He left me at the garden gate and I went into the house alone, every bone aching. Dora had left food for me and a note saying the men had disposed of the corpses in the barn and scrubbed it out and that she was spending the night with the Halliwells. I ignored the food and poured a drink and settled on the sofa and that was where Helen found me a few hours later. I was halfway through a bottle of gin and she helped me with the rest. She had shown up with an armful of flowers from her garden and an apologetic grin. “I suppose you think I’m terrible,” she began. I held up the bottle. “No worse than the rest of us. Do you want bitters or tonic?” She sighed. “No. Straight-up is good enough for me. Shall I apologise formally, or are we all sorted?” “Oh, I think we’re sorted.” I had hoped that would be enough, but she went on. “Those parties, there’s nothing malicious in them, you know.
