The Cedar Face: DI Jewell book 3 (DI Elizabeth Jewell) (20 page)

Anita sat down at the table
, reached across and squeezed Elizabeth's hand. 'Stop worrying, you
'll make yourself ill. Try and relax more and promise
me you'll stop obsessing about Ted Daly.'

Elizabeth had
always trusted Anita, but this time she sensed she was
wasn't telling her everything. She wanted to know more
but staring into Anita Fleming's eyes, she saw the
warning. Don't even go there.

Elizabeth thought about her
answer for a few seconds. 'I promise,' she said, hoping
she could keep it.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Two hours later
Elizabeth left Anita's house and drove into the village
. The revelation about Daly hadn't eased her mind; it
had done just the opposite. Her brain was in a
turmoil trying to figure out how to keep her promise
to Anita yet still find Daly. Knowing him as she
did, if he was on the mend, he'd be
bored and keen for distractions. The chances were good he
'd read the papers and already knew about the Wilson
case. In fact, ill or not, it was unthinkable Daly
wouldn't know about what was happening at Park Road
. Whatever mysterious illness had taken him away Elizabeth had to
convince herself he'd make a full recovery. She had
to believe it would happen. Without Daly to point her
in unorthodox directions, she'd flounder. Years of experience had
taught him to look beyond the obvious. He was old
school and knew the importance of dogged detective work. She
quoted out loud quote one of his rules, elimination rather
than speculation. Since DNA testing had landed on the planet
it was easy to dismiss the old tried and tested
police methods. Fingerprinting seemed to have lost its allure, as
had many other police procedures essential to solving crimes. Elizabeth
used to despair of the armchair sleuths who populated internet
forums. Every week emails arrived at Park Road from those
amateur detectives instructing CID on their latest findings. Right now
, she would welcome any information from the public. On reflection
she regretted keeping the mask business under wraps. If there
was no progress in another week, she'd review the
decision. In any case she intended to find Daly before
the week was up. He'd advise her, mysterious goings
on didn't sway his black and white viewpoint.

Elizabeth
's head had started to hurt. She needed somewhere quiet
to think, decide on her next move. A pub on
the corner of the High Street attracted her attention. It
was one Elizabeth had never been in before. She pulled
into the car park and wondered whether to ring Patterson
. Resisting the temptation to tell him about Daly was going
to be nigh on impossible, but a promise was a
promise. A niggling little voice repeated. If you do, you
might endanger Daly. It sounded farfetched but Elizabeth felt a
familiar paranoia creeping in. Why would seeing him put him
in harm's way? It was a stupid notion but
Anita's cool stare had told a different story.

The
barman carried on polishing glasses as she approached the counter
.

'I need a cup of tea,' she said.

He hung
up his tea towel and gave her the once over
. 'Whatever the lovely lady wants, one cuppa coming up.' He
stared more intently. 'Do I know you from somewhere?' he
asked.

'I doubt it,' Elizabeth sighed. Surely he could have
come up with a more original chat up line. She
decided to play the game. 'If you want my life
story you may as well tell me your name.'

'Dean
's the name. What's yours?'

'Listen Dean, I'm
here for a cup of tea, not a grilling.'

'I
've just remembered where I've seen you before,' he
stated and Elizabeth didn't mistake the admiration in his
eyes.

The last thing she needed was a hit, especially
by a shaven headed and heavily tattooed beefcake but curiosity
got the better of her. 'Enlighten me.'

'I saw your
picture in the paper. I never forget a pretty face
.'

Elizabeth tried her usual sarcasm. 'So now you know I
'm a detective you don't fancy me anymore.'

'Suddenly
he looked sheepish and she felt sorry for him.

'Doesn
't matter to me what you are. There's a
great band playing here tomorrow tonight. Come over and I
'll buy you a few drinks.'

That was quick, she
thought. Actually, he's polite and not bad looking. She
could do worse. 'If you hurry up and get that
cuppa I'll think about it. Is there a garden
with a shady tree?'

He pointed to a doorway. I
'll bring it out. Do you want something to eat
?'

He passed her a menu and Elizabeth realised she was
hungry. Anita had offered to make food but she'd
temporarily lost her appetite after hearing about Daly.

She scanned
the offers for a healthy option. 'Chicken salad,' she couldn
't help a grin.

Dean smiled back at her. Elizabeth
saw the transformation, from possibly handsome into definitely handsome. They
stared at each other for a few seconds before he
hurried off into the kitchen.

A silver birch provided shade
. She sat under it on a wooden bench and tried
to think logically. She listened to the breeze rustling the
leaves and remembered last summer's scorching days and warm
nights. Life had seemed promising, even before the split with
David. Now she felt adrift and desperately needed a diversion
from her working life.

She studied the garden. A box
hedge gave it privacy and the well-stocked flowerbeds surrounded
her with a musky fragrance. The adrenaline in her system
began to subside. She leaned back in the padded chair
and stretched out her legs. As she closed her eyes
, her phone rang. Dappled sunlight obscured the caller ID but
she still answered. A second later, she cursed her carelessness
.

'It's Calbrain. If you want it, I've got
information.'

'I'm not interested right now.' Her finger hovered
over the phone ready to end the call but something
stopped her.

She heard Calbrain take in a breath before
answering. 'Where are you?'

Elizabeth kept quiet. She wasn't
up for an argument but he'd piqued her curiosity
. 'Tell me then, but be quick. I'm about to
eat.'

'I heard you need all the help you can
get.'

'Don't listen to gossip Calbrain. As for your
info, it depends on whether the source is reliable. And
, in case you've forgotten you don't have an
arrangement with us anymore.'

'For fuck's sake will you
just hear me out?'

'Don't swear at me. I
've given up talking to pushy reporters.'

'You seem to
have forgotten I quit.'

'That's what you tell people
,' she replied.

'I can't do this over the phone
. So if you don't want it, fine.'

'Email it
to me,' Elizabeth said, hoping Dean would appear and interrupt
the conversation.

'I might,' Calbrain said.

'Usually when the public
have important information, they either phone or go to the
police station. I suggest you do that.'

'Let's hope
you won't regret this conversation,' Calbrain hissed.

Elizabeth didn
't need this. She felt like yelling at him, but
hung up instead.

Dean brought her food. 'Don't forget
about tomorrow night.'

When he disappeared into the pub, she
rang Anita and mentioned she had an admirer.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Monday 27th May

As soon as she arrived
home from work, Elizabeth started weeding her back garden to
keep her nervousness at bay. Most people felt apprehensive before
a first date, but this is ridiculous, she thought. She
threw the trowel to one side and walked up and
down trying to calm her nerves. Deep down she realised
it wasn't just about meeting Dean. Anita was correct
; she was obsessing about Daly too much.

Having a drink
was out of the question so she searched the kitchen
junk drawer until she found a half-empty bottle of
Calms. She'd used the valerian based homeopathic medicine before
, taking it occasionally to help her sleep. She swallowed three
pills with a cup of chamomile tea, another relaxing remedy
and willed the combination to work. Then she rang Anita
and told her she'd made a decision. She would
meet up with Dean but was worried about turning up
on her own. 'Will you come with me for moral
support?' she asked.

Anita sounded pleased. 'I will, but won
't stay long. At my age, I draw the line
at playing gooseberry.'

'Please don't leave me straight away
.'

'This is not like you, worrying about having a few
drinks with an attractive man.'

Elizabeth felt the need to
justify her decision. 'I'm only going because I'll
go nuts staying home. He isn't really my type
. He's a bartender.'

Anita chuckled. 'You're sounding snobbish
Liz, it doesn't suit you. Dean Westlake is no
ordinary bartender. He owns the place and is very well
respected. The pub isn't his only business interest.'

'Why
didn't you tell me this last night?'

'You didn
't ask me.'

'Do you know anymore about him?'

'He
's not married, never has been. No children and he
's not a criminal because I checked. Will that do
?'

'I suppose his appearance gave me the wrong impression.'

Anita
added, 'I can't blame you for that. We, more
than anyone else know appearances are very often deceptive.'

Elizabeth
was immediately reassured. Whether she was truly attracted to him
, or craved male company to fill the void left by
Calbrain, she didn't know. The point was it wouldn
't do any harm to strike up a friendship first
, and see what happened.

Anita carried on. 'I'll come
and have a drink. I don't know about tonight
's entertainment, except I've heard Dean has an eye
for local talent. Bring your overnight things in case you
want to stay.'

Elizabeth rushed to change her clothes, threw
a few items into a bag and arrived outside Anita
's just as her friend walked out of the house
. They gave each other a brief hug then set off
for The Fountain, a much larger establishment than Elizabeth had
first realised. Anita led her into a spacious function room
complete with stage. Dean was behind the bar dressed in
a white shirt and narrow black trousers.

He seemed surprised
to see her. 'I didn't expect you to come
.' Then he turned to Anita. 'Hello stranger.'

'I'm a
busy woman these days. No time to socialise,' Anita said
.

'Give the computer a rest and come down here more
often,' Dean said.

Anita kept a straight face and spoke
seriously. 'I'm acting as Elizabeth's chaperone as you
didn't waste any time pouncing on her.'

'A chance
meeting,' Dean replied. 'You know the Casablanca movie. "Of all
the bars etc she had to come into mine."

'Elizabeth
looks nothing like Ingrid Bergman.'

'She's far more beautiful
. Why don't you ladies find a table and I
'll bring you a bottle of wine.'

Anita chose one
close to the stage. The band hadn't finished setting
up their equipment but a quiet expectation permeated the room
. As Elizabeth sipped her drink, she began to relax. Just
before the band started up, Anita got up to leave
. She handed Elizabeth a key.

'Come back when you like
and don't worry about waking me. I sleep like
the dead.'

'Stay a bit longer,' Elizabeth pleaded.

'Having me
as a chaperone is alright for half an hour. Any
longer is a bad move. You'll be fine, so
try and enjoy yourself.'

More people had turned up and
surprisingly she felt comfortable sat on her own. Dean served
a handful of customers then came and sat beside her
. At first he didn't say much and she knew
instinctively he wouldn't pressure her. As the evening wore
on Elizabeth was glad she'd made the effort to
come.

The band finished the first set and everyone made
for the bar. Dean apologised and went back behind the
bar promising he'd only be five minutes. Elizabeth sat
watching the activity and didn't notice a tall slim
woman approach. 'Excuse me,' she said. I was just wondering
if Anita's all right. I saw you coming out
of her house earlier today.'

Elizabeth had the distinct feeling
she'd met the woman before, or seen her somewhere
. 'Are you a neighbour?'

'I live further down the street
, towards the farm.'

Elizabeth wondered why the woman hadn't
just knocked on Anita's door. 'She's fine. Why
do you need to know?'

'I thought you were her
doctor but didn't want to disturb her. Anyway I
'll leave it tonight and call in tomorrow and say
hello.'

The woman's tale seemed plausible enough but Elizabeth
was suspicious. Any close neighbour would have recognised Anita's
GP. He worked at the village surgery and had frequently
visited Anita at home. Something about the woman's mannerisms
bothered her.

Elizabeth switched to interrogation mode. 'I don't
understand. Why would you assume I was her doctor?'

'I
've been away on holiday. I only got back last
night and that's why I was worried when I
saw you. I just thought her usual doctor wasn't
on duty and the surgery had sent a locum.'

The
band was about to start up again and Elizabeth wished
the woman would go. She caught Dean's eye and
he came straight over. As soon as the woman saw
him approaching she made a hasty exit without saying goodbye
.

'Who's that?' he asked.

'One of Anita's extremely
nosy neighbours wondering what I was doing in her house
. She thought I was the doctor. She knew she'd
been ill, but I guess most people did.'

'You can
't keep anything secret in this place. Anita still has
her place in Oxford, but spends more and more time
here. To answer your question, yes, people knew she was
poorly and offered to help. Hang on a minute, what
did you just say about that woman? That she was
a neighbour.'

'She said she was Anita's neighbour.'

Dean
frowned. 'I've never seen her before; believe me I
know everyone living in this village.'

Elizabeth’s senses were
giving her odd signals. Something was wrong. She could tell
Dean was positive the woman had lied about knowing Anita
. So why would she do that?