Evanly Bodies by Rhys Bowen Page B

and stroked back his unruly dark hair. "We all have our crosses to bear, don't we?"
    "I haven't even asked you about school recently, have I? Is that a cross to bear?"
    She sighed. "I'll get used to it, I expect. It's just that after twenty students in my own little village school, it's quite
     a shock to be in a great big, modern classroom. And everything regulated by the bell, and town kids are certainly different
     from village kids. We've got a mixture of races. Most of the teaching is in English not Welsh, and some of those kids are
     hopelessly behind in their reading and writing. I seem to spend all my time helping the stragglers and dealing with the problem
     kids, and the bright, well-behaved kids are left to fend for themselves. It doesn't seem fair, does it?"
    "You'll learn how to handle it. You're a brilliant teacher, Bron. I've watched you."
    "And you're a brilliant detective. We both need to assert ourselves before we're walked over." She yawned. "I don't know about
     you, but that extra hour on the bus just about does me in. I'm going to have to go to bed if I'm to catch that bus in the
     morning." She stood up, then took Evan's hand. "You're not going to let me get into that cold bed all alone, are you?"
    Evan needed no second urging.

Chapter 11
    The next morning dawned bleak and wet, with the wind snatching brown leaves from tree branches and sheep huddled miserably
     against the stone walls. The mountain peaks had been swallowed up into cloud that came down to the cottage itself. Bron-wen
     looked out of the window and sighed as the village below appeared and disappeared in the swirling mist. "Now I'm beginning
     to have serious second thoughts about this place," she said. "It's on days like this that I realize just how isolated we are
     up here."
    "Generations of shepherds survived perfectly well," Evan said.
    "Yes, but they didn't have to get down the hill to catch the bus, did they? If it goes on like this, I'll have to wear my
     anorak and hiking boots to school. There's no way I'd make it down that hill in ordinary shoes and not lose them in the mud."
    "I'll run you to school in the car," Evan said. "That way you can change out of your boots and look presentable when you get
     to school."
    "Are you sure it won't make you late? I don't want you to start off on the wrong foot with your dictator."
    "He wants us to meet at the Bangor Police Station at eight thirty. I can do that easily. Come on. We'll slither together."
    Hand in hand, they picked their way down the track, while the wind whipped at their raincoats and sheep scattered in alarm
     at the sight of them. By the time Evan arrived in Bangor, the storm had subsided to a steady, unrelenting rain. Evan had dried
     off and was making a cup of tea when the other officers came in, looking windblown and miserable.
    "God-awful weather," Bragg complained. "I forgot how much worse it gets the further west you go, but I expect you're used
     to it, aren't you, Evans."
    "Born with webbed feet, sir," Evan said.
    Wingate and Pritchard chuckled, and even Bragg managed a smile. "Right. I stopped by HQ on my way in, and they should have
     a forensics report for us by the end of the day. I hope they took all the pictures and casts they needed of the footprints
     because any evidence in that garden will be washed away by now."
    "So what's on the agenda for today?" Wingate asked.
    "We go back to the university and have another chat with those history professors," Bragg said. "We need to find one of them
     who is ready to dish the dirt. They were all far too polite and well mannered yesterday, didn't you think, Evans?"
    "Absolutely," Evan said. "I got the feeling they might have been ready to tell us a whole lot more if there had been more
     time to chat."
    It was the closest he could come to letting Bragg know that his rapid-fire approach might not always be the best. Bragg nodded.
    "Right, especially that Humphries woman. Evans, I'd like you to go back and speak to