Page 27 of Murder in Shades of Fire and Ash

Good luck with that, mate, with Ravensbourne here.

“Complaints?” Ravensbourne asked. “Complaints from women and people of colour? Complaints that he is vehemently anti-immigrant? Or don’t you worry about those kind of complaints?”

Pretty’s eyes flashed, and his lips tightened. “We aren’t in the nineteen-eighties any more,” he snapped.

Ravensbourne simply lifted her eyebrows.

“He just never shuts up. Everything’s a conspiracy. He can bore for England about how the Jews and the Blacks are taking over and we white folk are being replaced, only the government won’t admit it. White men going with coloured women are betraying their race. Dear God, he can go on for hours, quoting his bloodyevidence. None of the others want to sit near him. Maybe there is something in what he says, it’s just that he won’t stop going on about it.”

Ravensbourne raised her eyebrows again. “Thatisan interesting perspective,” she said.

They didn’t stay longafter that.

“I wonderif they really will sack him?” Charlie wondered aloud.

“Convict him of spraying racist graffiti in Llanfair, and it’ll be hard not to. Convict him of murder, and the question won’t arise. Though wouldn’t the world be a better place if he got the sack just for being a nasty bigot?”

“As opposed to being a boring, nasty bigot? We can dream.”

The rest of the journey passed peacefully enough. Ravensbourne was good company when she wasn’t giving Charlie horrible jobs to do. She was even sympathetic when he told her about Unwin’s brother ringing Mal Kent and accusing Patsy of the murder.

“Looks like you’ll be visiting the Unwins again after you drop me off. Take Eddy. Get a second opinion on their relationship with Patsy.” she said, and that was more like the Ravensbourne he was used to.

20

Monday afternoon

Somehow the bungalow looked less well kept than it had last time. Perhaps after the shock of Unwin’s death no one had had the time or inclination to water the plants in pots leading up to the front door. Or perhaps it was all in his imagination. As he and Eddy walked up the path, the sound of raised voices came towards them from inside the house. One of the voices was very familiar.

“What on earth is Patsy doing here?” Charlie asked.

Eddy shrugged. “I haven’t seen her since this morning, to be honest. Mam said she was going to leave her in bed for a lie in.” he said.

Bed, or rather sex, was the subject of the shouting match they could hear through the open window. Charlie put his hand on Eddy’s arm, signalling to him to stop and listen.

“Just admit you were jealous,” an unknown male voice was saying, and not quietly.

“But I wasn’t.” This was Patsy. “Yes, Unwin had other lovers. That was his choice. So, what? It’s not a crime and no one got hurt. I could have had other lovers if I’d wanted, but I didn’t.”Patsy sounded remarkably calm, but then, in a crisis, she usually was.

“Listen to yourself, Patsy. This is the real world, not some self-help book.Joshwould sleep with anyone, and you wanted to get married. Does not compute, sweetheart.”

“He’s right,” Eddy said, in a quiet voice. “Unwin was some kind of sex addict. But Patsy didn’t kill him.”

“Shh,” Charlie said, wanting to hear Patsy’s response. It came in a convincingly measured tone.

“There is nothing wrong with liking sex,” she said. “Unwin was always open and honest about his affairs. Sometimes they included me, sometimes they didn’t. You don’t want to hear the truth. Open relationships are a thing. That’s what we had, like it or not.”

There was a cry and the sound of breaking glass. Adrenaline spiked in Charlie’s body. Patsy shouldn’t have been there, but she was his colleague, and all his protective instincts engaged. A glance at Eddy told Charlie that he felt the same way.

Let’s get in there.

“Police!” Charlie shouted and tried the door. It was open, and they could see through to the kitchen at the back of the house, where Patsy stood with her hand against her cheek, which was streaked with blood. In two strides, Eddy was next to her, wrapping her in his arms. Patsy shook him off, with anI’m OK. Don’t fuss.

Charlie turned to see Patsy’s assailant, angry enough to charge them with assault on a police officer, and angry with himself for letting it happen. He saw a man with his hands on his hips, staring fixedly at Patsy from the other side of the room.

The man flicked his eyes between Patsy and Eddy. “Hah! didn’t takeyoulong to find a replacement.”

From his appearance, the speaker could only be Unwin’s brother. Charlie automatically checked to see if the man had anypossible weapons to hand. There was nothing, but Charlie felt the handcuffs in his pocket itching to click around the man’s wrists. Instead, he

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