'So you brought her up? You must miss her now.'

'Who? I don't miss Yvette. She doesn't have any feeling for me, you know. Pushing me out of my own home into this cottage, where the servants used to be.'

It was slipping away, and Thea made no attempt to get it back. The police were coming very probably to arrest Gladys Gardner for the killing of Julian Jolly and nothing was going to stop them.

Or so she believed. Gradually, as if in slow motion, Granny began to slump sideways, one hand raised to her head. 'Oh-h-h-h,' she moaned. 'It hurts.'

At first Thea simply thought it was a headache, probably exaggerated by the drama queen she was learning to mistrust so completely. 'What's the matter?' she asked.

There was no reply. Granny's left leg began to jitter weirdly of its own accord, and her left hand opened and closed convulsively.

Not waiting to witness any further display of symptoms, Thea rushed through to the main house, calling for Jessica. 'Phone for an ambulance!' she shouted. 'Granny's having a stroke.'

Jessica was on the sofa with the dog, a book in one hand. She looked up sharply, but didn't move. 'A stroke? Are you sure? She's not play-acting again?'

'No, I'm not sure of anything but that's what it looks like. Her head hurts and her left side is acting strangely. Christ, Jess, this is an emergency.'

'You've been in there for ages. Why the sudden panic?'

Thea forced herself to calm down. 'It's only just happened. She was sick earlier on, and she's been cleaning herself up.' She felt sick herself, all of a sudden. 'That might have been part of it,' she realised. 'We need an ambulance right away.'

Jessica screwed up her face, trying to judge the urgency. 'All right. You do it. Just dial 999 and give them this address. If you're sure, that is. You do understand the implications, don't you?' She scrutinised her mother closely. 'It's not some clever trick to evade arrest?'

Thea took a deep breath. 'Absolutely not. I'm scared to go back in there, in case she's gone and died. I shouldn't leave her alone. I want you to phone, and I'll go back and stay with her.'

When she went back to the cottage, Granny was sitting exactly as Thea had left her. Before she could say or do anything there was a knock on the door, which was briefly confusing. She thought at first it was the connecting door she should open. When the knock came again, she remembered with a hollow thud that it was the police, come as promised to search the cottage, and perhaps arrest the old woman. Fumbling with the lock, she was burdened by a sense of treachery. Could she deflect them, she wondered. Would they go away if she told them Granny had had a stroke?

But when she finally got the door open, there was no group of authority figures confronting her. Instead there was a familiar woman in a headscarf. 'Gussie!' she cried, almost throwing her arms around the woman.

'h.e.l.lo,' said Gussie calmly. 'What's the matter?'

'Granny's poorly. I think it might even be a stroke. She was sick earlier on, and now she's...well, come and see for yourself.'

Turning back into the house, followed by the newcomer, Thea met Jessica clutching her mobile phone. 'Have you called an ambulance?' Thea demanded.

Jessica shook her head. 'I thought I ought to see her for myself first. They'll want to know the symptoms.'

'What's all this then, Gladys?' they heard Gussie loudly asking Granny in the living room. 'Trying one of your old tricks on these good ladies, I shouldn't wonder.'

The room felt uncomfortably crowded with all four of them in it. Thea wanted to explain the imminent arrival of the police to Gussie, but couldn't bring herself to do it in front of Granny, who although appearing decidedly droopy, could probably hear quite well.

'Come into the kitchen for a minute,' she urged. 'I've got something to tell you.'

'What about the ambulance?' Jessica asked. 'Is she bad enough for that?'

Granny Gardner's head jerked at these words, and her lopsided mouth made urgent gargling sounds. Thea's suspicions that she could hear and understand what was being said were confirmed, at the same time as her diagnosis of a stroke seemed more and more probable.

Gussie seemed to grow taller and more authoritative. 'Hold your horses,' she ordered. 'No need to do anything rash. I suggest we calm down and have a little chat together. Gladys should hear it all. I don't believe in secrets.'

The realisation that Mrs Gardner could not make coherent statements was slow to hit Thea. When it did, she felt a powerful sense of frustration and disappointment. She had wanted to hear the whole story directly from the old woman. If she had killed Julian, Thea wanted to know why, and precisely how it had been achieved.

'But she needs a doctor,' insisted Jessica. 'We can't just sit around chatting when she's like this.'

'We'll get a doctor in a little while,' Gussie soothed her. 'Someone who'll come to the house and keep the disturbance to a minimum. Not an ambulance and those great clumping medics in their dreadful yellow jackets.'

'I think it's more important to postpone the arrival of the police,' said Thea. 'Can you call James and tell him what's happened? He might be able to head them off.'

Gussie had settled herself on a chair pushed up close to Granny's, and the old woman was clutching her hand tightly. 'Don't worry, my old love,' she crooned. 'We'll have you straight in no time. I seem to remember this has happened before a time or two, hasn't it?'

Granny nodded, and to Thea's unmedical eye, it seemed as if there was slightly more control in the movement. 'Has it?' she asked. 'And she recovered completely afterwards?'

'That's right. They call it a TIA transient ischaemic accident. Doesn't that sound marvellous? It's like a mini-stroke, and Gladys knows it's a sign that there will be a big one sooner or later. It's like the rumblings of a volcano before the eventual eruption. We've talked about it, haven't we lovey? There's one of those living will things tucked in her desk, saying she doesn't want to be rushed to hospital and resurrected when the time comes.'

Thea began to realise that Gussie was a closer friend to Granny than had first appeared.

Jessica still hovered with her phone. 'I'll try to get hold of Uncle James then,' she said. 'If it isn't too late. I'd have thought they'd be here by now.'

'Are you talking about the police?' Gussie asked her.

Thea and Jessica both nodded. Gussie laughed. 'You'll be lucky. Haven't you heard the news?'

Blank looks answered the question. 'There's been a bomb in the middle of Birmingham, at nine-thirty this morning. Every available cop from six counties is going to be fully tied up for days to come. Arresting one old lady, even for an unlawful killing, isn't going to feature on their to-do list for quite some time. No sense in trying to phone anybody, either,' she added to Jessica. 'You'd never get through.'

'Good G.o.d!' Thea conducted the automatic mental trawl through all those she most loved, checking whether any of them could have been in central Birmingham in the morning rush hour. The person at the top of the list was the most likely to be a victim. 'Phil!' she gasped. 'Phil could have been there.'

Jessica gave her a look. 'Why would he? He doesn't live or work in Birmingham. Don't be paranoid, Mum.'

'Yes, but...'

Gussie looked from one to the other. 'If he's OK, he'll call you,' she said. 'Meanwhile, we've got work to do.' She looked at her hand, gripped like a lifeline by old Granny Gardner, and flourished the other one towards the oak bureau. 'Look in there for instructions. If we go against her wishes, she's sure to come back to haunt us.'

Cautiously, Thea peered into the row of cubbyholes, pulling out bank books, chequebook stubs, insurance doc.u.ments. 'I can't see anything,' she reported.

'Keep looking,' Gussie ordered.

In the final section, there was the leather-bound notebook she had seen before. 'There's this,' she said, producing it for Gussie to see.

'That won't be it,' said Gussie.

But Thea opened it anyway. The first page had a list of names and dates. 'Birthdays, I think,' she said.

The second page was blank, and on the third, in large print, were the words, Letter for Frances Letter for Frances.

Thea took it to the sofa, showing it to Gussie and the rec.u.mbent Gladys. 'What does this mean?' she asked. Both looked at her blankly.

'Whatever it is, it isn't important now,' said Gussie. 'Keep looking for her will, there's a good woman.'

Thea placed the notebook on the table, and returned to her quest.

Behind her, Granny spoke thickly. 'Can I please have a drink?' she said.

Then her head seemed to slump sideways, causing even the stalwart Gussie to panic.

'Can you go to the bathroom and find her pills?' she said tightly. 'There's something she's supposed to take when this happens.'

Jessica followed the order with a look that said Don't blame me if she goes and dies on us Don't blame me if she goes and dies on us, returning with an orange plastic canister of tablets. 'These?' she said.

'I don't expect there was much of a choice,' said Gussie. 'Gladys hasn't been one for medication in recent years.'

Jessica nodded and Granny was given two of the pills with a gla.s.s of water, her mouth working spasmodically as she swallowed them.

Gussie organised everything for the next half hour with the efficiency of a practised nurse. Granny was propped semi-upright on several soft cushions. Thea, having failed in her search for the living will, but willing to believe Gussie's insistence that the last thing they wanted was an ambulance, turned on the television, with the sound low, watching the scenes of spectacular destruction in England's second city. The death toll was, however, smaller than first feared. Twelve people killed and fifty injured. Jessica's insistence that Phil Hollis was unlikely to be amongst them finally persuaded her. The news quickly turned to speculation and punditry, infuriatingly repet.i.tive and insubstantial. After ten minutes, she turned it off again.

'OK,' said Gussie. 'This is what we're going to do. Gladys is no worse, is she? You can see that for yourselves. Right?'

Her a.s.sistants both nodded cautiously.

'I happen to know that there's a doctor due at a gathering here in the High Street, which has probably started by now.' She glanced at her watch. 'It's sure to involve lunch. It's some women's group meeting I've no idea what it's about, but they were talking about it in the Post Office on Tuesday. A woman called Suzy Collins was mentioned, and she's qualified as a GP. She's not working at the moment, because she's got two young children and has opted to stay at home with them.'

Thea made a winding-up motion with her hand, suggesting that Gussie get to the point.

'So, I suggest one of us nips along to the house and asks her to come and have a look at Gladys.'

'But why so unofficial?' Jessica asked. 'What's wrong with just calling her regular doctor to come and check her over?'

'Because her regular doctor struck her off his list when she started proceedings against him five years ago, and no one else will touch her. It's Suzy or an ambulance, basically. I know Suzy slightly. She'll do as she's asked.'

'She'll get into trouble,' Jessica warned. 'This is not the way to do things at all.'

'We'll face that when we come to it,' said Gussie. 'Now, for reasons I needn't explain, I think it would be best if one of you went, rather than me.'

Thea found herself all too clearly imagining reasons why Gussie might not be welcome in certain Blockley homes. The woman exuded an aura of trouble and conflict and outspokenness, despite her gentle treatment of Granny Gardner. 'I'll go,' she said. 'Which house is it?'

Gussie gave directions, and Thea set out, muttering 'Suzy Collins' to herself as she went. She turned up the broad driveway of one of the houses in the quieter stretch of the High Street, before it disappeared into The Warren. She could hear loud female voices as she approached the house, pierced with sudden laughter. The meeting was clearly a lively one. The front door stood very slightly ajar, and she pushed it open.

There was a wide hallway, with a door off to the left, where the gathering was in full swing. A single voice was dominating the others: 'When Frank sees this, he'll think he's died and gone to heaven. And if he doesn't, then what the h.e.l.l! I'll be OK on my own with one of these, won't I.'

'But how does it work work?' came a different voice. 'I never thought I was naive, but I really don't...'

'Just feel feel this silk,' sighed another. this silk,' sighed another.

Thea stood close to the open door, listening with growing alarm. She almost retreated without showing herself, until she remembered Granny's plight. The next ten seconds were spent reminding herself that she was as broad minded and s.e.xually active as any woman might expect to be at her age.

And then she walked straight into the Ann Summers Party.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

n.o.body noticed her at first, and Thea had time to take in the scene before her. On one table an array of underwear was displayed scarlet and black seemed to be the dominant colours. But much more compelling was the selection of objects laid out on the floor in the centre of a circle of women rather awkwardly kneeling, crouching, sitting and handling the things with little sign of inhibition.

Thea reminded herself again that there was no reason to disapprove of anything she was seeing. A healthy s.e.x life was a highly desirable part of anyone's existence, and if some sensuality helped to keep it going, then so be it. The fact that the gadgets mostly appeared to be designed to bring pleasure to women whether or not a man was involved gave rise to social and moral questions that Thea was not tempted to go into at that point.

'Excuse me,' she said, quite loudly. 'Is Suzy Collins here?'

Even the discovery of a stranger in their midst did not appear to disconcert the gathering. 'Suzy?' said a woman close to Thea. 'Yes that's her. Suzy! Somebody wants you.'

Suzy looked up and smiled. 'Oh?' she said. She was holding a device that included straps and a switch, which she had just activated. The women either side of her were screeching their amus.e.m.e.nt at the result. At the sight of Thea's face, Suzy got to her feet and went towards her, still holding the gadget.

The room fell silent as Thea embarked on her rehea.r.s.ed speech. 'Could you please come and look at a friend of mine? I think she might have had a small stroke?'

It sounded both idiotic and impertinent as the words echoed in her own ears. Why bother a young woman at a party when there were proper services available at the end of a phone?

'A friend of yours? Who are you? How did you know I was here?' asked Suzy. She was very young, with curly black hair and a curvaceous body.

'It's only just down the street a few doors,' Thea urged her. 'I know it's a terrible imposition, but we thought it would be the quickest and easiest thing to do.'

'I haven't got anything with me. All I could do would be to look at her. And I'm not practising at the moment. I couldn't...'

Thea had managed to draw her out into the hall. In the doorway, Suzy had turned and lobbed the d.i.l.d.o at the nearest woman, who caught it deftly.

'We'd just like your advice, that's all. It's all a bit complicated, you see.' Thea was floundering. Whatever she had planned to say had deserted her.

'It sounds like something in the French Resistance,' Suzy smiled. 'Is your friend a spy, or a runaway criminal?'

'Well,' Thea began, habitually literal and wanting to be an honest as possible. 'Not really.'

'An illegal immigrant? An asylum seeker? Here in Blockley? Surely not!'

It was proving easier than Thea had feared to lead the young doctor to Granny's cottage. Something about the instinctive need to tend the sick, she supposed. Or perhaps it was sheer unadulterated curiosity.

'Good G.o.d, it's not Gladys Gardner, is it?' Suzy stared at the building as if it might be about to burst into flames. 'I might have known. You must be the Montgomerys' house-sitter. b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, I can't attend to her. I'd never hear the end of it.'

'Oh, please,' Thea begged. 'She really isn't very well. And she doesn't want to go to hospital. We didn't think we'd got much choice.'

'But how did you know about me? Who told you?'

The question was answered by Gussie's appearance at the door. 'Oh-oh,' said Suzy. 'Now I get it.' She seemed to have already accepted defeat and stepped into the cottage with a sigh.

The first difference Thea noticed was the absence of Jessica. 'She said she has to leave by two,' said Gussie. 'She has to be in Manchester at five.'

'Oh G.o.d, so she does,' Thea remembered. 'The last thing she needs is to get into more trouble.' She looked at her watch. 'That gives her ten minutes,' she realised with alarm.

The next change was Granny herself. Although her mouth was still crooked and her left arm dangled awkwardly over the edge of the sofa, the look in her eyes was a lot brighter. 'Feeling better?' Thea asked her.