Page 215 of The Hallmarked Man
‘Really?’ said Robin.
‘Yer,’ said Dilys. ‘He used to have an air rifle. He wanted to join the army, but they wouldn’t take him.’
‘Did he?’ said Griffiths, looking surprised.
‘That was before you moved here,’ said Dilys, who seemed to take some satisfaction in the fact that there was something about Tyler that Griffiths didn’t know. ‘Upset when he didn’t get in. Heart set on it.’
‘Why wouldn’t they take him, Dilys?’ asked Robin.
‘He’s allergic to peanuts,’ said Dilys. ‘Nearly died once, when a kid at school gave him one.’
‘How awful,’ said Robin.
‘I never knew he was allergic to peanuts,’ said Griffiths.
‘Yeah, well, there’s a lot you don’t know,’ said Dilys rudely.
‘Did Tyler work out, at all?’ Robin asked.
‘He worked at a garridge,’ Dilys said again.
‘Did he like to keep fit?’ asked Robin, raising her voice again.
‘Yeah, he was fit.’
‘Lugging tyres around all day,’ said Griffiths.
‘He’s not stupid,’ snapped Dilys again.
‘Did he ever know a girl called Rita?’ asked Robin.
‘Rita who?’ said Dilys. Her hands continued to move restlessly in her lap.
‘We don’t know her surname,’ said Robin. ‘Did he know anyone with the first name Rita?’
‘There’s no Rita round here,’ said Dilys.
‘Did you ever hear Tyler talking about a Rita?’ Robin asked Griffiths. ‘Or a Rita Linda?’
‘No,’ said Griffiths. ‘The only girl I ever heard him talk about was Anne-Marie.’
‘No better’n she should’ve been,’ muttered Dilys. ‘Look at the bloody trouble she caused.’
There were two ways of looking at that statement, Robin thought.
‘Tyler was upset when he split up with Anne-Marie, was he?’ she asked.
‘He didn’t care. Why should he care? She was with everyone, that one.’
‘He was cut up when she died, Dilys,’ said Griffiths reproachfully.
‘Soft-hearted,’ said Dilys. ‘Dead’s dead.’
‘Mr Griffiths was telling us about the Whitehead family,’ said Robin.
‘Them!’ said Dilys, her hands trembling in her lap. ‘Gawn now, after all the trouble they caused.’
‘They moved,’ explained Griffiths. ‘After Hugo died.’
