Read Online Breaking Point by Frank Smith - Free Book Online Page B

‘I know the place well, and I’m quite familiar with Wisteria Cottage. In fact the owner is a friend of mine.’
    The doctor worked from home, a rambling, three-storey redbrick house set well back from the road. A large white sign directed patients to the surgery door around the side of the house, but Joyce Chandler had told Molly to come to the front door, and it was she who answered it when Molly rang the bell.
    â€˜Nice to see you again, Molly,’ she said as she led the way down a wide hallway. ‘Gordon’s in his study. Tea will be ready in a few minutes; I’ll bring it in.’
    Now, seated in a comfortable chair, with tea and biscuits close to hand, Molly faced the doctor across his desk. It was hard to determine his age. His face was deeply lined, and his hair was almost white, but he had kindly eyes, and there was a vitality about him that made him seem younger than he probably was. Early sixties, Molly guessed.
    â€˜Your wife said on the phone that you were on your way back here when you passed the cottage last Friday morning, Doctor. Can you tell me what time that was? As close as possible.’
    Chandler pursed his lips and steepled his fingers beneath his chin. ‘On my way back to the
hospital
,’ he corrected gently. ‘I checked my appointments diary last night, and as near as I can tell, it would be about nine thirty, so I telephoned the hospital and asked them to check their log, and they said I signed in at ten minutes to ten, which would be about right.’
    â€˜Tell me what you saw as you passed the cottage.’
    Chandler went on to repeat what his wife had said on the phone the day before, concluding with: ‘It was just a passing glance, you understand. It meant nothing at the time. It wasn’t until Joyce told me that you were asking questions about Wisteria Cottage that I remembered it at all.’
    â€˜You say you only saw the back of the men. Can you tell me what they were wearing?’
    Chandler tilted back in his chair and looked at the ceiling. ‘One of them, the bigger one of the two, was wearing a heavy jacket, black or could have been navy, but that’s all I could see. The rest of him was hidden by the car.’
    â€˜Was his head covered or bare?’
    The doctor frowned in concentration. ‘Couldn’t see much because of his collar,’ he said, ‘but he didn’t have anything on his head. As I said, he had his back to me.’
    â€˜Long or short hair?’ Molly persisted. ‘Dark or fair?’
    Chandler shook his head. ‘I couldn’t tell whether it was long or short, because the collar of his jacket hid most of the back of his head. I
think
his hair was fair, but it could have been grey. As I said, I only caught a glimpse.’
    â€˜You say he was bigger than the other man. In what sense, Doctor? Taller? Heavier?’
    The doctor thought for a moment. ‘Certainly taller, and quite a bit heavier, I’d say.’
    â€˜And the other man; what can you tell me about him?’
    â€˜Again, not much, I’m afraid. He wore a lighter-coloured jacket, a sort of faded blue, and the hood hid his head completely. And, like the other chap, his lower half was hidden by the car.’
    â€˜What can you tell me about the car?’
    Chandler grimaced and spread his hands in a gesture of apology. ‘I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to you there, either,’ he said. ‘My
impression
is that it was an older car; a bit larger than most you see on the roads today. Light-coloured, possibly grey. I don’t think it was white.’ He closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to picture the scene.
    â€˜I think they had only just arrived, because I remember seeing the second man – the smaller one of the two – having to push his way along between the side of the car and the hedge. But this other car was coming toward me, so my attention was on