Scandal at Six(103)

Her face crumpled, and she began to cry silently. Justin reached out and took her hand. “Don’t worry, Betsy,” he said. “We’ll take care of you.”

Dot looked at him in surprise. As far as she could tell, Betsy Brierley was quite capable of taking care of herself.

“But how did he get hold of the hearse?” continued Justin. “I know he was a part-time undertaker, but this was in the evening. Not many funerals at that time.”

“Not sure,” said Betsy, “but it must have been the hearse he’s been working on. Refitting it inside, they are. Poshing it up with red velvet and brass handles an’ that. He could easily have got a wheelchair into that one.”

“Wouldn’t it all have been locked up, standing there in the workshop?”

“Oh, no problem. He had access to all the keys. They trusted him, poor saps,” she said.





Fifty-seven





Winter had finally ended, and there were signs of spring everywhere in Long Farnden. Lois’s garden was full of snowdrops, and the children in the village school were leaping about like young lambs, reviving old playground rituals with skipping ropes and coloured balls. Gran spent minutes at a time outside the school gates, listening to chants of “Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Jews, bought his wife a new pair of shoes.”

“When the shoes began to wear, Nebuchadnezzar began to swear,” she sang now to her friend Joan in her neighbour’s kitchen.

“When the swear began to stop,” chanted Joan back to her, “Nebuchadnezzar bought a shop.”

“When the shop began to sell, Nebuchadnezzar bought a bell,” tootled Gran, in a high soprano.

“When the bell began to ring,” they ended in unison, “Nebuchadnezzar began to sing, GOD SAVE THE KING!”

“We shouldn’t be singing today, I suppose,” said Gran, when they’d stopped laughing. “It’s the anniversary of that horrible killer-bees incident. Six months to the day. Or night.”

“Yep. Well, that Ted Brierley’s safely put away, and Betsy and Justin Brookes paid enormous fines. Just as well young Justin’s got all that money! I reckon they got away with a lot, them two. And that Betsy, who’s no better than she should be, shacking up with young Brookes! She’s old enough to be his mother! It’s a funny old world. There’s the grand opening of the refurbished zoo this afternoon. Shall we go? I can drive us.”



*



The sun shone on the newly painted entry box, where Margie Turner, in a new frilly dress for the occasion, welcomed visitors in. “Free entry today, dears,” she said, as family after family passed through. The town band was playing a selection from The Sound of Music, and refreshment stalls had been set out on the lawns behind the zoo.

Cameroon Hall was still empty, and it had a sad, neglected look, with the blinds pulled down over the big windows. But rumour had it that Justin Brookes, who had been given by his mother a goodly sum from the sale of his family farm, as well as inheriting Pettison’s entire estate, would be moving in shortly.

“He’s still in our flat at the moment,” said Gran tartly, as she and Joan walked into the zoo. “Betsy Brierley has moved in with him. I told Lois she ought to forbid it.”

“I expect they’ll marry and have a family in due course,” Joan said kindly.

“I hope she’ll give up the game, then! Mind you, she and that Ted were never married, you know, so there’ll be no problem there. Justin Brookes is welcome to her,” Gran added. “The sooner they’re out of the flat and we can get a nice middle-aged couple in there, the better I shall like it.”

“Oh look,” said Joan, trying to change the subject. “There’s the maypole set up, ready for the schoolchildren. Shall we sit over there and get a good view when they start dancing?”

Inside the zoo and officiating beside the animal enclosures, Justin and Betsy were talking pleasantly to visitors about the habits of chimpanzees. “You have to be careful with them,” he said. “They are easily offended, and then you have to run!”

“That applies to several people I know,” muttered Betsy in his ear.

“And now, let’s go and see the snakes,” said Justin to the small group of onlookers. Shrieks from the children greeted this, and his eye was caught by a familiar figure “Hi, Josie!” he called. “We’re just off to see some lovely snakes. Will you join us?”

“You know what you can do with your snakes!” she yelled back, and she and Matthew walked off towards the new penguin pool.

“Mrs Meade!” shouted Betsy, spotting Lois and Derek approaching. “Come and say hello to someone you know.”