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‘Full of self-importance, the lot of you,’ Sidney grumbled as Holly helped Magda down the slope until the chair ran smoothly over the fine gravel path.
‘Thank you. Don't forget the flowers.’ Magda pointed to the pot placed in the grass.
‘I’ll leave it here. You can have it, Magda.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course.’
‘That is kind. It is beautiful.’
It began to rain.
‘Hurry, girl,’ Sidney growled.
Magda lowered her voice. ‘He’s a sweet man most of the time. I love caring for him.’
Holly placed a hand on Magda’s shoulder. ‘You’d better get in and I’ll fly off as I think this gentle rain is going to get much worse.’
Holly ran back up the hill, going over the times in her head that Vanessa had been mentioned. They’d been brief, she had assumed Mitch was not fond of discussing his family.A widower and Vanessa crushed by a tractor?Holly shuddered. No wonder Joe said Mitch had his own troubles.
She had not managed to avoid the downpour and felt the rain seep through her clothes over the last fifty metre stretch.
Holly wokeon Monday morning shortly after nine, to the ringtone of her mobile phone. Keeping her eyes closed she patted in different places on the duvet until she found it. She squinted at the screen and saw it was her broker.
‘Hello Gary?’
‘Hi, Holly. Hope you’re keeping well. I need to pop over and see you. Where are you staying?’
‘In a static caravan on my land. Is everything okay?’
‘I have the fire service report. I’m afraid they’ve deemed there’s a possibility of arson. There’ll be a further investigation.’
Holly’s heart raced. ‘Why arson?’
‘They found accelerants on the premises. They need to know what chemicals you had in there.’
‘In the art studio?’
‘Yes, that’s definitely where it started.’
‘I had oil paints and spirits to clean the brushes.’Take deep breaths it’s easily explained,she told herself.
‘Yes of course, that’s probably it. Also they mentioned wax? Did you have any candles in there?’
‘No candles in the studio – just some for show in the rest of the house. I did have a glue stick. You melt the glue and it drips on the …’
‘There’s no need to go into details right now. Have a think and make notes of everything in the studio and I’ll be over Wednesday about noon?’
Holly checked the calendar on her phone then put it back to her ear. ‘Yes, that’s fine. If they think it’s arson does that mean they won’t pay out?’ Holly felt herself shake. No insurance pay-out and she would have to sell.
‘They tend to go on the offensive. But even if it was arson it wouldn’t be a problem unless they thought the occupants had caused it.’
‘That’s ridiculous as if I’d do that. I was alone in the house.’
‘Yes, we have that on record, although the insurance company have asked about your husband. He’s on the electoral role?’
Holly wanted nothing to do with Tom unless he wished to talk about returning her seventy-five thousand. ‘As I said the other day, he left two weeks ago.’It’s not a lie,Holly thought. Tom would probably convince them to pay the insurance money direct to his bank account or claim half, if he wasinvolved.
