who lives next door, told me that his mother told him Phil didn’t retire on purpose. He was forced to retire. He did something bad.”
Now Bird was listening with both ears.
“What did he do?” asked Julia.
“I asked Mom. She said it was something that seemed bad but really wasn’t. She said the person who accused Phil made it all up, but because it looked bad they made him resign.”
“Wow.” Julia stopped brushing her pony. “I wonder what it was.”
Hannah had been listening, too, and now she offered a word of advice. “You know, girls, this is serious. Let’s get the facts straight before we pass on gossip. Liz, your neighbour might have no idea what he’s talking about.”
“Maybe.” Liz went on. “But now Mom’s all worried. She thinks the police’ll bring Phil in for questioning because of her.”
Bird caught Julia’s eye. “Did you mention that you’d told them the same thing? That you thought it looked like Phil?”
Liz shook her head and blushed. “No, but I w ... will.”
The conversation was interrupted as Boss, a small white Jack Russell, started barking in his shrill, ceaseless way. A moment later, a police cruiser stopped beside the barn. Everyone watched as the two policemen from the night before got out.
“Excuse me, ladies,” said Officer Paris as he entered the barn. “Is Cliff Jones here?”
“Is there a problem?” Hannah’s voice was filled with concern.
Officer O’Hare spoke. “We have to take him in for questioning.”
“Was he positively identified?” asked Bird.
“From that sketch?” Hannah put her hands on her hips defensively. “Who identified him?”
Officer O’Hare crossed his arms. “That’s confidential, folks. Suffice it to say that she knows Cliff well.”
“But that sketch could be any number of people.”
“Maybe so, but if he’s innocent ...”
“He’ll be cleared.” Bird finished his sentence. “But Cliff couldn’t have hit a person like that. He couldn’t even imagine doing that!”
“You’ll have to let us do our job.” Officer Paris glared at the still-barking Boss. The persistent noise was getting annoying.
Cliff came around the corner just then, pushing a wheelbarrow. “Boss! Hush!”
“Cliff Jones?” asked Officer O’Hare.
Cliff looked wary. “Yes?”
Officer Paris walked up to him, heavy-footed and straight-backed. “You’ll have to come with us for questioning.”
Cliff froze. His eyebrows rose quizzically.
Hannah stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about a thing, Cliff.”
“He’s innocent!” Bird stepped up. “Last night a man jumped out at me when I was riding. He looks exactly like the composite sketch. He lives somewhere in the woods and he had hardly anything on. That man is the man you need to arrest, not Cliff.”
“He had nothing on, you say? A naked man?”
“He had shorts on,” corrected Bird.
“And he jumped out at you?”
“Yes. From the bushes. He must live down there.”
The officers gave each other dubious looks. Bird knew they didn’t believe her. She appealed to Hannah to confirm her story.
“Bird came home quite rattled. She was worried that perhaps this man might be the one who attacked the woman.” Hannah stepped closer to Bird. “And even if he isn’t, I don’t like the idea of a man living wild around here, jumping out of bushes.”
“And why didn’t you report this incident the minute it happened?” asked Officer Paris.
“I’m sorry.” Hannah looked abashed. “I was going to call this morning, but I should have told you immediately.”
“You certainly should have. We need all the help we can get.” Officer Paris looked at his watch. “We’ll get Bird’s statement later. Right now, we need to take Cliff in. There are two more men to interview after him.”
Hannah and the girls watched as the officers walked Cliff out to the cruiser and put him in the back seat, taking care not to bump his head on the door frame.
Before they closed the door, Cliff flashed a forced smile in Hannah’s direction. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Can you bring the horses in for me at four and feed them? Jules needs her mud fever treated — Bird knows what to do — and Sir Jeffery has to get one more dose of penicillin. Twelve pills soaked in hot water and mixed into his grain. And can you do night check if I’m not back?”
“Of course.” Hannah shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Cliff smiled with all the confidence he could muster, but Bird sensed his nervousness. She admired how he was being strong for Hannah’s sake, and how he cared more for the horses than for himself.
The cruiser drove down the lane and away. Fine dust billowed up behind, obscuring the car from view.
They exercised the horses for over an hour, doing flatwork in the arena. Hannah was insistent on teaching horses to know their leg aids, bend into corners, flex their necks and stretch out their backs. After a good workout, the girls hosed down their mounts and put them back out in their fields. Then, like always after a ride, they soaped and oiled the tack. Finally, after checking the outside water troughs, they went to the house for sandwiches and milk.
Paul had just arrived, and he looked grim.
“What’s the matter?” asked Hannah.
“It was on the radio. The woman died.”
Hannah’s hand shot up to her mouth.
Bird stiffened. Paul could only mean one woman — the woman who was mugged with the tire iron.
“She’d lost too much blood and they couldn’t save her. She died in the ambulance yesterday, but the authorities only told the media today.”
“All from the blow to her head?” asked Bird.
“They think she may also have hit her head on a rock when she fell.”
Hannah grimaced. “It’s a pity that Ellen came too late.”
“Every second counts when there’s blood loss,” Paul said, speaking as a medical man. “There’s more,” he continued, as he washed his hands at the sink. “The woman’s name was released. It’s Sandra Hall.”
Hannah gasped. “Sandra Hall? That’s Pierre’s ex-wife.”
Paul nodded.
Bird knew who he was. Pierre worked next door for Guy and Bunny.
“And he definitely looks like the sketch,” added Julia.
“Didn’t Pierre and Sandra have ... problems?” asked Bird. “I used to see Sandra with bruises and stuff.”
Hannah and Paul exchanged a look, but Paul answered Bird’s question honestly. “That was always my impression, but it’s impossible to know what really goes on behind closed doors.”
“Maybe it was him,” mused Julia.
“The jealous ex-husband,” added Liz. “The prime suspect.”
“Now we’re behaving just like everybody else,” chided Hannah, “putting two and two together