Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

to happen? I can tell you that there are mutterings amongst them that Robina Toynbee was murdered because of a publicity stunt.’
    ‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Agatha.
    ‘So why did you say such a thing?’
    Agatha looked miserable. ‘I felt the press were beginning to lose interest. I didn’t hint at murder. I hinted there might be another demonstration. It could have well happened. It’s my job, Bill. Had to get them here.’
    ‘You’ve got the lot now,’ said Bill grimly.
    ‘Why wasn’t Robina at the festivities anyway?’ asked Roy.
    ‘Part of the arrangement was that Robina Toynbee was to be at her garden wall over the spring when the procession arrived. So she told her neighbour.’
    ‘And who made this arrangement?’ asked Agatha. ‘I heard nothing about it. The Freemonts?’
    ‘No, luckily for them, or I really would have begun to think it was some macabre publicity stunt. According to this neighbour, a Mrs Brown, Robina thought up the whole thing herself. She was miffed because she had not been asked to make a speech, considering it was her water. So she planned to be at her garden wall and, when the procession arrived, make a speech. It was found on the grass beside her – her notes, I mean.’
    ‘Oh, help!’ Agatha stared at Bill, wide-eyed. ‘Robina left a message for me last night. She wanted me to phone her. Then I got the news about the pop group not being able to make it and I forgot all about her. Maybe she just wanted to tell me about her speech.’
    ‘Could be,’ said Bill. ‘Did you save the message?’
    ‘Yes, it’ll still be there.’
    ‘I’ll get along to your place later and listen to it.’
    ‘So it looks as if we’re back to the ones on the parish council who didn’t want the water company to go ahead,’ said Agatha. ‘The againsts are Bill Allen, Andy Stiggs and Mary Owen. Where were they?’
    ‘Mary Owen was at home. She said she didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Bill Allen says he was at his garden centre, but as his staff of two young people had been given an hour off to go to the fête, we have no witnesses. Andy Stiggs says he was working in his garden.’
    ‘In this weather?’
    ‘He says the heavy rain had battered a climbing rose and he was tying it up. With all that shrubbery in Robina Toynbee’s garden, anyone could have hidden there and as soon as she got to the garden wall, struck her a blow from behind. Most villagers were already at the fête.’
    ‘Yes, and when we walked along to the spring, apart from those from the fête who were accompanying the procession,’ said Agatha, ‘there was no one about.’
    ‘I am going to take statements from both of you,’ said Bill. ‘I want you to go over carefully and clearly why you hinted to the press that there might be trouble and then what you were both doing at the time of the murder.’
    It seemed to take a long time.
    ‘I need a drink,’ said Agatha when they were finally free. ‘Let’s go and see the Freemonts. I really want to get away from here.’
    They found Guy, Peter and Portia in the press tent. Portia was laughing at something Guy was saying, her hand on his arm. Agatha’s eyes narrowed. Then she reminded herself that she did not want to have anything more to do with Guy, romantically, that is. She had a craving to be her age, act her age, and stop worrying about wrinkles and sagging flesh.
    ‘Agatha!’ cried Guy, detaching himself from Portia. He gathered her in his arms and gave her a kiss. ‘Isn’t it all too awful? But you handled things magnificently.’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Agatha, awkwardly disengaging herself. ‘I heard one reporter suggesting a good headline would be the Water of Death.’
    ‘Don’t worry. You should know. By the time all this blows over, all they’ll remember is the name. We’ll be world headlines tomorrow. We’ve got a great marketing manager. We’ve sent complimentary supplies to every restaurant round about, and to the top restaurants in London. It’s a clever bottle. It would have been cheaper to put the water in plastic ones, but we think the success of Perrier, say, is that because it’s in a glass bottle with a screw-top, it doesn’t go flat, like the stuff in the plastic ones.’
    ‘Have you made statements to the police?’
    ‘Yes, everything’s over and done with. Don’t worry, Agatha. It’s all worked out all right.’
    ‘Well, the arrangement was that my job would finish on the day of the fête,’