‘Yes. Seems quite popular – they’ve signed me up as a regular.’
‘That’s, um … great news. Congratulations.’ And she meant it.
‘Thank you.’
He looked so proud, and it made her smile – but this was only one question answered. ‘How come your car was on CCTV swerving down Ditchling Road after the accident? Just before it turned into Richmond Place and was captured on camera a second time?’
‘I wasn’t on Ditchling Road. I went up Gloucester Place and then into Richmond Place and up that way.’
‘Away from town?’
‘Obviously.’
She snatched up the poster and scanned the photograph. ‘So this is your car, but the one on Ditchling Road moments before can’t have been yours.’ Regan’s whole body slumped in the seat like a deflating airbed.
‘That’s right. But now I think about it, a car did come flying down Grand Parade.’
She sat up again. ‘And can you remember what that car looked like?’
He looked thoughtfully out of the windscreen before turning back to Regan and giving a slow blink with his heavy false eyelashes. ‘Yes. I can.’
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Regan hoped her offering of fish and chips would help smooth things over with Charlie. She wasn’t proud of having dumped the animals on him earlier, but at the time she couldn’t see another solution.
She came inside hugging the chippy bag. ‘I am so sorry. But you see—’
‘Shush,’ said Charlie sharply, sticking his head out of the living room. ‘They’ve just stopped squeaking.’
‘I bought fish and chips,’ she said, waving the paper bag like a lumpy white flag of surrender. Elvis was already circling her like a starved shark.
‘You can’t dump these guys on me when I’m at work, Regan.’ His tone and his use of her full name weren’t good signs.
‘I’m really sorry but I honestly had no choice. Did you get into trouble?’ She took the food through to the kitchen and decanted the fish and chips onto plates. If she’d been on her own she’d have eaten them out of the paper.
‘Eric wasn’t impressed. Especially when Elvis peed up the pole and got his head stuck in a bin.’
‘Ah.’ She bit her lip. ‘I really am sorry, Charlie.’ There was a pause where they both surveyed each other. Charliebroke eye contact first and ran his fingers through his hair. She could see the fight was going out of him and she was relieved. She didn’t want to argue with Charlie. She grabbed knives and forks and he followed her to the table.
‘What was so urgent?’ he asked.
‘Oh, where to begin?’ she said, spearing a chip.
Five minutes later, Charlie had gasped and spluttered in all the right places and was now up to speed. ‘Blimey. I have to say I’ve heard your dad sing and he – well, Virginia Flowers – can really belt out a tune.’
Regan felt an odd sense of pride. ‘Yeah, he can sing. I guess I’ll have to go along and watch him perform.’
‘Have you told Bernice that she’s got the wrong car?’ he asked, changing the mood somewhat.
‘Calling her is next on my to-do list.’ Regan put down her fork. ‘She’s going to be gutted. Not least because she’s had loads of those posters made.’ Regan tapped the crumpled sheet. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Bernice her only lead went nowhere.
A high-pitched squeal came from the living room. Elvis sat up in the hallway and whimpered. Charlie put his cutlery down. ‘No, you finish your meal,’ she said, getting to her feet. ‘I’ll get this one, and I’ll cover the night shift to show how sorry I am for dumping the kids on you.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘No, I know I don’t; but we’re a team.’ She patted Elvis and he flopped back down.
At two o’clock in the morning she was very much regretting her gallant gesture. The hoglets had had her up every hour. They seemed to have decided that they didn’t likebeing fed together and they preferred their pipettes separately, which meant the whole process took longer. One of them wasn’t taking all the milk so Regan had painted her toes with pink nail varnish so she could keep an eye on her. She’d decided it was a female because she was showing diva-ish tendencies and, inspired by the flamboyant nails, she’d called her Virginia. She hoped hedgehog Virginia was okay but she really wanted to get some sleep herself. It didn’t matter how much she’d clanged about, Charlie hadn’t stirred.
