Death in the Cotswolds Read Free

sides, remnants of driveways to country mansions, in many cases. If there was frost overnight, I thought, the leaves would have lost their green within a couple of days.
       
    Just as it was getting properly dark and Thomas, my big tabby, had come in from the cold, seeking out the fire I’d already lit for us both in the back room, there was a knock on the door. Phil was there, eyebrows raised in a sort of mock drama, holding a broken oil lamp chimney.
    ‘We’ve made a bad start,’ he grinned. ‘Baxter knocked this over with his tail.’ I didn’t need to ask who Baxter was. ‘It’s useless now. I don’t suppose you’ve got one anywhere, have you?’
    ‘An oil lamp,’ I said slowly. ‘You’re asking me if you can borrow an oil lamp.’
    ‘I know – it sounds a bit like a fairytale, doesn’t it. It’s just that they cast such a lovely romantic light.’ He cocked his head sideways, coaxingly, infuriatingly. ‘Besides, there are only four candles. We forgot to buy a new boxful.’
    ‘Well, sorry, but I haven’t. There might be one in your attic, though. Helen kept all sorts of junk up there. You should keep those dogs under better control.’
    ‘You don’t have to tell me that – but I’ve never found a way to stop them wagging their tails. EvenHepzie – that’s Thea’s spaniel – can do some damage with hers.’
    ‘Cut them off,’ I said. ‘Now…’ He was letting the cold in, and I was cross with him for being so soppy. The Phil Hollis I remembered had never been soppy. He was a senior policeman, for heaven’s sake!
    He blew out his cheeks, still playing the same game, helpless little boy, appealing to an earlier version of me, fishing for some old shared childhood that had never really existed. ‘It’ll be awfully dark in the attic,’ he whined.
    ‘So use the candles for the rest of tonight and have a look up there tomorrow. It’s got a skylight – you’ll be able to see quite well by day.’
    ‘Oh, well, thanks, um, Ariadne.’ He worked his lips and repeated quietly, ‘Ariadne. I must remember to say Ariadne.’
    ‘Oh, go away,’ I said, and pushed the door shut in his face.
    It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. If we were playing a ‘reversion to childhood’ game, then this was entirely in keeping with the rules. He would tease me, I stuck my tongue out or punched him, he retreated and forgot all about me. It had been a regular pattern for decades and I’d have been lost if anything had changed. The presence of a love interest on his side made no difference. Whatever it was between Phil Hollis and me, it definitely wasn’tlove. For love, you had to have equality, respect, attention, seriousness, understanding – and about fifty other qualities which were utterly absent from our relationship, such as it was. Instead, on his side there was a decency, a good heart – and a kind of unimaginativeness which prevented him from working out that I might be bad news. For me there was a curiosity about his life, along with our shared history and an uncomfortable knowledge of secrets. Secrets that Detective Superintendent Hollis certainly would rather I hadn’t known.

CHAPTER TWO
    Before ten the next morning he was back, wearing a quilted bodywarmer over an inadequate nylon jumper, and looking pinched with cold. His lady friend hadn’t managed to create much heat, then, I thought, while wondering whether she’d had the sense to pack more substantial clothes than he had.
    Without giving him time to speak, I ushered him into my house and sat him down beside the Rayburn. ‘Stay there,’ I ordered, and went through to the back room. It didn’t take me long to find what I was looking for.
    ‘Here,’ I told him, proffering a thick jumper in handspun Cotswold wool. ‘That’ll keep the cold out. I’ve got a pot of tea made, too, if you’d like some.’
    He didn’t demur, just grinned and shivered. ‘I didn’t think it could be this cold in October,’ he said. ‘How do you