Free The Poisoning in the Pub by Simon Brett

deep lines. And his eyes looked older than the rest of his body. Older and slightly disengaged. It was from the eyes that
one might deduce that he had mental problems.
    He wore grubby black jeans and a thin green cotton blouson, over a T-shirt for a tour of some female singer Jude didn’t recognize. His expression was cautious, but not unwelcoming.
    ‘Hello, I’m Jude.’
    ‘That’s what Kelly-Marie said you was.’ He lingered in the doorway, not yet certain about entering the kitchen. ‘She also said,’ he went on, ‘that you was my
girlfriend. But I know that’s not true. Because if I had a girlfriend, I’d have seen her before, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.’
    He spoke this long speech cautiously, as though he were speaking in a language that was unfamiliar to him.
    ‘You might have seen me in the street,’ Jude suggested. ‘I do live in Fethering.’
    Ray considered this proposition for a moment, then advanced a little way into the room. ‘Kelly-Marie didn’t really think you was my girlfriend. She was joking. She makes lots of
jokes at me.’ But he spoke without rancour. And a broad smile spread across his face, completely transforming his appearance. Smiling seemed to come naturally to him. It was expressing other
moods that he found difficult.
    He seemed by now to have made the decision that Jude did not represent a threat, so he moved right into the room and put his hand on the back of the chair next to hers. ‘Would you like tea
or coffee? I can make tea or coffee,’ he added with a vestige of pride in his voice. He moved towards the fridge he shared with Viggo.
    ‘Are you having some?’
    Her question prompted another moment of deliberation before Ray decided that he wasn’t.
    ‘Then I won’t bother. Do please sit down.’
    He did as he was told, seeming almost relieved that someone was making a decision for him. He sat quietly, not looking at Jude, just straight ahead, the smile still playing around the corners of
his lips. The silence, the lack of explanation for Jude’s appearance, did not seem to worry him.
    She wondered whether his response would be equally calm when she mentioned the poisoning at the Crown and Anchor. Still, that was why she had come to see him. No point in beating around the
bush. ‘Ray,’ she began, ‘I’m a friend of Ted Crisp’s.’
    ‘He’s a nice man.’ Ray nodded vigorously to emphasize the point. ‘A nice man.’ His smile grew broader.
    ‘Yes. And I gather you sometimes help him at the pub . . .’
    Another enthusiastic nod. ‘He lets me. People think I can’t do things. Ted Crisp thinks I can.’
    ‘And you were helping at the Crown and Anchor on Monday?’
    Only after he had keenly agreed to this did a slight caution come into his vague eyes. ‘Yes, on Monday,’ he agreed with a little less confidence.
    ‘But you haven’t been back there since?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Are you going to go back?’
    ‘Well, I don’t know . . .’ Then, unexpectedly, the wide smile returned. ‘I’ll have to be there on Sunday.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘They’ve got this man from the telly there on Sunday.’
    ‘Dan Poke.’
    ‘Yes, I’ll have to see him. I’ve only seen two people from off the telly before. One was Lyra Mackenzie.’
    He spoke the name with such reverence that Jude tried to avoid showing it meant nothing to her. But she must have failed, because Ray felt he had to explain. He pulled back the sides of his
blouson to reveal the picture on his T-shirt. Jude still didn’t recognize the singer. ‘You know, from The X Factor .’
    ‘Ah. Right.’ She knew her pretence at familiarity was pretty unconvincing, but Ray didn’t seem to notice. ‘She did a concert at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing. I waited
round the back afterwards to get her autograph.’
    ‘And did you get it?’
    ‘Yes. She signed my programme.’ Enthusiastically he rose from his seat. ‘It’s up in my room. Would you like to see it?’
    Jude managed