Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

she stared down into the laundry.
    She gingerly picked up the navy blouse. There, on the back of it, were several white hairs. Surely they were cat hairs!
    She ran into the bedroom and found the skirt she had been wearing. Two white hairs clung to the skirt.
    She sat down suddenly on the bed. Mary Owen. It must have been Mary Owen.
    But she had a sudden vivid picture of Mary Owen barking, ‘Sit down,’ and she had refused. Certainly Mary had come up close to her when she had shoved her in front of the mirror.
    Then another picture came into her mind. Portia. And she had sat on Portia’s sofa while Portia had sneered at her.
    She must phone Bill. He had said he was taking the rest of the day off. She got her personal phone book and dialled his number.
    ‘What is it?’ demanded a cross voice on the other end of the line. Mrs Wong.
    ‘This is Agatha Raisin and I must speak to Bill immediately.’
    ‘He’s in the bath and I’m not getting him.’
    Agatha took a deep breath. ‘I’m phoning to tell him Sharon is pregnant.’
    There was a gasp and then the sound of retreating footsteps. Agatha hung on grimly.
    ‘Rubbish,’ she heard Bill saying. ‘She’s joking.’ Then his voice came on the phone.
    ‘What the hell are you up to, Agatha? You’ve nearly given Mum a heart attack.’
    ‘Bill, listen! I had to get you to the phone. The clothes I was wearing to Portia’s last night. They’ve got white cat hairs on them.’
    ‘We never even thought of her,’ said Bill. ‘I’ll get on to it right away. Good work.’
    For once Bill ignored his mother’s questions and doggedly got dressed. He was just about to go out when the phone rang again. He seized the receiver before his mother could get to it. ‘James Lacey,’ said the hurried voice at the other end. ‘Listen!’
    Bill listened. Then he said, ‘Christ. And he’s at Agatha’s tonight!’
    Earlier that day, James had taken an old friend to lunch in the City. They talked of old times and at last James felt he had had enough of the courtesies and asked abruptly, ‘Did you find out anything about the Freemont brothers?’
    His friend, Johnny Birrell, said, ‘I asked about and dug about. They borrowed very heavily from the banks to fund this water company.’
    ‘So they didn’t come out of Hong Kong very rich? I suppose I’m naïve, I thought every businessman came out of Hong Kong very rich.’
    ‘Not all,’ said Johnny. ‘I was over there for a couple of years myself. There was one rumour about Guy Freemont you might like to hear.’
    ‘Anything.’
    ‘Right. They were in the clothes business, ran sweatshops, got them into trouble here but not in Hong Kong. But their business was doing well. Then they hit a snag. It’s all whispers, of course.’
    ‘What? What did people say?’
    ‘The rumour was that Guy was crazy about this Chinese girl and she did lead him on a bit, but then turned him down. It was said he raped her. Now this Guy Freemont thought no more about it. The girl was only Chinese. Chaps like Guy Freemont can think they’re in love with a girl without respecting her one bit. But the girl’s father was a very rich and powerful Chinese businessman. Evidently there was no proof other than the girl’s word that Guy had raped her, and she had been fooling about with several men. But whatever happened, or whatever threats were laid on Guy, I don’t exactly know, but the rumour is that he and his brother had to practically bankrupt themselves to buy Guy’s way out of trouble. This was right before the Chinese took over. Mind you, it could all be exaggerated. You know what ex-pat communities are like, James. One gets hold of a story and embroiders it and then the other adds to it and passes it on.’
    James rose to his feet, glancing at his watch. ‘I’ll pay for this and run, Johnny. I must get back to the country as soon as possible.’
    But on the road back, James began to wish he were one of those mobile-phone users he so despised. His car, which had served him so well, came to a stop and refused to move. A motorist stopped and allowed James to use his mobile phone. Then James had to wait for the breakdown truck. Because his car was causing a bottleneck in the traffic, the breakdown man suggested he tow it straight to the garage and examine it there.
    James went dark red with embarrassment in the garage when a laughing mechanic pointed out that all that was up with the car was that it had run out of petrol.
    By the time