The Company She Kept by Marjorie Eccles Page B

here?’ Mayo asked.
    â€˜So-so. As good as you can expect, given the equipment they have to work with.’
    â€˜They tell me the kitchens are very up-to-date at the County, and the cuisine’s up to four-star class,’ he offered casually, risking a surmise and hoping it was somewhere within the bounds of probability. ‘Or is that a sore subject?’
    â€˜Not at all!’ She shook her head, smiling. ‘Never let it be said, in these hallowed premises at least, but I’m all for the change. Better facilities than here – and not so strapped for room. We’re quiet at the moment but you should see it when the clinics start! Absolute Bedlam, sometimes. This afternoon we have two, Miss Clancy’s fertility clinic and Dr Freeman’s family planning, both having to share the same waiting area.’ Her smile, lopsided, included Abigail. ‘Funny old world sometimes, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Gets funnier by the day,’ Abigail agreed drily. ‘Especially if you’re female. How long have you and Angie Robinson worked together?’
    â€˜Since I started here, a couple of years ago. She’d been here for ages, though – she was practically an institution.’
    â€˜Get to know her well, did you?’
    â€˜I don’t think anybody knew her very well, except perhaps for her friend, Dr Freeman. Her only friend, I shouldn’t wonder!’
    â€˜A pretty unusual sort of friendship, wasn’t it?’ Mayo asked. ‘Attraction of opposites?’
    â€˜I don’t know. She was one of the doctor’s lame ducks, I think. And give Angie her due, she would’ve done anything for Dr Freeman. Lately, since they got this protest going ... I can’t imagine what the doctor’s going to do about that, now. I know she’s the motivating force behind it, but Angie was doing the organizing, everybody had to consult her before anything was done, which was of course meat and drink to her ...’ Mrs Dalton gave them both a quick glance, looked a little shamefaced and said, ‘You’ll gather from all this that she wasn’t my favourite person. To tell you the truth, she got on my nerves, always moaning about something or other, though what she had to moan about I don’t know. I got fed up with listening to her. I’m what they call a one-parent family, I’ve got three teenagers and a full-time job and I needed her problems like I need a hole in the head.’
    â€˜You have my sympathies,’ Mayo said. ‘People like that can be hard to take. But cast your mind back, if you can, and try to recall if she ever said anything about some new accommodation she was interested in?’
    Mrs Dalton stared. ‘She’d just moved into a new flat, hadn’t she?’
    â€˜It seems she regarded that as only temporary.’
    â€˜Did she? Well, I suppose she would, seeing it was on Bulstrode Street. A bit of a come-down from Kilbracken Road.’
    â€˜She may have had an appointment to view another place. Did she ever mention that? Or talk of anyone she was going to see about it – some man, maybe?’
    The receptionist absent-mindedly stirred another spoonful of sugar into her tea and frowned. ‘She may have done. But not that I recall.’
    â€˜Did she ever, as far as you remember, talk about her past life? People she’d met?’
    â€˜Gracious, no! When we did talk – which wasn’t often, not much time – the usual topic of conversation centred around her leaving here. Not that she was ever likely to.’ Ever sensitive to a possible lead, Mayo’s nose twitched. Mrs Dalton explained: ‘This job’s not exactly brain-taxing, which is why I like it, it keeps my mind free for other things, but Angie ... well, I didn’t like her, but I have to admit she was wasted here, though I think it was all talk on her part about leaving. She was a bit of a romancer, you know, you