Page 36 of A Curious Ending

Lara nearly fell off her chair. She had completely forgotten that her Kindred Spirit was behind her.

‘She talked about you,’ Kate said unexpectedly.

‘Did she?’ Lara was surprised and touched.

‘She mixed us a cocktail once which she called a Chelsea Rose. She said she was going to order it for you when you went to the Chelsea Flower Show. She said it reminded her of you as it was fragrant and sweet, but with a pleasant kick to it.’

It was Lara’s turn to well up.

Sarah then got to the heart of the matter. She took a deep breath.

‘You don’t think Lady Porter killed herself, do you?’

All Lara could do was shake her head.

‘I don’t either,’ Kate said in solidarity.

‘Well, that makes three of us,’ Sarah concluded.

‘Four,’ came the voice from the next table.

Chapter 19

‘Right,’ Sarah said. ‘Let’s go round the table and say why we don’t think Lady Porter killed herself.’

‘You can say murder, you know,’ the ghost commented. But then she had a great deal more experience of these things than the three women gathered in front of her.

Lara tried to ignore Abby, ‘You go first,’ she insisted, struggling to organise her thoughts into what she could and could not say.

It became apparent that neither Sarah nor Kate had anything concrete to go on but like Lara had known Lady Porter as such a vital, positive person, that they could not imagine her taking her own life.

‘Did either of you ever think she was hiding something… or,’ Lara added, thinking about the possibility of blackmail, ‘had a secret someone had found out about? Or maybe…’ Lara considered some more, thinking of Kate and Lady Porter discussing local gossip, ‘…she had stumbled on something scandalous about somebody else?’

Both Sarah and Kate shrugged, shaking their heads.

‘What makes you ask that?’ Sarah said.

Lara chose her words carefully. She knew she mustn’t mention the money going out of Lady Porter’s bank account. ‘It was something Dr Patil said, about how determined she was. Maybe she’d tackle someone if she thought they were doing something wrong?’ Lara paused. ‘But he did also say, you can never really tell what’s going on in someone else’s mind,’ she admitted.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t trust what old Dr Patil says,’ Kate declared dismissively. ‘They call him Dr Death on my mum’s estate.’

Kate’s mother, it transpired, lived in one of the housing association flats on the edge of town. She was suffering from MS and needed a considerable amount of medical attention (and, Lara suspected, Kate’s time). In the reflection in the shop window, Lara saw Abby lean forward in her chair. She had her chin in her hands and was looking intently at Kate. Abby shifted her gaze and catching sight of Lara nodded significantly towards Kate.

Lara got the hint. ‘Why Dr Death?’ she asked.

‘I think he’s missed a couple of things with people and Mrs Hussey at number four made a huge fuss when her husband died. I think the police were even called in. It was some time ago now, but didn’t the neighbours talk about it for months.’

‘But why would he have had anything to do with Lady Porter’s death?’ Sarah queried.

Lara wondered how much she should say about the legacy Lady Porter had left Dr Patil. It wasn’t as if she knew much about it yet. In the end she said tentatively, ‘I think Lady Porter may have left him some paintings,’ and just hoped they didn’t ask her how she knew.

‘Well, I suppose…’ Sarah didn’t sound convinced.

‘Or maybe he wants to cover up something about how she died?’ Kate suggested more enthusiastically.

‘Could you ask Rod about Dr Patil?’ Sarah asked her.

‘Who’s Rod?’ Lara enquired.