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Keywords: Hell, To, Fury, Hath,

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It could be my girls had been sworn to keep the secret from me, but Thelma might not of stipulated other people.

When I told Sara, she sat and thought for a while. Then she said, "Do you think that Thelma's...?"

"I don't know what to think, Sara. But I don't like my family keeping secrets from me."

"Is that why you hated Ginny and me when we were little? We never let on to you about anything."

"It could be. But I'm definitely not standing for my wife keeping secrets from me. Especially where men are concerned."

"I don't blame you, Thelma is a beautiful woman. I never could understand how you captured her."

"Well, the point is, Sara, I didn't capture Thelma; it was her who chased after me."

"Well, she had good taste, I'll give her that. Anyway what are you after? Do you want me to ask the girls about this Frank for you?"

"I thought they might open up to you. I definitely heard Helen say that their mother had made them promise not to tell me about him. Now they might think their not breaking her trust if they tell you."

"Leave it with me and I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks, Sis, but try not to make a big thing about it and put them on their guard."

The following morning I left Sara with the children and went into work. In the afternoon I visited Thelma in the hospital and she told me that Sara had been in with the girls for about an hour earlier in the day.

I don't know what made me do it, but I asked Thelma if there was anything she wanted to tell me. I think I confused her; at least she didn't understand what I was asking her, because all she came up with was a list of unpaid bills and things that needed doing at home.

That night after Sara had put the children to bed, she sat me down at the kitchen table and fixed me with a stern look.

"Well, I don't know who the hell this Frank guy is, but I think you need to find out what the bloody hell is going on."

"You asked the girls about him then. What did they say?"

"Don't be daft. I set Marcel on the problem. I thought the girls wouldn't identify her as an adult and - oh, well, you know how kids think. Anyway about this man Frank. Apparently Thelma and him used to talk to each other outside the school whilst Thelma was waiting for the girls to come out.

"From what the girl's understand, he's divorced and his children supposed to go to their school. They say it's the only chance he gets to see them, as he doesn't live with his wife. From what I could make of it she's supposed to have custody and he claims she makes it difficult for him to see them, so he's supposed to be watching them in the school playground."

"But why hide that from me?"

"Marcy is no fool; she tackled that question as well. According to the girls, this Frank's wife is supposed to work at your firm and the story is that you might tell her he's watching the children at the school."

"Oh, I see. Well, I suppose that does explain it. But surely Thelma doesn't think I would grass the guy up to his wife."

"Bullshit, that stupid story doesn't hold water at all. Think about it. If this Frank was at the school when the kids came out, then why wouldn't his so-called ex-wife see him there? And when I sent Marcy back with a few more questions, I really got worried. Neither of your girls has any idea who this Frank's blokes children are. Come on, it's a small school. That doesn't make sense.

"On top of that, apparently sometimes when Thelma takes the girls to the playground in the park after school, Frank is there as well. And what really tops things off, he has been at the park during the school holidays and he has been with Thelma and the girls in the shopping centre on more than one occasion. He buys the children ice cream, sweets and hamburgers.

"Little brother, you've got a serious problem and you've got to get to the bottom of it pretty quick. It could be that Thelma was planing on meeting this Frank the other day when she had her fall. Perhaps that's why he called here that day to ask her why she had never showed."

"Do you think that they are having an affair then?"

"How the hell do I know what to think? But I'll tell you, something very fishy is going on and we've got to find out what it is."

"I'm glad you said we, because I'm beginning to lose the plot here."

"Well, don't go going half cocked. There might be an innocent explanation for it that we can't see yet. But to be honest I doubt it. Now think back, brother. Can you think of anything that Thelma has said or done in the last few months that might be significant? Anything out of place or different than usual?"

"Well, not anything that Thelma has done but a strange thing happened the other week." I went on to tell Sara about being followed and the two girls, what I can only describe as trying to pick me up in the pub. Sara couldn't make head nor tail of that either.

The next day went the same as the day before. Thelma's ankle was beginning to show signs that the swelling was going down and the nurses told me that all was going well, and she should be home by the weekend.

That night after the children were in bed again, Sara, who had been showing signs of being on tenterhooks since I arrived in the house, couldn't wait to get me alone.

"What colour was the car that followed you?" she asked the moment the kitchen door was closed.

"It was a maroon Ford Granada. Why?"

"Close enough, the girls called it dark red. I think it was this Frank who followed you. And I've got some bad news. Marcy says she thinks the girls have been inside it. They describe the inside of it in detail to her. You know they said how big it was and how soft the seats were. Oh and the child locks were on so they couldn't open the doors from the inside. Kids would only notice a thing like that if they've been inside the car."

"I agree with you there. Look, I called in a favour today and rang Bill Wilkins. He's got some friends in the police and he's trying to get the names and addresses from the numbers of those cars that followed me."

"Good idea, bro. I think you owe Marcy a big favour for all the pumping she's been doing on the girls."

"Yes, I know. I'm lucky she's as devious as her mother."

"I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or not?" Sara replied with a smile on her face.

++++++++++

Friday morning Bill Wilkins called me at the office quite early. He told me that the Granada belonged to a one Frank Williams who was well known to the police. The other two cars had been hired from a cheap car hire company. Strangely one of them hadn't been returned and the hirer, a man had used false documents to hire both vehicles.

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Keywords: Hell, To, Fury, Hath,