Free The Troutbeck Testimony by Rebecca Tope Page A

each other for ever.
    ‘Well, he’s her boyfriend,’ said Ben. ‘He makes these pots. He’s okay.’
    Bonnie looked from one to the other. ‘There’ve been murders before, haven’t there? You were hurt,’ she addressed Simmy. ‘It must have been horrible. Now Ben wants to talk about something that happened yesterday, but you don’t. Right? And you know it, don’t you?’ she turned to the boy. ‘You know she wants to stay out of it. Why don’t you just respect that and leave her alone?’
    If defending was going to be done, Simmy would never have dreamt that it would be Bonnie Lawson standing up for Simmy Brown against Ben Harkness. She laughed. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Maybe he’ll listen to you.’
    ‘I knew she’d try and stay clear of it, yeah,’ Ben muttered. ‘But I’m set for a career in forensic archaeology and if I can get some hands-on experience now, it’ll be good. It all started last year in Bowness. Simmy was there. And the Ambleside thing at Christmas – I was really helpful to the police that time.’ He was gaining in volume and assertiveness. ‘I’m not just tormenting her for the hell of it.If this is another murder, I should try and get some inside information about it. See?’
    ‘Not really,’ said Bonnie. ‘But I s’pose it’ll come clear before long.’
    Simmy felt a stab of conscience at concealing so much from Ben. He was so focused and determined in his choice of career that any impediment seemed more than unkind. ‘Moxon came to see me last night,’ she said tiredly. ‘He was really sorry, but my father and I could probably be of help to them. Dad heard some men talking on Monday, outside the pub in Troutbeck. And we took the number of a car and described the men in it. It turns out the car belongs to the dead man, so I suppose I saw him, just a day before he died.’ She shuddered. ‘I hate it, Ben. I absolutely can’t cope with another load of trouble.’
    Ben eyed her uneasily, and took a large bite of a sandwich from his lunch box. ‘Doesn’t sound as if you’ve much to worry about,’ he suggested. ‘Probably there’ll be other locals who can help as much as you.’
    ‘Is it anything to do with the dead dog you found, do you think?’ asked Bonnie. ‘I keep worrying about that. I wonder if its people ever found it.’ The faint air of reproach hinted that the girl thought Simmy and her father should have done more than they did to put things right. She also looked rather agitated, Simmy realised.
    ‘Dead dog?’ said Ben. ‘Where?’
    ‘Halfway up Wansfell Pike,’ said Simmy. ‘I can’t imagine it’s got anything to do with anything. But probably Dad said something about it to Moxon. We saw a man later on carrying something we thought might be that dog. In a black bin liner sort of thing.’ A new surge of irritationagainst her father gripped her. Any involvement with this case was definitely going to be all his fault. ‘And then that same man—’
    Ben cut her short. ‘Your dad spoke to Moxon?’ While still treading carefully, he was clearly not going to remain silent.
    ‘He did. I still can’t quite believe it, but my mother thinks it’s all pointing to a change of character, probably due to what’s happened over the past months. He’s got a lot more anxious and thinks I need protecting. Although that doesn’t really explain why he’s suddenly turned into such a good citizen. There was never the slightest suggestion that anybody was planning to hurt me. He just heard two men talking and thought it sounded as if they might be planning to rob somebody. That’s the whole thing. Nothing the least bit sinister.’
    ‘Unless he didn’t tell you the whole story,’ said Ben. ‘What about this man with a bag? He sounds a bit dodgy.’
    ‘I saw him again last night,’ Simmy picked up where she’d been interrupted, and briefly told them what had happened.
    ‘What’s his name? Where does he live? Didn’t you ask him what he had in the