Inside everything was just as she had left it that morning, with one exception. Curled into a round ginger ball, Chancer the cat was asleep on top of the pile of fresh laundry that Maggie had taken out of the tumble dryer that morning.
‘Oh, Chancer!’ she sighed, noting the paw prints all over a cream-coloured fitted sheet; but the cat simply opened one eye, stretched out a front leg then curled back to sleep, a deep purr expressing his satisfaction at her return.
‘Bad puss,’ Maggie scolded, not really meaning it, her fingers already caressing the cat’s soft fur.
Later, sitting in her favourite rocking chair, her hands clasping the steaming mug of coffee, Maggie reflected on her first day back at work. When Bill came home she would tell him that everything had gone well, not wishing to bother him with things that had been less than pleasant. Like the new woman in their department who had come to provide cover for her during her absence and had somehow managed to inveigle her way into staying on for the remainder of the term. She’d been given Maggie’s room and had taken down all of her favourite posters, leaving them to gather dust in an untidy heap on top of the cupboard.
Maggie felt her cheeks burn with indignation as she remembered how Lena Forsyth had slapped down her diary on her desk (her desk, not Lena’s!) and made her look at the class lesson plans that had been created, as though Mrs Lorimer were a probationer who didn’t yet know the ropes. The woman’s effrontery had continued as Lena had suggested (no, not suggested, thought Maggie, insisted was a better word to describe her manner) that Maggie continue to follow her recommendations to the letter. From the first glance Maggie could see that this teacher had been chancing her arm, failing to follow several guidelines as well as having done very little in the way of issuing and marking written work. Her mouth narrowed as she remembered how she had sidestepped the woman’s commands. She would drop a hint to her head of department when the time was right but for now Maggie knew she would simply have to put up with Lena’s strident manner, especially since they were to share the responsibility for two first-year classes. It had irked her to see that Lena would have use of her classroom during some of Maggie’s non-teaching periods. To make matters worse, the new member of staff had spent what seemed the entire lunch break talking in a loud voice about her Christmas skiing holiday in France. At least Maggie would only have to endure her till the end of term. Then she could regain total control of her classes and her beloved classroom.
Pity she didn’t manage to break her leg, Sandy, Maggie’s friend, had muttered. Ah, dear Sandy! It had been good to catch up with her pal again. Sandy, one of the Business Studies teachers, had an acerbic tongue that made Maggie chortle with glee whenever a few apposite words were thrown out to describe one of their fellow colleagues. She was an excellent mimic, too, and could give a few of the staff a red face whenever they became too full of themselves.
Maggie yawned, suddenly wearied by the day’s events. She closed her eyes, stretched out her feet and, in a matter of minutes, was fast asleep.
There was no reply to his usual ‘Hi!’ as Lorimer stepped into the house and locked the door behind him, shutting out the biting wind. Shrugging off his winter coat, the policeman listened intently for the domestic noises that usually came from the kitchen at this time of the evening, but there were none.
‘Maggie?’ His voice held a note of anxiety as Lorimer walked through the doorway into their study-cum-dining room. He stopped next to her rocking chair, his expression softening as he spotted his wife lying asleep. Reaching down, he smoothed her unruly dark curls away from her face, but that small movement disturbed her and Lorimer felt a pang of regret as she blinked and yawned, wishing he could have let her rest a little longer.
‘What time is it?’ she asked sleepily, gazing up at him.
‘It’s gone seven,’ Lorimer replied.
‘Oh dear. Sorry about that,’ Maggie yawned again. ‘Haven’t even started dinner yet.’
Lorimer hunkered down at her side. ‘Tell you what. How about a fish supper, eh? I can be at the chippie and back by