Page 59 of A Village Theatre Murder

Julia stopped, sensing movement from the path behind her. There were two figures coming towards her. It was already heading for dusk, and she couldn’t see the faces, but by their shape, it seemed they were men. It was a sad reality that even in sleepy Berrywick, the sight of two unknown men on a quiet road could make a woman feel uneasy.

But Julia had a horrible feeling she knew who it was. And ifshe was right, she might well be in far more danger than she had initially thought.

Hector and Troilus came into view.

But Hector didn’t look at all aggressive. In fact, he approached with a friendly smile on his face. Troilus trailed behind, his face blank, and Julia briefly wondered if Hector worried about him the way that Sean worried about Jono.

‘Hello, Hector,’ she spoke loudly, to make sure that Hayley could hear, and would know who was there with her. ‘Hello, Troilus. Give me a minute, please.’

Speaking into the phone, she said, ‘I can’t chat, there’s someone here, a surprise visitor. I just wanted to let you know I’m at home, so you are welcome to pop round as we discussed. Okay, bye.’

He was right by her now, a big canvas satchel hanging heavily from his shoulder. She wondered if the book was in it, and what else might be. Did he have a weapon, perhaps?

‘Can I help you, Hector?’ she said, with what she hoped was a calm smile.

‘Yes, hello. We were out for a walk and I remembered that you lived around here, and I told Troilus about you, Julia. How you provided so much of the set and props from the charity shop where you work, and how you’ve even helped the police solve several murders, and how you have such a wonderful dog. And then Troilus suggested we continue past your house so that I could show him the dog. I hope I didn’t startle you.’

Troilus looked absolutely blank at this story, which Julia thought he well might – it was such an odd and unlikely story that she suspected Hector had made it up on the spot. But why? Why mention the charity shop? The charity shop where just today he had bought a replacement copy of Shakespeare. Was he trying to threaten her by mentioning it? That, and the solving of murders? It all seemed far too spot-on to be a coincidence.

‘Not at all,’ she said, trying for a breezy tone that would reassure Hector that she suspected nothing. Although she did suspect something – she suspected that Hector had come here on purpose.

Julia was scared.

She told herself not to panic, that she was probably overreacting. After all, Hector hadn’t seen her at the shop today; he didn’t know that she knew he had bought a replacement Shakespeare. Still, there was something odd about this visit. She hoped against hope that Hayley Gibson had heard her, and got the message – that Julia was at home, and Hector was there, and she needed her help.

Hector continued as if he was just out for a chat. ‘It was a hard day, wasn’t it? The cast meeting upset me, rather. The fragility of life, the unpredictability. It’s soconfronting,’ he mused.

‘Yes, it was hard. To think that two of our number are dead.’

‘“The time of life is short!” to quoteHenry IV. The Bard, of course…’

‘Yes, indeed, and made significantly shorter, in the case of Graham and Roger.’

‘Awful. Just awful, what happened, Julia. But life must go on.’

‘Indeed it must!’

Standing there on the doormat, they could hear Jake’s whining and the scratch of his feet as he turned excited circles on the other side of the door. Julia found the front door key on the bunch in her hand and held it to the lock, ready to let herself in.

‘The dog!’ said Hector. ‘How silly of me. You wanted to see him, didn’t you, Troy?’

Troilus seemed to rouse himself. ‘Definitely,’ he said. ‘I would like to go in and see that dog.’

Julia didn’t want Hector or Troilus in her house. Shesuspected – strongly suspected – that Hector had been responsible for Roger’s death. But if she said no, he might realise she suspected him, and that would definitely put her in danger. She tried a different tack.

‘I’m really sorry, but Jake is so impossible with visitors. He gets completely overexcited; a visitor can set him off for the whole night.’

‘I really, really want to see that dog,’ said Troilus. He looked at Julia like a child who had been denied a treat.

Julia sighed. Perhaps the lad really did have a sudden need to meet Jake, and the timing was just unfortunate. Surely Hector wouldn’t threaten her in front of his son?

Realising that she had no option – other than saying outright ‘I think your father might be a murderer and I won’t let him into my house’ – she unlocked the door and went in. She left it open behind them, to reinforce the fact that this was a short pop-in to meet Jake, and – her heart raced when she had this thought – in case she needed to run.

Jake didn’t let her down on the overexcitement front. He hurled himself about the place like a loon. A loon who’d been locked in a dark cellar for a week, and was starved of human company.

‘Ah, what a good boy,’ said Hector, rubbing Jake’s head enthusiastically. ‘Look at him, Troy. Isn’t he a fine boy!’

‘He’s very nice,’ said Troilus, who barely seemed to be looking at the dog. ‘Very brown.’

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