Blood at the Bookies

Thirty-Four

There was a call that Carole did take later that evening, and selfishly she almost wished she hadn’t. It was from Gaby, at her wit’s end because Lily had developed a high temperature and would not be comforted. The doctor had been called and was going to come again in the morning. If the little mite wasn’t better then, she’d be taken into hospital for observation.

For Carole, already desolated by Jude’s betrayal, that was all she needed. She knew she wouldn’t sleep a wink that night, expecting every minute a phone call with terrible news from Stephen or Gaby.

She had forgotten that awful panic that can be instantly summoned up by the sickness of a child. Lily was so perfect, but so tiny. The lightest puff of illness could blow her away, it seemed to Carole as she faced the long agony of the night. Everything in her life felt suddenly threatened and fragile.

Jude heard only the clattering of the external door of the Drama block. She shivered as she realized she must have passed within inches of whoever it was in the lobby. She must have been within touching distance of someone who was probably the murderer of Tadeusz Jankowski.

But her first priority was the man lying on the bed. She felt along the walls for light switches, but in vain. She remembered that Andy Constant had achieved his lighting effects from the box, but she didn’t know how to get in there.

Still, if she- concentrated…Her eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom. The light from the ‘Exit’ sign seemed to grow stronger.

Soon she could see clearly enough to recognize that the man on the bed was Andy Constant himself. Blood was pouring from his chest, but he was still breathing.

Jude rang the police.

They were much tougher with her this time than they had been after Tadek’s death. To discover one stabbing victim might be considered bad luck; discover two and the authorities are bound to get suspicious. It took Jude most of the evening to convince the detectives that she had no responsibility for either crime. Their questioning remained polite, but they were very persistent.

Andy Constant, she was told, had been taken to hospital and was in intensive care. They promised to let her know when they heard anything about his condition. And meanwhile they kept going over the same ground, asking about her relationship with the lecturer, on and wearily on. She was suitably cagey on the subject, admitting that they had met for a drink a couple of times, but denying things had gone any further than that. Which was pretty much the truth.

In fact, Jude answered all the detectives’ questions as honestly as she could, but she didn’t volunteer any information they didn’t ask her about. Above all, she didn’t mention that she and Carole had been trying to solve the murder mystery themselves. She knew the derision with which professional policemen would greet that news.

To her surprise, in what the detectives said to her they did not seem to be linking the two attacks. Or maybe they were, but did not want her speculations going down that route. As an amateur, she had the usual difficulty in knowing how far the official investigation had proceeded. And she wasn’t about to be enlightened on the subject. Jude was a witness and a possible suspect. The police weren’t about to tell her their secrets.

Finally, around ten-thirty, the detectives seemed to decide that there really was nothing more she could tell them. They said that they were trying to keep what had happened secret for as long as possible and firmly forbade Jude to have any contact with the media about the stabbing. It was their hope to make some headway with their investigation before they had to deal with the intrusions of press and television. Then they thanked her politely for her cooperation and asked if she wanted a lift home, an offer of which she took grateful advantage.

It was an unmarked police car that dropped her outside Woodside Cottage. She looked up at High Tor, but the curtains of Carole’s bedroom were closed. Oh well, she could bring her neighbour up to date in the morning.

Inside, she found that Zofia Jankowska was not yet back from the Crown and Anchor (where, though Ted Crisp would never admit it, she seemed to be becoming an essential member of staff). Jude didn’t wait up for her. She was totally exhausted by the events of the day, so got to bed as quickly as she could and passed out.