Jax fixed her with a look of offended widowhood. ‘Weweremarried,’ she said in gently accusing tones, which successfully glossed over the whole issue of her defection. ‘Of course I want to know what happened.’
‘Do the police think there was maybe something untoward about Nev’s death then?’ asked Liz.
Jax nodded vigorously, ponytail bobbing on the top of a tight-fitting ensemble of spearmint and pink. ‘The police don’t. ButIdo. One hundred and fifty per cent I do.’
‘Why?’ asked Thelma, ignoring the dramatic but inaccurate maths.
‘I saw him,’ said Jax, ‘just the week before he died. And he werefine. More than fine.’
‘Heart attacks often come out of the blue,’ said Pat.
‘What I want to know,’ said Jax, ‘is what brought it on in the first place.’ Her tone was dark despite the warmth of the day. There was a chilly pause, broken only by an explosive sneeze from Liz.
‘You think there was more to it?’ probed Thelma.
‘All I’m saying is, according to Chelse, the look on his face wasterrible. “Jax,” she says to me, “Jax, I can’t get it out of my mind – that look!”’ She took a conclusive sip of her coffee. ‘Not only that, there were something else that was odd—’
‘You mean apart from that yellow line on the wall?’ asked Pat.
Jax nodded. ‘Apart from that. Why was Nev there?’
‘Because it’s his property,’ said Pat mildly.
‘But why go in there at all?’ said Jax. ‘It’s a holiday let, not his home.’
‘Maybe whoever was staying in the outhouse had a problem with something?’ said Liz reasonably.
The ponytail swept dismissively from side to side. ‘There was no one there,’ she said. ‘According to the woman across the road, the person staying had had to leave early. Some crisis at home – so she’d gone that afternoon.’
‘And you think that whatever happened was something to do with the yellow line on the wall?’ ventured Thelma.
Again, that firm nod. ‘Onethousandper cent. It’sgotto be. The way Nev was staring at it. Chelse swears it wasn’t like that the week before, so why had someone done it?’
‘You’ve spoken to Ffion?’ asked Thelma. ‘Maybe she can shed some light on it?’
Liz felt an embarrassed flush, remembering the tight, dark figure glaring at her as, sneezing madly, she’d manoeuvred her car out of the way in a many-point turn.
‘Ffion?’ Jax’s eyes rolled expressively. ‘She’s full on with her horses, that one. Not interested in the holiday let one iota. She left all that side of things to Nev. You could paint the whole flat sky blue and pink with yellow dots and she wouldn’t notice. She said it must have been done by Nev at some point, but Chelse and I know that’s not the case. Like I say, Chelse swears it was the first time she’d seen it and you can hardly miss a thing like that.’
‘Did Ffion have anything to say about Nev’s heart problems?’ asked Pat.
Again, that dismissive flick of the head. ‘I asked her point-blank – had he been ill – and she just shrugged. But unless Nev had suddenly grown a mane and four hooves I don’t reckon she would have noticed one way or another. And the thing is—’ There was something in Jax’s tone that made Liz look up, Thelma stop stirring and Pat pause, Melmerby slice halfway to her lips. ‘There’s something else.’
‘What?’ asked Liz anxiously.
‘Ffion told the police she was away in Carlisle on some horse do.But people are saying she wasn’t.’
Jax looked squarely at her three ex-colleagues. ‘I know you probably think I’m being OTT, but he was my ex and I did care for him.’ Her voice was strong, almost defiant. Were those tears in her eyes?
There was a pause.
‘So, what is it you want us to do?’ said Thelma gently, ignoring Pat’s stony expression.
Jax looked at her, once again the brisk, efficient person who could work their way through a pile of laminating faster than anyone else in Key Stage Two.
‘I want you to see if you can find out what happened,’ she said. ‘Ask around a bit. There’s some festival in the village this weekend. I thought you could go along, talk to people—’ The reluctance on all three faces was plain to see as Jax continued speaking quickly. ‘Look, you’regoodat this stuff.Everyonesays so. We all heard how you sorted out that business with them anonymous letters at St Barney’s. And found out about what happened to poor Mrs Joy.’
The three exchanged glances. The circumstances surrounding both those events had been complex and intensely personal to all three of them; in stark contrast none of them had so much as seen Nev Hilton for years. Thelma was opening her mouth in an attempt to put this as tactfully as she could, when she saw Jax’s eyes widen in recognition at a point somewhere over Pat’s shoulder.
