Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham

Society.’
    ‘Come in,’ he said reluctantly.
    The little cottage was dark and stifling. It had the original leaded windows, which looked so quaint and pretty from outside but allowed very little light to penetrate the inside. Mr Friendly ushered them into a hot, dark living room and said, ‘I’ll get Liza.’
    ‘I didn’t know he was retired,’ whispered Agatha. ‘Looks as if he must be.’
    Fierce whispers were coming from the nether regions, then Mr Friendly’s voice, sharp and angry: ‘Just get rid of them.’
    ‘Oh, dear,’ muttered Agatha.
    Liza Friendly came in. She had a round pleasant face, pretty even in middle age.
    ‘Is it about the concert?’ she asked.
    ‘Not really,’ said Agatha. ‘I was at that French restaurant in Blockley last night with Mr John and you saw us and I thought you look frightened.’
    For one brief moment, Liza looked every bit as frightened as she had been the night before, but then she said brightly, ‘Oh, I must have looked odd. It was the heat. I had to get out of there. I thought I was going to faint. Anything else?’
    ‘Well, no,’ said Agatha.
    Liza had remained standing. She moved towards the door. ‘In that case, I won’t keep you.’
    There was nothing else they could do but leave. ‘I haven’t introduced my friend,’ said Agatha. ‘Sir Charles Fraith.’
    But Liza had reached the front door and was holding it open.
    ‘Goodbye,’ she said formally. ‘How kind of you to call.’
    ‘Well, that was a wash-out,’ said Charles. ‘Let’s go back to your place and talk.’
    They returned to the kitchen of Agatha’s cottage. Agatha switched on the fan and poured two more cups of coffee.
    ‘Now,’ said Charles, ‘if he’s a blackmailer, there is one way to find out.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘You think of some truly awful secret, Aggie, and take him out for dinner and cry on his shoulder. Then we’ll wait and see.’
    ‘I could do that,’ said Agatha slowly. ‘You know, we could be imagining things. Maybe she’s just frightened of her hairy husband. Wait a bit. At the ladies’ society meeting, I said I was going to Mr John in Evesham and she said something like, “I wouldn’t go there.” Oh, and there’s something else. I did ask Mr John about those voices I overheard when I was in the toilet, but he said it was a husband and wife who owned the shop next door and who were always quarrelling. Should we watch Mrs Friendly’s cottage and see if her husband goes out?’
    ‘I think we should try my way first,’ said Charles. ‘Let’s go somewhere for lunch and then I’ll take a look at this hairdresser’s in Evesham. You could make another appointment. Your hair looks nice like that.’
    ‘Thank you. Where shall we have lunch?’
    ‘Your choice.’
    ‘I don’t lunch in Evesham, but there’s bound to be somewhere.’
    They got into Charles’s car and drove up through the hot countryside to the A44. ‘You’d best cut off at the top of Fish Hill and go through Willersley,’ said Agatha.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘It’s the new Broadway by-pass they’re building. There’re traffic lights at the bottom of Fish Hill and you can get stuck there for ages.’
    ‘Right you are.’
    In Evesham and following Agatha’s directions, Charles parked at the top of the multi-storey car park next to the river Avon. They left the car and walked to Bridge Street. ‘That looks all right.’ Agatha pointed to a restaurant called the Lantern.
    ‘I hope they do good chips,’ said Charles, holding the door open for her. ‘I like chips.’
    The chips turned out to be real ones and not the frozen variety. ‘Now what am I going to tell Mr John?’ asked Agatha.
    ‘Don’t rush it. Wait till you get him out for dinner. I’ll bet you told him about James.’
    Agatha blushed guiltily.
    ‘Ah, I thought so. Let me see. I know, James is due back but you’ve been having an affair with me.’
    Agatha stared at the table.
    ‘Oho, you gabby thing. You told him about me, too. He does have a way of winkling out secrets.’
    ‘I didn’t tell him that James had found out about us,’ mumbled Agatha.
    ‘There we have it. You want to marry James. He’s a violently jealous man. He’s written to say he loves you. You are terrified he finds out about me because I am violent and jealous.’
    ‘I could do that,’ said Agatha. ‘I’m not normally so gossipy. It’s just I seemed to have drunk quite a lot.’
    ‘Did he try to go to bed with you?’
    ‘He did expect to