A Cotswold Christmas Mystery

box of tinsel and red candles and artificial holly, saved from the previous year. ‘I’ve had this stuff for ages. I guess it’s looking a bit sad now,’ she admitted. Drew discovered that his own similar box had not survived the move from Somerset. ‘I must have chucked it out,’ he said, scratching his head. ‘I’ve no idea when I last saw it.’
So Thea had thrown herself into the whole business, getting great armfuls of silver and gold and red decorations from Poundland and other places, pinning them all over the room in a gaudy exhibition of Christmas spirit that made the room seem small and magical, like a fairy’s cave. Or so Stephanie observed, in wholehearted admiration when Thea ushered everybody in to admire her handiwork. ‘Worth waiting for – right?’ she said.
‘Do fairies live in caves?’ wondered Timmy.
‘Grottoes,’ said Drew.
‘That’s the same thing,’ said his pedantic daughter.
Drew was making an effort as well. He had gone on his own private shopping expedition two weekends ago and come back with a large bag bulging in intriguing ways. ‘Don’t look!’ he ordered and hurried through to his office at the back of the house.
The air was crackling with anticipation. So many new things were going to happen, one after another. For a start, Andrew and Fiona Emerson had been invited to join the Slocombes for drinks the next evening. Their daughter, who usually did the honours by having them to stay for several days around Christmas, had a new baby and was letting her in-laws take the strain. As an added novelty, Thea’s brother Damien had announced, with no consultation, that he and his wife and small daughter would be paying a visit to Broad Campden on the day after Boxing Day, hoping to stay overnight.
‘What!’ shrieked Thea, when he phoned. ‘What brought that on?’
‘It’s high time you got to know your niece. You’ve barely even laid eyes on her all year.’
‘I’ve been busy,’ Thea protested feebly.
‘It’ll be good to catch up,’ he said, brooking no argument. He was the eldest in the family and nobody had ever got the hang of arguing with him. Thea conveyed the news to the others with trepidation. ‘It’ll be like a state visit,’ she groaned.
‘It’ll be great,’ her husband assured her. ‘And Stephanie’s going to love the baby, aren’t you, pet?’
Stephanie had blithely agreed that she would definitely relish the company of a baby step-cousin.
‘Not such a baby now,’ Thea reminded them. ‘She must be over two. Same age as Meredith.’
‘It’ll be great,’ said Drew again, as if saying it would make it so. Stephanie’s faith in him never wavered for a moment.
For a family with very few close friends, the Slocombes were suddenly feeling alarmingly popular. Maggs and Den Cooper were coming at New Year, and Thea’s mother was making noises about hardly ever seeing her, with the clear implication that a visit was imminent.
And then there was Jessica.

Chapter Two
Stephanie was the first to throw herself at the young woman who arrived the next morning, closely followed by the spaniel. Having parked her car some distance away, her appearance took them all by surprise. She stood there, big and fair, much more like her aunt Jocelyn in appearance than her mother. ‘It’s not even eleven o’clock yet,’ said Thea.
‘I left soon after eight. Nice, quick drive,’ said Jessica. ‘The M6 wasn’t too bad, considering everybody’s meant to be driving somewhere today. Not a single accident for a change. It was a bit slow, but at least it kept moving. Give us a kiss, Mum – if I can get out of this bear hug.’ She gave Stephanie a squeeze and then edged her aside so as to embrace Thea. ‘Happy Christmas, everybody.’ She crouched down to fondle Hepzie’s long, soft ears. ‘Same as always, doggie-doos.’
Stephanie giggled. ‘That’s not very nice. Doggie-doos is rude.’
‘It’s chaos here already,’ said Thea. ‘But we finally got the tree decorated, didn’t we, Steph?’
Jessica smiled vaguely. ‘I’ve got loads of things in the car. I left it by the church – was that right?’
‘You can probably squeeze it in next to the hearse, actually. There won’t be any more funerals till next week now.’
‘No hurry,’ said Jessica. ‘I just want to slob out for a bit.’
‘Come and see the tree,’ Stephanie urged. ‘It’s amazing.’
‘Where’s Timmy?’
‘In there. He’s counting the minutes.’
‘What?’
‘Till seven o’clock on Christmas morning. That’s when we get our stockings. Dad brings them up to us. Tim’s working out how many minutes are left till then.’
‘Sweet,’ said Jessica with a little sigh.
‘You look tired,’ said Drew, appearing from his room at the back of the house. ‘Too many Christmas parties?’
‘Hardly any, actually. I feel perfectly all right – not really tired, just ready for a break, that’s all.’
‘Well, you can have a nice lie-in tomorrow. We’re all going to be charging our batteries before the onslaught. That’s the plan, anyway.’
Jessica gave him a knowing look. ‘Don’t tempt fate. Your job’s like mine – you never know what the next phone call is going to bring.’
‘People aren’t allowed to die at Christmas,’ said Stephanie firmly. ‘We decided that already.’
‘Quite right,’ smiled her stepsister. ‘The undertaker’s closed for the holiday, and so is the police officer.’
‘Are you a sergeant yet?’
‘First week of January. Quicker than I thought. Takes me a step closer to moving up to CID.’
‘Hey! You never told me that,’ said Thea. ‘When did that happen?’
‘They only told me this week. Came as quite a surprise, what with one thing and another.’ Both women glanced at the child, careful to avoid saying too much. ‘I just hope I’ll be up to it.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ Thea assured her, characteristically optimistic to the point where she often refused to face real trouble. Even Stephanie found this attitude irksome at times, half aware that it was uncomfortably close to laziness. It took a certain kind of energy to accept and deal with problems, which Thea seemed to lack when it concerned her own family. Drew once observed that she could