Secrets on Saturday (38 page)

“Delighted!” said Lois. “We’ll fix it up.”

Cowgill rose to his feet. “And there is one more job for me to do,” he said. “I must get your freezer open,
Herbert. I need to see inside. Have you got a key to the padlock?”

“What padlock?” Herbert shook his head.

“Ah, right,” Cowgill said. “I’ll ask you to stay here and talk to Lois while I go and open it.” He disappeared, and loud metallic noises floated through to the sitting room.

Herbert rose to his feet. “I’d better go and help,” he said, and before Lois could stop him, he set off. She followed closely behind, and then they stood staring at the opened freezer. Cowgill tried to shut the lid, but Herbert stopped him. “It’s all right. I’ve seen worse,” he said.

The freezer was full to the top with carcases in plastic bags. There were badgers, foxes, game birds, and some unidentifiable furry bodies. Herbert spoke first. “Seems I’ve got my own private slaughterhouse, kindly donated by Reg,” he said. “If I had my way, there’d be another corpse in there.” Then he turned and walked back to the hall. He touched the flowers that Lois had arranged. “Thank you, my dear,” he said. “And now I’ll just go upstairs and have a little rest, if you don’t mind. You have no idea how wonderful it is to be home.”

E
LLEN
’
S COTTAGE WAS NEAT AND TIDY
,
WITH A BRIGHT
fire in the hearth. “Sit down, dear,” she said. “You’re lookin’ a bit peaky this afternoon.”

Lois smiled. “
You’re
looking very well,” she said.

“Nothing like a few problems solved to buck you up,” Ellen said, and handed Lois a cup of coffee and slice of airy-looking sponge, filled with jam and cream. “Get that into you,” she added, “while I let you into a few things.
Probably should’ve told you months ago, but there it is.” Lois said nothing, and waited. Ellen settled herself in her armchair, and began.

“About Reg, first of all. You know he was taken away from me after he were born. Then, after all these years, he turned up a month or two ago, told me who he was, and asked to come in. He said he knew William Cox was his dad, and he’d come to collect what was owing to him. Little did he know that most of that farm belongs to the college! I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen. Said my mind was wanderin’.”

“Nothing wrong with your mind!” Lois exploded.

Ellen smiled, and continued, “He needed a place to stay now and then, and where better, he said, than with his old Mum. I weren’t keen, but he didn’t give me much choice. He were into that badger-baiting game. An’ all that stuffin’ trophies an’ that. An’ he charged Londoners to come down here and ‘ave a bit of excitement with the baitin’ an’ that.”

Lois had a quick mental picture of the contents of Herbert’s freezer. “Did he ever threaten you at all?” she said.

“Not in so many words,” Ellen said. “Mind you, I think it was why I landed up in ‘ospital. The worry of it. It were just that sometimes he could be really nice, and I wished I’d known him years ago. But other times, he was not nice, in a cruel, hard way. Said some awful things. An’ I must admit I were a bit afraid of ‘im.”

“But where did he stay in this cottage? There’s only this room and your bedroom?”

“Oh, he could kip down anywhere. I reckon he’d led a dodgy life, skipping from one place to another. Very good at disappearing, were my Reg. I just wanted you to know this, Lois, because you can’t turn against your own flesh and blood. In the end, I thought I could mebbe help him. But it were too late.”

Ellen was staring into space, and her cup began to slide off the saucer. Lois leaned forward, steadied it, and
patted Ellen’s arm. “You’ve got nothing to regret, Ellen. It was your sister’s fault, taking the baby away.”

“Not really,” Ellen said. “Everythin’ that’s happened is down to William Cox in the end. If he’d bin a proper husband to Martha … But he were like a randy dog. All round the village, he went. Even her up at the Hall. When she were young, she were a good-looking girl. Hard to believe now, I know! Still, she fell for William’s charms, head over heels. Her family put a stop to that, but Reg found out about it and now he’s got her over a barrel. She’d do anything, he said, to stop him spreadin’ the story. That’s how he got them stables to do up. I suppose he thought it would be a good place to go when he needed to keep out of the way, or for them two crooks working for ‘im. Then, o’ course, they came in useful for the old men.”

“But did he tell you about it?”

Ellen nodded. “Yep. I knew where to send the cops last night. He’s boastful, is Reg. Couldn’t resist telling me how clever he is. An’ it didn’t take him long to find ‘em, after they escaped. They hid up in that old ruined cottage in Farnden thicket. Most people don’t know it’s there, but Reg did. I must say the cops were quickly on to that, once I told ‘em where to go. O’ course, Reg didn’t think I’d ever tell. But there’s always a final straw, ain’t there? You were it, Lois. I wasn’t ‘avin’ him hurt you.”

“You saved my life, Ellen,” Lois said seriously. There was a silence, and then she said, “Did you talk to Mr. Everitt at all, after William Cox was killed?”

Ellen sighed. “Yes, Herbert Everitt were in the car with me and the policewoman. He were blubbin’ his heart out. God knows why! I don’t like to see a man cry, d’ you Lois? Not manly, somehow … Still, if my Reg had done a bit more cryin’ when he were a kid in that home, maybe they’d’ve let me ‘ave ‘im.”

“Oh, Ellen! And you’ve known all along what Reg was up to, and kept it to yourself?”

Ellen looked straight at Lois, and her lip trembled. “Wouldn’t you, Lois, if it was your Jamie, or your
Douglas? I really thought I could help him. But he got in with the manageress at Dallyn Hall. Nasty piece of work, that one. He got her under his thumb, and there were no stoppin’ him then.”

There was nothing Lois could say to that, and seeing Ellen on the verge of tears, she changed the subject. “This cake,” she said, “is the best sponge I have ever eaten in the whole of my life. It’s too good for Ivy Beasley!”

With a sniff and a weak smile, Ellen replied that nothing was too good for Ivy. At least, that’s what Ivy thought.

When Lois had judged it safe to leave, she said, “Thanks a lot, Ellen. Now, are you going to be all right here on your own.”

“I’ll be fine,” the old lady answered. “Plenty of friends, and no more surprise visitors, I hope.” She paused, and then took Lois’s hand. “What d’ you think’ll happen to ‘im, Lois?”

“Broadmoor, I should think,” Lois said. “Taken care of for the rest of his life, Ellen. Nothing more for him to worry about.” Though I hope I’m wrong about that, Lois added to herself. I know what I’d do with him.

On her way home, she thought again of Derek’s ultimatum. Perhaps he’d give her more time. After all, later on she was going with Bill to see the new baby. Another day wouldn’t make much difference, surely? She loved Derek dearly. Wasn’t that the most important thing? Well, it was Sunday today, not a day for big decisions. Nothing much happens on a Sunday, does it?