The House Sitter by Peter Lovesey Read Free Book Online Page B

It could be quite long. I’ve never seen it loose.”
    “You knew she was off duty at the weekend?”
    “Naturally I knew. The doctors’ schedules are my responsibility. Her next surgery was this afternoon.”
    “And did she say how she planned to spend the weekend?”
    “Not to me personally, but she goes to the beach to relax sometimes. She’s mentioned it in the past.”
    “When did she join the team of doctors here?”
    “It must be two years now. Her first GP appointment. We were overstretched at the time. Normally I’d ease a new doctor in, specially a first-timer, but she was given a full list straight away and she coped brilliantly. You see, Dr Masood had died suddenly and Shiena had to step into his shoes. We unloaded a few of his patients to the other doctors, but basically she took over his list.”
    “Dr Masood? He was here before she came?”
    “Yes.”
    “And died suddenly?”
    “Killed in a motorway accident. A great shock to us all. You don’t really believe Shiena is this woman who was strangled, do you?”
    “We don’t know yet,” Stella said. “We found her car abandoned. That’s all.”
    “It would be too awful—another doctor dying.”
    “What can you tell me about her personal life?” Stella asked, leaving aside the possible implications of another dead doctor. “Is there a family?”
    “Not here, for sure. I think they lived abroad. She used to talk about Canada. Her people are over there if they’re anywhere.”
    “Any men in her life?”
    “Apart from two or three hundred patients? I couldn’t tell you. She isn’t very forthcoming about her life outside this place.”
    “Let’s talk about patients, then. I’m sure she must have had a few difficult characters on her books.”
    “What do you mean by difficult?” For a moment it seemed Stella had miscalculated and was about to be lectured on patient confidentiality.
    “Unstable personalities.”
    Mrs Bassington spread her hands and laughed. “They’re two a penny in Petersfield. It’s that sort of town.”
    “Anyone with a grudge against her?”
    “All the doctors have complainers, if that’s what you mean. People who think they’re not getting the treatment they deserve, or the miracle cure they read about in some magazine.”
    “Try and think, please. Someone angry enough to be a threat to Dr Wilkinson.”
    “A man?”
    “I’m asking you, Mrs Bassington.”
    After a significant pause, she said, “Is this strictly between you and me? I wouldn’t want him knowing I gave you his name.”
    “He won’t find out.”
    She took off her glasses and polished them with one of Dr Wilkinson’s tissues. “There’s a certain man I could mention—a very unpleasant person who treated his wife appallingly, beating her up a number of times. Dr Wilkinson saw the injuries after the latest episode and got her into a women’s refuge in Godalming. The wife is so scared of him she won’t report him to the police. He’s very angry with Dr Wilkinson for interfering in his marriage, as he puts it. He’s not her patient, but he was here twice last week demanding to see her.”
    “As recently as that?”
    “The second time he marched into her room when she was seeing another patient. She called for help and we had to fetch two of the male doctors to evict him.”
    “What’s his name?”
    “Littlewood. Rex Littlewood. People in the town know him well. It’s the drink. He gets very abusive.”
    “Did you see him yourself when he came in?”
    “The first time, yes. No appointment. He came in last Monday morning and told me he wanted to speak to Dr Wilkinson. He isn’t even registered here. He’s not the sort of man who’d go to a lady doctor. I could see straight away that he was out to make trouble. I told him she was fully booked—which she was—and suggested he tried later in the week. Usually people like him don’t bother again if you can put them off. I can be very firm with difficult men. He did leave, but