Free Blood in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope

any choice. You’ll understand when I explain. Could I come over, do you think? I’m only a few miles away.’
    ‘What, now?’
    ‘If you’re there. I won’t get in the way of your lady friend. I could tell she wasn’t too impressed, and who can blame her? But I want to just fill you in and help you see why it hasto be like this. I remember you, you see. You always struck me as very straightforward. Not like some of the crooks we had on the square in those days…’ He chuckled briefly at some distant memory, before lowering his voice again. ‘Sorry. I’ve been knocking back the Old Peculiar a bit since I heard the news. Always makes me flippant.’
    Phil knew the drink in question was not ale, but the best imaginable Scotch. He wanted to make a remark about driving under the influence, but wasn’t given a chance. ‘I’ll be fifteen minutes,’ said the man, and rang off.
    ‘We’ve got a visitor,’ Phil told Thea. ‘He’ll be here in fifteen minutes. Sounds like a retired Army Colonel, but I don’t think he was in the military. I seem to remember there was something medical about him.’
    Thea’s mood was unusually hard to judge. She sighed minimally and made no move to leave her garden chair. An open book lay beside her on the grass, but she showed little interest in it. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’ he said.
    She sighed again, more loudly. ‘Not much use me minding anything, is it? I’m trying not to indulge in any expectations for this week, if youmust know. So far, I’ve got the weather on my side, which is something to be thankful for.’
    ‘And me,’ he said childishly. ‘You’ve got me, when you thought you’d be here on your own.’
    ‘Yes, I’ve got you.’ She gave him an unsmiling gaze, and he remembered his joyful proclamation of love the previous day and her lack of response. He had assumed she was pleased, that the feelings were reciprocated, but now he was less sure. She seemed withdrawn – silent and serious. He felt judged by her, given marks out of ten several times a day for the way he handled his damaged back and the unwelcome intrusion of violence and local characters. Which, he couldn’t help thinking, was quite unfair of her. After all, hadn’t that Janey woman been in the house when he’d arrived on Sunday? Hadn’t Thea agreed to go on some crackpot outing to celebrate some unknown saint, without even telling him? Anxiously, he reached out and grasped her hand. ‘We’re all right, aren’t we?’ he asked. ‘Tell me everything’s all right.’
    But before she could respond, a large red Mitsubishi Warrior crunched down the track, and Hepzie gave an uncharacteristic volley of barking, and Phil never got his reassurances.
    * * *
    The massive body of Stephen Pritchett emerged briskly from the vehicle and looked around for someone to greet him. ‘Here!’ called Phil from behind the willows at the corner of the house. Thea had made no move.
    ‘Good Lord, poor old you,’ boomed the man when Phil apologised for not getting out of his chair. ‘Nothing worse than a bad back. Lucky for me I’ve got no first hand experience. Imagine trying to shift this carcase around on a board!’ He laughed shortly.
    He engulfed Thea’s hand in a careful shake, and returned his attention to Hollis. There was an implication that he expected Thea to disappear, which she ignored. ‘I gather a body’s been found,’ he began, once he’d settled himself in a canvas chair. His manner and appearance were transformed completely from one minute to the next. Folds of drooping flesh appeared beneath his eyes, and his cheeks grew mottled.
    ‘No use denying it,’ said Phil. ‘Although I’d like to know how you found out. The police haven’t issued a statement yet.’
    ‘You can’t close a road and erect police tape without word getting round. Besides, I’m knownto have an interest. There was a conclusion drawn more or less instantly.’
    ‘Which was?’
    Pritchett sighed shakily.