Page 210 of The Hallmarked Man
‘His friend,’ said Dilys. ‘Up Higwell Farm, by Apeton.’
‘What’s Jones’ first name?’ asked Robin.
‘Wynn,’ said Dilys, as Strike’s pen moved rapidly across the page.
‘Is Wynn a good friend of Tyler’s?’
‘Yer,’ said Dilys, scowling. ‘I don’t like him.’
‘Why’s that?’ asked Robin.
‘Rude,’ said Dilys. She turned to look at Griffiths. ‘I need the loo.’
‘Right ho,’ said Griffiths, getting up again. He helped Dilys out of the armchair and guided her hands back on to the walking frame. ‘First on the left, down the hall.’
Dilys left the room slowly. Once she was out of earshot, Griffiths said quietly,
‘She’s gone downhill a lot since Ty left. He was good to her, did her shopping and that. She took it hard, him leaving, ’specially after his parents left for Florida. Ivor’s Dilys’s son. We all offer to help her, but Dilys likes her independence.’
‘There’s a great-niece, isn’t there?’ asked Robin. ‘I spoke to her before Christmas.’
‘She doesn’t live round here, she’s back at uni,’ said Ian. ‘I wouldn’t mention her. Dilys’s cat, that she was supposed to be feeding, died when Dilys was in hospital. The cat was ancient, but Dilys hasn’t forgiven the girl, and when Dilys loses her temper, believe me, you know it. She’s been worse since she slipped on the ice last autumn. Knocked herself out, going down the hill. She was lying out there in the dark for a couple of hours and nobody realised. She was in hospital a month and – shit,’ said Griffiths, jumping up as a muffled thump issued from somewhere out of sight. He left the room. They heard another couple of thumps, Dilys saying, ‘That wasn’t me! I can do it!’ then the sound of a closing door. Griffiths re-entered the room.
‘’S’all right, she just hit the hall table,’ he said.
‘So Tyler never mentioned silver to you?’ asked Robin.
‘No, he just told me he’d got a job in a pub, somewhere down south. Dilys was angry I never told her that, see, but I thought she knew. Anyway, I dunno if Ty was telling the truth. He didn’t give me the name of the pub or anything. He might just’ve wanted me to think he had a plan.’
They heard a distant flush.
‘You’ve been to Belgium,’ Strike said to Griffiths.
‘What?’ said Griffiths.
Strike lifted the small gold figurine from the table beside which he was sitting. ‘This is the Manneken Pis, isn’t it? Copy of the Belgian statue?’
‘Oh – Chlo sent me that, from interrailing. Family joke. Find the tackiest souvenir you can, wherever you go.’
‘Ah, right,’ said Strike, setting the thing down again. He supposed that explained the glittery Virgin Mary and the neon pink Thai elephant on the shelf over Griffiths’ head.
‘Mrs Powell was interviewed by the police, wasn’t she?’ asked Robin.
‘Yeah,’ said Griffiths, ‘but I don’t think it went anywhere. Ty took all his stuff with him when he took off, see, so there was no ruling him out on DNA. Like I say, he was kind of squatting in the house after Gill and Ivor went to Florida. They got rid of most of the furniture before they put the place up for sale.’
‘Have they been in touch with Tyler, do you know?’ asked Robin.
‘No idea, you’d have to ask Dilys, but like I say, they’re not very concerned parents.’
Dilys shuffled back into the room a few minutes later and was again helped down into her armchair by Griffiths. Rather than thanking him, she scowled up at him.
‘Your Chloe stopped talking to Ty, and they was supposed to be friends.’
‘She didn’t, Dilys,’ said Griffiths. ‘She was just off on her trip, so—’
‘Tyler didn’t have nobody on his side,’ said Dilys. ‘Nobody. All of ’em saying he’d done something to the car. He never. He never did.’
She seemed both angry and upset, her hands moving restlessly in her lap.
