Murder in My Backyard by Ann Cleeves

stood facing him, wanting him to understand.
    “I was young,” she said. “I was flattered. I liked him. I didn’t think it would do any harm. When I agreed to get engaged, I never really thought it would end up in marriage. It was an excuse for a party, for being the centre of attention for a while. You know what young girls are like. It made me special.”
    Ramsay thought that he did not know at all what young girls were like and shut the gate behind her. He was not wearing gloves and the cold metal of the catch stung his hands as he struggled to fasten it.
    “You changed your mind,” he said.
    “Yes,” she said. “I changed my mind. Charlie became so serious and intense. He wanted me to spend all my time with him. He was only taking one A-level and some re-sits, but I was doing three A-levels. I wanted to go into nursing. He seemed to think that wasn’t important. Not compared with spending time with him.”
    “How long did the engagement last?” he asked.
    “Three months,” she said. “Then one evening we had a furious argument and I broke it off. He left school and went to join the army.” She paused. “I was quite proud of that,” she said bitterly. “It seemed very romantic.”
    They reached the car. Ramsay opened the passenger door for her, then got in and started the engine so that he could switch on the heater. All of the windows were covered in ice.
    “What did you do?” he asked.
    “I passed my exams and started training to be a nurse,” she said. “I saw Charlie sometimes when he was home on leave. He was always polite but very distant. I thought he’d made his gesture and the whole thing was over. I met David at a young farmers’ dance and started going out with him, I got pregnant and we got married.” She shrugged. “ That time I thought I’d better see the thing through. On the day before the wedding I had a letter from Charlie saying I was making a terrible mistake and I’d never be happy.”
    “And were you?”
    “Oh,” she said. “ For a while.”
    “When did you leave your husband?”
    “About a year ago,” she said. “ Charlie was home on leave and I bumped into him in the Castle. It was good to have someone to talk to, flattering, I suppose, to have him so attentive. Towards the end of the marriage David had hardly noticed me. I told Charlie that I’d left David and that the boys and I were staying at Mum and Dad’s. But that’s all. I didn’t give him any encouragement. He walked me home and gave me a good-night kiss, but I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just pleased we were friends again.”
    The heater was beginning to clear the ice from the windscreen and they could see the bulk of the Tower in the moonlight.
    “What happened then?”
    “Charlie left the army,” she said. “ It was awful. Like a nightmare. He wrote to his father to tell him and Fred Elliot turned up at our house accusing me of leading him on. “You’ve broken his heart once,” he said. “Now you’re meaning to do it again.” His wife had recently died and everything seemed to upset him. I didn’t know what to say or do. I wrote to Charlie telling him there was no point coming home, that I hadn’t changed my mind, but it didn’t do any good.”
    “Did you persuade your father to give him a job?” Ramsay asked.
    “No,” she said quickly. “ I didn’t want to have anything to do with him. My father thought that if he offered Charlie a job, there would be a reconciliation between the families. You don’t understand what it’s like in a place like this. The village was split in two, with half supporting me and half supporting Charlie. My father’s idea was to bring everyone together again.”
    “But it didn’t work?”
    “It would have done,” she said, “if Charlie hadn’t been such a bloody fool.” She began to cry. “ He’s worn me out. I don’t know if I can stand it any longer. I think he’s mad.”
    “What does he do?” Ramsay asked.
    “It started