As The Pig Turns

she is meeting and then join me in the café across the road. We can have a cheap snack and wait until she comes out.’
    ‘Good idea.’ Phil went off, and Toni made her way through to the dining room.
    Mrs Richards was talking to a man, and from his appearance, Toni guessed that the man was her ex-husband. Agatha’s notes on the case included detailed descriptions of all the people she had come across.
    She retreated and joined Phil, who was seated at an outside table at the café. ‘It looks as if she’s with her ex-husband,’ said Toni. ‘I’ll try to talk to her again when she’s on her own. I mean, she was friendly enough before.’
    ‘I’ll go and have a look,’ said Phil. ‘I sneaked a photograph of him.’
    He had just gone when Toni’s mobile phone rang. It was Charles. ‘Do you know if Agatha is at the George?’ he demanded. ‘It looks as if someone’s stolen my set of keys to her cottage.’
    ‘Yes, she’s staying at the George,’ said Toni. ‘I hope you didn’t have the code to the burglar alarm with the keys.’
    ‘Oh, God, it’s pasted above the hook.’
    ‘Charles!’
    ‘Got to go.’
    Agatha awoke and blinked groggily. Someone was hammering at her hotel-room door. She heard Charles’s voice shouting, ‘Agatha! Open up!’
    She struggled out of bed, shouting back, ‘Give me a minute.’
    Her hair was all over the place, and her face looked tired and white. She gathered up the set of cheap clothes she had bought, unlocked the door and dived into the bathroom. ‘Take a seat,’ she called. ‘Getting dressed. What’s up?’
    ‘I’ll tell you when you come out.’
    Charles opened the minibar and helped himself to a whisky.
    Agatha quickly showered and put on underwear and the loose cotton dress she had bought. She brushed her hair until it shone and carefully applied a layer of make-up with a hand made expert over the years.
    When she emerged, she glared at the glass of whisky in Charles’s hand, noticing from two small empty bottles that it was not his first.
    ‘Oh, do make yourself at home,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Hear about the head?’
    ‘Yes, frightful.’
    ‘Is that why you are here raiding the minibar?’
    ‘Well, not exactly. It’s like this . . .’
    Agatha heard him out and then said, ‘I’ll get on to the security firm and get them round tomorrow. I suppose the police will be at my cottage for most of today. I should charge you. I’ll need to change all the locks and the burglar alarm.’
    She sat down suddenly on the bed. ‘I still feel shaky. I went straight to bed when I got here.’
    ‘You need lunch.’
    ‘Are you buying?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Charles reluctantly.
    They were about to enter the dining room when Agatha saw Fiona Richards and her husband.
    She backed away. ‘Let’s get out of here,’ she hissed. ‘The Richards female is in there with her husband. We’ll have lunch somewhere else.’
    As they left the hotel, Agatha spotted Phil and Toni in the café opposite and went to join them. ‘I thought I would wait until she leaves and see if I can have a word with her,’ said Toni.
    ‘But get her on her own.’
    ‘I’ll try.’
    ‘We’re off for lunch,’ said Agatha, and added firmly, ‘Charles is buying.’ Charles, predictably, led Agatha to the Dragon, where he knew the set pub meals were cheap at lunchtime.
    Bill Wong was just finishing his lunch as they walked in. ‘I’m going back out to your cottage, Agatha,’ he said. ‘I want to see if they’ve found out anything.’
    ‘I hope I’ll be able to go home tomorrow,’ said Agatha, sitting next to him. ‘Charles, get me a steak and chips and a half of lager.’
    As Charles’s well-tailored back moved towards the bar, Agatha whispered, ‘You’ll never guess what the silly ass has done.’ She told him about the missing keys.
    ‘I know. He did phone us,’ said Bill crossly. ‘Come over to headquarters after lunch. We’ll need to send someone out to Warwickshire to have a look at that kitchen door.’
    Bill left them when their food arrived. Agatha poked dismally at her steak. When she was with James, she longed for Charles’s lighter company. Now, she felt she could do with James’s steady reassurance.
    Her phone rang. It was Roy Silver, babbling with excitement. ‘I hear you’ve found the head.’
    ‘Well, it found me.’
    ‘Look, Aggie, how about me coming down for the weekend and babysitting you?’
    ‘Yes, sure. Do you want me to pick you