Chapter 20
She rings back immediately. ‘Sorry, we’ve been out of network range. Is everything OK?’
‘Not really.’ Philippa’s voice is low and tremulous. ‘Tom’s been stabbed. He’s in hospital. Intensive care.’
‘Oh my God. What happened?’
‘I… I can’t really explain on the phone, but—’
‘Tell me where you are. I’ll get there as soon as I can.’
‘Thank you. I wouldn’t have bothered you, but—’
‘Philippa, just tell me where you are.’
‘Salisbury District Hospital ICU.’
‘Got it. Bye.’
Eve explains the situation to Jack.
He frowns and stands in thought. ‘It’ll take us the best part of two hours to get everyone back to the van. So… what I’m going to do is ring a friend of mine and ask him to pick you up.’
‘Where from?’
‘From near here. See that stand of trees to the left of the church spire over there? Keep going left and there’s a group of buildings.
That’s Hurst Farm. It’s about half a click away.
You should be able to walk there in ten minutes, easy, but first let me check if…
’ He pulls out a phone. ‘Hi, Will, yeah, it’s Jack, bit of an emergency… ’
Will Palmer and his Land Rover are waiting outside the farm by the time Eve gets there.
He’s a big, cheery guy who works for the local authority.
‘Glad of a break, to be honest,’ he tells her, as he steers the Land Rover up the rutted track to the road.
‘Environmental surveys are important, but it’s not very exciting work. How do you know Jack?’
‘We were at school together, years ago.’
‘Is that so?’ He glances at her. ‘Well, he’s a good bloke. Deserves better than what life’s given him, if you ask me. Definitely deserved better than that wife of his, and I can say that because Claire’s my cousin.’ He frowns. ‘You’re not the Park girl, are you?’
‘I, er… may have been the Park girl, once upon a time.’
A grin spreads across his face. ‘Well, I’m jiggered. I thought the name Eve rang a bell. Shouldn’t really tell you this, but that man has been carrying a torch for you for years.’
‘That can’t be true.’
‘You went away. Canada or somewhere?’
‘Washington State, US.’
‘He never forgot you. Tried to, mind.’
‘We were kids.’
‘Yeah, well. There you go.’
He drops Eve off in the hospital car park, and she runs inside. It takes her several minutes to find the intensive care ward, but eventually she’s making her way between green-curtained rows of beds, peering apologetically at the patients and their visitors.
Seeing her approach, Philippa jumps up from her chair at Tom’s bedside. ‘Thank you so much, Eve,’ she says quietly. ‘I didn’t know who else to call. I know lots of people, but…’ She looks round anxiously. ‘Everyone talks. They gossip. And…’
Eve looks at Tom. He’s pale and blank-faced, clearly sedated, propped up against pillows. A blue cotton hospital gown doesn’t quite conceal the blood-soaked dressing on his left shoulder. ‘What happened?’ she asks Philippa.
‘He was stabbed. Three men, not local, walked into the café. They slapped Tom around and kicked him, and when he was on the ground one of them stabbed him. Twice. In the side and in the shoulder. He’d have gone on, probably would’ve killed him, but the others ran off and he followed them.
Tom was lying there, bleeding, for about five minutes, until a customer came in. Took one look and called an ambulance.’
‘What time did all this happen?’
Philippa folds her arms. ‘Midday, give or take.’
‘Does Tom know who these men were?’
‘He says no.’
‘You believe him?’ Eve murmurs.
‘No. And I’m pretty sure the police didn’t either.’
Eve reaches out a hand. ‘Philippa, I’m so sorry. This is just awful.’
She nods. ‘Yeah. It’s bad. Really bad. And it’s my fault. I let him do what he wanted for too long, no questions asked. I thought it was just girls and the pub and that, maybe a bit of blow, but there was obviously a lot else going on.’
‘What makes you say that?’
In answer Philippa reaches into her bag. ‘I went into his room before coming here to get his overnight things, and I found this.’ She hands Eve a watch.
It’s a Rolex, with a gold face, gold dial and gold band. It sits weightily in Eve’s hand.
‘Where would he get something like this?’ Philippa asks. ‘It must be worth, I don’t know—’
‘Did the police see it?’
‘No. You must be joking.’
‘Has Tom been flashing money around recently? Money that he didn’t earn at the café?’
‘Not in front of me. But he wouldn’t be that daft. He knows I’d be straight down his throat.’
‘You know what this is all pointing to, don’t you?’
‘I do, and I feel so stupid myself. Away with the fairies, all my spells and witchcraft, and meanwhile my child’s being groomed by fuckin’ drug dealers.’ She bares her teeth. ‘I could kill them, Eve. I’m not joking. And if I get the chance I will.’