A Question of Guilt (33 page)

‘And what about the fire?' Mum put in. What wickedness is that – trying to have her burnt in her bed and then getting Brian Jennings blamed for it! Or was it Brian Jennings all the time? He used to work for Lewis Crighton, Sally said . . .'

‘He did, yes, but it wasn't him who set the fire, and it wasn't directed at Dawn,' Josh said. ‘In fact, at the outset, the fire was totally unconnected to Jeremy Winstanley's operation. He simply hijacked it for his own ends.'

‘You mean it was local louts all the time?' Mum asked.

‘Not unless you count Paul Holder in that category,' Josh said.

‘Paul Holder. Lisa's husband.' It had occurred to me when I'd sensed Lisa was hiding something that he might have been responsible – it had, after all, been very convenient that he had been on the scene so quickly with a ladder, and that Lisa had been jumpy all evening, and awake when the fire started, but, unable to see a link, I'd dismissed it.

‘Paul and Lisa were desperate to get their hands on the shop to start a business of their own,' Josh went on. ‘But it was on a long lease. They knew the shopkeeper was struggling and wasn't insured, and came up with the idea that if he lost everything and couldn't afford to start again they'd be able to step in. Paul was friendly with Jason Barlow – he enlisted his help, and through him, Lewis Crighton got to hear of what they were planning. It was he who suggested they frame Brian Jennings. He had become something of a danger to Lewis and Jeremy – Lewis thought he knew too much about what was going on at the warehouse and couldn't be trusted. Seeing him charged with arson seemed a good way of getting him out of the way. Not only was he locked up, he'd been portrayed as a complete nutter – if he did ever start talking about what he'd seen no one would pay him any credence. Framing him was easy. It was already well known that he was obsessed with Dawn – she'd actually gone to the police about him stalking her. Jason Barlow came forward to say he'd seen him hanging about outside on the night of the fire, and just to make sure he would be charged and convicted, managed to plant a handkerchief with traces of petrol on it in the pocket of the jacket he always wore.'

‘How on earth do you know all this?' I asked incredulously.

‘From Dawn. At the time of the fire, she had no idea what Lisa and Paul were planning, and although she knew by then that Lewis was involved with Jeremy Winstanley in his international art and curio robberies, and was worried about it, there was no way she'd have given him away. She was still completely under Lewis Crighton's spell, though he was tiring of her and the affair was past its heady heights. But afterwards, when she went home, she began to wonder. She came back to Stoke Compton to see Lisa, and discovered the truth – that she had been implicit in sending an innocent man to jail. That was something she couldn't stomach. Whereas she had been prepared to keep what she knew about Lewis to herself so long as it was only about stolen property, now her conscience wouldn't allow her to keep silent. And the last straw, I think, was when Lisa told her that Lewis had a new love – Dawn's replacement at the estate agency, a girl called Sarah.'

‘Sarah. Yes.' I nodded. ‘I knew they were carrying on. So in the end it was Lewis's wandering eye that was his undoing.'

‘That certainly had a part in it, though I don't think Dawn's conscience would have allowed her to leave Brian Jennings in prison for something he didn't do for very long. Lewis must have thought so too. He contacted Jeremy Winstanley and told him there was a problem, and Jeremy organized the accident to silence her. Not knowing, of course, that he was too late. Dawn had gone straight to the police, handing over her diaries as evidence, and it was passed to the regional crime squad. Which is where I came in.'

‘How did you manage that, though?' I asked. ‘I've heard of undercover officers posing as all kinds of things, but a newspaper photographer! I don't know how you pulled that off.'

Josh grinned. ‘It came as second nature really. That's exactly what I was before I joined the force. When a vacancy occurred on the
Gazette
it was the perfect cover. I could nose about without arousing anyone's suspicion. Strings were pulled in high places – and I got a new persona. So I'm afraid we're not actually in the same line of business at all, Sally. Though if you fancied a change of career, I reckon we still could be. You'd make a better detective than some I know.'

‘I'm perfectly happy as I am, thank you!' I retorted. ‘And while we're on the subject of deceit, I suppose you didn't walk the Cotswold Way either.'

Josh held up his hands in surrender.

‘Not last week, no, though I did do it a couple of years ago. In actual fact, I was at headquarters, reporting on the latest developments. I am really sorry about keeping you in the dark, but I had no choice. I couldn't risk being unmasked.'

‘You could have trusted me,' I said. I was feeling a little miffed, actually, that Josh had kept me in the dark.

‘It's the nature of the job, I'm afraid. Living and breathing the assumed identity, and getting enough evidence to secure a conviction.'

‘And so you cultivated me in case I found out anything useful to you, or did something that threatened to upset your operation.'

Mum got up and excused herself. She was a bit uncomfortable with the personal way the conversation was going, I guessed.

‘Well?' I said bluntly when she was out of earshot. ‘Is that how it was?'

‘In the beginning, yes, I suppose it was,' Josh admitted. ‘It was no hardship, though.' He gave me a wicked grin. ‘I fancied you right from the off. Crutches and all.'

‘That's all right then,' I said sharply. I wasn't in the mood for his banter. ‘At least we know now where we stand.'

Josh reached across the table for my hand; I jerked it away. He grabbed it again, more securely.

‘Come on, Sally, surely you know better than that. Yes, I admit, I did ask you out at first so that I could keep an eye on you. But it wasn't long before I was having feelings for you that really didn't help with what I was supposed to be doing. You worried the life out of me, damn it! You were so stubborn, you just wouldn't listen when I told you that you were playing with fire. And you were a whole lot too friendly with Jeremy Winstanley, too. For all I knew you could have been playing a double game – trying to get the low-down on who I really was, and what I was doing.'

‘You couldn't really have thought that!' I said, shocked.

Josh pulled a face.

‘In my game you can't be too careful. A pretty girl is often the downfall of an undercover officer – well, never mind the undercover officer, the downfall of a man, full stop.'

‘Hmm.' Something about the way he was looking at me was making my anger dissolve, starting the treacherous warmth deep inside me once more. ‘So what are you saying?'

‘You know very well. Now this is all over, we can start again. If you want to, that is.'

Oh I did, I did. But I wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily.

‘I'll have to think about it.'

Josh glanced at his watch.

‘I'm going to have to go. I'm afraid a normal working day doesn't exist for a policeman. But I reckon I can drop by again tomorrow evening. Will that give you enough time to think?'

I had to laugh. There was absolutely no thinking to be done.

‘I should think so, Officer,' I said mischievously.

Mum was in the doorway.

‘Oh – are you going?' she asked.

‘'Fraid so. I've got a whole load of reports to write. And Sally needs an early night too after all she's been through today.'

He squeezed my shoulder, dropped a kiss on top of my head, and made for the door.

‘Take care of her,' he said to Mum. And was gone.

‘Well, well, what a turn-up for the book!' Mum said. ‘A policeman! Perhaps he'll be able to keep you in order.'

I grinned.

‘I wouldn't hold my breath if I was you,' I said.

Josh had his own idea of a way to ‘keep me in order' – he wasted no time in asking me to marry him. And I wasted no time in saying ‘yes'. What would have been the point? We are both absolutely sure of our feelings, and old enough to know our own minds. I had no wish to get into another long-term live-in relationship as I had with Tim, and besides, all the things that have happened have convinced me life is for living – now. You never know what tomorrow may bring.

We're planning a September wedding, though the honeymoon may have to be delayed for the various court hearings Josh is going to have to attend. Jeremy, Jason Barlow and Lewis Crighton are looking at very long jail sentences – especially Jeremy and Jason, who has admitted being the hit-and-run driver responsible for Dawn's death. And of course Paul and Lisa Holder will be charged too with various offences. Muffins is closed and shuttered and I can't see it opening again any time soon, if ever. I do actually feel a bit sorry for Lisa; it must be devastating for her to see her dream destroyed – she had made a very good job of the café. But even if she was talked into the arson plan in the first place by her unscrupulous fiancé, to remain silent when poor Brian Jennings was sent to prison for something he didn't do was unforgivable. Whatever the outcome for Lisa and Paul, they brought it all on themselves.

The good thing is that poor Brian Jennings is free, and will probably be able to claim a lot of money in compensation for wrongful imprisonment. I sincerely hope he has learned his lesson and won't ever stalk another girl as he did Dawn. But weird and unsavoury as he may be, he was innocent of arson, innocent of wishing her harm. Just a fall guy of whom everyone was only too ready to believe the worst.

But back to our forthcoming wedding. I'm out of plaster now, and my leg is almost as good as new, so I will be able to walk down the aisle unaided, albeit with a bit of a limp. And when we were discussing the honeymoon I had a suggestion to make.

‘If we left it until next winter we could go skiing.'

Josh raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief.

‘After what happened last time?'

‘They say lightning never strikes in the same place twice, and I suppose the same thing goes for avalanches,' I said breezily.

‘I wouldn't want to take bets on it.'

‘And besides, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. Quite apart from the actual skiing, it's really beautiful. I'd love you to see the crimson sunsets over the snow, and the après-ski is pretty good, too.'

Josh sighed deeply.

‘Oh – if you're really set on it – we'll see. But I'm making no promises. Personally I'd rather be somewhere hot. Snorkelling, water sports, a cold beer on a sun lounger listening to the surf and getting a decent tan . . .' He put his arms round me. ‘Not so many layers of clothes between us, either . . .' he added wickedly.

‘If it hadn't been for my skiing accident we'd never have met,' I pointed out.

‘True. It still doesn't make me want to take up the sport,' he said.

I pulled a face, pretending to be deeply upset. But to be honest, I don't much care where we are as long as we are together. Some things, it would seem, are meant to be.

Josh and I together are just one of them.