Page 71 of Blow Down (The Plumber's Mate)
“I like making salads,” she offered, surprising me.
I was on that like white on, well, this house. “Yeah? I know a good recipe for warm salad with goat’s cheese, bacon, and hazelnuts. Share it with you if you like.”
For a moment she looked interested—then the veil dropped again. “Arlo probably wouldn’t like it. It wouldn’t be worth making it just for one.”
Meaning her. Poor Liz. “Come on, love. Live a little. Like the ads say, you’re worth it.”
She almost smiled—and then looked away. The coffee was ready.
It was bloody good coffee, mind. I took a couple of very appreciative sips, and then noticed Liz was just sipping at a glass of water.
“Not a coffee drinker?”
“I’m not supposed to. It’s bad for my anxiety.”
“Yeah? You know what you want to do? Get a couple of mates together and have a spa day. I’ve got a friend who swears by ’em.” I didn’t have to mention his name was Gary.
Liz gave me a weird kind of half smile. “What did you want to ask me about?”
I guessed the socialising was over. “Did you and your husband make it to the Harvest Fayre? I’d have thought Amelia would’ve made sure you had an invite.” And probably a stall to run, if I knew the late Mrs. F-M.
“I wasn’t well that day. Arlo was going to go, but he was held up.”
“Yeah? Where was that, then?”
She looked like she didn’t want to answer. “Birmingham. He often takes trips up there. Trade,” she explained with a shrug.
I made a sympathetic face. “Probably just as well in the circs. They were pretty close, weren’t they? He told me she was more like a daughter to him—and I guess you too?”
The lawn got another good stare. “Amelia was grown up by the time I met Arlo. She was a lot older than she looked,” Liz added, finally showing a bit of spirit even if it was of the spiteful persuasion.
“Uh-huh. Still, the big brother thing never really goes away, does it?” I was making it up wholesale now. God knows my big brother never came over all protective towards me.
Shrug.
Oo-kay. Time to try another tack. “Shame she never really got on with her stepdaughter.”
Liz’s mouth gave an odd twist, and she stared out of the window once more. “No great loss,” she said so quietly I struggled to hear her.
Did she mean Amelia? Or friendly relations between her and Vi? “Have you had a lot to do with Violet Majors?”
“No.” She put her glass down with a heavy clunk on the worktop.
I got the distinct impression I’d be getting my marching orders sharpish, so I hurried to ask another question. “How did—” I never got to finish, as the phone rang.
Liz picked up one of those cordless landline handsets. It was white. I was amazed she could find the flippin’ thing around here. “Hello? Oh yes, fine. No. No, I haven’t. No. The man who found Amelia is here. Yes, in the house. He came to ask some questions.”
Shit.
“No, I— Oh. If you want.” She held out the phone. “He wants to talk to you. It’s Arlo,” she added, as if I hadn’t guessed that already.
I took the phone with a fair amount of foreboding. “Hello?”
“Tom. How kind of you to stop in to see my wife.” His tone could have meant anything. Up to and including he really did think it was kind of me, but I wasn’t betting on it. “I hope you haven’t been placing her under undue stress,” he carried on, in slow, deliberate tones. “She really isn’t equal to it. Can I be crystal clear with you? Ambiguous and imprecise messages purporting to come from the beyond will not be well received in my house.”
“Uh, really not my area, so no worries.”
“Nevertheless. Would you pass me back to my wife, please?”
