Free Mrs. Pargeter's Pound of Flesh by Simon Brett

character,' Tom mused.
    'What do you mean?' asked Mrs Pargeter.
    'Jenny's very proud. Neither of us had any money, so it would have been in character for her to go off and get a job. No way would she ever ask for anything from anyone else – least of all from her parents. She knew how little they'd got. I'd hear her on the phone telling them how easily she was managing on her grant – which was a load of crap. She didn't want them to be worried. I think she sometimes even sent them money that she certainly couldn't afford.'
    'What's odd about the situation,' Mrs Pargeter ruminated, 'is not that Jenny should have got a job . . . but that she shouldn't have told you that she was getting one . . .' The boy nodded in downcast agreement. 'Can you think of any reasons why she might not have told you?'
    His reply was drawn out of him reluctantly. 'Only the one.'
    'And what's that?'
    'That she didn't think I'd approve of the work she was doing.'
    Mrs Pargeter understood immediately. She looked out of the window at a miniskirted girl brazenly chatting up a tourist in an anorak. 'That's why you're here, Tom, isn't it? You're afraid Jenny might have come down here to make money?'
    'I couldn't think of anything else,' he mumbled. 'I had to look for her. I had to start somewhere.'
    'So you've been round here, watching the girls come and go, for how long . . . ?'
    'I don't know . . . Two weeks . . . three weeks?' The confession had released some tension in him. He looked suddenly haggard with exhaustion.
    'Where are you living?'
    'Sleeping on someone's floor.'
    'Whereabouts?'
    She only got a shrug by way of answer.
    'And that's why you haven't gone back to Cambridge?'
    'I can't. I can't go back till I find Jenny.' He looked suddenly very young and vulnerable.
    'But you mustn't ruin your life and your education for –'
    Mrs Pargeter never got the chance to finish her sentence. Tom O'Brien's attention had been caught by another group of miniskirted girls hurrying past the cafe window. 'I must go!' he blurted. Then, showing his good upbringing, he added from the door, 'Are you sure you don't mind paying for the lunch?'
    Truffler gestured acquiescence and the boy was gone. 'Shall I go after him, Mrs Pargeter?'
    She shook her head and speared a sausage. 'No point. I think we've got all we can from him. And, anyway, Truffler, if you've found him once, I'm sure you can . . .'
    The detective's nod of confidence made the rest of her sentence redundant.
    Mrs Pargeter finished her mouthful of sausage in reflective mood. 'Poor kid. He's clearly deeply in love with her.'
    'Hm . . .'
    'Or was deeply in love with her. You know what we've got to do next, don't you, Truffler?'
    He probably did, but was polite enough to respect the rhetorical nature of her question.
    'We've got to make certain that the dead girl I saw really was Jenny Hargreaves.'
    Truffler Mason nodded, his conjecture proved correct.
    'What about the parents?' asked Mrs Pargeter suddenly. 'Surely the hospital must have been in touch with them by now?'
    'No, that's the odd thing,' said Truffler. 'I was going to tell you. Mr and Mrs Hargreaves still haven't heard anything.'
    'Oh dear. Truffler, get in touch with all the hospitals in the Brotherton Hall area! As quickly as possible!'
    Mrs Pargeter had suddenly turned very pale. And after Truffler had rushed off to follow her instructions, she didn't even feel up to finishing her All-Day Breakfast.
    Which may be taken as a measure of how upset she was.
    CHAPTER 15
    'Gary . . .' said Mrs Pargeter thoughtfully, as the limousine sped through the outer suburbs, 'if you discovered that your wife was doing a job –'
    'Which I never would,' the uniformed chauffeur interrupted. 'Old-fashioned it may be, but I believe a bloke should bring home enough for his missus and the nippers without her having to go out to work.'
    Others might have been surprised to hear these reactionary sentiments from such a young man, but Mrs Pargeter had long been aware