Dark Undertakings Read Online Free Page B

do.’
    David uncurled his leg, and stretched his arms over his head. ‘You’ve certainly put us in the picture,’ he said, with a jarring grin. ‘Told us a bit more than we wanted to hear, to be honest. Now do I get a go?’
    His mother and brother gave identical wary nods, but he needed no encouragement. ‘I just thought you might wonder how it was for me, things being as they are. In case you’ve forgotten, the last time I saw Dad was on Friday. I’m sure he told you about it?’ he demanded ofMonica. She shook her head wordlessly.
    ‘Then I’d better tell you, before Jodie does. I went to the printworks, to ask him one last time if he’d give me a job there. I’m sick of greasy car engines and their stupid owners. I told him he owed it to me. I pleaded with him. And you know what he did? He laughed at me. Told me, in front of everybody, that I’d make a useless printer. Told me to stick with cars and think myself lucky.’
    ‘Oh, Davy,’ Monica moaned. ‘He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t have given you a job, just like that, anyway. He doesn’t own the place.’
    ‘Don’t give me that,’ he snarled. ‘They’d have taken me on, if he said so. That’s not the point, though, is it? The point is, how do you think I feel after that ?’
    ‘But you didn’t kill him, did you?’ said Philip, calmly. ‘You’ve got nothing to feel guilty about.’
    David stared wildly at his brother, running his fingers through his tangled hair. ‘You’re a fool, aren’t you,’ he said, in some surprise. ‘You don’t understand anything. Well, stick around, brother, because there’s a lot more of this to come.’
    ‘Stop it, David,’ Monica said sharply. ‘That’s enough.’
    A silence fell, broken only by the rustling of David’s jerky fidgetings on the pouffe. FinallyMonica spoke. ‘There isn’t anything we can do now. I have to collect the medical certificate from the doctor, and go to the Town Hall tomorrow morning to register the death. It’s all settled. It was a heart attack. It couldn’t have been anything else. The death certificate will say that, and that’s what we’ll tell everyone.’
    Philip was suddenly unsure. ‘You sound as if we’re keeping something secret.’
    Monica banged the flat of her hand down firmly on the seat beside her. ‘It’s the truth .’
    Philip sat forward again. ‘I should come with you. Only—’
    ‘Oh, no, that’s all right,’ she reassured him. ‘I know how busy you are. I might ask Pauline to come with me, if I feel like taking someone. There’ll be plenty of other things for you two to do.’
    Philip stood up again. ‘I was only talking to him on Sunday,’ he said wonderingly. ‘He had all sorts of plans for the garden, once he’d got the new trellis the way he wanted it.’
    ‘He was always the same in September,’ said Monica. ‘As if he had to have something to look forward to next spring. Every year we’ve been here, he’s started something new in the autumn.’
    David snorted, and Monica watched him carefully as he stumbled to his feet. Knowingalready that the coming days would be shot through with David’s tangled needs and emotions, she wondered how she would ever manage. But she forced herself to reassure them both as best she could, addressing the space between them, from age-old habit.
    ‘Darlings, these things happen. You know they do. And nobody ever thinks it’s going to be them. I like to think he enjoyed his last day. Things were going well at work, and he saw his friends last night. At least, I suppose he did. I can’t be completely sure where he went – you know how it was with us—’ Delicately, she stopped. It had been an iron rule with her and Jim not to allow any of their marital idiosyncrasies to impinge on their sons. ‘I think he went to see Jack – you know, from the works. He’s got a new computer game, and Jim’s got hooked on it. Something about mist. They play it together. Sounds childish to me, but then