miserably.
'No. Daddy was dead by then too,' said Daphne, tears starting to her eyes. 'It was awful. He was doing so well, he'd become Archdeacon, you see, and he was responsible among other things for checking on church structures in the diocese when there was any question of restoration work and appeals, that sort of thing. He'd gone out to St Mark's at Little Leven. It was in a really bad state, it seems. And a stone fell from the belfry while he was examining it and killed him.'
'How awful,' said Ellie, genuinely moved. 'I'm so sorry. That must have been a terrible thing to bear.'
Her hand hovered over Daphne's. She wasn't sure if physical contact would comfort the woman or merely precipitate a flood of tears and she hated herself for her uncertainty. Fortunately Rose, far removed from adult inadequacies, was ready with a diversion. A passing waitress stooping over the high chair to goo-goo her admiration brought a plateful of cakes within reach of the little girl and she plunged her tiny fist into the mouth of a cream horn with great accuracy and equal enthusiasm.
Daphne's distress disappeared in the ensuing confusion and Ellie happily sat back and let her take control, only interfering when she started to wipe Rose's hand with a napkin.
'Let her lick it off,' she said. 'It'll save on her next feed.'
It was nearly midday when the two women left the coffee house.
'Which way are you going?' asked Ellie.
'Back to the car. I'm on top of the precinct.'
'Me too. Forty p and vertigo just for parking your car. It's a mad world,' said Ellie.
They made their way back to the main shopping precinct. The youths were still lounging around outside the Job Centre and the old people sitting on the benches round the fountain. Ellie had an unpleasant fantasy that what the youngsters were really doing was forming a queue, forty years long, for a place on one of those benches.
They travelled up on the lift together. The shoppers ‘car park was on the roof of the covered section of the precinct. It was joined by a bridge over the inner ring road to the multi-storey by the bus station. They found that their cars were parked quite close together.
'At least there doesn't seem to be any damage this time,' said Daphne after a cursory inspection of her gleaming paintwork.
'They'd need to wash mine before they could scratch it,' said Ellie. 'Was this where you were when you got vandalized?'
'No, I was over the bridge in the multi-storey,' said Daphne.
'I suppose it's much quieter over there,' observed Ellie. 'On this side you've got shoppers coming and going all the time.'
'I suppose so,' said Daphne, unlocking her car. 'You need to be a policeman's wife to think of things like that, though.'
'Do you? How disappointing. I thought I'd worked it out all by myself with my little woman's mind,' said Ellie rather more acidly than she'd intended. 'Next Monday then?'
'I'll look forward to it,' said Daphne, getting into her car. She closed the door and wound down the window.
'Look,' she said, 'it is your turn and I really don't mind the Market Caff.'
But Ellie laughed and said, 'No, the Chantry's fine. And if the brat's going to make a habit of smashing her way into other people's food, it's as well to keep her out of range of hot meat pies. Ciao!'
She watched as the Polo moved away. Daphne was a neat, confident driver.
And then she set about the complicated business of persuading Rose, who now that she was deprived of her audience of admirers was showing signs of recalcitrance, to let herself be fastened into the baby seat in the rear of the Mini.
She was still, or rather again, recalcitrant at eleven o'clock that night. Her distant protests were making Pascoe uneasy but Ellie whose ear was now finely tuned to Rose's various wavelengths diagnosed prima donna bloodymindedness and made him sit still and enjoy his coffee.
They'd eaten late. Pascoe had been delayed by the news of another robbery. A local family returning from holiday to
'No. Daddy was dead by then too,' said Daphne, tears starting to her eyes. 'It was awful. He was doing so well, he'd become Archdeacon, you see, and he was responsible among other things for checking on church structures in the diocese when there was any question of restoration work and appeals, that sort of thing. He'd gone out to St Mark's at Little Leven. It was in a really bad state, it seems. And a stone fell from the belfry while he was examining it and killed him.'
'How awful,' said Ellie, genuinely moved. 'I'm so sorry. That must have been a terrible thing to bear.'
Her hand hovered over Daphne's. She wasn't sure if physical contact would comfort the woman or merely precipitate a flood of tears and she hated herself for her uncertainty. Fortunately Rose, far removed from adult inadequacies, was ready with a diversion. A passing waitress stooping over the high chair to goo-goo her admiration brought a plateful of cakes within reach of the little girl and she plunged her tiny fist into the mouth of a cream horn with great accuracy and equal enthusiasm.
Daphne's distress disappeared in the ensuing confusion and Ellie happily sat back and let her take control, only interfering when she started to wipe Rose's hand with a napkin.
'Let her lick it off,' she said. 'It'll save on her next feed.'
It was nearly midday when the two women left the coffee house.
'Which way are you going?' asked Ellie.
'Back to the car. I'm on top of the precinct.'
'Me too. Forty p and vertigo just for parking your car. It's a mad world,' said Ellie.
They made their way back to the main shopping precinct. The youths were still lounging around outside the Job Centre and the old people sitting on the benches round the fountain. Ellie had an unpleasant fantasy that what the youngsters were really doing was forming a queue, forty years long, for a place on one of those benches.
They travelled up on the lift together. The shoppers ‘car park was on the roof of the covered section of the precinct. It was joined by a bridge over the inner ring road to the multi-storey by the bus station. They found that their cars were parked quite close together.
'At least there doesn't seem to be any damage this time,' said Daphne after a cursory inspection of her gleaming paintwork.
'They'd need to wash mine before they could scratch it,' said Ellie. 'Was this where you were when you got vandalized?'
'No, I was over the bridge in the multi-storey,' said Daphne.
'I suppose it's much quieter over there,' observed Ellie. 'On this side you've got shoppers coming and going all the time.'
'I suppose so,' said Daphne, unlocking her car. 'You need to be a policeman's wife to think of things like that, though.'
'Do you? How disappointing. I thought I'd worked it out all by myself with my little woman's mind,' said Ellie rather more acidly than she'd intended. 'Next Monday then?'
'I'll look forward to it,' said Daphne, getting into her car. She closed the door and wound down the window.
'Look,' she said, 'it is your turn and I really don't mind the Market Caff.'
But Ellie laughed and said, 'No, the Chantry's fine. And if the brat's going to make a habit of smashing her way into other people's food, it's as well to keep her out of range of hot meat pies. Ciao!'
She watched as the Polo moved away. Daphne was a neat, confident driver.
And then she set about the complicated business of persuading Rose, who now that she was deprived of her audience of admirers was showing signs of recalcitrance, to let herself be fastened into the baby seat in the rear of the Mini.
She was still, or rather again, recalcitrant at eleven o'clock that night. Her distant protests were making Pascoe uneasy but Ellie whose ear was now finely tuned to Rose's various wavelengths diagnosed prima donna bloodymindedness and made him sit still and enjoy his coffee.
They'd eaten late. Pascoe had been delayed by the news of another robbery. A local family returning from holiday to
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