Chapter Forty-One - An Unlikely Villain

Monday 11th December

Catherine could finally put her feet up.  With token assistance from her daughters, the table had been cleared, the washing and wiping up done and put away and, with the girls retreating to their rooms as usual, she could sit down and watch the news.  She allowed herself to stretch right out on the settee, putting her feet up on the left arm and leaning back into the cushions.  An item on the snow further north; closed schools, grounded flights, sledging children, gritters on the move.  A report on homelessness.  Catherine watched, though her eyelids were drooping.  The house was warmer than usual, despite the weather being colder.  She had nudged the thermostat up a couple of degrees, less afraid now of the next bill.  The room was cosy and cheerful.  They had put up the Christmas decorations at the weekend.  After taking flowers to the cemetery for Will's anniversary, the girls had wanted to do something cheerful.

'Dad wouldn't have wanted us to be sad at Christmas,' Alex insisted.

There were no new decorations and the old ones came out of their bags and boxes with mixed memories.  There was no tree, for now, as they had no means to bring a real one home, it being too far to walk from the Co-op.  Catherine offered to buy a nice artificial one when she went to town in the morning, but the girls vetoed that.

'Artificial trees are meh!' Kirsty informed her mother.

As the news moved on to lighter topics, she dozed and tried to imagine an alternative festive focal point for the room.  Thoughts of a potted holly, residing on the patio most of the year, were interrupted by a buzz from her phone.  She was about to check the cause - text or email - when it rang for an incoming call.

'Catherine?  It's Ruby, love.  Look, I don't mean to bother you, but I need to talk to someone.  I need some advice.'

'What about?'  If it was claiming Pension Credit, she didn't mind.  Catherine had been urging her to do this for months.

'There's a funny man keeps walking along our road.'

'What's funny about him?'

Catherine was concerned.  She was still taking Leo Finn's threats seriously enough to accompany the girls to and from school, which had meant dragging them in to breakfast club that morning so she wasn't late for her meeting with work coach Colin.  She had called to make sure that Ruby would be in for her home safety check and called back to find out what had happened, delighted to discover a new door safety catch had been installed along with a notice banning doorstep callers.  Ruby had the number for the PCSOs too.  Perhaps it was a relief that her funny man wasn't behaving oddly enough for Ruby to call them.

'I've never seen him before, until this weekend, and now he's walking by every couple of hours or so.'

'Are you sure it's the same man each time?'

'Definitely.'

'Maybe he's recently moved in to one of the other bungalows.'

'I don't think so.  He's not old enough.'

'How old is he?'

'Forty-odd, I suppose.'

That was about Nigel Finn's age.  Catherine was shocked.  She never imagined he would be so reckless as to intimidate Ruby himself, although she had feared he might send kids of Leo's age or older.

'How is he dressed?  Is he smartly-dressed or casual?'

'It's depends on the weather.  He's not scruffy, like a tramp.  I suppose he's fairly smart.'

Nigel Finn had been much sharper than fairly smart and Ruby was the sort to notice.  Perhaps it wasn't him after all.  Maybe the man was a new carer, visiting another pensioner's home on a regular basis, possibly after a hospital discharge.

'What does he look like?' she asked Ruby.

'Tall and thin.'

'Anything else?'

'Not really...'  There was a pause.  'Oh! There he is again!  He's just gone by and he definitely looked right at my front door.  He's got glasses.'

Catherine knew it was wrong to judge people on such superficialities but she found it hard to imagine any of Nigel Finn's heavies wearing glasses.  She associated glasses with studious men like her colleague Martin or Ralph, of course.

'He's still out there!' whispered Ruby.  'He's standing across the road from Mrs Dawson's, in the shadows.'

'What else can you tell me about him?  Has he got long or short hair?'

'I can't tell.  He's got the hood up on his coat.'

'He's wearing a duffle coat?'

'Yes.'

'Keep an eye on him.  I'll be right round.'

'Don't you put yourself at risk, love!'

'Don't worry.  I won't be.'

Catherine went out to the hall and slipped on her coat.

'Alex!'

She instructed her elder daughter to put the safety catch across after she went out and to listen for her return.

'Where are you going?'

'I'm popping round to Aunty Ruby's.  I won't be long.'

The night was bitingly cold.  Catherine's breath steamed as she strode along the avenue and out onto the main road, keeping her hands in her pockets for warmth, clutching her keys in her left and a small torch in her right.  As she turned into the close where Ruby lived, she could see the stranger lurking across the road, rubbing his gloved hands together for warmth and occasionally stamping his feet.  His attention was focused on the old woman's bungalow, allowing Catherine to come close before he was aware of her.

'Good evening, Mr Makepeace!' she said softly, switching on the torch and directing it at him.

Ralph started. 

'Catherine!  What are you doing, walking about on your own in the dark?'

'I'm minded to ask you exactly the same.'

'I'm keeping an eye on your old neighbour,' he said.  'You said the Finns had threatened her.  I only live round the corner, so I've been taking a wander round from time to time, on the look out for anyone suspicious.'

'She's seen you.  She thinks you are someone suspicious.'

'Oh, heavens.'  Ralph looked towards the bungalow again, where a light shone in the front window.  'I'm obviously not all that good at this covert surveillance malarkey.  I hope I haven't frightened her.'

'She was concerned enough to call me, but not panicky.  How long were you meaning to stand here in the frost, you silly fool?'

'Only a few more minutes.  Then I was planning to go home for a warm up, before making another patrol at nine-thirty and a final check at eleven.'

'And you've been doing this since Friday evening?'

'I have,' said Ralph.   'How did you know it was me?'

'It was when she mentioned the duffle coat.  I guessed it was either you, or she was being stalked by Paddington Bear.'

Ralph laughed.  'I suppose it was rather silly of me.'

'Silly, yes; but very sweet, nonetheless.'  Catherine looked towards Ruby's bungalow.  'I don't want to frighten her unnecessarily, so I'm going to call her to say you've been looking for some lost keys and we've now found them.  She's had a safety visit from the police, so she knows what to do if she suspects there are any real villains about.  Go home now, Ralph, and get warm.  You look frozen.'

Catherine called Ruby with her story about the keys.

'Let me walk you home,' Ralph offered, when she ended the call..

'It's not far, Ralph, and its out of your way.  I'll be fine.'

'I'd like to.  I'll worry if I don't.  It's my fault you're out at all.  If anything were to happen to you...'

Not too reluctantly, Catherine agreed.  She did feel safer with him beside her.  He asked about her day.  She explained the absurd situation she was in regarding the Jobcentre and her sanction, but insisted he didn't worry, because her colleagues were on the case and were ready to help her appeal.

'How absolutely wretched,' Ralph commiserated, as they turned into the avenue.  'And so unfortunate it all has to happen now, a year on from...'  He stopped.  'I'm sorry.  You don't need me to remind you.  I'm such an oaf at times.'

'No you're not.  You're a thoughtful, respectful and thoroughly decent man.'  Catherine paused.  'And you're not a bit like Will.  My late husband convinced almost everybody that he was such a charming, caring man, but he was a bully.  He was crafty and controlling, he was manipulative and he was malicious, and I was too terrified of him to tell anyone the truth.  Until now.  Don't ever feel you stand in his shadow, Ralph.'

'I had no idea,' Ralph replied, shocked and saddened.  'I always assumed you were so happy together.'

'I didn't dare let anyone think otherwise.  He would never have struck me; he didn't have to.  He had other ways of keeping me in line, reminding me of my place, how little I was worth.'

Ralph took her hand, not in a proprietorial way, simply as a gesture of support.

'Do the girls know?' he asked. 

'No.  He was never cruel in front of them.  I sometimes wonder if Alex had an idea of how things really were.  He started being sharper with her, once she reached her teens and started growing away from him.  Kirsty was always Daddy's girl.  I don't think she would believe me if I told her.  I don't know if I can tell her.'

'I won't say a thing, not to anyone.  I promise.'

Catherine was sure he wouldn't.  He was honest, reliable and, it seemed, quietly devoted to her.

'I think I know why you were watching over Ruby's bungalow,' Catherine said.  'Alexandra asked you to, didn't she?  While I was making coffee for us on Friday.'

'She might have said something...'

'That if you loved me, you would make sure Aunty Ruby came to no harm?'

Ralph looked slightly taken-aback.  'Actually, she did say something very much like that.'

They had reached the front path.  They stopped walking.

'Thank you, Ralph,' said Catherine, letting go of his hand.  'Thank you for being such a silly, soppy, old-fashioned gentleman.'

She stood on tip-toes to kiss him gently on the lips.  As he put his arm around her, to draw her closer to him, a beam of light from the front door fell upon them.

'Oh my God!  I do not believe what I am seeing!  This is, like, absolutely the worst day of my whole life!'

Kirsty slammed the door.

'I may not be allowed out to play tomorrow,' Catherine said.  'I think I'm grounded.'