‘Oh, yes,’ the barman confirmed with feeling. ‘He wheels her out regularly every year for the staff Christmas party, and a more formidable woman you wouldn’t hope to meet. She’s twice the size of Meridew, obviously wears the trousers at home—which is probably why he’s such a tartar when he’s here!’ he concluded heavily.
Under any other circumstances, Max would have found the other man’s description of Peter Meridew’s married life amusing, to say the least. But in this case…
Josh said he had recognized the voice of the man that had attacked him, although he couldn’t remember where he remembered it from. Peter Meridew had an obviously soft spot for January. He had been in the room when Josh had kissed her. He had been walking around like a bear with a sore head all week. He also had a suspect injury to his hand. And a formidable wife who probably made his life miserable at home.
Still circumstantial, but surely worth investigating further?
‘I have to go and make a telephone call,’ he told John before swallowing down the last of his whisky. ‘Enjoy the rest of the evening,’ he added derisively.
‘Not much chance of that!’ John grimaced.
Max gave him a sympathetic smile before leaving the bar to go up to his hotel suite. There were still a few bits of information he needed before even attempting to talk to the police, but if his suspicion was correct…!
May was the one to answer the telephone at the Calendar farm, her businesslike tone easily discernible from January’s husky voice and the derisive March.
‘Hi, May, it’s Max,’ he told her abruptly. ‘Could I speak to January?’
‘She isn’t here,’ May told him with what sounded like a certain amount of satisfaction in her voice.
Max frowned his irritation. ‘Where is she?’
‘Max—’
‘I need to know, May,’ he told her determinedly.
‘Why?’ she prompted suspiciously.
Because he thought January might be at the centre of this latest attack. Because he suspected the manager of the hotel as being the attacker. Because he needed to know where January was now so that he could ensure that she was in no danger!
But he couldn’t tell May any of those things without alarming her, possibly unnecessarily!
‘I just heard her car outside,’ May told him irritably. ‘If you’ll just hang on a minute…’
Max waited on the end of the line for what seemed much longer than a minute, and as the seconds ticked by he began to wonder if January had refused to speak to him. Not that he could blame her; they hadn’t exactly parted on friendly terms earlier!
‘Yes?’ January finally came on the line to question cautiously.
Max felt a surge of relief just at the sound of her voice. Although, with Peter Meridew still on duty at the hotel, his worries concerning January’s safety had probably been groundless.
‘Where have you been?’ With the suspicions of the last few minutes, his tone was sharper than he intended. ‘I thought you were going straight home.’ He forced lightness into his tone.
‘Not that it’s any of your business, but I called in to see Sara,’ she explained stiffly.
‘How is she?’ he prompted huskily.
‘As you would expect, very upset,’ January came back sharply.
Not half as upset as January was going to be if his fears should turn out to be correct!
‘Max, why did you telephone me?’ she asked impatiently.
He sighed, knowing from her tone that she was annoyed with him, probably because of his own abruptness earlier this evening. ‘I just wanted to ask you a question, January,’ he told her briskly.
‘Max—’
‘Just one question, January,’ he insisted firmly at her obvious impatience, ‘then I won’t bother you again.’ Tonight, at least…!
She took a long time answering. ‘Okay,’ she finally agreed warily. ‘One question.’