Page 58 of Murder in the Winter Woods
‘Come on then,’ she said, opening the kitchen door. Jake shot out. Chaplin ambled to the door, and stood in the doorway, considering his options.
‘Come on, kit-cat, inside or out?’ she said.
He sat down, and attended to the grooming of his smart white bib, his little head bobbing up and down, his pink tongue flashing.
‘I’m not leaving the door open,’ she said after a minute or so. She stepped past him and pulled the door slowly towards her, calling his bluff. It was halfway closed when he made his choice, and dashed out. The animals were frisky in the cold morning air, and Julia watched them with pleasure as she made her way to the woodpile. She set about putting the fallen logs neatly back into the pile. It was, as she expected, a rather satisfying task, and required just enough attention to keep her mind from straying towards the detective’s visit.
Voices drifted over the fence from Hester’s house. Julia straightened up and peered over to see Hester and Coral by the beehives.
‘Good morning,’ she called.
Hester spotted her immediately. ‘Hello, Julia! What are you up to?’
‘Sorting out the woodpile. And you?’
‘Checking on the bees, giving them sugar for a winter snack. Coral wants to learn the ropes of beekeeping.’
‘It’s so interesting. I would so love to get a beehive,’ said Coral, wistfully. She was wearing well-fitted jeans and a green pullover, with the collar of a floral shirt peeking out from under it. The wellies on her feet were red. The outfit was understated and positively outdoorsy compared to the hot pink suit she’d been in last time, although she still sported a touch of make-up and a bouncy hairdo. Her manner, in comparison to her hair, was subdued. She sighed, and said, ‘It’s probably too soon for me to make decisions, really. I might have to move house, and that wouldn’t be fair on the bees. With Lewis gone and the money tied up, I can’t afford to stay where I am. Everything’s up in the air. And it’s all so complicated.’
Hester patted Coral’s shoulder. ‘One step at a time. Let’s wait and see what the lawyers say about the contract,’ she said. ‘I fully intend to get us that money back, you know.’
‘You’re talking to lawyers?’ Julia asked.
‘Yes. It doesn’t hurt to get a professional opinion. I’m not just going to accept what Anthony Ardmore says. Or do what bloody Ken Payne wants. One way or another, we’re sorting this out.’ She turned to Coral. ‘We know what we need to do, and we’ve done it.’
‘You’re right, Hester, I just get overwhelmed sometimes,’ Coral said. ‘And then this morning…’
‘Do you want to tell Julia what you found?’ Hester asked gently.
‘Oh, I don’t know…It’s difficult…It’s personal.’
‘Julia’s clever about things. You might ask her what she thinks.’
‘I’ll come over,’ Julia said, her interest piqued by the strange conversation.
‘Okay, I’ll go and get it,’ said Coral, trotting towards the house.
Suspecting that this was a conversation that might be easier without a garden fence between them, Julia made her way round the front of the houses, exiting her gate and coming in at Hester’s. Coral was walking up the path, holding a card in her hand. ‘I found this in the car, in the glove compartment,’ she said, handing it to Julia.
Julia read the text, which was handwritten in capitals:YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST DO WHAT YOU LIKE. I WON’T LET YOU RUIN MY LIFE. YOU WILL PAY.
There was no postage stamp. It must have been hand delivered. It wasn’t scuffed, and the edges were sharp. It didn’t look as if it had been hanging around the car for very long.
‘What do you think it means?’ Julia asked calmly, although her heartrate had increased to a canter.
‘I don’t know. I wondered if it might be from one of Lewis’s…’ Coral straightened up and pulled her shoulders back in a posture of strength and dignity, and finished her sentence: ‘Friends.’
Julia waited.
‘The ladies always liked Lewis. They sometimes made advances. He was a good husband, but he wasn’t a saint. Over the years, there have been occasional…misunderstandings. People get over-involved, they have expectations. There’s disappointment. Anger.’
‘I don’t suppose you know when it arrived?’
‘No.’
‘Have you shown this to the police?’
‘The police? No. You don’t think Lewis was run over by a jealous girlfriend, do you?’
