interest in village activity made her a gossip. She simply liked to keep her ear to the ground – an unofficial one-woman neighbourhood watch, of sorts.

Nobody had bestowed her with the responsibility, she’d voluntarily taken on the role. How could she not? Her peer group was ever-shrinking, with fewer of her fellow village elders surviving from one year to the next. Most died from age-related illness, some moved away for a last-minute change of scenery before curtain call, and the rest were cooped up in the Oakwood Nursing Home, spending their final days completing jigsaw puzzles of cats and taking slow walks around the gardens.

Dot wasn’t sure which of these fates was the worst. She’d cling fiercely to her independence for as long as she could. Keeping her finger on the pulse of the village kept her as sharp as a knife, and until her mind left her, she’d put it to good use.

Using that experience now, she observed the two men in whacky clothes sitting in the white chairs on the opposite side of the clearing. They’d arrived a few hours earlier and handed additional plastic bags to Rafa. No doubt more bread, meat, and cheese to keep them fed.

If the men were there to keep watch, they were taking a laid-back approach to the role. They occasionally glanced in the direction of the villa, but they seemed more interested in chatting and smoking what must have been a whole pack of cigarettes between them. They must have thought all their Christmases had come at once when they were tasked with keeping watch over two locked-up octogenarians.

Being so obviously underestimated would have irritated Dot under any other circumstances – but not this one. If they wanted to view her as a simple old lady more interested in watching television than attempting a bid for freedom, so be it.

The men

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