Death in the Cotswolds Read Online Free Page B

a child. ‘He can’t have known we were coming, can he? We must have interrupted him.’
    We went down again after that, Phil leading the way. Their three dogs were all waiting at the foot of the stairs, the spaniel bouncing about with a loopy grin on its face. The corgi, I noticed, also had its tail undocked. What was it with people, thinking they knew better than age-old custom? Bad enoughleaving the tail on a cocker spaniel. On a corgi it looked even more ridiculous. It made me realise how long it had been since I’d lost touch with Phil. I no longer knew his dogs, or his girlfriends, or what he thought about anything.
    Somehow we all managed to get downstairs and into the kitchen, which was cold and musty-smelling and rather dark. It was at the back of the house, with a small window, across which a broom had grown. Helen had been fond of that particular shrub, despite its ill-considered position. In the year since her death it had grown in all directions, reducing the light considerably.
    ‘Do we have to report it or something?’ Thea asked. She was subdued but fighting it, fully aware that something strange had happened that I understood better than she did. She persisted in asserting her stronger claim on Phil. ‘Presumably a crime’s been committed – someone breaking in without permission.’
    Phil closed his eyes for a few seconds, leaning back against one of the worktops. ‘It isn’t a very serious crime,’ he said eventually. ‘And he isn’t going to come back while we’re here.’
    I snorted. ‘You mean somebody has to get themselves murdered before you take it seriously.’
    They both seemed to go very still when I said that, catching each other’s eye. I remembered the news headlines, in the summer. Something about aboy murdered down near Chalford, somebody telling me Phil had been involved.
    ‘Am I missing something?’ I asked them.
    ‘Not really,’ said Phil. ‘Just that Thea and I both hoped not to hear that word for the whole week.’
    ‘Well, excuse me, ’ I flounced .
    ‘What are we going to do, then?’ Thea repeated doggedly. She had become upset, agitated. And disappointed, as if something she’d looked forward to had been snatched away.
    ‘I’d like to know how he got in, at least. If we can make the place more secure I’ll feel happier,’ said Phil.
    ‘I suppose we should,’ said Thea.
    ‘Let’s check the windows,’ Phil said, pushing himself away from his perch. He moved heavily, and his eyes looked small and sunken. I knew why, but his girlfriend had no idea.
    It didn’t take very long to find evidence of illicit access to the house. There was a ladder lying alongside the garden fence, not hidden at all. Phil scanned the back wall of the house, and pointed to some scratch marks on the stone just below the bathroom window. He propped the ladder up, climbed to the window, and gave it a yank. It came open easily, both halves of the casement flipping outwards as if he’d cried Open, sesame! to them. There was just space for an adult to climb through and into the house.
    I felt a flicker of alarm. I, after all, had been entrusted with the security of the house. Phil had even paid me a few quid to keep an eye on it. I couldn’t remember ever having inspected the bathroom window’s fastening, although I had noticed that the wood on some of the window frames was going rotten. This had not been one of them.
    We went back indoors, without talking. The other two seemed very glum, sighing and looking into each other’s eyes. I thought about it from their point of view. Obviously, this had been intended as a romantic little holiday for them, at the start of their relationship. They didn’t want policemen clumping about, checking window catches and bagging up the stuff in the attic. They hardly even wanted me there.
    It was plain they weren’t going to say anything about what they intended, so I waded in and said it for them. ‘Don’t worry about me,’ I started. ‘I