As the Pig Turns - By M.C. Beaton Page 0,51

a holiday,’ said Agatha. ‘I don’t want to put any of them in danger.’

‘Good idea. Talking about danger, I hope Simon doesn’t start chasing after Toni again.’

‘He behaved disgracefully.’

‘Not quite. He should have called off the whole thing the night before, the minute he knew she wasn’t pregnant. Still, he’s very young. And would it be so very bad if he and Toni got together?’

‘I think he’s unstable,’ said Agatha mulishly. ‘Let’s make plans for tonight.’

‘Where’s Charles?’

‘Gone off home. You know Charles. He flits in and out of my life and I never know when I am going to see him next.’

Toni heard her doorbell ring at nine that evening. Because Agatha was paying her a good wage, she had invested in an intercom.

‘Who is it?’ she asked.

‘Simon.’

Toni hesitated for a moment and then pressed the buzzer to let him in.

Then she opened the door and watched him mount the stairs. ‘I didn’t think they’d let you out after the mess you created,’ she said.

‘Don’t you start. I’ve had enough of it.’ Simon crossed the room and slumped into an armchair. With his odd jester features, he looked like a discarded puppet.

Toni shut the door and then sat down in an armchair facing him. ‘You could have had children once you were married.’

‘Fact is,’ said Simon, running a weary hand through his thick hair, ‘I’d begun to go off her. We drink a lot in the regiment, but once we got back to Mircester, she just kept on drinking buckets. She’s pretty coarse when she’s drunk.’

‘So why wait until the last minute?’

‘I just panicked. I want out of the army.’

‘Why did you join up in the first place?’

Toni dreaded hearing him say, ‘It was because of you.’

But he sighed and shifted uneasily in his chair. ‘I’d begun to find the detective work boring. I don’t like working for women, and Agatha is not the most sympathetic of creatures.’

‘So it wasn’t because of me?’

‘I’d like to flatter you, but no, it wasn’t. But now I’m free, we can start to see each other.’

‘I don’t want to any more,’ said Toni. ‘And don’t pretend to look miserable. Own up, Simon! You want a shoulder to cry on.’

He grinned suddenly. ‘You always were sharp. Anyway, Dad’s fixed up for me to see a shrink.’

‘Why? Because of Sue?’

‘No, I want out of the army, and a sympathetic family shrink friend is going to diagnose me with post-traumatic stress.’

‘But won’t the army want to examine you as well?’

‘They won’t get a chance. I’ll be in a loony bin run by this psychiatrist. Mum doesn’t want me to go back to Afghanistan.’

‘You’re thoroughly spoilt,’ said Toni.

‘I certainly am, and I plan to make the most of it.’

‘I think you’d better leave. I’m tired. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.’

Simon stood up. He tried to kiss her, but she ducked her head and then went and held the door open.

When she had closed it behind him, she sat down and wondered if Agatha had been right about him all along.

Agatha and James drove off after midnight through the sleeping village of Carsely. ‘If this hot weather goes on,’ said James, ‘there’ll be a hosepipe ban. How’s your garden?’

‘Fine,’ said Agatha defensively, thinking of her wilting plants that she kept forgetting to water.

‘We’ll need to park somewhere well outside the estate and walk,’ said James.

‘It’s pretty open ground all round,’ said Agatha.

‘There is a bit of wood and scrub at the back. As far as I remember, not all the units are fenced off. I checked it out earlier after supper.’

They drove on in silence. ‘Oh, look,’ said James as they neared the industrial estate. ‘There are clouds building up in the west.’

‘I hope there’s not going to be another storm like there was on the night Roy was kidnapped,’ said Agatha, thinking all the while, What if James is a success as a television personality? He’ll be famous. There will be beautiful women after him. Look at the way he nearly married that airhead. But does it matter any more? She felt that old obsession she once had for him was being aroused by the competitive streak in her nature. But then she remembered all the hurt and jealousy and sheer misery that obsession had brought her, and she gave a dry little sob.

James stopped the car abruptly. ‘Are you all right? Severed heads and murders are enough to shake the strongest person.’

‘I’m fine,’ said Agatha defiantly. ‘Press on.’

James took a small earthy track leading round