Free Folly by Stella Cameron Page B

own.’
    â€˜Bogie came up trumps. He alerted me.’ Being cared about might be nice, but all this interference grew tiresome.
    â€˜Did he catch and kill the murderer?’
    Alex groaned. Both sisters had sucked in noisy breaths and slapped hands over their mouths.
    With Oliver happily purring on his shoulder, Tony got up. ‘This boy is in great shape, or he will be once he’s had some TLC and his shots. He’ll also have to be neutered.’
    Harriet and Mary weren’t listening. They looked at Alex with wide eyes.
    â€˜It was a silly prank last night, that’s all,’ Alex said. She pulled down the hem of the baggy gray T-shirt she wore over a thin sweater and realized she was doing exactly what she did as a girl when she was uncomfortable. She stopped tapping her feet on the floor and let go of the shirt. ‘That’s
all
it was. But I did come down and stay at the Black Dog for the rest of the night.’
    â€˜I think it’s time everyone in this village was warned to take security precautions.’ Tony repeatedly ran his hands over the cat. ‘I’d like you to come with me to talk to O’Reilly, or his boss if that’s what it takes. We need more patrol cars, particularly at night. There are too many people around here who aren’t capable of defending themselves.’
    â€˜Tony—’
    He cut her off. ‘Just listen. I was up at Derwinters earlier, looking at a filly. It was Leonard who told me what went on last night.
    â€˜While I was there, Heather wandered in on foot, without her helmet, covered in mud – and blood. All scratched up and she was probably lucky it wasn’t a lot worse. She’d been riding and her horse got spooked and threw her when she was about to jump a hedge.’
    Now Alex really wished he’d waited until the two old ladies weren’t around to hear. They were both pale but, oddly, appeared more quizzical than frightened. They wanted to hear the rest of the story.
    â€˜She must have been thrown,’ Alex said quietly. ‘I’m very sorry to hear that.’
    â€˜Her horse came in fifteen or so minutes later. He’d been riding hard and was screaming and bucking. Good job I was there. Also a good job the dart had landed in a fleshy part of his rump.’

NINE
    H eather Derwinter beat Tony in stirring up the police and local attention. He and Alex had just got into his car when she got a call from O’Reilly with the news that, at Heather’s insistence and with the backing of the mayor, there was about to be a police briefing in Folly-on-Weir.
    â€˜I don’t want to go,’ Alex said after repeating O’Reilly’s message. She pushed the phone back into her pocket. ‘Do you?’
    He had expected something like this. ‘Yes, I do. We need to know what’s being done and said publically.’
    â€˜We already know.’
    â€˜Nothing’s been said to the public until now. I haven’t heard or read a word about it.’ He drove to the church parking lot off Mallard Lane and got out.
    Alex joined him. She wore no coat and looked shivery. ‘Look around. There are hardly any cars here. They didn’t get the word out so there’s no point in going.’
    He wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to go to the meeting but would put money on her not wanting to admit how serious a threat she had to face. ‘Most people will come on foot. We already passed some. Just a minute.’ From his Land Rover he took a quilted vest and draped it around her shoulders. He knew she wouldn’t accept the coat he wore. ‘Wear it,’ he said when she opened her mouth to protest.
    Quietly, but with a faint flush in her face, she put the vest all the way on and fastened the zip. Someone else could have worn it with her. ‘Thanks,’ she said, setting off to leave the parking lot without saying if she would go to the meeting or not.
    Alex