Guilt in the Cotswolds by Rebecca Tope Page B

more importance. They would carefully write their report, and be lucky if they had any further involvement. Possibly some house-to-house questioning, or computer searches, would come their way. But for the moment, this was their pigeon, and a dead man in a barn did not come along every day. They were intent on doing a thorough job.
    Questions were muttered as they carried out their unfamiliar duties. ‘Where’s his car? How long’s he been lying there? Have the dogs messed him up much? Who’s the CID on duty this evening?’ They threw the queries at each other with little expectation of answers. Thea heard them but refrained from participating in the conversation, such as it was. She had supplied the man’s name and a brief summary of how the body had come to be found. More than that could wait.
    But the policemen could no longer delay the handing over of the business to more senior officers. As evening approached, more cars arrived, blue tape was strung in all directions, and Thea and Drew made their escape with the dogs. They had hovered on the sidelines for longer than was strictly necessary as it was, unsure as to what was required of them. Because of the dogs, they were not given warm haven in a spacious police car, but left in the open as the temperature fell. When Drew announced that they were leaving, nobody took much notice. ‘Okay, then,’ said a newly arrived detective. ‘We’ve got your details. We’ll be in touch – in the morning, most likely.’
    ‘Can’t wait,’ muttered Thea. ‘Come on then, dogs.’Only then did she remember that she had Millie Wilshire’s phone number at the house – but of course it would be entirely unthinkable to call her and ask what should be done with Betsy and Chummy. She would have to explain her reasons, and that really wasn’t her job.
    ‘They thought it was odd, the way we found him,’ Drew worried in the car. ‘They think it’s too big a coincidence.’
    ‘Well, it sort of is, when you look at it objectively. Of all the people in the area, why should it be us who found him?’
    ‘Exactly. I mean – nothing was further from our minds.’
    ‘Although we did know he was missing. Maybe we were subliminally looking for him.’
    Drew snorted. ‘You mean sub consciously, I believe. Surely you don’t think that?’
    She was negotiating the disgracefully sharp bend on the way back into the village, finding it even more alarming now they were going steeply downhill. ‘It makes a sort of sense. We knew he was missing, and we had his dogs. We also knew he was supposed to be in Yanworth yesterday. I did, anyway,’ she amended. ‘It’s possible that’s why we headed in that direction to start with.’
    ‘Nope,’ he said, firmly. ‘You’re rationalising. It was just a very nasty coincidence, that’s going to cause us a whole lot of aggravation. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow one little bit.’
    She sighed. ‘I don’t even want to think about it,’ she said.

Chapter Eight
    They were hungry and shocked, worried about the dogs and all the other implications of what had happened. ‘I feel stupidly responsible,’ said Thea. ‘I didn’t take Millie seriously enough. I didn’t do a thing to help her.’
    ‘There was nothing you could do. And actually, when you think about it, you did a huge thing by finding her father.’
    ‘By mistake, and too late.’
    Drew was cutting a thick slice from a somewhat dry loaf of brown bread. ‘I’m starving,’ he said. ‘Is there any butter? Jam? Cheese?’
    ‘Butter and cheese in the fridge. I brought it from home. There’s not much left.’
    ‘Want some?’
    She shrugged. ‘We’ll have to go out for a proper meal. There are pubs.’
    He frowned. ‘I’m not sure I want to go to a pub. Can we get a takeaway from somewhere?’
    ‘Cirencester. It’s not too far away.’
    Drew was obviously thinking as he chewed. ‘I had an idea,’ he said. ‘Just now. Don’t you get a sense of being directed ? By