Page 63 of A Curious Ending

‘Again!’ Lara exclaimed in surprise. Although as she said it a few things fell into place. Abby had seemed to know quite a lot about her mother and Lara was sure she had not told her all of it. ‘So were you her Kindred Spirit?’ Lara asked, baffled.

‘No, not that,’ Abby said swiftly, ‘but as you can imagine, as a Kindred Spirit I have spent a fair amount of time in hospitals. Sadly one murder can lead to another.’

Neither spoke but Lara suspected they were both thinking about her ‘accident’ in the theatre. ‘So how do you know my mum?’ Lara asked.

‘In ’87 I was investigating the murder of Deacon Matthews and this took me to Durham. During that time, I had occasion to visit Newcastle hospital with his wife, Agnes. Your mother was on duty and I have rarely seen such kindness. I had watched her earlier that evening and she was clearly exhausted. I believe at that time your brother would have been about twelve and you would have been a toddler,’ Abby said, counting out the years in her mind. ‘Married life and bringing up children is not always the idyllic haven that some think it is,’ Abby said significantly, looking hard at Lara. ‘In the same way,’ she said more kindly, ‘that running a flower shop is not the tranquil oasis of calm that some believe it to be.’

‘Not wrong there,’ said Lara, with feeling.

‘Anyway,’ Abby continued, ‘your mother was due to go off duty but one of the victims was admitted to the hospital. He had not died but he was dangerously ill. Your mother stayed well into the night helping to nurse him. It was your mother’s skill and persistence that saved him, I am sure of that.’ Abby now turned her whole body towards Lara. ‘And all of that time your mother talked to his wife.’ Lara half-smiled. ‘She talked of this and that, of you and your brother, of home and sometimes of nothing in particular. But she calmed that distracted woman and soothed her and made her feel safe.’ Abby stood up and reached for her hat which she had placed on the dresser. ‘Your mother is a very special woman, Lara. And she has done a very good job in raising her daughter. A daughter who now needs to get some sleep. For tomorrow, Lara McGregor,’ she paused for dramatic effect, ‘you can go to the ball.’ And with that Abby was gone.

Chapter 32

Lara saw her mum off early the next morning with the promise that she would call her again the next time she needed help. A promise she had every intention of keeping. Abby stood by the gate waving long after her car had driven down the drive and out of sight.

In the shop Becky was full of praise for Lara’s mum. ‘She just got on with stuff,’ Becky said. ‘She was really good with customers. You should have seen her sweet-talking Mrs Sutton. For some reason she seemed surprised that she was your mum,’ she added innocently.

From there the day followed the established rhythm of unpacking, creating and delivering. Lara took a break at lunchtime to visit Sarah and find out about the plans for the evening. They were to meet at about six at Sarah’s house, which was situated at the back of the deli. Sarah sent Lara on her way with promises of Champagne and a good playlist for their pampering session.

On the way back to the shop, Lara spotted Dr Patil outside Honeybourne Antiques. Something about his demeanour made her stop. She wasn’t sure if it was because she thought there was something furtive about his movements or simply that she was conscious of being curious after their last meeting. Whatever it was, his tall figure had caught her attention. It had sparked a similar response in Abby. Although in Abby’s case she was able to satisfy her curiosity by marching across the square and standing within a foot of the doctor as she scrutinised his face. After looking around briefly, Dr Patil stooped and entered the shop. Making sure she was out of sight of anyone who might be looking out of the antique shop window, Lara walked across to join Abby. It was not long before another customer ventured inside, leaving the door conveniently ajar. This was enough for Abby, and she slipped inside to join the doctor and Jason. Lara drew further back and made a pretence of studying the wine shop’s window next door. Dr Patil emerged five minutes later, followed immediately by Abby. Lara had always thought of Dr Patil as a neat, well-preserved man, but the figure who shuffled out of the shop appeared to have aged by at least ten years. He moved with the stiffness of an old man and he looked about him with a vague and unsteady gaze. He walked slowly away taking the turning off the square that led up towards his house.

Lara joined Abby and the two of them made their way back to the flower shop. ‘What’s happened to the doctor?’ Lara speculated, ‘I would barely have recognised him.’

‘I am not sure,’ Abby replied, looking thoughtful.

‘What was he doing in with Jason?’ Lara wanted to know.

‘I am afraid to say he was attempting to sell some of the paintings that Lady Porter had left him. Or rather, he was asking Mr Honeybourne to do this on his behalf,’ Abby reluctantly replied. She knew that this would upset Lara. And it did.

‘That’s awful! I thought they were so close. How could he possibly sell the last thing he had from her?’ she protested. ‘Was he trying to sell them all or just one or two?’ she asked.

Abby had been brought up to tell the truth, but at that moment she wished her parents had been more ambiguous about this. As it was she had to say, ‘He was trying to sell three of them, but he indicated that he would be back about the rest sometime soon.’

‘Why would he do that?’ Lara wondered aloud.

‘I am unable to speculate,’ Abby said in a dissatisfied tone.

Lara shook her head sadly and opened the door to the flower shop.

The rest of the afternoon was spent making Christmas wreaths. It seemed no sooner had they made one than it was sold, so both Becky and Lara were continuously busy. They had Christmas songs playing in the background and these combined with the smell of the pine made Lara feel thoroughly festive. Just before four o’clock Becky headed home. A friend had asked if she would help waitress at the ball that evening as the normal staff had been hit by a bout of flu. So Lara let her go early, saying that she would see her later. ‘What are you wearing?’ Becky asked.

‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ was all Lara would say.

Lara had the flowers in off the street in double quick time and rushed back to the cottage to shower and wash her hair. Then carefully carrying her make-up, dress and shoes she made her way over to meet Sarah and Kate. Sarah’s house was built in an L shape around a courtyard at the back of the deli with the bedrooms extending up to the first floor above the shop. As promised, there was chilled Champagne waiting. Sarah’s house felt like a natural extension of the deli. It was warm and welcoming and contained an eclectic mix of pottery and art. This included a number of Rory’s colourful Christmas contributions – reindeers, cotton wool snowmen and an angel that looked like an astronaut. In the corner there was a large Christmas tree hung with a multitude of coloured baubles and handmade decorations. Lara smiled; Rory clearly liked glitter.

Three large sofas filled the space off the kitchen and on the low table between them Kate was already unpacking her basket of brushes, hair dryer, straighteners and tongs. Lara looked about her contentedly and then realised someone important was missing. Abby had disappeared somewhere between leaving Lara’s cottage and getting to Sarah’s front door. She knew Abby would be at the ball later – they had already discussed what approach she and Lara would take with various guests – but Lara had hoped Abby would be joining them here too.

The next couple of hours were some of the most enjoyable that Lara had spent for years. By tacit agreement they did not discuss Lady Porter’s murder. Lara felt sure that Lady Porter would have understood. Instead, they laughed, gossiped and reminisced, painted their nails in fabulous colours and took an inordinately long time applying their make-up. Taking each in turn, Kate transformed their hair. Sarah’s curls became more controlled and glossy, falling in luxurious waves to her shoulders. Lara felt she had been turned into some sort of goddess from a shampoo advert. Kate had not altered Lara’s style but had managed to give her long hair a glorious sheen and teased in a few soft curls around her face. Kate then pinned her own hair up with diamanté clasps, leaving a few tresses to fall casually down her neck. The women stood back and looked at each other.

‘We scrub up pretty well,’ Sarah declared.

‘I think we may need to re-think the wardrobe though,’ Kate decided, looking down at their tracksuit bottoms and bare feet.

They then took it in turns to use Sarah’s bedroom to change in. Sarah emerged first, wearing a black 1950s cocktail dress. It was short to the knee with a full netted skirt. She wore red garnets at her throat and a pair of fabulous red heels. Kate whistled her approval and Lara took a photo on her phone to send to Sarah’s mum and Rory.

When Kate disappeared to change, Lara leant across to Sarah, ‘Is Rod going tonight?’

Sarah shook her head. ‘No, he’s on duty. But I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. I think Kate’s getting pretty keen.’