Free Blood Sinister by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Page B

pet causes. She was rather hot-headed, and sometimesshe didn’t examine the issues before jumping in. She was so passionate about things. She and Josh used to fight like cat and dog about some of her ideas – but it never touched their friendship. That goes too deep to be affected by a difference of opinion.’
    Swilley nodded encouragingly. ‘It sounds marvellous, a friendship like that. So did you see a lot of each other?’
    ‘Oh, you know how it is,’ Mrs Prentiss said, looking faintly embarrassed. ‘Marriage, children, careers – there never seems to be enough time for getting together with your old friends, does there?’
    Swilley declined to party. ‘How often did you see her?’
    ‘I suppose – about half a dozen times a year. But we talked on the phone a lot,’ she added hastily, as though her dedication had been questioned. ‘There was never any sense of being apart, however long it was.’
    ‘When did you last see her, can you remember?’
    ‘She saw the New Year in with us. We had a little dinner party – just family. Our children both made it home, for a wonder. Josh and me, Toby and Emma, Josh’s brother Piers, and Phoebe.’ She looked at Swilley. ‘We counted her as family. The children used to call her Aunty Phoebe when they were little. Toby’s twenty-two now and Emma’s twenty. They have their own lives, of course, so we don’t see so much of them. He’s a company analyst for an investment firm. Emma works for a magazine group – followed Phoebe into journalism, you see. Phoebe helped her get the job. She always loved my two as if they were her own children.’
    Swilley accepted all this patiently, thanking God she was not the sort of woman who had to define her life by her husband and children. ‘At your dinner party, did Phoebe seem in her usual spirits?’ she asked.
    Mrs Prentiss frowned in thought. ‘Oh, yes, I think so. I mean, she always had a lot on her mind, but she didn’t talk about anything out of the ordinary. She chatted to the children about their lives, argued with Josh about the Government, had a flaming row with Piers – but that was par for the course.’
    ‘What was that about?’
    ‘Oh, goodness, I can’t remember. Something political – the homosexual age of consent, was it? I think it might have beenthat. They were always arguing – it didn’t mean anything. I mean, actually, Phoebe argued with everyone.’ She opened her eyes wide. ‘I don’t want you to think there was any malice in it. It was late in the evening and they’d both had a lot to drink so instead of just debating they started shouting at each other. But Josh told them to shut up because it was nearly midnight, and when Big Ben struck everybody kissed everybody else and it was all forgotten.’
    ‘Did she usually drink a lot?’ Swilley asked.
    ‘Well, she
was
a journalist,’ Mrs Prentiss said. ‘She always was what I’d call a hard drinker, though I’ve never seen her drunk since our student days. I don’t mean she was an alcoholic.’
    ‘But?’ Swilley prompted. Mrs Prentiss looked enquiring. ‘You sounded as if you were going to say “but”.’
    ‘Oh.’ A pause. ‘It’s just that the past few months I’ve thought she was drinking more than usual. She doesn’t get drunk, but once or twice when she’s come over we’ve sat talking and she’s just gone on drinking, long after I’ve had enough and—’ she gave a little, nervous laugh, ‘frankly, long after I’ve wanted to get to my bed.’
    ‘Do you think the heavier drinking was to do with some problem she had?’
    Again the hesitation. Mrs Prentiss gazed towards the dark window, which showed only a reflection of the lighted room, nothing beyond. ‘I wondered whether she had something on her mind that she wasn’t telling me about. She’s been – less lively and cheerful these past few months. More thoughtful. But then,’ she turned the direct, dark eyes on Swilley frankly, ‘there’s her age to consider.