Ann Cleeves - A Lesson in Dying

Hannah returned to the hearth rug and kneeled in front of the stove.

‘While he was at the swings on the Saturday afternoon he met Angela Brayshaw,’ she said. ‘That was the woman with whom he’d been having an affair. She taunted him. She practically admitted that she had given his letters and poems to Harold Medburn. It must have been a great relief to Paul when Medburn died, but he was worried that the poems were still in the school house and that someone else might find them. He seems to have been completely irrational about it. While we were at the bonfire, he was desperate and decided to go to look for them. He broke into the school house through a kitchen window and had just found them when your father surprised him.’

Hannah looked apologetically at Patty. ‘ He was frightened,’ she said. ‘He didn’t mean to hit Mr Robson so hard. Then he was terrified in case he had killed him.’

‘But he didn’t stop,’ Patty said, ‘to see if my father needed help.’

‘No,’ said Hannah. ‘But he heard someone else outside and realized your father wouldn’t be left alone.’

‘Did he see who that was?’ Patty asked.

‘I think he might have done.’ Hannah thought, an intense effort to remember exactly. ‘ Yes, he must have done. He said he looked out of the window, realized your father would be in safe hands and ran away, climbing out through the kitchen again. Of course he felt dreadful about what happened and was still afraid that he might have killed Mr Robson until Sunday morning when we heard he’d just had a nasty bump on the head. That’s why he was so upset on Saturday night.’

‘Did he tell you,’ Patty asked, ‘who else he saw? Who was in the school house that night?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Hannah. ‘Is it important?’

Patty did not answer directly.

‘He didn’t rig up a dummy, dressed as a witch, to frighten my father away?’

‘Of course not. There was no need. Your father was unconscious.’ She lit another cigarette. ‘What is all this about?’

‘My father was looking into Harold Medburn’s death,’ Patty said. ‘I know it sounds ridiculous, but Kitty Medburn was an old friend of his and he was convinced that she was innocent. He’d been asking a lot of awkward questions in the village – Paul wasn’t the only person threatened by blackmail. When he regained consciousness there was a dummy dressed as a witch hanging from the kitchen ceiling and a message telling him to mind his own business. It was an attempt, you see, to frighten him off. I think Dad was followed from the bonfire by Harold Medburn’s murderer. Don’t you see, if Paul saw whoever it was, that might explain why he had to die.’

‘Yes,’ Hannah said. ‘I see.’ She stood up. She was wearing stretch jeans and a long loose pullover. There was no trace of the smart controlled businesswoman. ‘Why are you here?’ she asked. ‘Did your father send you?’

‘No,’ Patty said. ‘The policeman, Ramsay, thought you might need a friend.’

‘Did he tell you what questions to ask?’

‘Not exactly.’ Patty was impressed by Hannah’s intelligence and thought she deserved honesty. ‘He thought you might find it easier to talk to me. He’s determined to find out who killed your husband. He’s prepared to use unorthodox means.’

‘Good!’ For the first time in the conversation Hannah seemed to find a sort of peace. ‘Well, perhaps he was right. I do find it easier to talk to you. Do you need to ask me any more questions?’

‘What happened on Sunday morning?’

‘We all had a long, late breakfast together,’ Hannah said. ‘It was lovely. Like a new beginning. All the pretence was gone. We were talking about the future. Paul said he was longing to go back to work. We decided to go into the possibility of employing a nanny. Then I went to the paper shop to see if there was any news of Mr Robson. That’s when I heard he was okay and staying with you.’

‘Did you notice anything unusual on the way out?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘The police asked me that, I think there may have been a car parked in the lane, but I can’t remember anything about it, not even the colour. I hadn’t put in my contact lenses and I wasn’t wearing specs, so I was nearly blind.’

‘When did Paul go out?’

‘At about mid-day. We’d decided to eat in the evening. He said he wanted some exercise. I could understand that. It had been a traumatic evening.’

‘You don’t think he had arranged to meet someone?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m sure not.’ She drew on the cigarette. ‘He could have made a telephone call while I was at the paper shop, but he would have told me. I explained. We had decided there would be no more pretence. Besides, he was a hopeless liar. I would have known; I’m sure it was a spur of the moment decision.’

‘I see.’ Patty hesitated. She felt awkward. ‘Paul was a nurse, wasn’t he, before he stopped working?’

‘Yes,’ Hannah said. ‘ He was a psychiatric nurse. He worked in a special unit for alcoholics.’

‘Does he still have friends there?’

‘A few. Why? Is it important?’

‘Harold Medburn was doped with a drug called Heminevrin before he was murdered. I’m trying to find out who would have had access to it.’

‘But Paul couldn’t have murdered Harold Medburn!’

‘I have to ask,’ Patty said, ‘if you want to find out the truth. Are you sure you really want to know?’

‘Yes.’ Hannah looked at her intensely, her dark eyes magnified by the strong glasses. ‘You will do your best, won’t you? Whatever you find out.’

‘Of course,’ Patty said. It was a similar responsibility to her commitment to Ramsay.

She looked at her watch. It was time to fetch the children. As she left the old mill she walked past the window. Hannah was back in the rocking chair, her arms around her knees, staring out towards the road.

It seemed to Patty that Ramsay spent all his time that week in the village. Wherever she went in Heppleburn she saw his car, his distinctive back at doorsteps or disappearing round corners. Everyone was talking about him. In the playground she stood apart and listened to the mothers talking, because Ramsay had said she was good at listening. He’s bewitched me, she thought, in the same way as Kitty Medburn bewitched my father. They speculated about Ramsay’s background and marital status and through listening to them she gathered that he was trying to find out who had taken the witch’s costume from the pram on the night of the bonfire. He or his men must have spoken to everyone who was on the recreation ground that night. Rumour had it that these investigations had so far proved unsuccessful. Many people admitted to having seen the confrontation between Matthew Carpenter and the boys, but then there had been so many distractions – the excitement of the fire and the noise and colour of the fireworks – that the costume was forgotten. The pram had been pushed into the shadow and no one saw it again until the boys fetched it to take it home. They realized that the costume was missing, but thought it had been confiscated by Matthew Carpenter. Despite his persistence Ramsay seemed to have got no further.

That Tuesday afternoon the policeman was back at the school. His car was parked in the playground and Patty could see his dark head through the staff room window. She waited a long time for him to emerge. She wanted to share the information given to her by Hannah. She thought he would be pleased. But there was no sign of the inspector leaving the school. All the other parents and children disappeared, but Matthew Carpenter, Irene Hunt and Stephen Ramsay remained inside. Eventually Andrew and Jennifer became so cold and fractious that she left without talking to him. It would be impossible to have a serious discussion with the children in that mood.