Chapter 21: Awake

I WAS woken up from a deep sleep when someone with extremely cold feet got in the bed and cuddled up behind me.

“Uh, Mary?” I asked in a daze, while I was trying to unglue my eyelids. I noticed that a 20 watt lamp was lit on the back of one of the side tables, but the mattress on the floor was blocked from direct light by the overhanging table.

“You’d wish,” said Hettie, speaking loud enough with her lips close up to my almost deaf right ear for me to hear her, “now, shift yourself over and give me some space to get under the blankets. I couldn’t get in the other side because the desk’s in the way, and you were so deeply asleep you didn’t even notice when I put the little table lamp on. So, big brother, I want some answers from you; I’ve already found out what you said to Jack, but Mary and Milly aren’t really saying very much.”

“What do you want to know, Sis?” I sighed, moving over, but holding my arm up so my baby sister could snuggle under my arm like she used to when we were kids.

“Mmm, you’re the warmest person I know Ed, you always were like a huge cuddly furnace compared to ... our sisters,” we both sniffed here, each of us missing them terribly, “even Jack isn’t as warm in the body as you, as his feet get even colder than mine.” Hettie had her iceberg feet tucked between my legs, one under my calf, the other over and between my knees.

After fidgeting for a bit until she got comfy, she said, “I love your Mary, Ed, she’s so sweet, and she really thinks the world of you. Talks of no-one else.”

“She’s not ‘my’ Mary, Het,” I said, “she loved her husband very much and she only lost him today.”

“She may have loved him once, sweetheart, but he has gone and she loves you now. A woman can tell these things.”

“She is probably just confusing our current camaraderie for affection, and she’s far away from home, safety and family. She hardly knows anyone here, just me, Milly and Mr Sims.”

“Who’s Mr Sims?”

“He appears to be my tailor. Long story that I’ll tell you about another time.”

“You two’ve been busy these last couple of days?”

“Yes. We’ve shared the search for and discovered the loss of her husband, we were both attacked by a killer, which she clinically resolved, and I am the ‘wounded hero’ who tried to defend her and is thereby suffering from my actions on her behalf. A sympathetic reaction from her at such a time, along with a hint of transference from her lost husband is only to be expected. Since then she has been with me constantly, helped me dress, interpreted speech for me, and is probably adopting me as an injured bird fallen from a broken nest.”

“No, sweetheart, I am sure she has more feelings for you than simply feeling sorry for you. Both girls told me all about the dancing, both of them quite impressed by your practiced moves.”

“Well, I can’t do the foxtrot any more, Het, my artificial foot is too rigid, but I even surprised myself with the rest of the dances. Look, Het, believe me, Mary’s just my client, my only client in fact. She’s paying me to investigate what happened to her husband, which we have done but now we’re trying to find out why. She’s not my sweetheart, so don’t go all matchmaker on my behalf. Besides, I have only known her for four days. She even told me right at the outset that I was not to fall in love with her because everyone who meets her falls in love with her. Note, she did not tell me that she falls in love with anyone that becomes infatuated with her. It’s an occupational by-product of the sweet and beautiful person she is.”

“Ah, so you think she is sweet and beautiful then, sweetheart?” Hettie chuckled in my right ear.

“Of course, Het, I am not made of stone, none of us are. Take Milly, for example, she’s only known Mary for a week and now she’s so devoted to her that I am sure she would follow her into Hell if she asked. God damn it, I probably would too. Look at you, you’re under her spell and you’ve only known her for a couple of hours. It’s not a conscious thing that she tries to do, Het, it happens because she really is a chameleon, no more than that, she fits in comfortably, she genuinely cares about people and is open and respectful and easy to like. She is a truly lovely person.”

“You do love her.”

“Yes, all right, yes I do.”

“So why are you here and not kicking Milly out of your old bed?”

“Milly’s sleeping with her?”

“I haven’t aired Monica’s sheets, and, well, you should have heard them, Ed. Mary said that back on their ranch she slept with her two younger sisters all the time until she left home at 17, and Milly said she still sleeps in the same bed with her youngest sister and her eldest sister, the one that’s getting married, and couldn’t remember ever sleeping alone in her short life. It brought tears to my eyes.”

“As I say, Mary is a lovely woman and that is why everyone loves her. But as for her feelings for me, any affection there is probably a lot more about sympathy on both sides than anything else; with me for her loss and her feeling sorry for my wounded chin and damaged hearing, plus some pity for my old lost foot.” “You are wrong, you know. You’re thinking with your head, sweetheart, instead of your heart.”

“I’m a confirmed bachelor, Het, who had his heart broken a long, long, time ago, and I’m too old to change, too set in my ways to think with my heart. On the other hand, Mary will fly off to Hollywood in less than a week’s time to film a new box office success and, as an available wealthy widow, will be suited by every eligible male she meets until she falls for one of them and marries again.”

“Well, I don’t think she wants the limelight right now. Milly said that the crowd of photographers and newsreel cameras in front of the hotel, is spilling over the pavement, so she can’t go back to face that. You know that you and Mary, and Milly for that matter, can stay here until she flies out, and you, my dear brother can stay here as long or as often as you like. We are all the family you have.”

“I can’t stay. I need to investigate this murder and the reasons behind it, Het. I owe Mary that much, especially as I’ve been paid until she leaves.”

“Jack mentioned that her husband was murdered, that’s awful, even worse than the suicide the authorities are passing it off as. Whoever did it mustn’t get away with it. Do you want to tell me about it, Ed?”

I gave Hettie the full story, about the missing husband, the attack by Curly Cavenagh and Mary’s killing in self defence, the discovery of her husband’s body, the suspicious attempt by my former police sergeant to pass it off as suicide, the diary of meetings or telephone contact with suspects known only by their initials, and the attempt by the police driver to abduct us. We both have analytical minds, it helps me in my detection job and hers in balancing the books and assessing business opportunities. She gathered I wanted to follow up leads but needed to be mobile.

“I will get Jack to remove the police car to a lock-up, from where we can either return it when this mess is all over, or strip it for parts and contribute the scrap metal towards the war effort. New cars are not selling well, so Jack can spare you a new one or even a good second-hand one to use along with the petrol ration books that go with them. Do you need any money, Ed?”

“No, I’ve still got what’s left from what Mary paid me and I still have my building society savings account to fall back on.”

“Well, I’ll get back to bed before Jack gets too lonely and his feet get too cold to warm up again before morning.” She giggled.

We kissed and Hettie turned out the dim table lamp before leaving. I had hardly turned over on my left hand side again before I felt her come back. Blimey, I thought, the flagstones in the hall must be freezing, her feet were even colder than they were the first time!

“What have you forgotten, Het?” I asked in exasperation.