’cos he’s dead. It’s a funny place, Cusop, sir, people’s privacy does get respected. Like the King of Hay, his home’s in Cusop. His family home, but I bet not many people know exactly where it is. Lot of people who run things inHay, they live in Cusop, ’cos it’s separate. No estates down yere, and most of the houses are secluded. And the Dingle, it’s a dead-end – far as cars go anyway. You get to the end, you’re near enough in the mountains. Somebody once said to me it was like a bottle. You put the stopper on and nothing gets out. Sorry, sir, you prob’ly didn’t want all this.’
‘No, carry on, Tamsin, you’re doing really well here. So nobody recognized any of the women who came to see him?’
Tamsin looked uncertain.
‘It’s possible they did . But not ’cos they were local. They recognized them from other places. Newspapers and television. Well, famous people do come to Hay, don’t they? Writers and TV people and politicians. So it’s not that much of a big deal. With the women, people used to be a bit scandalized by it, at one time, but not any more. It was more like, you know, good luck to the ole devil, kind of thing. That’s the impression I got.’
Bliss said, ‘When you say they brought his shopping…’
Merrily followed his gaze around the kitchen, past the Stanley oil-fired cooker and the big fridge/freezer to another door and three rows of shelves with branded items and jars and pots.
‘That’s where Tamsin found his dope, Merrily. In a jar conveniently marked herbs . I never asked, Tamsin, but what led you to it?’
‘Just the smell, sir. In his study… his library. Unmistakable, really.’
Merrily said, ‘He smoked dope?’
‘Or he entertained people who did,’ Bliss said. ‘Me first thought was who’s his dealer? Was he linked into the kind of people who wouldn’t think too hard about nudging an old feller into a pool and robbing his gaff? But there’s over six hundred quid in a wallet in his desk. You couldn’t easily miss that.’
‘So you’re thinking he had his cannabis or whatever delivered with the groceries?’
In a guilty way, she was starting to enjoy this. It was calming to be hanging out with working coppers. Their needs were so much simpler. She turned to Tamsin Winterson.
‘Tamsin, I’m still not getting this. Why exactly did kids think he was a wizard? Apart from the herbs and bone-setting.’
‘Well… they look through windows, kids, don’t they?’
Tamsin looking a little sheepish.
‘Was there anything particularly odd or unexpected about the way he died, Frannie?’
‘Not expecting much from the PM. He had a head wound, which might’ve been from a bump on one of those big shelves of rock at the bottom of the falls. Was he attacked here, then towed down the field and thrown in the pool? We don’t know. Nobody would think that was likely.’
‘So why are you convinced somebody killed him?’
‘I’m not convinced and I’m still looking for a reason. With all the fences and stiles involved, it wouldn’t be easy unless there was more than one person. Or did he go to the pool with someone who then pushed him in? Or clobbered him and then pushed the body in? We’ve done a little house-to-house, yielding no sightings. We’ve had a SOCO skim this place. Although there’s no obvious reason to regard it as a crime scene.’
‘You need witnesses.’
‘Dog walkers,’ Bliss said. ‘We need more dog walkers.’
Tamsin brought them tea in some rather classy stoneware mugs. Milk, sugar in a bowl.
‘Just the job,’ Bliss sipped. ‘Earl Grey, too. You’ve gorra big future, PC Winterson.’
‘In CID, sir?’
Bliss set his cup down on the worktop, tilted his head, exposing his spreading thin patch.
‘That’s the way you’re thinking?’
‘It is, actually.’
‘Well,’ Bliss said, ‘I’ll bear that in mind, Tamsin. Not that I get listened to much.’
‘Thank you, sir. Sir—’
‘Tamsin, how about you
‘No, carry on, Tamsin, you’re doing really well here. So nobody recognized any of the women who came to see him?’
Tamsin looked uncertain.
‘It’s possible they did . But not ’cos they were local. They recognized them from other places. Newspapers and television. Well, famous people do come to Hay, don’t they? Writers and TV people and politicians. So it’s not that much of a big deal. With the women, people used to be a bit scandalized by it, at one time, but not any more. It was more like, you know, good luck to the ole devil, kind of thing. That’s the impression I got.’
Bliss said, ‘When you say they brought his shopping…’
Merrily followed his gaze around the kitchen, past the Stanley oil-fired cooker and the big fridge/freezer to another door and three rows of shelves with branded items and jars and pots.
‘That’s where Tamsin found his dope, Merrily. In a jar conveniently marked herbs . I never asked, Tamsin, but what led you to it?’
‘Just the smell, sir. In his study… his library. Unmistakable, really.’
Merrily said, ‘He smoked dope?’
‘Or he entertained people who did,’ Bliss said. ‘Me first thought was who’s his dealer? Was he linked into the kind of people who wouldn’t think too hard about nudging an old feller into a pool and robbing his gaff? But there’s over six hundred quid in a wallet in his desk. You couldn’t easily miss that.’
‘So you’re thinking he had his cannabis or whatever delivered with the groceries?’
In a guilty way, she was starting to enjoy this. It was calming to be hanging out with working coppers. Their needs were so much simpler. She turned to Tamsin Winterson.
‘Tamsin, I’m still not getting this. Why exactly did kids think he was a wizard? Apart from the herbs and bone-setting.’
‘Well… they look through windows, kids, don’t they?’
Tamsin looking a little sheepish.
‘Was there anything particularly odd or unexpected about the way he died, Frannie?’
‘Not expecting much from the PM. He had a head wound, which might’ve been from a bump on one of those big shelves of rock at the bottom of the falls. Was he attacked here, then towed down the field and thrown in the pool? We don’t know. Nobody would think that was likely.’
‘So why are you convinced somebody killed him?’
‘I’m not convinced and I’m still looking for a reason. With all the fences and stiles involved, it wouldn’t be easy unless there was more than one person. Or did he go to the pool with someone who then pushed him in? Or clobbered him and then pushed the body in? We’ve done a little house-to-house, yielding no sightings. We’ve had a SOCO skim this place. Although there’s no obvious reason to regard it as a crime scene.’
‘You need witnesses.’
‘Dog walkers,’ Bliss said. ‘We need more dog walkers.’
Tamsin brought them tea in some rather classy stoneware mugs. Milk, sugar in a bowl.
‘Just the job,’ Bliss sipped. ‘Earl Grey, too. You’ve gorra big future, PC Winterson.’
‘In CID, sir?’
Bliss set his cup down on the worktop, tilted his head, exposing his spreading thin patch.
‘That’s the way you’re thinking?’
‘It is, actually.’
‘Well,’ Bliss said, ‘I’ll bear that in mind, Tamsin. Not that I get listened to much.’
‘Thank you, sir. Sir—’
‘Tamsin, how about you
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