Free Almost Love by Christina James

celebrity, the person at the head of it all. As she has grown older, she has seen it as her right to exist as a living legend, immune to any kind of questioning or scrutiny.”
    “Do you think that the attitude that you describe could have created real enemies? People who would dislike her enough to want to hurt her?”
    “Not physically hurt her, no. Marginalise her, certainly. But Claudia has effectively marginalised herself. As I’ve said, she’s not a team player and she has not attended conferences and symposia for a very long time. Archaeologists are notorious for not writing up accounts of their fieldwork, so if you take yourself off the lecture circuit, you quickly lose touch with what is going on.”
    “Though you say she was interested in the conference that’s happening here?”
    “In a sort of way. She knows a lot of the people who are here, myself and Edmund included. And she was curious about Alex, the secretary of the Archaeological Society and our conference organiser, as you know – but mainly I suspect because she doesn’t know her. If she was interested in seeing the conference programme itself, she didn’t say so.”
    “What else did you talk about?”
    “Most of the conversation was about people that we both know, but it progressed in a very desultory sort of way. She seemed confused. She muddled me with Edmund several times. And she kept on closing her eyes. She offered me tea on at least three separate occasions; the third time, I got up and made it myself, and some for her, too. That may have been her intention all along, perhaps, but I don’t think so: it was more as if she were running through the social niceties because she remembered them, but without any idea of how to carry them through; a bit as if she were drugged. She could have been taking some kind of medication, I suppose.”
    “Did she at any point indicate that she intended to leave the cottage?”
    “Not at all. She was anticipating Jane Halliwell’s return this weekend. She was really looking forward to it. I asked if anyone was helping her in the meantime and she said that her nephew was ‘keeping an eye out’, whatever that means.”
    “She didn’t say anything else about her nephew?”
    “No.”
    “Does anything at all out of the ordinary spring to mind? Did she talk of anyone else, or receive any calls while you were there?”
    “No; no-one; and no. My whole time there could barely have exceeded forty minutes. I couldn’t stay longer. I’d promised Alex that I’d get to the hotel by late afternoon to help here with various things and I’d already left the office much later than I’d intended.”
    “How did you part?”
    “I kissed her again and she gave me a quick peck in return. Claudia was never very tactile or emotionally demonstrative. I said that I would keep in touch better than I had in recent years and make sure that I saw her again this year. She just nodded. Nothing seemed to exercise her mind especially, except having the front door left open. She particularly asked me not to close it. She became quite agitated at the thought that I might forget.”
    “I see. I assume that you did leave it open?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “And you came straight here to the hotel afterwards?”
    “Yes.”
    “At what time did you arrive here?”
    “If that monstrosity of a clock in the courtyard is correct, it was at exactly 5 p.m. The clock was striking as I parked the car.”
    “Thank you. Is there anything else at all that you can think of that might help us to find Dame Claudia?”
    “Not offhand. If there were anything, of course I should tell you. I’d like to see her safely restored to her friend and nephew as much as you would.”
    “I have no doubt of that, Mr Sparham. May I give you my card? If anything else should cross your mind that you think might be even remotely useful, please let me know.”

Chapter Six
    Alex’s day had taken on a surreal hue. First of all she had awoken barely able to