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?
“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?”
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