Chapter Seven #2
‘Not the boys. They’re still at primary school and no bother at all.
Hannah’s found it quite hard to make friends and feels herself a bit of an outsider.
I said to Cath, I’ve never met a teenage girl who doesn’t feel that she can’t fit in.
They all think they’re too fat, or too skinny, or they don’t listen to the right music. Lockdown didn’t help.’
‘Do you still work with children?’
‘Oh, my dear, no! I gave all that up when we took over this place. There’s no time for anything else at all. Besides, Jim sees the customers as a necessary evil to allow him to cook. I look after the front of house.’
‘Sounds like the perfect partnership.’
Mag gave a little laugh. ‘Ah, maybe. It works for us.’
‘What do the other locals make of them taking over Tide House, turning it into a holiday home?’
‘There’s some resentment, but like I say to Jim, it’s not as if most of the workers round here could have afforded it.
You can’t imagine anyone in hospitality or a farmworker having the cash to do it up.
There’s more a feeling of jealousy, I think, because it’s a bloody gorgeous house and you get that kind of envy everywhere, don’t you? ’
‘I hear you were at MillsFest over the weekend,’ Jen said. ‘How did that go?’
‘Yeah, we were. Bob Brennan asked us to set up a beer tent. Jim wasn’t sure at first. It took us away from the pub, didn’t it, and Saturdays are busy.
And like I said, he’s happier in a kitchen than behind a bar.
We agreed in the end, though. More to be neighbourly than anything else.
You know, support another local business.
And it worked out okay. A lovely, chilled weekend.
Daniel took over the beer tent on the Sunday, so we could come back here to do Sunday lunches.
We couldn’t give those up. People book weeks in advance for Jim’s roasts, even in this weather.
’ Mag set her mug carefully on a coaster on the coffee table that looked as if it had been sculpted from a huge piece of driftwood, her voice suddenly serious.
‘Look, what has gone on over there at Tide House? We’ll find out soon enough.
A place like this, there aren’t any secrets for long. ’
Jen supposed Mag was right, and besides, she hoped for more information from the woman.
‘Hannah Armstrong is dead,’ she said. ‘Along with her friend Lottie.’
‘Oh no!’ The woman sat for a moment, with her eyes closed as if that might shut out the reality. ‘Poor, poor maids. I should go and see Cath. She’s got no family nearby and no real friends.’ Mag sounded genuinely horrified.
‘The family have moved into a hotel, and I suspect they want to be on their own for a bit. You might text Cath, though, just in case she needs someone to talk to.’ Jen paused. ‘Did you see the girls at the festival?’
‘I saw Hannah. She was with Jake. He’s a lovely lad. He’ll be devastated. I think she was his first real love according to his mother.’
‘There was the other girl, Lottie. You didn’t notice her?’
Mag hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. ‘But I wouldn’t. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but there was enough going on to keep us busy.’ She paused again and it occurred to Jen that the woman might know more about Lottie than she was letting on.
‘Jake used to work for you, didn’t he?’
‘He still helps out sometimes, when we’re short-handed.’
‘We think the girls died early this morning. Did you hear anything? A car going down the lane towards Tide House?’
Mag gave a little laugh. ‘I didn’t hear a thing!
We’d done a full Saturday at the festival, then Sunday lunches here, and the Brennans invited us across to the farm for a bit of a party in the evening.
We close early on a Sunday, once lunch service is over, and we left Daniel to clear up the festival bar.
It was all winding down early evening. One of the musicians had stayed on when the punters went home, and that American couple who were glamping with them came along to the farm too.
It was a lovely night. Music and far too much to drink.
Bob booted us out at midnight. He said he had to be up for the cows.
I slept like a log and was only waking up just now when Daniel phoned to say you were here. ’
‘So, you must be good friends with the Brennans?’
Mag took a while to think about that. ‘Not what you’d call close. We run to different time schedules, don’t we? They’re up at the crack of dawn for the beasts and we’re still clearing up past midnight. We’ve been here for a few years, but that was the first time we’d socialized properly.’
Jen wondered if that was too much information. It would be worth checking out the relationship between the couples.
‘Were Hannah and Jake there that evening?’
‘Early on. They disappeared up to his room after a while. I’m sure they had far more fun there than staying with us oldies.’
‘But Hannah’s friend Lottie wasn’t at the after-party?’
Mag shook her head. ‘It was just the Brennans, the Americans, the musician and us. And the youngsters early on.’
Jen heard heavy footsteps on the steps and the landlord appeared.
‘It’s all boxed up and I’ve told Daniel to give you a hand with it.
’ He went quiet for a moment, then said, ‘You’ve got all you want here?
’ His voice was not quite rude, but it was nowhere near as friendly as his wife’s.
Maybe it was the result of a hangover. Maybe.