Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came by MC Beaton Page A

towards the river.’
    ‘That’ll do fine.’
    ‘I’ll get my jacket.’
    He closed the door. ‘Seems a nice enough fellow,’ said John.
    ‘Shhh!’ said Agatha.
    ‘Why can’t I come, too?’ demanded a shrill female voice. Harry McCoy mumbled something in return and then the door opened. His face was red with embarrassment.
    They walked along the road together until they came to a café, the kind that sold light snacks. They took a table at the window. Outside, the river Avon slid along on its green-black way. A launch cruised past, sending waves of water to either bank.
    ‘I’m surprised this place is still open,’ said Agatha. ‘I thought it would have been flooded out.’
    ‘It came right up to the doors,’ said Harry. ‘Mrs Joyce, that’s her behind the counter, who owns the place, had piles of sandbags at the front. Also the café’s higher up on a sort of mound than the houses on either side. They got the worst of it.’
    John returned from the counter, where he had gone to fetch cups of coffee.
    Agatha started by asking him questions about how young people amused themselves. Harry said sometimes they went up to Birmingham, a few of them sharing a car and taking turns at staying sober.
    ‘And what about Hollywood Nights, the disco?’
    ‘I wouldn’t be seen dead there,’ said Harry. ‘Lot of layabouts.’
    ‘You were engaged to Kylie?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What went wrong with the engagement?’
    ‘Zak’s what went wrong,’ said Harry moodily. ‘Have you seen that car of his?’
    Agatha shook her head.
    ‘It’s a Jag. It turned her head. He took to waiting outside Barrington’s for her when she finished work and offering her a lift home. Phyllis Heger, she was engaged to Zak at the time, had told him Kylie was a virgin, and he said something like he would soon see to that. I tried to warn her. I couldn’t believe it when she broke off her engagement to me and became engaged to him.’
    ‘I thought Phyllis would be here any moment,’ said Agatha.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘That was her with you this morning. I recognized her voice.’
    ‘I told her we were going to Butler’s in the High Street,’ said Harry and flushed under Agatha’s curious gaze.
    ‘And are you and Phyllis an item?’
    He flushed again. ‘Naw. Phyllis is . . . Well, she’s just a girl. Not the kind you get serious about.’
    ‘So was Kylie really in love with Zak?’
    ‘I don’t think so. I don’t think she could see beyond the wedding. Zak’s father insisted on paying for a grand wedding. And they were going to spend their honeymoon in the Maldives. Kylie had never been abroad before, never been on an aeroplane, never even been up to London. She couldn’t talk about anything else.’
    ‘Bit insensitive of her to talk about it to you.’
    ‘She talked to the other girls in the office and they told me.’
    ‘Who lives upstairs from you?’ asked John, speaking for the first time.
    ‘Marilyn Josh.’
    Agatha consulted her notes. ‘She works at Barrington’s?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    Was it Marilyn who had seen her the other night and alerted whoever it was who had tried to run her down? wondered Agatha.
    ‘We might have a word with her afterwards,’ said John. ‘Is she away? She didn’t answer the doorbell.’
    ‘She sleeps late on Sunday mornings and nothing usually wakes her.’
    ‘So,’ pursued Agatha, ‘what kind of girl was Kylie?’
    ‘She was lovely to look at. I mean, you see girls like that on the telly,’ said Harry, ‘but you never expect to see one like that here. I couldn’t believe my luck when she agreed to be my fiancée. Mind you, I was a bit worried I’d got her on the rebound.’
    John and Agatha exchanged glances.
    ‘Who was she rebounding from?’ asked John.
    ‘Mr Barrington.’
    ‘What? The owner of Barrington’s.’
    ‘Him. Yes.’
    ‘Wait a bit. He can’t be a young man, surely, to own a firm like that.’
    Harry scowled. ‘He’s a dirty old man, nearly