A Pale Horse - Charles Todd [118]
“You can put the name he used in those cottages on his stone. It was the one he chose, and it shut us out completely. Why should I care about him now?”
“You came back to the cottages,” Rutledge said as he walked to the door. “Why?”
Her eyes were bright with tears. “I’m looking for something I lost. But I can live without it. I learned the hard way to do that.”
She didn’t see him out. He closed the door as he went.
Hamish said, as the motorcar turned toward the cottages at Uffington, “She willna’ change her mind. But when she’s old, she’ll have regrets to overcome.”
“Unlike her sister.”
“Aye, the elder. She learned to hate at her mother’s knee.”
“Her mother’s child. As Sarah might well have been her father’s favorite.”
“Looking into the past hasna’ given you a solution.”
“Not yet.”
Rutledge arrived at the cottages and walked down the lane separating them, turning in at Mrs. Cathcart’s door.
She was reluctant to open to him, but in the end, her innate politeness won. She said, “That other policeman has been here, asking me what I’ve seen, what I know, how Mr. Brady struck me. I don’t spy on my neighbors and I didn’t know Mr. Brady well enough to answer him.”
“Do you think Mr. Brady spied on his neighbors? I’m told he spent most of his time sitting at his windows, looking out.”
“I expect he was lonely. Most of us are, you know. He did seem more interested in Mr. Partridge than he was in the rest of us, but then it was Mr. Partridge’s cottage he could see best. Of course Mr. Willingham was always accusing Mr. Brady of staring at him. I can’t believe either of them is dead. Do you think Mr. Partridge is as well? If I had anywhere else to go, I’d leave this place. I don’t feel safe here, I’m terrified of being murdered in my bed.”
He wished he could tell her that she had little chance of that. “Keep your door locked. Don’t open it at night to anyone, no matter what he may say to you.”
“I’d ask Mr. Slater to be sure my locks couldn’t be tampered with. But he’s hurt his hand, and it must be very painful. Will you look at my door and windows?”
He agreed and followed her through the rooms of her cottage testing the latches on windows and the main door. “If you’re afraid, keep a light on. It will be a comfort.”
“Do you think Inspector Hill is capable of doing anything about these frightening events? I’ve not been impressed by him. He’s a local man, after all. And he doesn’t know anything about us.”
“He’s making every effort.”
“I’m not sure that’s good enough.” She tugged at her earlobe, clearly upset. “For a very long time, now, I’ve been afraid of dying,” she confessed. “I always believed my husband would see to it that I was quietly disposed of. Now it may be a complete stranger who makes him the happiest man in England.”
Rutledge said, “Would you prefer to stay at The Smith’s Arms for several nights, until this business is finished? You’re the only woman here. You might be more comfortable.”
She said, the strain apparent in her voice, “I’ve considered that. I’d do it, if I could afford it.”
“Let me have a word with Mrs. Smith. I think it might be possible to arrange.”
Mrs. Cathcart said, “Please? Let me go with you? I’ve only to put a few things into my overnight case. When the sun begins to set, I can hardly breathe for fear.”
Rutledge took pity on her and said, “Yes, of course. I’ll wait.”
It took her less time than he’d expected. She came out of her bedroom with a worn leather valise and handed it to him. “I’m so grateful. You can’t imagine. There’s no one I can turn to. I could smell the smoke at Mr. Quincy’s cottage in the night, and at first I thought it was mine. Even so, I sat here, wondering what would be worse, burning to death or walking outside into the arms of someone with a knife. They say he prefers a knife. I thought Mr. Brady confessed.”
She paused on the threshold, stricken by a thought. “It isn’t Mr. Partridge, is it? Coming back here and attacking us? I’ve heard people can be struck down by a brainstorm, and not know what they’re doing.”
“You don’t have to fear Mr. Partridge. I don