The Shooting in the Shop

Thirty-Four

Four-thirty passed, so did five and five-thirty, and there was still no sign of Ricky. After six Jude tried ringing his mobile number, but was only asked to leave a message. She didn’t.

They discussed having a drink. Carole was of the opinion that a drink might weaken their defences for the confrontation that lay ahead. Jude reckoned that a drink would strengthen them for the confrontation that lay ahead. Her counsel prevailed. She poured out two large glasses of Chilean Chardonnay. (The booze for the open house still showed no signs of running out.)

Soon after a quarter past eight, Jude’s landline rang. She snatched at the handset, expecting to hear Ricky, but the voice at the other end was a woman’s.

“Jude, I have some news for you, strange news.” The voice sounded so weird and ethereal that Jude took a moment to recognize it as Kath’s. “Do you wish to know where Ricky Le Bonnier is?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I felt his aura. I knew he was coming to Fethering today.”

“He was coming to see me, but he hasn’t arrived.”

“I will tell you where you will find him. He is in his car near the Fethering Yacht Club. He has parked it in the same place as where I saw him the Sunday before Christmas.”

Immediately, Jude had a vision of Ricky once again taking risks to see Anna. “Is he alone?” she asked.

“Oh yes,” replied Kath with considerable satisfaction. “He is alone. The Devil Women have no power over him anymore. Their power is broken. I am the only one who now has power over Ricky.”

The woman was beginning to sound as nutty as an entire fruit cake factory, but there was something in her words that disturbed Jude. She felt a sudden urgency to find Ricky Le Bonnier, to check that he wasn’t in danger. She ended the phone call.

Walking to the Yacht Club would not have taken long, but they went in the car. Jude’s sense of emergency had communicated itself to Carole and neither of them spoke as the Renault hurtled through Fethering.

The Mercedes 4x4 was exactly where Kath had said it would be. Parked facing the sea between the end of the shopping parade and the entrance to Fethering Yacht Club. Its lights were on, sending strips of brightness out across the shingle of the beach until their glare faded into darkness.

Carole parked the Renault, and Jude was first to the Mercedes. She could see Ricky Le Bonnier slumped in the driver’s seat.

The door was unlocked and when Jude opened it the interior light went on. There was no sign of any injury on Ricky’s body, no blood, no evidence of a weapon.

And yet neither Jude nor Carole had any doubt that he was dead.