Free (1990) Sweet Heart by Peter James Page B

your age?
    The Garfield-Hampsens had three children. They were called Orlando, Gervais and Camilla. Julian (Joo-Joo) was in computer software. Zoe evented-and-thinged on horses. Everything was
super
.
    Charley caught Hugh Boxer’s eye. ‘Is that your lovely Jaguar outside? Tom’s been ogling it since we first saw the house.’
    ‘Tell him to pop in any time if he sees the workshop door open. I’m working on a beautiful old Bristol.’ He tapped his pipe against the rim of an earthenware ashtray. There was something cosy about the sound. He dabbed his forehead with the back of his massive hand. ‘It’s close tonight.’
    She felt the sticky heat too. ‘It’s clouding. The forecast is thunder.’
    He struck a match and took several long sucks on thepipe, then shook the match out. There was still grease under his nails.
    ‘Is that your business, old cars?’ Charley said.
    He drew on his pipe and fired the smoke out through his nostrils. It rose up in a thick cloud around him. ‘No. I’m a ley hunter,’ he said, and took a sip of his whisky, cradling his glass in his hand.
    ‘Ley hunter?’ She caught the twinkle in the eyes; morning sunlight on an icy pond. Beneath the ice there seemed to be immense depth.
    ‘Hugh’s frightfully famous. He’s our local celebrity,’ said Zoe.
    He waved his pipe dismissively. ‘It’s not true. Don’t believe it.’
    ‘It is!’ She turned to Charley. ‘He’s been on television, radio, and in all the papers. He had a whole half page in the
Independent
with his photograph. They called him Britain’s leading authority on ley lines.’
    Hugh puffed on his pipe as if he were not part of the conversation.
    ‘And he’s had two books published.’
    ‘What are their titles?’
    The smoke smelled rich and sweet. Charley liked the smell of pipes.
    ‘I shouldn’t think you’ve heard of them,’ Hugh said. ‘
The Secret Landscape
, and
Dowsing
—
the Straight Facts
.’
    ‘He’s absolutely brilliant. The books are fascinating.’
    Tom and Julian Garfield-Hampsen were talking about property. ‘We’re trying to get permission to extend,’ Julian said, and Zoe’s attention switched to them.
    ‘Were they bestsellers, these books?’ Charley asked.
    He sucked on the pipe again. ‘No.’ he grinned and raised his straw-bale brows. ‘It’s a very specialised subject. I don’t sell many, just a few copies.’
    ‘Is that how you make your living?’
    ‘I earn my crust at the university. I lecture.’
    ‘Which one?’
    ‘Sussex.’
    ‘I thought you didn’t look like a garage mechanic. Do you lecture on ley lines?’
    ‘No. Psychology. Ley lines are my hobby — for my sanity.’
    ‘And old motor cars?’
    ‘Anything old. Old cars. Old buildings. Old landscapes.’ He shrugged, and looked closer at her, more penetratingly. His voice lowered and his face suddenly seemed more gaunt. ‘Old spirits.’ He tamped his pipe with his stubby thumb. He bit his nails too, she noticed with surprise. His eyes lifted from the pipe back to her. They stared intently. It was as though they were searching for something, as if they were trying to rub away an outer layer and peer through.
    ‘What do you mean, old spirits?’
    ‘Past lives. I can always tell someone else who’s had past lives.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘Just by looking at them.’ She felt something cold trickle through her, pricking at her like an electrical current.
    ‘You mean reincarnation?’
    He nodded.
    ‘You believe in that?’
    ‘Don’t you?’
    ‘No, I don’t believe in it. I don’t think it’s possible.’
    ‘I don’t believe in divorce,’ he said quietly. ‘But my wife still left me.’
    There was a silence between them.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said at last.
    He smiled, but she saw the pain beneath the mask.
    ‘Do you believe in regression?’ she asked, sipping her spritzer.
    ‘Regression hypnosis?’
    ‘Yes.’
    He took a match out of the box. ‘There are a lot of meddlers, amateurs. Anyone can