The Wild Wood Enquiry Read Online Free Page B

said. “But she’s very good at pretending.”
    “Now, now,” said Miriam, as if to a recalcitrant child. “I found her an extremely pleasant companion. I think she was exhausted. Still fast asleep when I left. The rest will do her a power of good.”
    “Mm. I’ll have these chocolates, please,” Gus said.
    “For Katherine? Oh, how nice!”
    “No, not for Katherine. They are for Miss Ivy Beasley at Springfields, which is where I am heading. Thanks, Miriam. Good morning.”
    Miriam watched him until he vanished behind the trees outside Springfields. It was just as if she was in the centre of one of those lovely stories in her women’s magazine, where husband and wife have had an acrimonious separation, and then, little by little, helped through by an understanding friend, they come together, and live happily ever after. “And I am the understanding friend,” she said aloud, feeling a warm glow of anticipation.
    But then, as she said later to her friend Rose Budd, who lived at the end of the terrace, she came to her senses. The last thing she wanted was Gus reunited with his wife! Hadn’t she spent months softening him up, ready for the time when he decided he couldn’t do without her? No, she must be pleasant to Katherine but get her out of the way as soon as possible. Rose Budd had advised caution. “Never come between husband and wife,” she had said.
    BY THE TIME he reached Springfields, Gus was fully functioning and quite certain of the plan he would suggest to Enquire Within for their next assignment. He was unsurehow they would take it but hoped his powers of persuasion had not completely deserted him.
    “Better late than never,” Ivy said, greeting him without a smile. “The coffee must be cold, Deirdre.”
    “Oh no, not in my new machine,” Deirdre said. “Hi, Gus. You look as if you need a strong black injection. Here, this’ll help you to tell us all. We’re consumed with curiosity!”
    “Not much more to tell,” Gus said, sitting down and placing his cup on the table in front of him. Deirdre noticed how his hand shook, rattling the cup in its saucer.
    “My ex-wife, Kath, has turned up with only a couple of hours’ notice, asking for asylum from an unnamed threat. I know her only too well to accept her brief explanation and flatly refused, but unfortunately Miriam Blake turned up and, no doubt thinking she was doing us a favour, offered her sanctuary for a few days.”
    “And is that all right, then, old chap?” said Roy sympathetically. He was fond of Gus, in spite of his irritating habit of making a mystery out of everything, and he too had noticed the shaky hand and tired-looking eyes.
    Gus shook his head. “No, Roy, I’m afraid it is far from all right. Kath would never arrive to ask a favour of me unless she had nowhere else to go. There is certainly something serious afoot, as they say, but she’s not likely to tell me yet.”
    “Would she tell that silly Miriam Blake woman, do you think?” Ivy had never had a high opinion of poor Miriam and thought it extremely unlikely that someone in big trouble would confide in her.
    Gus shrugged. “Who can tell? I never knew if Kath was telling the truth when I was married to her and certainly don’t know now.” He looked round at the eager faces andsaid that he appreciated their concern, but they should get on with Enquire Within business.
    “But isn’t this what we’re concerned with?” Deirdre said.
    “Ah, now that’s where it gets difficult and why I called us together,” said Gus. “There may well be something for us to take on, but until there are further developments, I can’t really say. It might be useful to itemise what we know. Kath is a divorcée, mixing in society circles in London and carrying on a number of small businesses. Some of these may be shady. She is attractive and clever, and she is in trouble. Possibly big trouble. She has landed herself on an unsophisticated, unsuspecting woman, who has a history of