Trouble in the Cotswolds (The Cotswold Mysteries) by Rebecca Tope Page A

actually. Now I can’t face eating anything. It’ll all get thrown away.’
    He tutted and went quiet for a moment. ‘Isn’t there anybody with you? Surely you’re not having Christmas there by yourself?’
    ‘Don’t you start. I’ll be fine. I never meant to tell you about the flu. I haven’t told Jessica or Jocelyn or anybody. Only Jeremy Higgins, and he’s going to be busy with the business next door.’
    ‘Remind me.’
    ‘He’s a DI. I don’t think you ever met him. He shows up fairly often. He rescued me yesterday when I killed my car.’
    ‘DI? Don’t tell me … um … um … Detective Inspector! I knew really. Is your car dead, then?’
    ‘I put diesel in it instead of petrol. I think they can fix it. It’ll probably come back today.’
    ‘It all sounds like a great deal of trouble, one way and another. What’s the house like?’
    ‘It’s old and lovely. In the main street. The dog is gorgeous, but she’s depressed. Missing her people, I suppose. And I’m neglecting her terribly. I would havetaken them up onto the Cotswold Way if I’d been all right. We had a Great Dane here yesterday as well.’
    ‘Listen, Thea – I’ll have to go. We were in the middle of breakfast. Den’s coming soon, and babysitting while I go and see a man at the hospice. Funerals don’t stop for Christmas, unfortunately.’
    ‘Surely they do?’
    ‘I meant
dying
doesn’t stop.’
    ‘How will you cope if Maggs is ill?’
    ‘With great difficulty. It must have been like this in the Black Death – nobody around to do any of the vital work.’
    ‘Except they all died. Nobody’s dying of this flu, are they?’
    ‘Some are, of course. But not many. Apparently it attacks people under fifty for preference. You have to admire these viruses,’ he added whimsically. ‘They really are very clever. I sometimes think they’re the real rulers of the world, with proper societies and value systems, and long-term ambitions.’
    ‘You sound nearly as delirious as me.’
    ‘Are you delirious?’ He sounded worried.
    ‘A bit, in the night.’
    ‘I should come and look after you. It’s ages since I saw you. But … with Steph sickening, and Maggs … well, I don’t see how I can.’
    ‘Drew, I
promise
I phoned you by mistake. I absolutely intended to call Damien and tell him I was poorly. He’s the only person doing nothing, as far as Iknow. He’s a bit of a pain, admittedly, but he’d come if I asked him to.’
    ‘I thought he was a thoroughgoing Christian? Doesn’t that mean he’ll be busy over Christmas?’
    ‘Ah – well, that’s the thing. He doesn’t really belong to any proper church. They meet in each other’s houses, and study the Bible and stuff like that. But they don’t do the ritualistic song and dance. The idea is to live like real Christians – which would definitely include rushing to the rescue of a sister in distress. The trouble is, he isn’t actually a terribly kind person, so he’d do it in a martyred sort of way, And he’d be all bossy and organising. But at least Blondie would get all her walks. If I told him that was the top job, he’d take it very seriously.’
    ‘That sounds pretty awful.’
    She sighed and said nothing for a moment. ‘You’ve got to go,’ she reminded him. ‘You were going five minutes ago.’
    ‘I’m thinking. Stanton’s another village in the Cotswolds, right?’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘You know I’ve still got the house in Broad Campden. I was just thinking yesterday it was time I did something with it. It’s a wicked waste just letting it sit there. But after Karen died, I sort of forgot all about it. I’ve had it nearly a year now.’
    ‘It’s not that long. It took six months or more for all the legal business to get done.’
    ‘The house doesn’t know that,’ he joked. ‘It’s been gathering cobwebs and mice and wet rot for all these months. It’ll fall down if I don’t do something soon. I’ve already had letters about the garden from a