Episode 9 - Peregrine

Friday cont. 

Dorothy phoned to say that Vera had arrived on time and they were at the cottage. What time should they come to dinner?

“Would seven suit you?“ said Cleo. “The little ones will be bed by then.”

“Can we come in time to help?”

“Sure. You’re always welcome, Dorothy, and I’m looking forward to seeing Vera again.”

“I’m sure the feeling is mutual, Cleo. Vera really liked Gary.”

Cleo tried not to take that as a bit of a snub. Older women were attracted to younger men, she mused.

***

Around four in the afternoon, Gary drove to Charlie’s school. Hockey practice was from four till five, so he would make his way to the sports field and watch for a while, before catching Miss Plimsoll’s attention and having a chat with her. He wanted to avoid things getting official. It looked as if he had come to collect the girls, he was sure.

Miss Plimsoll was screaming at the top of her voice alternately with blowing a whistle that would stop a train. It was freezing cold and the only way to keep warm was to jump up and down or run around, so Gary jogged up until Miss Plimsoll took notice of him and beckoned. Gary extended his jogging to where the woman was standing.

“Here to collect the girls, are you?” she said.

“Yes, but we could have a chat now I’m here, Miss Plimsoll.”

“I’ve told the other inspector everything,” she said.

“Do you mean a Mr Winter?”

“He was very persistent.”

“He usually is, and he’s not a policeman but a forensic scientist and a doctor” said Gary,

“He was definitely a policemen,” Miss Plimsoll protested. “He talked like one.”

“So you meant the other Winter. We have two at HQ.”

Gary decided that Greg had put on his officious voice in the presence of the belligerent sports teacher.

“You can ask me questions if you really are a policeman.”

“A chief inspector actually.Would you like to see my identity card?”

“That won’t be necessary,” the woman said stiffily before breaking off to give a blast on the whistle and shout at the girls not to run in slow motion and kleep both eyes on the ball.

***

“How well did you know that relative of yours, Miss Plimsoll?”

“He arrived out of the blue, Inspector. I let him stay the night because he had nowhere to go. Then he stayed on for a day or two.”

“Was he welcome?”

“Not really.”

“You did not mention Mr Plimsoll staying on to Mr Winter. It’s not in his report.”

“Perry’s dead now, so what does it matter?”

“Did he have money, or did he borrow some?” said Gary, thinking that if Miss Plimsoll knew his shortened name, she must know him more than slightly.

“He borrowed my car, didn’t he?”

“Did he ask you first?”

“He did the first time.“

“Did he make any phone-calls?”

“He has a mobile phone, Inspector. Everyone has one these days.”

“Do you?”

“Well, to be exact … no.”

“Peregrine Plimsoll had a criminal record, Miss Plimsoll.”

“I expect he did, like his criminal parents, Inspector. I don’t want to talk about them.”

“But you are related.”

“I am ashamed of having such a dissolute brother. I like to think of those relations in particular as distant, but Perry thought it was close enough to come and sponge on me.”

“You called him Perry, so he wasn’t as unfamiliar to you as you would like me to think, and he was your brother’s son.”

“I’ve told you that I don’t want to talk about them, especially my brother.”

To Gary’s surprise, the sports teacher became sentimental.

“He killed the only man I have ever loved,” she said.

“You’d better tell me that story,” said Gary.

“He pushed him into a pond, Inspector, and he got off scot free.”

“It’s never too late to punish a murderer, Miss Plimsoll.”

“My brother has Alzheimer. He can’t be indicted, can he?”

“That really depends on his present state of mind, Miss Plimsoll. Is your nephew a murderer, too?"

"It wouldn't surprise me, Inspector."

 "I hope you are only indulging in a little fabrication, Miss Plimsoll," said Gary. It was good as calling her a liar, but she went down a different track.

“The thing is that if he’s dead, Inspector, it's of no consequence, is it?”

“No. He was killed in that car crash. He was thrown out of the car and died of head injuries.”

“One of those who don’t agree with seat-belts, I dare say.”

“You cannot be blamed for what happened even if it was your car. You’ll just have to live with it,” said Gary, who was trying not to lose his temper.

***

Miss Plimsoll clearly suspected that her lover had been murdered by her brother and that her nephew had taken after him. She despised both of them.

***

“My brother absconded after the murder of my soulmate,” she said. “If Perry had survived, I expect he would have run away, too.”

“But he was the one who died, so he couldn’t, could he?.”

“Pah!”

Miss Plimsoll’s opinion of her relatives was definitely at rock bottom. The woman was truly awful. She seemed to be lacking even the faintest sensibility.

“But we know where he is now,“ said Gary. “He was wrapped round a tree and we found his identity from a letter in his pocket. His wallet was missing, presumably stolen by the friend who drove him to his death.”

Miss Plimsoll did not even react to that rather crude description.

“I’ve lived for thirty years without the wonderful man my brother killed,” said Miss Plimsoll, carried away by the drama in her life. “What has happened to Perry now was nemesis. And I don’t know where he had been before he came to my cottage, Inspector, in case you are wondering.”

“But your brother is still alive, isn’t he?”

“I expect he is if he hasn’t rotted in hell in the meantime for what he did.”

The woman’s atred was written all over her face as she commanded the girls to go to the changing rooms when they had run about for five more minutes.

“Let’s continue this conversation this at HQ, shall we?” said Gary, who did not relish turn-ups for the books and felt much more confident on home ground. A hockey pitch is not the place to discuss murder. There would be a record of the case somewhere. He would put Nigel and Colin Peck onto it. Between them they could search though the records and if there was a case to answer, they would answer it..

"Do you remember when your lover was killed, Miss Plimsoll?"

"On the first of August thirty long years ago," said the woman. Gary made a mental note. That narrowed the field down considerably.

“When you come to HQ, it could be to officially identify your nephew,” said Gary. "That would be a a good enough excuse for your school, I presume."

“All right, if I have to, but excuse me one minute.”

Miss Plimsoll marched to the edge of the hockey pitch and screamed at the girls to stack the sticks and then do an extra round of the running track at top speed. They could then collect their hockey sticks and clean them up, clean themselves up in the changing room and go home.

Gary got the message. The interview was over. He wasn’t sorry. His feet were like ice-blocks. Then something else occurred to him that could not wait another day.

“Do you have any idea with whom your nephew associated, Miss Plimsoll?" Gary said. That topic had not been mentioned. "His comrade is still missing.”

“I’ll look through Perry's things, Inspector. He left a sports bag here. There might be a phone number or an address. I’m surprised that your forensic snoopers haven’t looked in yet.”

“Did you tell them you had some of Perry's possessions?”

“I did not think it was their business.”

“Well, there’s no hurry, is there?” said Gary. “Your nephew won’t be going anywhere, will he?”

“What about his friend?" said Miss Plimsoll. "Am I in danger?”

“I shouldn’t think so. I don’t suppose the missing friend stuck around after filling your car with stolen goods and driving it into a tree.”

“Thieving rascal!”

“You don’t seem at all sorry about your nephew’s tragedy, Miss Plimsoll.”

“Should I be?” said Miss Plimsoll.

“I can't answer that for you. Please call the girls in now,” said Gary.“ They’ve run far enough and my feet won’t take any more of this wet grass.”

“You should wear suitable shoes, Inspector.”

“These are suitable for offices and pavements,” said Gary.

“You could keep wellies in the boot of your car.”

“I think I’ll have to for next time,” said Gary.

“If there is a next time, Inspector,” said Miss Plimsoll somewhat cryptically.

“Keep me informed if there’s anything else you would like to tell me,” said Gary. “That will save me coming here, and we’ll talk about that renegade brother of yours very soon, probably on Monday morning,”

“I’m teaching.”

“I could have you collected in a squad car, Miss Plimsoll, if you prefer your pupils to see you being driven off to HQ.”

“I’ll be there.”

“At ten?”

“At ten.”

“You won’t need time off from school then, will you?”

“I would take time off if I had to,” she retorted.

“So you would.”

Despite Miss Plimsoll’s haughty reply, Gary felt as if he had achieved a victory.

Miss Plimsoll blew a piercing sound on her whistle, beckoned at the girls to come and collect their hockey sticks, and nodded briefly to Gary.

As the girls herded round the hockey-sticks, Miss Plimsoll drew back and turned tail.

***

“What a nice surprise, Daddy,” Charlie exclaimed when the hugs were over. “We’ve got to get changed. Can you wait in the car?”

“Of course.”

“Where is it? “

“On the teachers’ parking lot.”

“Is that allowed now, Daddy? Normally, parents get told off if they don’t park on the visitors’ field.”

“I’m not just a normal parent. I’m a cop,” said Gary. “Please hurry up. My feet are frozen.”

“Do you want to arrest Miss Plimsoll, Daddy? If so, I’ll run after her and bring her back.”

“No need, Charlie. I’ll explain later.”

“You should have run round the track with us to keep warm, Gary,” said Lottie.

“He couldn’t do that,” said Charlie. “He was picking Miss Plimsoll’s brains.”

“Talking to her, Charlie.”

“She’s addled, Daddy.”

“I’ll go along with that. She is rather unpleasant.”

“I won’t tell on you for saying that,” said Charlie, “but Mummy would not like you to be nasty about our teachers.”

“Then it will be our secret, Ladies!”

***

Cleo was quite glad to have a little time with Grit, Toni, the babies and PeggySue before Gary arrived with the two girls and things got boisterous. Grit went home for a short siesta before getting the mixed grill going. Roger would come straight from HQ, she hoped, if his meeting ended in time for him to take over the electric grill he had bought them all pre-Christmas.

Round about six, Vera and Dorothy arrived, hugs were exchanged and the two sisters, Charlie and Lottie set about getting Teddy and Tommy fed and bathed while Gary played happily with PeggySue and her set of Russian dolls, a guaranteed source of absorption for both of them. Grit and Roger took over the kitchen while Cleo fed Max and Mathilda, who were fortunately drowsy and likely to sleep all night, or so she hoped.

At seven, dinner was pronounced as good as ready, Lottie fetched her father and Barbara from next door. The cottage tradition of self-service in the kitchen was honoured in grand style for the second time that week.

***

Gary’s intention of having a chat with Vera was also honoured, but not quite as he had planned, since Roger was unhappy with the idea that Vera was going into what he described as a wasps’ nest.

“Do you know something we don’t know, Roger?” Cleo asked.

“It might be a size too big for the Hartley Agency,” he said.

“I’ll keep track of things,” said Gary. “These ladies are determined to find out what goes on there, Roger. Have you ever tried to stop ladies from doing something if they are really determined?”

“I hope that was a rhetorical question,” laughed Roger, looking at Grit. She would not need to stoop to conquer, he mused thankfully. His first wife had stooped so far that she was now serving a life sentence for homicide.

“That’s not fair,” said Cleo looking sharply at Gary. “You gave me the impression that you were in favour of our plan.”

“I am in favour … I suppose.”

There was no mistaking the reluctance in Gary’s voice.

“Oh brother mine!” said Joe theatrically. “We don’t believe you.”

“Well, I must admit that I have my doubts,” said Gary.

“But if we back out now it will be suspicious, won’t it?” said Vera.

“I think so, too,” said Dorothy. “I made up such a long story about why Vera is going there that if she doesn’t go I’ll have to do a lot of explaining.”

“I think I repeated most of what Dorothy had to say, though to be honest, I think Mrs Peel was more interested in the extra cash than any reason for going to stay there.”

“You’d better brief us on your story then,” said Dorothy.

“You should not tell fairytales,” said Gary.

“How else could Vera going there be explained if not with a convenient white lie? If you don’t approve, you should not let me free-wheel,” said Cleo.

“What’s a free wheel, Daddy,” said Charlie.

“Free-wheeling is when someone goes his or her own sweet way, Sweetheart,” said Gary.

“Did you go your own sweet way, Mummy?” Charlie persisted.

“Not really, Charlie. Your Daddy approved and now he seems to have changed his mind.”

“My Daddy never changes his mind,” said Lottie.

“I have been known to,” said Joe. “But since Vera’s visit will probably end in a lead story for Cop’s Corner, I am not going to discourage her.”

“What exactly do you want to find out, Gary?” Vera asked.

“I’ll let Cleo explain,” said Gary. “It’s the Hartley Agency baby.”

“OK,” said Cleo. “I expect Dorothy has already told you about Formby and the wine cellar and the pickled corpse of the manager…”

“Pickled?” said Charlie, who was fascinated by what grownups got up to.

“He was drowned in a wine tank,” said Gary, anxious to be truthful even if it did sound like something out of a Grim’s fairytale.

“Awesome,” said Charlie.

“But I don’t give the instructions,” said Dorothy. “You will have to tell Vera the details, Cleo.”

“To put it simply, we need to know more about the behaviour of those two characters, Formby and Barclay. from the residents’ point of view and we can’t do that by asking straight questions because it’s on the cards that people will either not remember andr make things up as they go along, or remember and not want to tell. But both are murder victims. In Formby’s case I’m almost certain how it happened, but in Barclay’s case, we have no fixed idea, do we Gary?”

***

Gary loved to watch Cleo when she was in her bossy element. Their first clandestine date had been like that. Out of the blue she taken the initiative and bowled over a reticent guy who was all set to take things gently. Later she said it was totally out of character for her, but she had never had a lover before and it was rather a nice experience. He had reacted to her apology by telling her he was going to marry her one day and bought her 28 roses – or was it 29?

***

“Do we what?” he said now.

“You were not listening, Gary!”

“OK,” said Vera. “So I’ll just chat to people, shall I?”

“That’s the idea. Don’t ask questions unless provoked to do so by something someone else says. That way, you are only reacting and will not be suspected of anything,“ said Cleo.

“It’s basically old-fashioned eavesdropping, isn’t it?” said Vera.

“In a good cause,” said Gary, who had recovered from his reverie. Cleo had smiled at him as though she knew what he had been thinking.

“How long will I have to be there?”

“Not longer than it takes, Vera,” said Cleo. “We’ll pull you out as soon as we have something tangible to go on. I’m sure  people will be glad to talk to you about their suspicions.”

“Another reason for pulling you out is if you appear to be in any danger,” said Gary. “In the unlikely case of that happening you can call me any time of the day or night personally on my private cell phone. I’ll give you the number. Then you call will not get to HQ and possibly be tapped into. “

“Wow,” said Vera.

“You can call me at any time, too, Vera, if you think you might have hit on something.”

“How can I protect myself if I don’t know what the danger is?”

“You could start by locking your bedroom door at night,” said Gary. “The doors on these old buildings have old-fashioned keys .I’ll give you a lock to insert into the key-hole.”

Gary fetched one out of his briefcase.

“This one, for instance. You can see that it’s a barrel with yale keys. No one but you will have one, so no one can get into your room while you are asleep or whenever you don’t want to be disturbed. When the lock is not in the keyhole you must carry it around with you.”

“That’s brilliant,” said Dorothy. “I’ll rest easier with that knowledge.”

“So will I. I’m quite glad that I did not know what I was letting myself in for,” said Vera. “So how will you get me out without a fuss?”

“You’ll make up a story about getting a phone-call and having to break off your holiday.”

“You‘ve thought of everything, you guys!” said Vera.

“They have, haven’t they?” said Dorothy. She was relieved that it was all going to make sense. She had not thought it would.

“You are just a harmless respite guest, Vera. Keep that in mind!” said Cleo. “More coffee, anyone?”