Page 19 of Murder in the Winter Woods
Sean pulled up outside Julia’s house. She’d left a couple of lights on when she had gone out, and they glowed softly behind the curtains. The house looked cosy and welcoming, and she knew that Jake and Chaplin would be waiting for her and delighted to see her. The home she had made in Berrywick was a place she was always pleased to come home to. But tonight, she was weighed down with what had just happened, and what she knew would be next.
As she stepped out onto the pavement, Julia was startled to see a figure lurking in the shadows just a few steps away.
‘Hello?’ she called sharply. ‘Who’s there?’
‘It’s me, Hester.’ Julia’s neighbour stepped out of the shadows, so that Julia could now see her better.
‘Oh, Hester! Gosh, I couldn’t see you properly in the dark.’ Hester looked so cheerful that it broke Julia’s heart to think of what she now had to tell her.
‘Hello, Julia. Sorry. I didn’t mean to give you a fright. I heard your car and I thought it was Matthew coming home from the Christmas market and came out to have a look.’
Julia didn’t know what to say. When they’d left the crime scene, Hayley had told Julia and Sean that she would be immediately behind them, to come and speak to Hester.
‘Hester…’ started Julia. ‘I think maybe we should all go in and sit down.’
Sean had climbed out of the car too. ‘Maybe we can put a kettle on while we wait,’ he said to Julia.
‘Wait?’ said Hester, looking from Sean to Julia. ‘For Matthew? Do you think he’ll need a cup of tea?’ She smiled and then immediately frowned. ‘I mean no disrespect, but Matthew will be tired when he gets back. Maybe this isn’t quite the time for a midnight tea party. He never stays at the market this late.’
‘Hester, something’s happened.’ Julia gently touched Hester’s arm. ‘To Matthew.’
‘Did you see him?’
Julia wasn’t quite sure how to answer this question. ‘We did, yes, but…’
‘Oh well then, he’ll be on his way shortly, won’t he? Thanks, Julia. Thanks, Sean. I was worrying for nothing. Silly me.’ Hester turned to go away, and Julia felt like the whole situation was slipping out of her control.
‘Hester,’ she said, slightly more loudly than she intended. ‘Matthew was in an accident.’
‘In the van?’
‘In the car park at the market. He was hit by a car.’
‘Oh, lord.’ Hester gave a weak smile. ‘Okay, I’ll just go in and pack him a bag. Then I’ll get a taxi to the hospital; I’ll just call…Oh no, I can’t call Lewis. How awful, I forgot. I guess I’ll have to find another taxi driver. Or maybe, Julia, you and Sean would be so good as to take me?’
‘Hester, there’s no need for you to go to the hospital.’
‘Oh, is he on his way back? Oh good. For a moment there, you had me worried!’
Julia took a deep breath. There was never an easy way to break this type of news to a person, and experience had taught Julia that sometimes the only way was to rip the plaster off. Certainly, she couldn’t let Hester carry on in this state of confusion one moment longer.
‘Hester, I’m so sorry. Matthew was killed at the scene. He was run over.’
It was at this pivotal moment that Hayley’s car came screeching up the lane. Julia was dimly aware of Hayley parking and jumping out of the car while Hester stared at her blankly.
Hester finally spoke as Hayley walked up to them. ‘Killed at the scene? Run over?’ she said, before gently crumpling into a heap on the path.
Hayley looked down at the unconscious woman. ‘I see you told her, then,’ she said with a sigh.
11
Julia was dressed and breakfasted, having fed the cat, dog and chickens, and was about to embark on her morning Wordle, when there was a knock on the door. She had not slept at all well, thinking of poor Matthew, the state they had found him in, and the fact that this was the second hit-and-run accident that she had almost witnessed in a matter of weeks. Mostly, she felt a deep sadness that the world, and Hester, had lost a gentle and kind man.
At the sound of the knock, Jake started hurling himself about in such a fit of excitement you’d have sworn a delivery of warm pork sausages was waiting for him on the doorstep. Julia managed to circumvent him with her shins intact. When she opened the door, she saw Hayley Gibson.
‘Can I come in?’
‘Of course,’ Julia said, stepping aside to let the inspector in and Jake out.
