Ann Purser - The Hangman’s Row Enquiry

“I have no wish to hear anything about that,” Ivy said stiffly. “I’ve come along this morning to see how you can face Gus tomorrow morning. And,” she added, “to see if you’d come to church with me. It’s Holy Communion this morning.”

“And confess my sins?” Deirdre said. Then she realised her sharp old cousin was really trying to help her out of a fix, and said that if Ivy would tell her when to stand up and sit down, she would come. “But first, can we make a plan for tomorrow?” She looked at the clock. “We’ve got an hour or so before church.”

THEY WERE AN odd trio, Ivy, Deirdre and young Katya, walking through the lych gate and up the narrow path to the church. Ivy ignored the sidesman who tried to direct her to a pew towards the back. She marched straight up to the front, where she ushered the two others in, and then knelt herself to say a few words of greeting to her personal God.

Just as the service was about to start, and the vicar halfway from the vestry to his seat in the chancel, the door opened and a flustered-looking Beattie came in. Behind her, dignified and aloof, came the Honourable Theodore Roussel. He looked to neither right nor left, but walked with measured step to the front pew on the opposite side of the aisle from the three women. Beattie retired to a seat at the rear of the church, and the service began.

“Does he always come?” whispered Deirdre to Ivy.

“Sshh!”

“No, but does he?” Deirdre persisted.

Ivy shook her head. “Never,” she whispered back.

Deirdre looked surreptitiously across the aisle, and saw that Theo must have attended regularly at some time. He knew exactly when to sit down and stand up. And, she heard with a kind of proprietary pleasure, he had a fine tenor voice and seemed to know all the hymn tunes.

When it came to the invitation to take Communion, Theo stood up and waited politely while Ivy eased herself from her seat and stood at the head of the queue. Deirdre had no alternative but to follow her, and realised with dismay that Theo had stepped out to take his place behind her. “Oh!” she gasped, with an intake of breath. Was that his hand?

The vicar prepared to dispense the bread and wine, and they knelt humbly with hands resting on the altar rail to await their turn. Without looking at Deirdre, Theo rested his hand very briefly on hers, and then removed it to form a supplicant shape with both hands to receive the sliver of something that tasted like polystyrene.

They returned to their seats with heads bowed, and Ivy knelt once more. Deirdre followed her example, and prayed fervently to God to help her in this undoubted crisis in her life. She wished she had a cigarette.

As the joyful going-home hymn was sung, Deirdre risked a glance towards Theo, and saw that he was looking at her. He did not smile, but to her astonishment, he quite clearly winked. Twice she had been winked at this morning! She decided it was a sign, a definite sign from the Almighty that she was doing nothing wrong, harming nobody, and was, in fact, being a good Christian in spreading love and joy to all people. Well, maybe not to all people, but certainly to the Honourable Theo Roussel.

Beattie, still crouched in prayer in her pew at the back of the church, waited until she was sure Theo and the three women had left and would be on their way out of the churchyard. Her head was still thumping from the shock she had been given when Theo had announced his intention of going to church. He had appeared in her kitchen, washed, brushed and looking extremely determined, saying that they should be off now. There was just time to walk. He would go on ahead, and she could catch him up.

By running awkwardly down the drive, she had caught him up, and walked silently by his side until they reached the church. Then she had fallen back respectfully as they entered. As he had marched forward and she lagged behind, she had seen with a sinking heart the Bloxham woman, large as life in the front pew, her ridiculously dyed hair shining out like a vulgar wig on a woman for sale.

Now she walked slowly out of the church, shook the vicar’s hand and hardly acknowledged his friendly greeting. She could no longer pretend that she was imagining things. Somehow those two had met in her absence. Not only met, she thought grimly, but restarted whatever had been postponed all those years ago. As she approached Hangman’s Row on her way back to the Hall, she could see Theo talking to David Budd over his garden fence. She would slip by quickly, and hurry back to the security of her kitchen to prepare lunch.

She must find a way to stop all the goings-on that had so cruelly invaded her hard-won refuge. But not straightaway, she decided. It might blow over if she bided her time. If not, she would need to think some more.

“I THOUGHT WE’D have our meeting in the summer house,” Ivy said, greeting Gus and Deirdre in Springfields’ reception hall. “It’s a criminal waste not to make the most of the summer sunshine. If you ask me, the sunlight was sent for us to be out in it.”

“If you ask me,” said Gus, “which you haven’t, of course, I would say fine, so long as there’s a comfortable chair in that godforsaken summer house in the shadiest corner of the garden.”

“Now, now,” said Deirdre, bursting with good humour, “it’s a really good idea of Ivy’s. We can be private, and Katya can bring us coffee out there. Have we told Roy?”

“Still in the land of nod,” said Ivy. “Mrs. Spurling wouldn’t have him woken. And don’t worry, Augustus,” Ivy added. “I have asked for the summer house to be cleaned out and made comfortably ready for us.”

“What did old Spurling say to that?” Gus said.

“Nothing,” said Ivy serenely. “She made a funny sort of noise and slammed out of my room. Sometimes I wonder whether she really likes me. Not that it bothers me,” she added. “People have not liked me all my life. I’m used to it.”

Gus was tempted to ask if she had ever wondered why, but instead said gallantly that he liked her, and Deirdre liked her, and please could they get on with the meeting, as he was venturing out for a short walk later.

“By yourself?” said Deirdre.

Gus raised his eyebrows and said he was sure a member of staff would be found to escort him.

“Item one,” he said, when they were settled, “minutes of the last meeting.”

“We haven’t got any minutes,” said Deirdre.

“Maybe we should have,” Gus said.

“Oh for goodness sake, can we get on,” Ivy said. “First of all, let’s hear what Deirdre learned at the Hall on Saturday.” She looked meaningfully at her cousin, and nodded her head.

“Well, as Ivy already knows,” Deirdre said without hesitation, “it was all a bit of a waste of time. I turned up, as before, and Rose Budd left me alone with Theo for an hour or so. He was looking a bit peaky when I arrived, and said he thought he was getting a cold. We talked for a bit, but I could see he really wasn’t keen on me being there. I tried to introduce the subject of Beattie, but by then he wasn’t answering. Actually,” she added with an impressive show of compassion, “the dear thing dozed off. He went to sleep, and in no time was snoring his head off.”

“So did you wake him?” said Gus suspiciously.

“Nope. I gave up, and went to talk to Rose Budd. She’s a really nice girl, you know. Interesting to talk to, too. We discovered I’d known her mother when we were both young. And that little Simon,” she continued, “is an absolute poppet. His dad brought him into the kitchen, and we had a great game of-”