Death on the Downs

Twenty-Six

“All I could get out of Tamsin,” Gillie Lutteridge went on, “was that something happened last time she came here.”

“That was only a few weeks ago, you said. Another time Miles was away on business.”

“Yes. Anyway, while she was in Weldisham, she saw something that frightened her to death.”

“But she wouldn’t tell you what?”

Gillie shook her head.

“Well, who did she see while she was here?”

“That’s the point. She didn’t see anyone except me. She didn’t want anyone to know she was here.”

“Did she use the phone?”

“Not so far as I know.”

“There weren’t any letters waiting for her?”

“No. As soon as anything addressed to her arrives, I forward it to Sandalls Manor.”

Jude grimaced. “Well, something must’ve happened to get her into such a state.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “She didn’t go out?”

“I was with her all evening. We both went to bed at the same time.”

“So, without leaving the house or having contact with another human being, Tamsin managed to get the impression that someone wanted to kill her? It doesn’t make sense.”

“No. There’s only one thing I can think, Jude…”

“What’s that?”

“Well, I just wonder if…With her illness, Tamsin’s sleep patterns are all over the place. Sometimes she sleeps all the time, almost as if she were narcoleptic. And then she goes through phases when she’s awake for hours in the night and…”

“You think she might have gone out?”

“She might.”

“What for?”

“Ib smoke a cigarette. She keeps telling me she’s given up, but I’m not sure I believe her. She used to smoke like a chimney at university, and while she was working in London. When Miles and I made it pretty clear that we didn’t like the smell of cigarettes in the house, Tamsin used to go outside.”

“Into the garden?”

“Yes. Or if it was cold or wet, she’d go a bit further.”

“Where?”

“There’s an old barn just beyond the end of our garden. Tamsin sometimes used to go in there to smoke.”