Poisoning in the Pub, The. Simon Brett
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Название: Poisoning in the Pub, The
Автор: Simon Brett
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика
Серия: A Fethering Mystery
isbn: 9781448304813
isbn:
Jude wasn’t going to stand for that. ‘Ted Crisp has very high standards. He had the Health and Safety people in there yesterday, they checked everything and couldn’t find a single breach of hygiene regulations.’
‘Ted Crisp, eh?’ Greville Tilbrook repeated the name sourly. ‘I didn’t realize that he was a friend of yours, because, to be quite honest and not to beat about the bush, I hadn’t put you two ladies down as “pub people”.’
It cost Carole a lot not to break in there and assure him that she had never been a ‘pub person’, but she managed to curb her tongue.
‘Well, even if you are friends of Mr Crisp, you must—’
‘Have you ever met him, Mr Tilbrook?’ asked Jude.
‘No, I have not had that pleasure, but I know him by reputation … and not everything I’ve heard of that reputation is entirely, as it were, favourable.’ He was now getting quite aerated, spluttering in his condemnation. ‘While not going quite as far as some residents who feel that Fethering should not have a pub at all, I do think it’s regrettable that the one we do have should be run by a foul-mouthed, scruffy individual who—’
This finally was too much for Carole. ‘Mr Tilbrook, I’m sorry, but you’re talking about someone who is a friend of ours. And I think you should form your own estimation of people by meeting them rather than listening to scurrilous gossip.’
Greville Tilbrook was about to repeat her last two words, but he only got as far as ‘scurrilous’ before Carole said, ‘And I think, if you have no other purpose in being here than to slander our friends, I must ask you to leave.’
‘But I do have another purpose,’ he spluttered.
‘Oh?’
He withdrew some stapled A4 sheets from his leather document case. ‘I came here to ask you whether you would add your, as it were, signatures, to this petition.’
‘And what’s the petition for?’ asked Carole implacably.
‘It is to stop the appearance of the vulgar and blasphemous comedian Dan Poke in the Crown and Anchor public house this coming Lord’s Day.’
‘Right,’ said Carole. ‘Glad we’ve finally got to the point. Well, no, thank you, Mr Tilbrook. I have no wish to add my “as it were, signature” to your petition.’
‘Nor do I,’ said Jude. ‘We strongly support Ted Crisp’s initiative to use the Crown and Anchor for such purposes, and in fact we have both bought tickets to see Dan Poke’s appearance on Sunday.’
A discomfited Greville Tilbrook realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this particular visit and beat a wordy retreat. When Carole came back from seeing him out of the front door, she asked Jude, ‘Have you really booked tickets for the show?’
‘No. But I think we should.’
Carole recharged their wine glasses and the two women looked at each other. ‘You can see why Ted’s paranoid, though,’ Jude observed. ‘He seems to be being attacked on all sides, doesn’t he?’
SEVEN
On the Friday morning Jude rang one of her friends in the social services, a woman called Sally Monks, who owed her a favour. Jude had once used her healing skills to help out a couple of Sally’s more difficult teenage clients, and so the social worker was more than happy to return the favour. She readily supplied an address for the Ray who sometimes worked at the Crown and Anchor. ‘But I happen to know that he’s not there today,’ said Sally.
‘Oh?’
‘He tends to go back to his mother’s from time to time. She’s quite old and infirm, so she can’t look after him full-time, but she can manage for a few days.’
‘You don’t know where she lives, do you?’
‘Yes. Worthing. Do you want me to give you her address? I will if it’s something really important, but Ray’s mother’s an old lady and …’
Sally Monks sounded reluctant, and Jude was forced to ask herself how important her quest actually was. Yes, she wanted to help Ted Crisp, but not to presume too far on the social worker’s goodwill. Anyway, Ted himself had tried to cover up Ray’s involvement in what had happened in the Crown and Anchor. He might not welcome her investigating.
As it happened, what Sally Monks said next simplified things. ‘If you really do want to contact Ray, I know he’ll be at the flat tomorrow.’
‘Oh?’
‘Saturday. Football. He loves his football. His mother doesn’t have Sky, but they have it in the communal sitting room at the flats.’
‘Oh, thank you for telling me. Maybe I’ll try and contact him tomorrow.’
‘That’d be better.’ The social worker sounded relieved. ‘I don’t want to put any more pressure on his mother.’
‘More pressure? What do you mean?’
‘Well, it’s just that Ray only goes to see her when he’s upset. She has quite a problem calming him down sometimes.’
‘You’ve no idea why he might be upset at the moment, do you?’ asked Jude, keen to advance her investigation.
‘Jude,’ said Sally patiently, ‘I haven’t seen Ray for months. I’ve no idea what’s upset him this time. It’s could be anything. He gets hurt very easily, always worries that people are against him. He’s one of those people who seems to have been born with too few layers of skin.’
As she thanked Sally and rang off, Jude realized that any approach she made to Ray would require all of her considerable tact and gentleness.
Because it was so hot that Friday, Carole delayed taking Gulliver for his afternoon walk until the evening. She felt sorry for him. A Labrador’s coat wasn’t designed for this kind of weather. He was still full of enthusiasm to tackle the invisible monsters of the beach, but he tired quickly and his long tongue lolled from panting mouth.
He looked so hot and pitiful in the fading light that she thought she would find him a drink before they got back to High Tor. There was always a dog bowl of water outside the Crown and Anchor, so she walked back from the beach that way. The route would also give her a chance to see whether Ted’s trade had picked up at all since his enforced closure.
The noise as she approached the pub answered her question. A lot of customers – and not just the smokers – were drinking outside, and all the windows and doors were open. The crowd seemed much bigger than it would have been for an ordinary Friday night; the atmosphere was positively rowdy. Her destination, the dogs’ water bowl, was just outside the main doors, but the density of the crowd СКАЧАТЬ