Dead Heat - By Dick Francis & Felix Francis Page 0,105

she called for you?’

‘Better if you don’t know,’ I said rather theatrically, which must have added to his suspicion.

‘If you say so,’ he said, sounding somewhat miffed. ‘But don’t forget to go and see your mother, she seemed very insistent that you should.’

‘OK, I will,’ I said, and hung up.

My mother wasn’t at home. I knew that because the night before I left for Chicago I had told her to go and stay with another cousin in Devon, and she never needed telling twice to go down there because she loved it. I also told her not to call me as I would be away. But she almost never phoned me anyway; it was always me who phoned her.

I called my mother’s cousin’s house in Torquay, again using the hotel phone. She answered at the second ring.

‘Hello, Max,’ she said in her usual deep voice. ‘I expect you want to talk to Diane.’ Diane was my mother.

‘Yes, please,’ I said.

‘Hold on a minute.’ She put the phone down and I could hear her calling for my mother.

‘Hello, darling,’ my mother said. ‘I’m having a wonderful time. It’s so beautiful down here.’ She had always wanted to move to Torquay but had never actually got round to it. My mother didn’t actually get round to much really.

‘Hello, Mum,’ I said. ‘Have you been trying to call me at the restaurant?’

‘No,’ she said. I knew she wouldn’t have. ‘Should I have been?’

‘No, of course not,’ I said. ‘I’m just calling to make sure you’re fine.’

‘Oh yes, darling,’ she said. ‘Everything is fine here. Janet has asked me to stay for another week.’ Good old Janet, I thought. Janet was my mother’s cousin.

‘Fine, Mum,’ I said. ‘Have a nice time. I’ll call you in a few days.’

‘Bye, darling,’ she trilled, and hung up.

I lay back on the bed and wondered who it was who had told Carl she was my mother?

I used my mobile to call my brother. Toby and I hardly ever spoke, but it was not due to any animosity, just a result of us never having been close as children and less so as adults.

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Long time no see.’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘How are Sally and the children?’

‘Fine, thanks,’ he said. ‘The kids are growing up fast.’ I don’t think he said it as a criticism of me for neglecting my two nephews and a niece. We both knew that for some unknown reason his wife, Sally, and I didn’t really get on very well. He and I were both content with the fact that we saw each other only very occasionally and usually at Newmarket when he was there alone for the bloodstock sales.

‘Mum’s in Torquay,’ I told him.

‘So I’ve heard,’ he said.

‘She’ll be there for another week, at least,’ I said.

‘Thanks for letting me know,’ he said. I knew that he popped in to see her fairly often. He lived in my father’s old house, next to the training stables, while our mother now lived in a cottage down the road.

‘Toby,’ I said, ‘can I see you sometime this coming week?’

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘When?’

‘I’m not certain,’ I said. ‘Monday probably. Maybe Tuesday.’

‘Fine,’ he said.

‘Can I stay the night?’ I asked him.

There was a pause before he answered. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘My house burned down,’ I said.

‘Oh my God, Max,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘I don’t think it was an accident,’ I said.

There was another pause, longer this time. ‘Are you asking for my help?’ he said.

‘Yes, I am, but it’s not financial help I need.’

‘Good.’ He sounded relieved. ‘Come when you like,’ he said. ‘And stay as long as you want. I’ll fix it with Sally.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘Can I bring someone with me?’

‘A girl?’ he asked. He knew me better than I imagined.

‘Yes.’

‘One room or two?’

‘One,’ I said.

‘OK,’ he said, amused. ‘Give me a call when you know when you’re coming.’

‘Thanks,’ I said again, and I meant it. ‘I will.’

Caroline and I both flew back to London on Sunday night but, annoyingly, on different aeroplanes. I couldn’t get a seat on the same flight as the orchestra in spite of being number one on the stand-by list, so I followed them into the Illinois evening blue sky some fifty minutes later. The airline had shown pity on my injured wrist and had provided me with an empty seat on my right so that I could rest the cast on a pile of aircraft pillows and blankets. Even so, I slept only in fits and starts, and