demanded Jake.
‘Come on, tell us,’ pleaded Agatha. ‘We won’t go to the police. I just have to know how far she would go with lying.’
‘It’s worth fifty pounds,’ said Charles suddenly.
Jake sat with his head down. Then he said, ‘How can I trust you?’
‘Simply because we’re not the police,’ said Charles. ‘You don’t look like a junkie. So what was it? Pot?’
He shrugged and then said, ‘Yeah, that was it. Told us her lover was a dealer and she could get us the best Colombian. She said she would phone him from our place. When we gets there, she starts to come on to us, and I mean all of us. It was right disgusting. “Phone your friend,” we says. She keeps saying, “Later, let’s have some fun.” So we leave her with the whisky bottle and have that confab in the kitchen and we decide she’s lying and when we go back in, she’s passed out, like I said, and so we leave her on the pavement, like I said. Silly old trout.’ He focused on Agatha. ‘I saw your picture in the newspapers. She was knocking off your old man, wasn’t she?’
Agatha averted her eyes.
‘Forget about that,’ said Charles. He turned to Miss Simms. ‘You didn’t know anything about this?’
‘No. You can’t hear a thing in that club.’
‘What about my fifty pounds?’ demanded Jake.
‘Could you pay, Aggie?’ said Charles. ‘I’m a bit short.’
‘I paid the entrance fees to that disco.’
‘I’ve got me cheque-book with me,’ said Miss Simms with all the misplaced generosity of the poor.
‘No, that’s all right.’ Charles stood up and took out his wallet. He peeled off notes and handed them to Jake. ‘Give him your card, Aggie. Ring us if you think of anything else, Jake.’
‘Right. I’m off then.’ Jake stood up and then looked down at Miss Simms. ‘I’m going back to the disco. You coming?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Miss Simms primly. ‘I’m going home with my friends.’
Miss Simms looked disapprovingly after Jake’s retreating back. ‘Cheek!’ she said. ‘I like my gentlemen to be more mature. In fact, Eddie’s back again.’
‘Who’s Eddie?’ asked Agatha.
‘He’s the one before last,’ said Miss Simms. ‘Ever so nice. In bathroom fittings in Cheltenham. His wife’s left him. Not because of me. They never find out about me. I’m not a tart, like some I could mention. No, she left him for a man in surgical goods.’
After they had deposited Miss Simms at her home, Agatha and Charles sat in the kitchen of Agatha’s cottage and mulled over the little information they had. ‘You know what hurts?’ said Agatha. ‘It’s just that the more we find out about Melissa, the more horrible it seems that James had anything to do with her.’
‘I think men under sentence of death will do things they might not otherwise have contemplated. Then James was always a violently jealous man.’
‘James!’
‘Yes, James.’
‘I never really thought of him as being jealous,’ said Agatha. ‘I was always so violently jealous myself.’
‘Agatha admits to a fault! Goodness me.’
‘Never mind that. What about this business of Melissa saying she had a lover who was a drug dealer?’
‘That was sharp of you to guess about drugs. What put you on to that?’
‘Just a wild guess. And all this nonsense of Miss Simms about rough trade. I mean, she’s very genteel. I thought it would be a real dive, but it seemed a respectable Piccadilly disco. It wasn’t even a singles’ bar either. What took Melissa there?’
‘Sex?’
‘I don’t know. I’m beginning to think she was a real murderee. I mean, those lads could have turned out to be dangerous. Anyway, to get back to the drug-dealer lover. If only that would turn out to be true. It would supply a motive.’
‘I can’t believe in this drug dealer. If Melissa coerced Miss Simms into going up to London with her, maybe she got friendly with someone else in the village.’
‘She probably mistakenly picked on Miss
‘Come on, tell us,’ pleaded Agatha. ‘We won’t go to the police. I just have to know how far she would go with lying.’
‘It’s worth fifty pounds,’ said Charles suddenly.
Jake sat with his head down. Then he said, ‘How can I trust you?’
‘Simply because we’re not the police,’ said Charles. ‘You don’t look like a junkie. So what was it? Pot?’
He shrugged and then said, ‘Yeah, that was it. Told us her lover was a dealer and she could get us the best Colombian. She said she would phone him from our place. When we gets there, she starts to come on to us, and I mean all of us. It was right disgusting. “Phone your friend,” we says. She keeps saying, “Later, let’s have some fun.” So we leave her with the whisky bottle and have that confab in the kitchen and we decide she’s lying and when we go back in, she’s passed out, like I said, and so we leave her on the pavement, like I said. Silly old trout.’ He focused on Agatha. ‘I saw your picture in the newspapers. She was knocking off your old man, wasn’t she?’
Agatha averted her eyes.
‘Forget about that,’ said Charles. He turned to Miss Simms. ‘You didn’t know anything about this?’
‘No. You can’t hear a thing in that club.’
‘What about my fifty pounds?’ demanded Jake.
‘Could you pay, Aggie?’ said Charles. ‘I’m a bit short.’
‘I paid the entrance fees to that disco.’
‘I’ve got me cheque-book with me,’ said Miss Simms with all the misplaced generosity of the poor.
‘No, that’s all right.’ Charles stood up and took out his wallet. He peeled off notes and handed them to Jake. ‘Give him your card, Aggie. Ring us if you think of anything else, Jake.’
‘Right. I’m off then.’ Jake stood up and then looked down at Miss Simms. ‘I’m going back to the disco. You coming?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Miss Simms primly. ‘I’m going home with my friends.’
Miss Simms looked disapprovingly after Jake’s retreating back. ‘Cheek!’ she said. ‘I like my gentlemen to be more mature. In fact, Eddie’s back again.’
‘Who’s Eddie?’ asked Agatha.
‘He’s the one before last,’ said Miss Simms. ‘Ever so nice. In bathroom fittings in Cheltenham. His wife’s left him. Not because of me. They never find out about me. I’m not a tart, like some I could mention. No, she left him for a man in surgical goods.’
After they had deposited Miss Simms at her home, Agatha and Charles sat in the kitchen of Agatha’s cottage and mulled over the little information they had. ‘You know what hurts?’ said Agatha. ‘It’s just that the more we find out about Melissa, the more horrible it seems that James had anything to do with her.’
‘I think men under sentence of death will do things they might not otherwise have contemplated. Then James was always a violently jealous man.’
‘James!’
‘Yes, James.’
‘I never really thought of him as being jealous,’ said Agatha. ‘I was always so violently jealous myself.’
‘Agatha admits to a fault! Goodness me.’
‘Never mind that. What about this business of Melissa saying she had a lover who was a drug dealer?’
‘That was sharp of you to guess about drugs. What put you on to that?’
‘Just a wild guess. And all this nonsense of Miss Simms about rough trade. I mean, she’s very genteel. I thought it would be a real dive, but it seemed a respectable Piccadilly disco. It wasn’t even a singles’ bar either. What took Melissa there?’
‘Sex?’
‘I don’t know. I’m beginning to think she was a real murderee. I mean, those lads could have turned out to be dangerous. Anyway, to get back to the drug-dealer lover. If only that would turn out to be true. It would supply a motive.’
‘I can’t believe in this drug dealer. If Melissa coerced Miss Simms into going up to London with her, maybe she got friendly with someone else in the village.’
‘She probably mistakenly picked on Miss
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