Page 18 of Maybe Tomorrow

‘I can’t find my good ones.’

‘Ah,’ Pauline suddenly remembered. They were the ones she washed on Monday night, the ones she washed again on Tuesday morning and that were currently folded up waiting for her to sew where they’d torn on the seams. ‘I need to repair those. You’ll have to wear your grey ones.’

‘Oh, no. I hate my grey ones. They’re too tight,’ he moaned.

‘They wouldn’t be if you cut back on the Marathon bars. Look, wear the grey ones for today. I’ll pop into town and buy you some new ones. If they make you uncomfortable, you can come home to change at lunchtime, but you’ll have to be quick as I’m due at the nursing home at one.’

‘Thanks, Mum,’ Anthony said with a smile. He left the kitchen with a spring in his step and took the stairs two at a time.

After Anthony left for work, Pauline tidied up the kitchen, threw out the ruined saucepan, then changed to go shopping. Before leaving, she screwed up Anthony’s torn trousers and put them in a carrier bag and wedged it in the bottom of her shopping bag. She’d drop them into a litter bin in town. Better to be safe than sorry.

She closed the front door behind her and locked it with the Chubb. It had been a mild start to the autumn before the storm, but now it was chilly, and she lifted up the collar of her coat to keep warm as she walked to the bus stop. She stopped when she saw the familiar red Volvo pull up three doors away.

‘Morning Pauline,’ Leo Mulligan said, climbing out of his car.

‘Good morning,’ she smiled. ‘You’re up and about early this morning.’

‘I wanted to get to the hardware before they got too busy.’

Pauline looked into the back of his car and saw the lengths of wood. ‘I saw your shed had taken the brunt of the storm.’

‘The shed itself is fine, but there’s a tear in the roof and it’s rotted the timber underneath. Listen,’ he said, stepping towards Pauline and lowering his voice. ‘Did you hear about Judith’s daughter?’

‘Judith?’ Pauline asked, feigning ignorance.

‘Judith Patterson. You know her. Works in the doctors’ as a receptionist. Mousey hair. Slim. She replaced Valerie who left after her husband had a stroke.’

‘Oh, yes. I know who you’re talking about. What about her?’

‘Her daughter’s dead.’

‘Really?’

‘Murdered.’

‘No,’ she said, hoping she sounded convincing enough.

‘They found her in the woods opposite the cemetery. Strangled.’

‘Oh, my goodness.’ Pauline swallowed hard. She felt sick again.

‘According to Letitia, lives two doors down from the Pattersons, she was raped.’

Pauline slapped a hand to her mouth and turned away.

‘I know, it’s dreadful,’ Leo said as Pauline held her back to him. ‘Is everything all right, Pauline?’

She took a long moment to compose herself. She took a deep breath and turned back to face Leo. ‘Are you sure?’

‘What?’

‘Are you sure that she was raped?’

‘Well, I’m only going on what Letitia told me. But she said her daughter, Claire, had been round to see if she could do anything to help and Judith gave her all the details. It’s horrible, isn’t it?’

Pauline nodded.

‘Why would someone do something like that? She was such a lovely girl, Alice. Did you know her?’