Page 38 of A Village Theatre Murder
Julia’s head was spinning, considering all the seemingly contradictory possibilities. Had Bethany been involved with Grahamandwith Roger? Did she have not one, buttwoolder suitors? Had the two men known about each other? There was so much Julia couldn’t comprehend. Aside from anything else, the young just had so muchenergy.
‘That Bethany, who’d have thought?’ said Flo, who had appeared quietly, in her silent plimsolls, and was following Julia’s gaze. Julia looked at Flo expectantly, awaiting elaboration.
‘I’m not one to gossip.’
This could not be further from the truth, but Julia let it pass. She held her silence, waiting for Flo to crack.
‘It’s nice to see them so friendly together, her and the superintendent. So affectionate. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, things being so smooth now. Not after the way the relationship ended. Sparks flew, I can tell you. Not surprising. Too young, of course. That was the problem.’
‘Yes, very young.’ It was increasingly difficult to determine the age of young people, but Julia reckoned Bethany couldn’t have been more than thirty. Probably less. Roger could be twice her age.
‘Still, life surprises you, doesn’t it? Look at the two of them now.’
They watched through the window as the couple said their goodbyes with another hug, and went their separate ways. They walked a few steps away from each other, and both turned at exactly the same moment. They smiled and waved at each other, turned again and continued on their way.
‘Ah, will you look at that,’ said Flo, mistily. ‘Isn’t that nice?’ Julia was surprised that Flo was so in favour of this romantic pairing. In fact, she seemed quite moved by it, despite the age gap. And what about the fact that she said it had ended badly? Yet here they were together. It was all rather odd.
‘Coffee for you, is it, Julia?’
‘Yes please, Flo, and I’ll wait to order food.’
Minutes later, Hannah came in, pushing the baby in the pram. Julia stood up to help her navigate through the chairs.
‘Thanks,’ said Hannah, puffed. ‘It doesn’t exactly have great manoeuvrability. It’s like driving a ship.’
‘Through icebergs,’ said Julia, moving a chair out of the way.
Baby Tom sat propped up, like the ship’s very small commander, surveying the floes and bergs as he sailed past. He seemed content with the whole arrangement.
‘Thank you for meeting me. I know it’s a lot to ask.’
‘I’m sorry for the loss of your dad, Hannah, and now this difficulty with your mum. I’m just not sure what I can do to help. I suspect there’s a lot going on that I don’t know.’
Hannah was quiet for a minute, and then said, ‘I feel I can trust you. I’m going to tell you something I don’t want everyone to know. My father was having an extramarital relationship when he was killed. It was with a young woman at the supermarket. Actually, someone I was at school with. I feel awful. It was my fault. I recommended her for the job, and then she and Dad…’
Hannah looked down at Tom, and then leaned towards Julia and whispered, as if not wanting the baby to hear, ‘They were having an affair.’
‘Coffee for you, Julia. And there’s a little something for Jake,’ Flo put down the cup and, next to it, a separate saucer with three bone-shaped dog biscuits on it. Julia found it amusing that they shaped biscuits like bones. They could have been shaped like elephants or steam trains and it wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference to Jake.
‘Now, what can I get for you, Hannah dear?’
‘Tea please, Flo.’
When Flo was out of earshot, Julia asked quietly, ‘Did Jane…did your mother know about theaffair?’
‘She did. I’m not sure when she found out, exactly, but she didn’t tell me, or anyone, as far as I know. She didn’t want people to know. You know what my mum is like; she’s a proud woman, and sort of, like, proper. And Berrywick is a small village when it comes to gossip. I think she was hoping that before anyone got wind of it, the relationship would blow over and things would just go back to normal.’
That would be a highly unusual outcome, in Julia’s experience. And it certainly hadn’t worked out that way in this case.
‘Dad was hesitating, apparently. He said he wanted to try again, but then there was this young woman, and you know men…He went back and forth for a bit, and then just last week he made a decision. He wanted to split up. He wanted to be with Bethany. He had his lawyer draw something up to send to Mum, a preliminary sort of thing, I suppose. Mum got the letter the day he died.’
Julia knew this, of course, but she didn’t say so. Just nodded in a sympathetic sort of way.
‘Mum’s mistake was that she didn’t tell the police when they first questioned her. She thought, well, it doesn’t matter now that he’s…gone. The affair was not relevant, and the least she could do was protect his reputation, and our family’s. But when they found out, it made her look…shifty.’
Guilty, more like, thought Julia.
‘And now they’ve brought her in for questioning.’
