Page 21 of A Very Bookish Murder (Ally McKinley Mystery #3)

First of all, she must remove Della and poor Joyce.

The main suspect still appeared to be Laura, at twelve o’clock, the chief suspect.

Brigitte needed to be brought up to one o’clock, and Penelope should be lowered to six.

She could find no reason for Penelope to be involved at all, other than her one-time unproven criminal record.

Likewise Millie. Millie the Mouse! Ally seemed to recall, from years back, a film called The Mouse That Roared , so Millie might just roar yet.

You could never tell. Just in case she did unexpectedly bellow, Ally placed her at seven o’clock, next to Penelope at six.

Morwenna, she decided, could remain at five o’clock.

‘You’re absolutely sure that it was Laura you saw coming out of Owen’s van?

’ Ally asked Ross for the umpteenth time.

And also for the umpteenth time, Ross replied, ‘I’ve told you – I only saw Laura at a distance a couple of times, but there’s no one in the village that matches that description or is likely to have any connection with Jodi’s husband.

I mean, they were both having affairs left, right and centre, weren’t they?

And as you keep telling me, Laura doesn’t socialise with the others.

’ He squeezed Ally’s arm. ‘If you want to be certain, then you’ll have to hide in the shrubs, and watch for her coming and going. ’

‘Do you think I should?’ Ally asked doubtfully.

Ross sighed. ‘No, I don’t. But I know you well enough by now that you won’t be happy until you do.’

Ally looked at her watch. ‘I mean everything points to Laura. But I suppose it could be some other woman who’s come to join him. What do you think?’

‘I’ll tell you what,’ Ross continued, ‘we’ll go down to my place and, while I’m looking after the dogs and slaving away in my kitchen preparing a cordon bleu dinner for us, you can be peeking out of the bushes with your phone at the ready.

’ He laughed, plainly convinced that this was something of a joke.

‘OK,’ said Ally. ‘I’ll do that.’

Ally had been crouching in the bushes for almost an hour and had cramp in the muscles of the calf of her left leg. She clenched and unclenched her toes in the hope of alleviating the pain, trying not to scream, and was just about to limp her way back to Ross’s barn when she heard footsteps.

And there was Laura, and it was definitely Laura, approaching Owen’s scruffy abode.

Then Owen appeared, with a smile on his face – that in itself was a sight that Ally had never yet witnessed – and he was embracing her.

No. Not embracing, more like devouring her!

There was little doubt that they were pleased to see each other.

Ally waited until they’d collapsed happily into the van before making her way back through the shrubbery to Ross’s barn.

‘Are you happy now?’ he asked as he chopped up some garlic.

Ally nodded. ‘Yes, yes I am.’ At least she now had some news to pass on to Rigby, even if it was only the fact that his sister’s husband was having an affair with a woman booked on the course which, in itself, was very suspicious. Or should she tell him this?

Ally could only hope that Rigby was still in the hospital because she had no idea where to find him otherwise.

‘You’ve got me just in time,’ he said when she finally managed to reach him on the phone in Ward 8. ‘I’m being released today.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Have you been able to find out anything?’

‘I’ve unearthed a few very interesting bits and pieces,’ Ally replied. ‘Although I’m not sure if they’re particularly relevant or not. Still, I want to tell you. Shall I do so on the phone?’

‘I’d prefer it if you told me in person,’ he said after a moment. ‘I’m going home just as soon as my medication arrives, and my wife is on her way to pick me up. Can I give you my address? Is there any chance you could visit me? Am I asking too much of you?’

‘No, Bob, I’d be happy to visit you. Would it be OK if I came with Ross?’

‘Of course it would be OK!’ Rigby exclaimed. ‘I’d be honoured, and so would Cathy, my wife. Have you got a pen? Good. Here’s the address…’

‘We’ll go tomorrow and make a day of it,’ Ross said later. ‘We’ll lunch at Drumnadrochit or somewhere and then continue on to Inverness and Rigby.’

Ally was pleased. Ross had a big, comfortable car, and he drove considerably faster than she did. Not only that, she was beginning to feel really tired, due not only to her advanced years but also to the stress of everything that was taking place around her.

Morag, fortunately, adored dogs, so Ally knew she’d be likely to agree to staying on for an extra hour or two.

She knew exactly what Morag would do: leave the back door open for the dogs to romp around the garden, drink endless mugs of tea and sit spellbound in front of the television to catch up on all her favourite soaps.

‘Oh aye,’ Morag said with much sighing, to indicate that this was quite a chore. ‘I might be able to manage that.’

They had lunch in Drumnadrochit, as planned, and Ally was able to have a large glass of wine which would doubtless facilitate the conversation she was about to have with Rigby.

Number 15, The Drive, was a white L-shaped bungalow with a newly painted, very glossy green front door. The front garden was neat and well weeded and boasted a collection of gnomes in one corner.

The door was opened by Cathy, who was a tiny, curvy lady with immaculate blonde hair and wearing a rather tight floral-print dress.

‘Well,’ she said, after studying them for a moment, ‘you must be Ally and…’

‘Ross,’ he supplied, shaking her hand.

‘Aye, Ross, that’s it. Come on in.’ She beamed as she stood aside to let them enter a tiny hall, which had a picture rail near the top of the walls, on which were displayed innumerable china plates.

‘Come on into the lounge,’ she said, ‘and see himself.’ She opened the door into a sea of floral chintz.

Rigby was sitting by the fireside in a bluebell-patterned armchair, wearing a snazzy red pullover, cord trousers and tartan slippers. Ally had only ever seen him formally dressed before so she took a moment to digest that this really was Rigby.

‘You are not to stand up!’ Cathy instructed him. ‘Ally and Ross will understand.’

Ally and Ross nodded obediently as they settled themselves in the sea of pink roses and blue hydrangeas which covered the sofa opposite.

‘It was good of you to come,’ Rigby said. ‘I know you’re both busy.’

‘It’s good to see you looking so much better,’ Ally said truthfully. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Oh, much better, thanks. It’s so good to get out of hospital and away from hospital food.’ He looked fondly at his wife. ‘Cathy’s a great cook you know.’

‘I’ll just go and make some tea,’ said Cathy, turning a little pink with the compliment.

As she left the room, Rigby asked, ‘How are you getting on with Amir Kandahar?’

‘Very well,’ Ally replied. Then she added, ‘I would like to be able to tell him about your sister, Bob.’

He pulled a face. ‘Hmm, maybe. Have you managed to find out anything of interest?’

At this point, Cathy bustled in with a tray of tea, along with a large Victoria sponge, and set about pouring the tea into dainty china cups, having asked everyone how they liked it. She then insisted they all had a slice of the cake. ‘I only baked it this morning,’ she said.

Ally cleared her throat. ‘Is it OK to tell you what I found?’ She glanced in Cathy’s direction.

‘Oh, Cathy’s well aware of everything,’ Rigby said as Cathy nodded.

‘Well,’ Ally said, ‘it appears that Jodi Jones gave birth to a baby in 1975 but had it adopted.’ She removed her laptop from her bag, opened up the relevant page and passed the machine across to Rigby. ‘You need to read this, Bob.’

‘This sister business has taken over his life,’ Cathy said, ‘and the sooner it’s all sorted out the better.

’ She sniffed loudly. ‘There are times when I wish we’d never left Birmingham.

You expect some crime in a big city, but you don’t expect it up here, do you?

And you certainly don’t expect to find the body of your sister, if it is his sister. ’

‘The only way you’re going to know for sure,’ Ross said, ‘is to request a DNA test.’

Rigby handed Ally back her laptop. ‘I was in such a state of shock when I found her body that I didn’t think to…’ His voice drained away for a moment. ‘If this stuff is true, then I must have a niece or nephew somewhere.’

‘Surely it must be true,’ Ally said, ‘because this was printed over a year ago and so Jodi would have had plenty time to sue them for writing lies. But why hasn’t the child, now an adult of course, appeared yet?

Or the father of that child, if he’s still alive?

It seems that she was very much involved with her agent, Harry Harper. ’

‘Did you speak to Desdemona Morton again?’ Rigby asked.

‘Yes, on the phone. She only knew Jodi at university and had no idea about her home life, only that some man with a big car would collect her at the end of term. And that they embraced. Embraced was the word she used, not cuddled or kissed or anything like that.’

Rigby was staring at his cup of tea as if it had just landed from outer space. ‘I always hoped she’d got married, had children and was happy somewhere. But she doesn’t sound very nice, does she?’

‘She probably had a very tough life,’ Ally said diplomatically. ‘It must have been hard for her, and she had to become resilient. Who knows?’

‘Who knows?’ Rigby repeated. ‘I need to see her again. I need to see her before she’s six feet under.’ He looked at his wife. ‘I’ll have to get permission from Kandahar, of course.’

‘You’re supposed to be resting at home and not getting agitated,’ Cathy said sternly. ‘No excitement, the doctor said.’

‘I don’t give a monkey’s what the doctor said,’ Rigby snapped, draining his teacup. ‘I need to see her body. I need to get some DNA. I need to see her face again, and the mark on her neck…’ His voice choked, and he hastily wiped his eyes.

‘As you’re no longer on the case, you’d have to go through the official channels,’ Ross reminded him.

‘In which case I need to tell Amir about your involvement in this,’ Ally said gently.

Rigby nodded slowly. ‘I think the time has come to tell him,’ he agreed.