Episode 7 - Confessional

Tuesday September 9

Cleo and Dorothy drove back to Upper Grumpsfield as planned. Cleo thought she should do something to change the frosty atmosphere between her and Dorothy, so she proposed making a morning of it, if not a whole day. 

They would make huge detour and drive to Tinturn Abbey. The soaking in the rain and reduced visivility due to clouds did not stop them sightseeing before looking for somewhere nice to eat. Cleo thought there must be somewhere serving food since the Abbey was a tourist attraction. They ordered the menu of the day at a restaurant exactly opposite and sat on wooden seats near a window to watch the rain falling out of heavy clouds shrouding the abbey spires.

“British summertime,” said Cleo. “The rainy season.”

“Every season is rainy, Cleo,” and smiled. She appreciated Cleo’s effort to patch things up after being so open about her relationships the previous day, but she was not ready to forgive her yet.

“Did you have sex with the young man who went to Canada without you, Dorothy?” said cleo, breaking into Dorothy’s reverie.

“Goodness no. What would people have thought of us? When I was young, people tended not to be openly promiscuous unless they were in the erm ‘business’,” said Dorothy. “Theatres were also said to be dens of iniquity.”

“And were they?”

“I don’t know, Cleo.”

***

Dorothy thought the cooking at the restaurant was good. Cleo was still trying to come to terms with the traditional British roast of slices of over-cooked meat, carrots and peas cooked in plenty of water, potatoes roasted to unrecognition and a neutral gravy sauce – making one gravy for all types of meat was customary and saved labour. No wonder people went for pizzas and fish and chips made by Asians, she mused.

Conversation was still stilted and sparse even after, or maybe because Cleo had tried to make inroads into Dorothy’s love life. Dorothy had  seriously endangered her friendship with Cleo.

***

Cleo had rung home that morning to tell Robert that she would be home later that day. Robert had been glad, not because of PeggySue, whom he said was very sweet and cooperative, but because Gloria, Cleo’s intransigent mother, was starting to get on his nerves and was anything but sweet and cooperative.

“That’s Gloria to a T,” said Cleo.

“I hope you aren’t going to get into the habit of gadding around the country investigating, Cleo,” Robert said.

“Only when I have to, Robert. See you later,” she said, ringing off before Robert could think of a suitable reply. Sheresented Robert’s speculation about her future. On the other hand, she had shaken off her plans to be the stoical woman at home and was intent on achieving the life with Gary they both dreamt of.

***

Cleo dropped Dorothy off at home before parking at her cottage. She was delighted to see her little girl again and relieved that PeggySue was happy to see her despite the shameless spoiling she had been enjoying in her absence.

Robert was glad that his wife was back, not least because he had not enjoyed the baby-sitting he thought was a woman’s job, anyway. He had been worried that she would get so involved with her investigations that she would forget all about coming home. The idea that Gary would not only turn up at the scene of the current crime, but also spend the nights with her in his arms had not been a serious anxiety, since he was sure that Cleo would think better of it, but it had happened, of course. Cleo decided to clear the air by telling Robert about it.

“Solving crime is often a question of choices,” she explained for the nth time. “But this time it is not a matter of choice, Robert. There’s someone out there with a grudge against hookers, or maybe women in general. He has to be stopped. No female is safe while he is free.”

“He?”

“That’s the sort of crime men perpetrate who were molested or thrashed or were otherwise subjected to intolerable conditions in early life that damaged their souls for ever, Robert. That does not defend their actions, and women are also victims ofchildhood abuse that ruins their lives.”

“Like Mrs Baines?” said Robert, remembering that the housekeeper in the next village at Huddlecourt Manor school had not only wanted to kill the cook, but had enlisted Jessie Coppins to help her. Jessie was obedient to the woman who employed her. She had not known that she was administering poison. But the girl had turned out to have had similar plans of her own for the cook, which rather contradicted the idea that Jessie was an innocent abroad.

“I don’t know about Mrs Baines’s childhood, but I’m sure that Jessie is scarred from hers.”

“Whe else do you know who’s a crackpot, then?” asked Robert, who as usual had not understood all of Cleo’s off-the-cuff explanation.

“We aren’t talking about crackpots,” said Cleö. “But what worries me most at the moment is not the Frint-on-Sea crime, but what would happen if Dorothy were to leave the agency. I’d have no one to talk things through with.”

“You’d still have me,” said Robert. “Or would you prefer Gary?”

“About Gary…” Cleo started.

“Was he there, too? I hope you didn’t spend the nights with him,” Robert blurted out, dreading the answer.

“Yes I did, Robert. We made love several times, once on the beach. What are you going to do about it?”

Robert was appalled.

“I don’t believe you,” he said.

“You’d better,” said Cleo.

“So what so you want me to do about it?” he stuttered.

“You decide. It happened and that’s all there is to it.”

“I had a hunch about the danger of letting you meet Gary again but I did not know he was going to turn up at the seaside to pester you.”

“He does not pester me, Robert, and you do not have the power to let me or stop me being with the man want to be with,” said Cleo. “Anyhow, what do you mean by ‘letting’? Am a caged animal?”

“I once tried to talk it through with Dorothy.”

”Did you ask Dorothy to discipline me?”

“I just needed to talk to someone,” said Robert.

“For the record, You don’t let me do things, Robert. I do them or I don’t. What does Dorothy know about it?”

“You tell her things. I thought she would give you good advice.”

“At least it explains her narrow-mindedness,” said Cleo. “Did she tell you, or did you tell her that our marriage is devoid of any physical passion and almost devoid of any real contact between us? We live the days one after another either alongside like two robots.”

“Perhaps you haven’t tried hard enough, Cleo,” said Robert.

“Perhaps you haven’t tried at all, Robert.”

“Tried what?”

“Tried was your word. What did Dorothy advise?” said Cleo, now quite sure that Robert had been afraid of what Gary’s feelings for her would do to his marriage. Yes, it was Robert’s marriage, not hers, she reflected.

“She told me I was imagining things, but I wasn’t, was I?” said Robert.

“No, you weren’t.”

“Are you in love with him, Cleo?” Robert asked.

“Yes, I do believe I am,” said Cleo.

That was not the answer Robert had been expecting. He had been waiting for Cleo to say she was infatuated, had a crush, or something else juvenile enough for him to believe.

“Well, you’d better find out for sure, hadn’t you?” he sneered.

“Love is stronger than just being in love,” said Cleo.

“Is it? I think I’ll go for a walk. You can explain what that means when I get back.”

“Don’t go now. We need to talk this through,” Cleo protested.

“I’m not leaving your home, Cleo. I won’t do you that favour. I’m not going without a fight and I can’t think of anything else I want to talk about. You promised to stay away from Gary and stick to your marriage vows, and you have done the opposite.”

“Have I?” said Cleo, but Robert just shrugged his shoulders and left.

Cleo reflected that she whould have advised someone in her position to get out, but it was her cottage. She could not very well throw herself out.

***

After a few minutes, in which Cleo had not moved from the sofa, but sat there shocked by Robert’s advice to ‘find out’ and her own readiness to finally put an end to the farcical situation, he came back.

“It’s raining cats and dogs out there,” he said, by way of an excuse and as if he had forgotten the previous altercation.

“If you need a walk, take an umbrella next time. I’ll reward myself by chatting with PeggySue.”

“So you’ve remembered her at last, have you?” said Robert. “PeggySue is taking a siesta, so you’ll have to make do with me if I stay,” said Robert, who had now decided that escapist behaviour was not the way to deal with the situation.

“We had an arrangement about PeggySue,” said Cleo. “She has not been out of my thoughts for one moment.”

“Tell me another,” Robert sneered.

***

“Gary is depressed,” said Cleo and wondered why she said that.

“He’ll be OK once he gets his life organized,” Robert commented with a fair portion of irony. “But I’d prefer it if he didn’t try to solve his problems by making off with my wife.”

Cleo winced at that remark. Was that the moment to tell Robert that their marriage was over? That she was to all intents and purposes married to Gary?

“I told you that I’m not going without a fight,” said Robert. “By the way, Gary’s ex-wife phoned.”

“Why did she phone you, Robert? You don’t even know her.”

“She phoned you and got me, Cleo. That’s what happens when you leave the other man in your life holding the fort.”

***

Cleo took a deep breath. Robert was bitter, and no wonder. He could cope with a sexless, emotionless, even loveless marriage as long as it went on to his satisfaction, but Cleo couldn’t. How much of Robert’s attitude was tied up with being a family butcher. Family butchers had to have wives who appeared loyal even if they weren’t. Was that it?

***

“What did Mrs Hurley want?”

“She’s sending Charlie home tomorrow and could someone meet the child at Heathrow. She had not been able to reach Gary.”

“I don’t suppose she wanted to, either.”

“He was probably too busy with his own life, wasn’t he?” said Robert.

Cleo ignored the sarcasm. She had not evenknown Gary when his marrriage broke up, she pointed out.

“I advised Gary only the other day to get Charlie back here, and now she’s on her way,” said Cleo.

Robert did not resent Charlie. He saw her return as a light at the end of the tunnel, since Gary would be bound to be distracted from Cleo, but he didn’t say so. He merely changed his approach to the whole situation.

“We can meet her at six p.m. tomorrow evening. That’s when her flight from Malaga gets in.”

“Can Gloria baby-sit?”

“Ask her. She’ll be here for supper tonight.”

“But won’t we be cutting it fine with the timing, Robert? Six p.m. is early evening and there’s the rush hour traffic to cope with. Apart from which, my hyper-active mother has a line-dancing class. I doubt whether she’ll give that up.”

“It’s half-day closing tomorrow. Have you forgotten what goes on in my poor little shop?”

“Your shop is not poor. Why did you say that? If you are free all afternoon we can get away early enough not to panic in the tailbacks.”

”Why don’t you ask Dorothy to baby-sit?” Robert suggested. “She’s been dying to get to know PeggySue better. We could get away soon after lunch, if you don’t have any other plans, and I can take a fast demo car from Silver’s car fleet. He owes me a favour.”

“No, I have no other plans, Robert. I’d better ask Dorothy to help Gloria, or at least keep her company, though she might be too tired after the long drive today.”

“Dorothy is never too tired if she wants to do something,” said Robert.

“I’d just like to know why you want to collect the child from the airport,” said Cleo. “She belongs to Gary. Doesn’t that make her taboo?”

“I promised her mother, Cleo. She sounded very upset. I don’t like children much, but who knows what that child was up against.”

“You’re right, Robert. You are a decent guy and that’s one reason I married you. I did not know that respecting someone as a friend was enough for a marriage.”

“And you know now,I suppose.”

“I suppose I do,” she replied.

“So let’s make the best of it, shall we?” said Robert.

Cleo feared that it was the old loyalty trick, but things were not all cut and dried, as Robert would have liked it.

***

A quick phone-call secured Dorothy’s help. As Robert had predicted, she was delighted to be asked, even though Gloria would also be there.

“Dorothy will be here at two,” Cleo said.

“What about Gary? Are you sure you should not tell him?” Robert asked. “Or is he too busy?”

“Gary is too busy catching up on his job. He can’t use any distraction at the moment,” said Cleo as coolly as she could.

“Tired after th sea-side ride?” Robet scoffed.

No.I should have said that even if he is busy, the surprise arrival of his daughter is what he really needs.”

“Is that all he needs?” Robert asked.

“Ask him,” said Cleo.

***

A short tussle with the front door announced Gloria’s arrival.

“I’m here, folks,” she shouted gratuitously, “and ravenous! Your keyhole needs oling, folks. I tidied up at the shop.”

“Don’t tell her that Dorothy’s baby-sitting tomorrow,” Cleo had time to whisper to Robert, before Gloria made her usual grand entrance.

“Hi folks, what’s going on? What’s all the whispering about?”

“I was just asking Robert to fry some extra potatoes, Mother.”

“You don’t usually whisper about food. Why all the secrecy?”

It was useless. Gloria would pester Cleo until she had a full explanation.

“Well, to be honest, Dorothy has offered to baby-sit tomorrow, since we have to go out and you have your line-dancing class…”

“Do you really think I would go line-dancing instead of looking after my granddaughter?”

“Thanks for tiding up at the shop, Gloria.”

“Huh! And where are you going tomorrow without telling me?”

“To Heathrow, Mother.”

“I don’t suppose you plan to tell me why,” said Gloria.

“To fetch Charlie home.”

“Who’s Charlie? Another sleuth guy?”

“A little girl, Mother. Gary Hurley’s daughter, to be exact. And don’t tell him she’s coming. It’s meant to be a surprise.”

“Why should I tell him?Why isn’t he meeting her himself?  Is he coming to supper tonight? I could give him some good advice.”

“No. I think he’s out of town.”

That should have put an end to talk about him. It didn’t.

“Isn’t Gary’s that police guy who’s in love with you?” said Gloria with her usual lack of tact and diplomacy. So she had drawn the same conclusion as everyone else.

After some quick thinking, Cleo retorted. “I doubt it, Mother, and even if he were, I’m married to the guy over there laying the dinner table.”

Robert smiled to himself. A little of his Cleo was shining through.

“Sorry, I’m sure,” said Gloria. “I suppose Bobby is a good catch, though a Chief Inspector has a higher status, of course.”

“M-O-T-H-E-R!”

Having provoked the frosty atmosphere, Gloria announced that she would visit the restroom and exited with as much grace as she could muster.

“Sorry about that,” said Cleo, who was genuinely sorry that her mother had talked out of turn again.

“That’s OK,” said Robert, “but one day I’ll throttle her.”