Ken Bruce was announcing the ten oclock news bulletin. Was it so late already? Bernie knew he ought to get on hed already lost enough time this morning, with having so many special deliveries to make and getting stuck behind the tractor that overtook him every time he stopped. Miss Shepherd was probably out doing her shopping in Matlock, wasnt she? Monday morning was a good time to go to the supermarket. Nice and quiet. Shed just forgotten to empty the post from her box for once. Shed do it when she got back from the shops.
Bernie pushed his card through the flap, put the package back behind the van seat, then reversed into the road and drove on. Hed missed the news headlines, but Bruce was playing a song he remembered from the sixties the New Seekers, Now the Carnival is Over. Bernie was singing quietly to himself as he headed back through Foxlow.
3
Detective Constable Ben Cooper opened his fridge door, then closed it again quickly when he caught the smell. Another thirty seconds of breathing that in, and hed lose his appetite for breakfast. He had a brief after-image of something nasty wrapped in plastic, caught by the interior light like an exhibit at a crime scene, sordid and decomposing, its DNA degrading beyond use.
Well, do you want me to call in and see the solicitor again tomorrow morning? he said into his mobile phone. I can manage that, if you like, Matt. But Im not sure itll do any good.
He wants a kick up the pants, thats whatll do him some good. Maybe I ought to go in and see him myself. What do you reckon? Ill go straight into his office when Ive finished the muck spreading tomorrow.
Cooper smiled at the thought of his brother bursting into the offices of Ballard and Price, his overalls covered in slurry. Matt could be a bit intimidating at the best of times, especially in an enclosed space. In his present mood, the solicitors receptionist would probably call the police to have him removed.
It wouldnt help, you know.
Matt sighed in frustration. Bloody pen pushers and bureaucrats. They seem to spend their time making life difficult for everyone else.
I suppose Mr Ballard has a job to do, like the rest of us.
Oh, yeah. He takes a lot longer about it, thats all.
Cooper ran a finger round the fridge door, checking the rubber seal for gaps. It hadnt occurred to him things could get as bad as that so quickly, just because he hadnt bothered checking inside for a few days. It wasnt as if the weather was particularly warm or anything. It was nearly the end of October, and summer was over in the Peak District. But the fridge had come with the flat, so he wasnt sure how old it might be.
I dont know what else I can do, he said. Youre the executor, Matt.
I hadnt forgotten.
Of course, he knew what was bothering his brother and making him so impatient. Probate on their mothers will was taking so long that he was starting to get worried about the future of Bridge End Farm. If money had to be found from the estate, the only way it could happen would be if assets were sold off.
I thought youd know a bit more about the law than I do, said Matt.
Well, not this part of the law.
He didnt bother to tell Matt that his knowledge of criminal law was also a bit sketchy. There were eight thousand criminal offences on the statute books and more than a thousand of them had been invented since Cooper became a police officer. Without the manuals, hed be lost, like everyone else.
Cooper left the fridge alone and crossed the kitchen, dodging the cat that was sitting looking at him expectantly, having heard a rumour there might be food. On the days he was at home, meal times seemed to come round every hour.
Besides, he said, dont forget how much Mr Ballard charges for his time.
Youre right, Ben. Just a phone call then, I suppose.
At least itll keep the subject fresh in his mind.
There was silence for a few moments. The Cooper brothers had always been comfortable with silence. Theyd grown up together on the farm hardly needing to speak, because each understood what the other was thinking. But that was when they were physically together. You could read a persons thoughts in their face, in the way they moved or breathed, or what they did with their hands. It was different on the phone, though. Silence felt awkward and wrong. Not to mention a waste of money. With his mobile pressed to his ear, Ben started to wonder whether he could get a reduced tariff from Vodaphone for the amount of non-talk time he used.
But in this case, he sensed that there was more to his brothers silence than awkwardness.
Is there something else, Matt?
Yeah
Ben felt his stomach tighten. For a second, he thought he was going to be sick, and he looked to see if the fridge door had fallen open again and released the nauseous smell into the room. After the death of their mother, there surely couldnt be more bad news already. But he could read a lot into one word from his brother.
What is it? Something wrong with one of the girls?
No, theyre fine, said Matt. Well, I think so.
Youre not making much sense, Matt.
Look, Ben, Ive made an appointment to go into the surgery on Friday. I want to talk to Dr Joyce. And if necessary, Ill ask to see the specialist who treated Mum.
Why? We know what happened to her it was a series of strokes. It happens all the time in people of her age.
I dont mean the strokes. I mean the other problem.
The family had rarely referred to Isabel Coopers condition by name. For a long time, it had been Mums problem. Towards the end, before she died in Edendale District General from a brain haemorrhage, it had become the other problem. Now, it seemed to Ben there was no point in trying to avoid spelling it out. Mum wasnt around any more to be upset if it inadvertently slipped out in her presence.
Oh, the schizophrenia.
Yes.
I dont understand, Matt. What do you want to find out that we dont already know?
I cant talk to you about it on the phone its too complicated. Can you come over some time? Ive got a lot of stuff to show you.
Well, Im going to be a bit busy this week
So whats new?
All right, what if I call at the farm tonight when I come off duty?
Thatll do.
See you, then.
Cooper put out a bowl of cat food and placed it on the floor in the conservatory, near the central-heating boiler. Randy was an animal with a fixed routine and firm ideas about his territory.
Then he went back to the fridge, took a deep breath and eased open the door. He scooped out some rotten tomatoes, half a carton of sour milk, and a wedge of Stilton with its blue veins blossoming into a furry carpet. They all went into a plastic bin liner. He wasnt sure any of the items accounted for the smell, though. Poking in the salad tray at the bottom of the main compartment, he found a liquefied lettuce, which probably did.
When hed got rid of the worst, he tied up the bin liner and put it to one side. Now he ought to remove everything else from the fridge and give it a good clean. Probably it could do with defrosting, too.
But then Cooper hesitated. It would do later on, wouldnt it? Tomorrow, even. He closed the fridge, put the bag near the back door, and returned to the sitting room. He put on his shoes and jacket, and checked how much money he had in his wallet. Then he made sure his phone was fully charged. Allowing your phone battery to go flat was as bad as letting your car run out of petrol. Both things happened now and then, but it was better if they happened to someone else.
Finally, he left the flat. For once, even the smell of the morning traffic was like a breath of fresh air.
He was unsettled by his conversation with Matt. He hoped his brother wasnt having to cope with too many worries at once. There were certainly some decisions to be made about the future of Bridge End, though. The new farming support payments favoured the more productive farms in the valleys, and an upland farmers income could be halved, unless he changed his ways. The suckler herd might have to go, for a start no matter how environmentally friendly and picturesque they were, grazing cattle were becoming as economically unviable as sheep.
Finally, he left the flat. For once, even the smell of the morning traffic was like a breath of fresh air.
He was unsettled by his conversation with Matt. He hoped his brother wasnt having to cope with too many worries at once. There were certainly some decisions to be made about the future of Bridge End, though. The new farming support payments favoured the more productive farms in the valleys, and an upland farmers income could be halved, unless he changed his ways. The suckler herd might have to go, for a start no matter how environmentally friendly and picturesque they were, grazing cattle were becoming as economically unviable as sheep.
Matt could intensify the dairy herd, or leave part of the land unfarmed, in return for environmental grants. On the other hand, he could abandon the idea of running a profitable farm altogether and get himself a job stacking shelves in a supermarket.
On his way through the market square, Cooper pulled out his mobile and chose a number from his phone book. His call was answered almost straightaway.
Hi, its me. How are you this morning?
She sounded pleased to hear from him, and the sound of her voice alone made him feel better. He didnt know how she did it; perhaps it came of being a civilian.
Oh, Im fine, too, he said. No, really. Theres nothing wrong at all. I just wanted to find out how you were.
He listened to her talk for a while, neither of them saying much, but enough to put a smile on his face as he crossed Hollowgate towards the Raj Mahal and the pedestrianized area.
He had to end the call when a couple of acquaintances stopped to say hello. Cooper couldnt place their names at first. But he knew so many people around Edendale that it wasnt surprising. Faces from his childhood haunted him constantly. Hed see an old schoolfriend passing in the street, then immediately another and another. It was like the way a phrase hed heard for the first time suddenly seemed to be repeated everywhere, as if someone was trying to send him a message. What sort of message could these familiar faces be trying to convey? This is where you belong, perhaps.