‘Not now. It’s a long story. If you’re not coming, then you don’t need to know.’

‘You’re not in danger, are you? If you were, they’d provide some protection. Or you could just go home. Why not do that?’

‘I might leave early,’ said Thea vaguely, struggling with a strong feeling of disappointment. ‘So, you’re short of staff there as well, are you?’

‘You could say so. Everybody wants to be on holiday, which doesn’t help. The ones with kids, that is – which is most of them.’

‘I’m sorry to startle you, then. It just seemed like a good idea, that’s all. When will I see you, do you think?’

‘We’ve got the Bank Holiday weekend in the diary, 233haven’t we? If nothing kicks off here, I’ll be free then. I had to stake a claim to it nearly a year ago.’

‘Good. That’s not long now.’

‘So – what’s with all this wild animal trafficking down your way? The news is full of it. Cheltenham, for heaven’s sake! You must be just up the road from there.’

‘Not far,’ Thea agreed. ‘But I almost never go there. I can never find anywhere to park.’ Which was beginning to feel like a theme for the day. ‘I heard about it, and Gladwin’s immersed in the whole business, but I don’t know any details.’

‘It’s huge, and getting bigger by the day. Your murder isn’t linked to it, is it?’

‘Not that anybody can see. It could be, of course. The victim was Chinese.’

‘Well done, Mama. Trust you to get yourself right in the middle of something like that.’

‘Gladwin put me here,’ Thea snapped. ‘The whole thing was her idea from the start. I’m looking after a house belonging to one of her friends.’

‘She ought to know better, then. Look – I’ll have to go. Sorry I can’t join you, but it was always a daft suggestion. See if you can stop anything going through officially. It’ll only cause ructions for me otherwise.’

‘Probably too late. Sorry about that. See you soon, then, kiddo. You are all right, aren’t you? I forgot to ask.’

‘Yes, I’m all right. Bye, Ma.’

Somehow the notion of sitting in a field with a sketchbook felt a lot less appealing after that. It was too obviously a means of killing time or worse – evading 234several issues that demanded her attention. There was Drew, and Clovis, Jessica, Grace, Jocelyn and sundry briefly encountered locals, all worthy of due consideration. If she ignored them, with their hidden agendas and hinted-at mysteries, she would become sidelined and no longer integral to their lives. You had to work at relationships; everybody said that. You had to anticipate their wishes and put them before yourself. Unless they were beautiful single men like Clovis, of course. And Jocelyn didn’t seem to have any problems at the moment. In fact, Jocelyn had been modelling a good sister and friend, by making the effort to share her concern for Jessica.