‘More or less,’ he said. ‘Only two funerals scheduled for next week. Andrew wants to go away at the end of September, and I’ve told him that’ll be all right. He hasn’t had any time off all year.’

‘Hasn’t he?’ Thea paid less attention to Drew’s colleague than she probably should. He worked as required, which could mean a run of three days or more during the week in which there was virtually nothing to do. Such an undemanding workload seemed to her to scarcely justify any actual holiday. But she guessed she 246was being unfairly Victorian about it, and his union, if he had one, would take exception to such views. ‘More than he got when he was farming, anyway,’ she couldn’t resist saying.

‘One reason he quit farming was to reduce the levels of stress he was under.’

‘I know. It’s none of my business, anyway.’

‘So, when are you coming home?’ He sounded like a small boy asking when his mother would come and rescue him from boarding school. ‘Do you know yet?’

‘I can’t see any reason to be here after Friday. I’m going to try and contact Tabitha directly and see if it’s all right with her for me to go then. It was all left a bit vague.’

‘That’s good. Friday, I mean. And will we have to come and fetch you? What about that borrowed car?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll find that out tomorrow. Why? Would it be a problem to collect me? Friday evening, or maybe Saturday morning.’

He was quiet, then said, ‘It might be. We haven’t decided about Saturday yet.’

That sounded extremely odd to Thea. She began to demand an explanation when she heard Timmy shouting not far from wherever Drew was. ‘Hey! Dad!’ the little boy yelled, much louder than seemed to be called for. ‘Come quick.’

‘Sorry, better go,’ said Drew, superfluously. ‘Sounds as if it’s important. Thanks for calling, love. Use the mobile first next time, okay? I did say that before.’

‘So you did. I hope Timmy’s all right. He sounds pretty desperate.’247

‘Bye,’ said Drew and ended the call.

The thing was, she reflected, Timmy had sounded much more like a boy overdoing a part in a school play than a child in genuine distress. He was just shouting the words, with little real feeling behind them. He had actually not sounded desperate at all. He had sounded rehearsed and insincere.

So, something unusual was being planned for Saturday, was it? Something that might prevent Drew from driving the short distance down to Barnsley and back. At least all three of them were alive – and she hoped he hadn’t been lying about Hepzie. Never again, she vowed, would she allow herself to be separated from the devoted dog. Whatever nonsense Drew might be hatching, it was less immediately concerning than the prolonged separation from her pet. But the plot that was hatching could be something special to welcome her home, perhaps? She tested the theory against the evidence, and concluded it was untenable. Anything she could think of was untenable, in fact. All she could do was wait patiently for the revelation when it finally came. If it was something disagreeable, she ought not to be in any hurry to discover it.