but he was pretty sprightly. Chase you off. And catch you. Sometimes.’
‘And was he nasty? When he caught you? Or… nice?’
‘He never caught me. Well, I never went that close. Too spooky for me up yere.’
Merrily said, ‘Why do you say that?’
‘They used to say you could see like strange… lights? My friend reckons she seen it once. Like the countryside was lit up from inside? It was only for a fraction of a second. Like one ofthose… like a UFO experience. Nothing to say it was anything at all to do with Mr Hambling, except it was near his house. I’m just telling you this ’cos the DI said to tell you everything, no matter how daft it sounded.’
‘So just part of local folklore,’ Merrily said.
‘Don’t know how far it went back. I probably wasn’t born before Mr Hambling was here. My friend, she asked a bloke and he said she wasn’t the first to see it, the light. It’s just something you can’t confirm one way or the other. Sorry.’
‘Mrs Watkins,’ Bliss said, ‘specializes in peculiar tangents.’
‘Your parents know about all this?’ Merrily said to Tamsin. ‘Did they tell you off for being silly?’
‘Or maybe warn you off?’ Bliss said. ‘In case he caught you.’
Tamsin shook her head.
‘I never heard any adults mention Mr Hambling, to be honest. Not until I started talking to them last night. People I’d known since I was a little girl.’
‘When he caught kids,’ Bliss said, ‘was he… unexpectedly friendly, perhaps?’
‘Not that I heard. They said he could get a bit annoyed if he’d been interrupted.’
‘Doing what?’
‘I don’t know. I mean, I think I know where you’re going with this, sir, but I really don’t think there was anything like… that. Like, it’s not as if we didn’t know about it going on, even as country kids – there was this bloke we were all told to keep away from, but he was quite young. He moved to Abergavenny, where I think he got nicked finally for kiddy-fiddling. Besides, my friend, when we got older, she used to say she… that she thought Mr Hambling was well catered for in that department.’
‘Which department?’
‘Women, sir.’
Bliss raised both eyebrows.
‘You haven’t told me about this, have you, Tamsin?’
‘No sir.’ Tamsin didn’t blush this time. ‘I was getting round toit when you went to look for Mrs Watkins. Situation was that David Hambling, he used to have quite a number of visitors, and some of them were women. Quite young women. Well, compared to him.’
‘When was this?’
‘All the time. I mean, still. I thought I’d better check before saying anything, so I phoned my friend at work, and she phoned her mum who said there was one here like a few days ago?’
‘One what?’
‘A young woman. Well… young ish . Thirty-five? Driving a red Audi. My friend’s mum reckons they did his shopping for him.’
‘There’s no car here, is there?’
‘He’s never had one. He liked to go everywhere on foot. They reckoned he’d walk miles at one time, up into the mountains, along the Wye. Like I said, he must’ve kept himself very fit. But if he needed to go any distance, there’d always be someone to take him.’
‘All strangers to the locals?’
‘I think so. Not that he wasn’t friendly with local people… he was. He’d help them out, do things for them.’
‘Like?’
‘Well, he… he like knew a lot of old things that doctors don’t do any more. Like if you dislocated a bone he could put it back? And he knew about herbs. He could take away headaches. And people who were run-down, he’d get them going again.’
‘That’s interesting,’ Merrily said.
‘And they reckoned if you’d lost something important he could find it sometimes. But he wouldn’t take money for any of it. All he asked in return was that they should respect his privacy. And not talk about it.’
‘Somebody obviously talked about it to you,’ Bliss said.
‘Yeah, but I reckon that’s only
‘And was he nasty? When he caught you? Or… nice?’
‘He never caught me. Well, I never went that close. Too spooky for me up yere.’
Merrily said, ‘Why do you say that?’
‘They used to say you could see like strange… lights? My friend reckons she seen it once. Like the countryside was lit up from inside? It was only for a fraction of a second. Like one ofthose… like a UFO experience. Nothing to say it was anything at all to do with Mr Hambling, except it was near his house. I’m just telling you this ’cos the DI said to tell you everything, no matter how daft it sounded.’
‘So just part of local folklore,’ Merrily said.
‘Don’t know how far it went back. I probably wasn’t born before Mr Hambling was here. My friend, she asked a bloke and he said she wasn’t the first to see it, the light. It’s just something you can’t confirm one way or the other. Sorry.’
‘Mrs Watkins,’ Bliss said, ‘specializes in peculiar tangents.’
‘Your parents know about all this?’ Merrily said to Tamsin. ‘Did they tell you off for being silly?’
‘Or maybe warn you off?’ Bliss said. ‘In case he caught you.’
Tamsin shook her head.
‘I never heard any adults mention Mr Hambling, to be honest. Not until I started talking to them last night. People I’d known since I was a little girl.’
‘When he caught kids,’ Bliss said, ‘was he… unexpectedly friendly, perhaps?’
‘Not that I heard. They said he could get a bit annoyed if he’d been interrupted.’
‘Doing what?’
‘I don’t know. I mean, I think I know where you’re going with this, sir, but I really don’t think there was anything like… that. Like, it’s not as if we didn’t know about it going on, even as country kids – there was this bloke we were all told to keep away from, but he was quite young. He moved to Abergavenny, where I think he got nicked finally for kiddy-fiddling. Besides, my friend, when we got older, she used to say she… that she thought Mr Hambling was well catered for in that department.’
‘Which department?’
‘Women, sir.’
Bliss raised both eyebrows.
‘You haven’t told me about this, have you, Tamsin?’
‘No sir.’ Tamsin didn’t blush this time. ‘I was getting round toit when you went to look for Mrs Watkins. Situation was that David Hambling, he used to have quite a number of visitors, and some of them were women. Quite young women. Well, compared to him.’
‘When was this?’
‘All the time. I mean, still. I thought I’d better check before saying anything, so I phoned my friend at work, and she phoned her mum who said there was one here like a few days ago?’
‘One what?’
‘A young woman. Well… young ish . Thirty-five? Driving a red Audi. My friend’s mum reckons they did his shopping for him.’
‘There’s no car here, is there?’
‘He’s never had one. He liked to go everywhere on foot. They reckoned he’d walk miles at one time, up into the mountains, along the Wye. Like I said, he must’ve kept himself very fit. But if he needed to go any distance, there’d always be someone to take him.’
‘All strangers to the locals?’
‘I think so. Not that he wasn’t friendly with local people… he was. He’d help them out, do things for them.’
‘Like?’
‘Well, he… he like knew a lot of old things that doctors don’t do any more. Like if you dislocated a bone he could put it back? And he knew about herbs. He could take away headaches. And people who were run-down, he’d get them going again.’
‘That’s interesting,’ Merrily said.
‘And they reckoned if you’d lost something important he could find it sometimes. But he wouldn’t take money for any of it. All he asked in return was that they should respect his privacy. And not talk about it.’
‘Somebody obviously talked about it to you,’ Bliss said.
‘Yeah, but I reckon that’s only
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