The Strangling on the Stage by Simon Brett Page A

Winstone’s hazel eyes.
    â€˜I most certainly do.’
    â€˜But when I see Mike, I’m sure I’ll just blurt it out.’
    â€˜Well, curb the instinct. Don’t give him more ammunition with which to criticize you.’
    â€˜But I haven’t said he does criticize me.’
    â€˜I extrapolated that, Hester.’
    â€˜Oh, did you?’ She sounded a little crushed. And guilty. But also reassured. Jude’s recommendation that she shouldn’t tell her husband about her lapse had clearly brought her comfort.
    â€˜Oh dear, I don’t know what to do.’ But now Hester sounded weary rather than desperate.
    â€˜Well, I’ll tell you exactly what you’re going to do. You are going to sit here while I open a bottle of wine and pour you a drink. Then I’ll cook us some supper. Then I think you should probably stay here the night.’
    Hester grimaced. ‘Love to, but I’ve got to get back for the dogs. If they aren’t let out … well, you can imagine what will happen …’
    â€˜I think I can. What about the drink and the supper?’
    The woman grinned as she replied, ‘That’d be wonderful.’
    â€˜And when you go back home, you’ll be all right, will you?’
    â€˜Yes, I’ll be fine,’ said Hester Winstone.
    And Jude believed her.

SIX
    T he following morning over coffee at High Tor Jude gave Carole an edited version of her conversation with Hester Winstone. Though the woman wasn’t a client, their time together had been almost like a therapy session, so Jude kept the details of the infidelity to herself. She just said that Hester was clearly in a bad state, but talking things through had, she hoped, helped. It would have been different if she and Carole were working on a case together. Then she would have recounted everything that had passed between them. But there was no crime involved here, just a cry for help from a very unhappy woman.
    Carole, needless to say, couldn’t wait to express her views of the SADOS members. ‘Really! Who do they think they are? When I was growing up, we had a word for people like that, and it was “show-offs”. Can’t they see how ridiculous they appear?’
    Jude shrugged. ‘They’re just doing something they enjoy. I don’t see there’s much harm in it.’
    â€˜Well, I’d hate to be involved with a group like that.’
    â€˜No problem. No one was rushing to make you join them, were they?’
    â€˜No,’ Carole conceded.
    â€˜Have you ever done any acting?’
    â€˜No.’ There was a shudder at the very idea.
    â€˜Not even at school?’
    â€˜Well, I was in a Nativity Play.’
    â€˜What part?’
    Carole coloured at the recollection as she said, ‘I was the Ox.’
    â€˜One of the great parts,’ said Jude with a grin.
    â€˜I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. And I think my parents were at least as embarrassed as I was. The Seddons have never been people for putting their heads above the parapet.’
    â€˜No, I can believe that,’ said Jude.
    It was later that afternoon in Woodside Cottage, while she was reading a book about kinesiology written by a friend of hers, that Jude’s phone rang. The male voice at the other end was rich, confident and vaguely familiar.
    â€˜Is that Jude?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Oh, good, I’m glad I got the right number.’
    â€˜Mm.’ She still couldn’t place him.
    â€˜We met yesterday evening in the Cricketers.’
    â€˜Oh yes?’
    â€˜My name’s Ritchie Good.’
    â€˜Ah. And to what do I owe the honour of this call?’
    â€˜I just wanted to talk to you.’
    â€˜Well, you seem to have achieved your wish.’
    â€˜Mm.’ He let a silence dangle between them. ‘You made quite an impression on me.’
    â€˜I’m flattered. Slightly surprised, because we can’t have