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Yes, and you were off shagging some older bloke you’d just laid eyes on for the first time, A
“He’s a farmer. Can you imagine anything more naff?”
“Plenty of things.”
“Huh. Well, I can’t.”
“Do you know someone called Jack Ta
Kelly seemed surprised at the question. “Yes,” she said. “He lives just down the road from the pub.”
“What do you think of him?”
“I can say I do very much. Think of him, that is. He always seems a bit of a miserable sod, to me. And he’s a total lech as well.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s always looking at my tits. He doesn’t think I know, but it’s well obvious. He does it with all us young girls.”
“Have you ever seen him in the pub?”
“No. CC barred him before I started working there. He can’t hold his drink. He’s always picking fights.”
A
“It just looked like a cottage. You know, old furniture and stuff, a creaky bed, toilet with a wonky seat.”
“What about Nick’s personal things?”
“You must know. You were in there.”
“Everything’s gone, Kelly.”
Kelly gave her a startled look. “Somebody stole it? Is that why they killed him? But there was hardly anything there, unless he was hiding money under the mattress, and I don’t think he was. You could have felt a pea under that thing.”
“What did he have?”
“Just a few books, a portable CD player with a couple of those small speakers you can set up. Not great sound, but okay. Mostly he liked old stuff, but he had some more modern bands: Doves, Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs. And he had a computer.”
“Laptop?”
“Yes. A little one. Toshiba, I think. He said he used it used it mostly for watching DVDs, but he did do some work on it, too.”
“What kind of work?”
“He was a writer.”
“What sort of writer?”
“I don’t know. He never told me about it and I never asked. None of my business, was it? Maybe he was writing his autobiography.”
That would be a bit presumptuous at thirty-eight, A
“I asked him what he was doing up here at such a miserable time of year, and he said he wanted a bit of peace and quiet to do some writing. I could tell he was being a bit shy and secretive about it, so I didn’t push. I wasn’t after his life story, anyway.”
“Did he ever show you anything he’d written?”
“No. I mean, all we did was have a curry, a chat and a shag. I didn’t go searching through his stuff or anything. What do you think I am?”
“All right, Kelly, don’t get your knickers in a twist.”
Kelly managed a brief smile. “Bit late for that, isn’t it?”
“What did you use for contraception?”
“Condoms. What do you think?”
“We didn’t find any in the house.”
“We used them all. On Friday, like, he wanted to, you know, do it again, but we couldn’t. There weren’t any left, and it was too late to go into Eastvale. I had to be at work. And there’s no way I was going to do it without. I’m not totally stupid.”
“Okay,” said A
“Did he have a mobile?”
“He did. A fancy Nokia. Fat lot of good it did him, though. They don’t work around here. You have to go to Eastvale or Helmthorpe. It’s a real drag.”
That was a problem in the Dales, A
“He was fine.”
“He didn’t seem upset, depressed or worried about anything?”
“No, not at all.”
“What about drugs?”
Kelly paused. “We smoked a couple of joints, that’s all. I’d never do anything harder than that.”
“Did he have a lot of gear?”
“No, just enough for himself. At least that’s all I saw. Look, he wasn’t a drug dealer, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
“I’m not getting at anything,” said A
“No, not so’s I noticed.”
“He wasn’t nervous or edgy, as if he was expecting someone?”
“No.”
“Did you make any plans for the future?”
“Well, he didn’t ask me to marry him, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
A
“Sure. He was up here for another week, and I said I could get away a few times – if he got some more condoms. He said I could come and see him in London, too, if I wanted. He gets lots of free tickets and he said he’d take me to concerts.” She pouted. “My dad would never let me go, though. He thinks London’s some sort of den of iniquity.”
“Did Nick give you his address?”
“We didn’t get that far. We thought… you know… we’d see one another again up here. Oh, shit! Sorry.” She dabbed at her face again. Crying had made her skin blotchy. Other than that, she was a beautiful young woman, and A
When she’d pulled herself together, she laughed and said, “You must think I’m well daft, crying over some bloke I just met.”
“No, I don’t,” said A
Kelly looked at her. “You understand, don’t you? You’re not like the rest. Not like that sourpuss you had with you last night.”
A
“No, I mean it. You’re all right, you are. What’s it like, being a copper?”
“It has its moments,” A
“Do you think they’d have me, if I applied, like?”
“I’m sure it would be worth a try,” A
“That’s me,” Kelly said with a crooked smile. “Bright and motivated. I’m sure my dad would approve.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” A
Kelly frowned, then she said, “Look, I’ve got to get to work. I’m already late. CC’ll go spare.”
“Okay,” said A
“Can you give me a minute before we go?” said Kelly, pulling down the mirror and taking a small pink container from her handbag. “I’ve got to put my face on.”
“Of course.” A