Episde 30 -Ends and Beginnings

Gary had got a lift back to Dorothy’s in a patrol car and spent most of the night smarting about the meeting. Dorothy went to bed and slept soundly.

Episode 29 - The meeting

It took a lot of energy to get back to Upper Grumpsfield. Lower Grumpsfield was nearer sea-level, so the road back was uphill all the way. Pushing on her Nordic walking sticks and trying to do the rhythm properly, Dorothy managed to get to the bistro in time and was, as a result, the first one there.

Episode 28 - Dorothy's mission

About an hour later Colin rang Cleo’s office.

"We need to talk to Delilah, Cleo. Can you arrange a meeting for tonight?"

Episode 27 - Confrontation

Felix listened to Gary's daughter's pop music all the way back into town. He wondered, not for the first time, if he had chosen the right profession. I suppose I could still become a travel agent, he decided. Then I would not have to deal with the rats of society.

***

Episode 26 - The arrest

By the time Gary had left Dorothy's cottage early on Monday morning to go to HQ, he was full of good intentions. He would call his mother that very day. He hadn't visited her for months, resented her pep talks and shrugged off her concern for him. Now he was acutely aware that he hadn't ever really listened to her. He felt almost virtuous. He would hurry along his divorce, visit his daughter soon, accept that she was there for her education, and get his own life back on an even keel. With murder and criminals all around him, that was the least he could do.

Episode 25 - Phyllis

Gary found Dorothy's guest bed comfortable and the catering first class. Dorothy told him that her dream of family and children had come to a sad end after her one and only romance had ended with the departure of her young man to foreign parts.

Episode 24 - Mistaken Identity

It was surprisingly easy to get into the intensive care unit at Middlethumpton General Hospital. Dorothy pulled out all the stops of grieving and worrying and leant heavily on Cleo to provide evidence that she needed her support for the 'ordeal'.

Episode 23 - Off to Wales

Jay  Salerno did not turn up at Cleo’s cottage, much to everyone’s relief, though Gloria had threatened to give the guy a piece of her mind if he did.

Episode 22 - Jay Salerno

The phone rang , but Cleo answered it only after it had rung several times and finally broken off her thinking about the husband she had feared and finally ditched.

"Cleo?"

Episode 21 - Manic Friday

It was going to be one of those mornings. After Colin left, Cleo was so deep in thought about the implication of Julie being keen on Gary and Gary stripping Julie with his eyes that she jumped when the phone rang.

Episode 20 - Colin

Gary drove Cleo to her office early on Friday morning. They had slept very little. They had talked about themselves between phases of intense love-making. They were happiest together and felt committed to one another. Cleo made coffee and they embraced wordlessly for a long time while the noisy espresso machine spluttered and spat.

“That hell-bent coffee-maker has taken lessons from May Temple,” said Cleo.

Episode 19 - May Temple

Cleo drove to the Temple house immediately. Mrs Temple asked her in and before long they were drinking tea in the living room and Cleo was listening to May Temple defending her equanimity. She was subdued but not saddened or weepy about Shirley’s murder. Someone at HQ had told her anonymously and she had rung back to check with the highest instance. Roger Stone was in shock and thought she should be.

Episode 18 - Total recall?

Cleo sat at her desk in the office gazing at Colin’s reports on his activities. Shirley Temple’s murder was occupying her thoughts, especially because of the parallels with Burton’s killing. She would have to scrutinize all those reports to compare accounts of people possibly involved. The first and probably most currently relevant information was about Mrs Temple. It had been compiled before her daughter’s death, of course. Colin had really worked fast and probably through the night to write everything down.

Episode 17 - Shirley Temple

If Cleo thought she had done a good morning's work, at least in theory, she was about to think otherwise. The idea of Shirley Temple actually being on both sides of the fence was Gary's.