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A Crowded Coffin(80)

By:Nicola Slade


Walter Attlin began to rise to his feet but, obedient to a stern shake of the head from his wife, sat down again.

‘I begin to be grateful that I did miss everything,’ he smiled ruefully. ‘It’s exhausting just hearing about it. However, I just want to say something. I won’t dwell on the danger that Harriet and Rory found themselves in, or on the fact that it was only by a fluke that Sam wasn’t murdered in the cathedral. It will all be rehashed at the inquests and until then I suggest we let it lie. Time enough to think about it when it can’t be helped. But I am most sincerely grateful that you are all sitting safely at my table today, and I thank you.’

There was a murmur of assent and, looking slightly sheepish, they raised their glasses to each other.

‘It was odd, wasn’t it,’ suggested Rory a few minutes later, ‘that the rumours about looking for oil turned out to be true.’

Edith shot a slightly disapproving look at her grandfather. ‘Yes, you’ve been a bit sneaky about that, haven’t you, Grandpa?’

The old man nodded. ‘Maybe. The only person I’ve discussed it with, apart from your grandmother, is Sam. I needed to toss ideas about with someone sensible and discreet and Sam fitted the bill perfectly.’ Sam made a mock bow, and Walter continued. ‘I wasn’t going to broadcast the possibility of a mineral water supply on our land – and that reminds me – negotiations are still going on about that, so please keep it under wraps. They believe there’s still a market for a superior brand and that our water is particularly pure, so they want to sink an exploratory bore hole.

‘I imagine some inkling of that business got out and that was the foundation for the local gossip. The fact that Gordon Dean or, as we are led to believe, his henchman, was in fact pussy-footing around checking out the oil options, seems to be a complete coincidence, though it could simply be that he got wind of the water deal, which might have set him (or them) thinking. We’ll never know. In any case, I suspect he would have drawn a blank on that option; my contacts in the mineral water company were very sceptical about the suggestion of oil deposits here when I brought up the subject.

‘Which reminds me,’ he looked over in Sam’s direction, ‘any news on our erstwhile neighbour?’

‘Gone to London,’ Sam told him. ‘I hear the house is going on the market, though rumour has it that he’s squeaky clean. But who knows? Word is that his daughter’s taken herself off back to New York, so I imagine the police have nothing on her.’

Karen brought in more tea and coffee and when they were settled, Walter Attlin called his audience to attention once more. ‘Something else to discuss,’ he said. ‘Penny and I have been thinking for a long time that we ought to move downstairs. The stairs are getting too much and my accident has made the decision for us. Our plan is that we turn the downstairs rooms into a flat for ourselves, leaving Karen and Elveece where they are, which they’re happy about. There’s plenty of space, we don’t need more than a couple of rooms as long as we can squeeze in a bathroom somewhere. There are a couple of small rooms that will do for that, and a tiny kitchen – just a kettle and a microwave, really, for snacks, as Karen will continue as housekeeper.’

Edith was looking thoughtful and her grandfather smiled across at her. ‘I know Gran’s already floated the idea by you, so what’s your verdict? We thought you could take over the upstairs,’ he said. ‘I think the gallery will have to be accessible, possibly to the public if we go down that route, but in any case there will certainly be a procession of experts tramping up and down.

‘However, there’s plenty of room for you to tuck in a kitchen of your own, along with another bathroom or two, and Rory can stay on as your lodger if he’d like to. I know his original plan was to look for a place of his own and of course we’ll give him every assistance if that’s what he wants, but I’d just like to say that we’d be only too happy to have him stay on at the farm.’ He hid a smile as Edith shot a startled glance at Rory and blushed. ‘I propose we give it a try at any rate, for a year, say. Karen’s going to be pretty busy – I’m giving away a secret here – but she insists she can manage with the catering if we all muck in. In a few months I think we’ll insist on getting some help for her, but she won’t hear of it just now.’

Afterwards, when the plan had been discussed and approved, Harriet noticed that the old man was looking weary and his wife anxious. ‘One more thing,’ he said, ‘It’s all right, Harriet, I know when I’m defeated – but before I’m bullied into going for a nap in a minute, I’ll hand over to Sam to tell you what we’ve been discussing.’