back, out of breath and shaking.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked you to do that,” Penny said.
“Too right, you shouldn’t have!” Victoria moaned, bending over and covering her mouth with her hands. “I think I’m going to throw up! I’ve got no stomach for this sort of thing. Don’t forget, Penny, I was there at the spa when those bones were found. I don’t know how many more bodies I can take.”
Minutes later a uniformed police officer arrived.
“Down the hall, second door on the left.” Penny pointed the way. Seconds later another police officer pounded after him, followed by two paramedics, and then the police officers they had been hoping to see.
“Now, why am I not all that surprised to see you here?” Davies asked, looking from one to the other. “Are you all right?”
Penny nodded. “I’m okay, but Victoria’s feeling a bit queasy.”
“Bethan here will stay with you and take your statements, if you feel up to giving them now. If not, they can wait. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He continued down the hall and followed the others into the flat.
“Would you be okay if I left you for a moment?” Bethan asked. “I just want to pop in for a moment and see for myself.”
Penny nodded.
“It’s not you I’m thinking about,” Bethan said. “Victoria here is looking decidedly peaky.”
“Too many bodies,” Penny said. “The bones at the spa and now this.”
“Hang in there and I’ll be back in a minute. Maybe you could just sit down here, Victoria, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Victoria slid down the wall and sat on the floor under the stairs, back against the wall, legs out in front of her, and her head in her hands.
Penny crouched down and put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have asked you to go in there. That was really stupid of me.”
Victoria groaned. “Help me up and let’s get out of here. What are we waiting for, anyway?”
“Bethan wants to take our statements, but I’ll just tell her that we need to leave. She’ll understand. They know where to find us and we can do it later. Be right back.”
But just as she was about to re-enter the apartment, Bethan emerged and Penny asked her if they could leave.
“I don’t think Victoria’s okay to drive,” Bethan said, frowning.
“We didn’t drive. We came on the bus.”
“Oh, really. Wait there.” She ducked back into the flat, and moments later, wearing a reassuring smile, she was back, standing beside Victoria.
“The boss says I’m to drive you two ladies home. Won’t take long and I’ll take your statements when I get there, if you’re up to it.”
They drove in silence back to Llanelen, Victoria in the front seat, leaning against the headrest, Penny gazing out the window at the green fields that bordered the rural road.
“I’ll come in for a cup of tea, if that’s all right with you,” Bethan said as they reached Penny’s cottage. “I’ll put the kettle on and you two sit. You’ve had a shock.”
Penny and Victoria sat down in the sitting room, facing each other. The atmosphere was tense and heavy.
“I don’t know what you expected me to see,” Victoria said in a low voice, with a glance toward the kitchen where Bethan was putting on the kettle.
“I’ll talk to Bethan when she comes in,” Penny said. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
Bethan joined them in a few minutes later with a tea tray and poured out cups for each of them.
“When you looked at the body, Bethan, did you notice anything strange?” Penny asked. “There was something odd there, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“He looked very calm to me,” Bethan replied. “There was no sign of anything amiss, and the paramedics seem to think he died of a heart attack. Probably natural causes. He was fairly elderly, after all.”
“Maybe.”
Bethan took their statements and then left.
“I’m starting to feel a bit better,” Victoria said. “I could probably eat something, if you’re buying. Or cooking.”
Penny smiled. “Of course. Giving you a nice meal is the least I can do. Do you know, in all that, we didn’t get the coloured nail polish for Eirlys. I’ll have to go back to Llandudno soon to get it for her.”
“Well, you’re going on your own next time.”
“And what about tonight? You won’t feel up to a meeting with the gang. I think I’d better ring them and tell them not to