The Shooting in the Shop

Ten

Jude’s first instinct was to ring the Le Bonniers’ house. If there was bad news, she wanted to hear about it straight away. She never saw any point in prevarication.

Her primary anxiety was allayed as soon as the phone was answered. By Lola. Her voice sounded tight with stress, but at least she was alive.

“I was desperately sorry to hear about what happened at Gallimaufry.”

“Oh well, it was only stuff,” said Lola.

“But you yourself are OK?”

“I’m fine. We were all here when it happened – me, Flora, the kids.”

“And Ricky?”

“Yes, of course, Ricky.” The answer was rather brusque, almost as if she were dismissing the relevance of her husband. “The first thing we knew about the fire was when the police rang this morning.”

“It must be terrible for you, Lola, after all the work you put into that place.”

“Oh, well…Easy come, easy go.” She was trying to sound nonchalant, but couldn’t quite carry it off. There was a silence, then Lola went on, “Presumably you’ve heard the latest about the fire, have you?”

“You mean that there was a body found there?”

“Yes. A woman’s body.”

“Have the police told you who…?”

“No. They’re still involved in forensic examination and what have you. They’ve said they’ll let us know as soon as they’ve got a definite identification.”

“Who lives in the flat over the shop?” Jude just managed to avoid saying ‘lived’.

“No one. When we took the place on, because the flat was furnished, I thought we should let it out, so that at least we’d get some income if things got hard – at that time having no idea of quite how hard times would get – but Ricky said no. He never likes thinking about the details of finances, calls all that ‘penny-pinching’. He likes to think in terms of ‘the bigger economic picture’.” There was irony in the way Lola quoted her husband, possibly even veiled criticism.

“So the flat was empty?”

“Empty of people, yes. I used it for storage. There was a lot of stuff up there, piled on top of the furniture and beds.” Her tone was kept determinedly light, but Jude could feel Lola trying to come to terms with the scale of her losses.

“So you haven’t any idea who the dead woman is?”

“No. I’ve checked the obvious people, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone missing. My mother-in-law Flora’s here with us. Ricky took Polly to Fedborough Station yesterday afternoon to get a train up to London. He’s checked she’s at home with Piers. I’ve called Anna and Bex…you know, they’re two of the assistants.”

“Did they know about the discovery of the body?”

“I don’t know. Neither of them mentioned it. And I didn’t raise the matter. I don’t want to add to the dripfeed of local gossip. Anyway, Anna and Bex’re both fine. And I’ve rung around all the other casual staff. Also fine.”

“So it sounds like whoever died in Gallimaufry, it wasn’t anyone you knew.”

“That’s the way it seems,” said Lola Le Bonnier.

Sadly, she was wrong. On the national news the following morning, it was announced that the body found in the burnt-out shop was that of the owner’s stepdaughter, Polly Le Bonnier.