Chapter 14 #2
Lara felt so encouraged by Becky’s response to her apology that she decided to brave ringing Sarah at the delicatessen.
She moved as far away as she could from Abby, as for some reason she felt embarrassed about phoning in front of her.
Abby tactfully refrained from eavesdropping but looked up expectantly when Lara came back towards her.
Lara nodded slightly at Abby – the call had been much easier than she had anticipated.
It did seem that Sarah was trying to be friendly.
In a much happier frame of mind she started organising the day’s deliveries with Becky.
The plan was that Lara would go out with these and then she would call in to see Penny Porter about the flowers for her exhibition.
Once they were in the van it was easier to talk freely.
Lara knew there was one subject she did not want to discuss with Abby, so she tackled this first. ‘Let’s not talk about Julian,’ she begged.
‘I’ve called Sarah and we… I mean I… am going round for a glass of wine after work tomorrow.
’ Lara hoped this would distract Abby. Somewhat to Lara’s surprise Abby let the topic of Julian drop and instead she concentrated on smoothing a wrinkle out of her glove.
To fill the silence, Lara asked, ‘What did you think of Dr Patil meeting up with Jason from the antique shop?’
‘Ummm. Could be interesting, or it could have a perfectly innocent explanation,’ was all the response she got.
Silence reigned once more.
Abby was deep in thought. She was considering how to tell Lara about Joe and his possible inheritance.
It seemed to her that if they were visiting the Porters’ house they would make some attempt to secure a sight of the will.
If they got an opportunity to look around they might stand some chance of exploring Richard’s study.
Apart from his office at work, Abby thought this was the most likely place he would keep the document.
If there was some reference to Joe, it was better that Lara be prepared for it.
‘There is something I need to tell you about my talk with Thomas.’
‘Really?’ Lara was intrigued.
‘Yes, during our conversation it became apparent that Lady Porter had become very fond of her gardener.’
‘What, Joe?’ Lara said.
‘Yes, Joe.’ Abby continued, ‘I believe that Lady Porter began to look on him as a surrogate son, or possibly, grandson, and she talked about leaving him money in her will.’
‘What, Joe?!’ Lara repeated, but this time with greater emphasis.
Abby went on, ‘I gathered from Thomas that Joe reminded Lady Porter of her husband.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Lara demanded and without waiting for an answer continued, ‘You thought this made him a suspect, didn’t you?’
‘I wasn’t sure, Lara,’ Abby said gently, ‘so I needed time to think about it.’
‘And what do you think now?’ Lara demanded.
Abby chose her words carefully. ‘I think Joe is an unlikely murderer, but we must not let our preferences blind us to the facts. It should also be noted that if the family knew Lady Porter was planning to change her will, this provides a motive for Richard and Penny Porter.’
‘Oh,’ Lara said, as a vague feeling of disquiet crept over her.
The rest of the journey consisted of disjointed conversations, taken up and put down, as Lara nipped in and out of the van to deliver flowers.
By the time they reached the Porters’ house it had been established that both women thought highly of Ron’s intelligence and thought very little of Sebastian’s.
They enjoyed five very satisfying minutes ripping Sebastian’s character to shreds and pouring scorn on his morals, dress-sense and taste in women.
Pointing out all Jessica’s shortcomings took slightly longer.
After the briefest of chats, it became clear they both had noticed that the Honourable Richard Porter seemed to be short of money.
A longer chat could not get to the bottom of Dr Patil’s possible motive for lying to them, but they both agreed that Dr Patil and Jason Honeybourne needed to be investigated further.
The two men meeting left them both wondering.
In the end they could not decide quite how to tackle the doctor, but they devised a plan whereby Lara would call in to Jason’s shop with some flowers for him so that Abby could have a look round.
Harmony was restored once more, despite Lara occasionally murmuring to herself, ‘What, Joe?’
The Porters lived on the outskirts of town and their house was reached by a long drive bordered on both sides by large rhododendron bushes interspersed with ornate lampposts.
Lara pulled up in front of the house, grabbed her notebook and dashed through the rain to the front door.
Porter Place was a modern house built in an old style with several impressive columns flanking the large front door.
Stone lions stood either side of the porch and Lara noticed to the left of the door just above the lion’s head, a buzzer with an intercom marked ‘tradesmen’.
Her finger hovered over this. She wasn’t quite sure whether a florist constituted ‘trade’ or whether she should use the much larger, ornate bell-pull on the other side of the door.
Abby made up her mind for her. She brought her heel down on the flagstone floor with a sharp snap.
‘I am Abigail Rossmore, the granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Dunster and the daughter of Lord Bourton who fought against the Emperor Napoleon. I do not use the tradesmen’s entrance.
’ She persisted, ‘Lara, you are a McGregor. You come from a fine family of doctors. I have no doubt the McGregors have a long and distinguished history in the medical profession. You are not some scrubby kitchen maid who is afraid to use the front door.’
‘Right you are,’ Lara said, laughing as she pulled the heavy brass bell-pull and announced their arrival.
They watched Penny Porter approach through the glass panel in the front door.
She was a tall, blond woman in her late thirties who wore her hair loosely clipped back with a large barrette.
She smiled and waved as she drew nearer.
Penny Porter could have walked straight out of a Boden catalogue.
As she got closer Lara realised that as well as the colourful co-ordinated clothes, Penny was also wearing quite a lot of paint.
She had splashes of it up her sleeves and there was a line of purple in her hair just behind her ear.
‘Come in,’ she said, opening the door, ‘isn’t this weather absolutely ghastly?
’ She turned to shoo away two chocolate labradors who were milling around in the hall and who seemed anxious to greet Lara.
‘Monty! Archie! Bed!’ The dogs completely ignored her and she said apologetically to Lara, ‘I hope you don’t mind dogs? ’
‘Not at all,’ Lara replied, patting them.
‘Richard tells me I’m terrible with them.
Not that he’s any better,’ she added. ‘He bought them to work with, but he says they’re useless gundogs.
’ Penny stood for a moment watching the dogs as they bumped and tussled and then appeared to remember what Lara was there for.
‘Right, right,’ she said, ‘let’s go through. ’
They walked down the hallway to where it opened into a large square area.
This housed a small table, two winged chairs and marked the start of a broad staircase.
The walls were decorated with hunting prints and cartoons from sporting magazines.
There was also an enormous black and white photograph of Penny and Richard.
The couple were half lying together against a pure white background.
Richard had a jumper tied around his shoulders and wore beautifully ironed jeans.
His hand rested on Penny’s shoulder and despite the smile on her face, Penny looked as if she wished she were elsewhere. Lara didn’t blame her.
It was at this point Lara noticed Monty’s strange behaviour.
While Archie was still bumping and sniffing at Lara in a friendly manner, Monty was trotting down the hall beside Abby, the picture of a perfect gundog walking to heel.
His back was straight, his body was inches from her side and his head was raised, looking slavishly up at her face.
Abby’s face on the other hand held the complacent look of one who knows (unlike the Honourable Richard) just exactly how to command the respect and obedience of a pedigree gundog of great worth and intelligence.