Scandal at Six (Lois Meade Mystery) (4 page)

Six

A
lthough she would never have admitted it,
G
ran was feeling much less confident than she appeared to the others.
T
he new plan for her to spend a few nights in the flat required her to put a few necessaries in a bag, and suddenly the whole thing seemed too close.
F
ine, when they had first talked about it, but now, as she packed toothbrush and paste, a clean face flannel and a bar of her special lavender soap, she had a swift shiver of nervousness.
S
upposing an intruder did come back with another reptile, maybe one of those lizardy things, what would she do?

Well, she reassured herself, Matthew would be on to him before he got inside the shop. She must tell Josie that she had changed her mind, and would like him to be close by. Another thought struck her. It might be a woman playing these horrible tricks. Someone who worked at the zoo? The police would have talked to everyone on the staff there. But suppose they hadn’t spotted a girl with the opportunity to take out the animals at night? But that still didn’t solve the question of how she would have got into the storeroom, or why. Apart from Josie’s unlocked doors, of course!

She picked up her fluffy slippers, worn summer and winter, and put them into the bag. Whatever happened, Matthew would be there, and she would be safe. And if it helped Josie to feel more at ease in the shop, then it was worth a try, wasn’t it?

“Mum? Are you ready? I’ll give you a hand with your bag. Josie’ll be in the shop, and we can go straight up to the flat.” Lois stood at the foot of the stairs, calling up to her mother in a brisk voice. She wasn’t fooled by Gran. It was a big step for her to take, and she was bound to be a bit apprehensive.

“Here I am, ready and willing,” said Gran, appearing with a smile. “You can take this holdall, and then I’ve got one or two things to put in a plastic bag. We can be back here by midday, ready for me to prepare lunch.”

“So when are you going to do this big spring-cleaning job? Why don’t we have lunch first, and then I can come down with you and we’ll make up the bed and clean up together?”

Gran came down the stairs slowly, and handed her bag to Lois. “I’d prefer to go now, leave my stuff and see what’s to be done to make the flat habitable, then come back here, cook lunch and take cleaning things down this afternoon. That’s what I intended.”

“Right,” said Lois. She felt oddly bereft. It was like seeing someone off on a train, and she added that she would go with her mother to take her bag, and then put some dusters and polish and other stuff in her van, and they would go down again together after lunch. “If that’s what you want, Mum?” she asked.

“No need for you to come now,” Gran replied. “That bag’s not heavy, and Josie will open up the flat for me. I shall have a look round and then come back more or less straightaway. If you insist, then we’ll go together this afternoon.”

*

Gran arrived back in a short time, saying that Josie was busy, and they had decided she should wait until this afternoon to go up to the flat. Now she was beating eggs as if they had deeply offended her, preparing a mammoth omelette for lunch.

“Lots of dusters and Vim,” she shouted to Lois, who was in the small scullery, where she stored all the equipment needed for the New Brooms cleaners. She was collecting up items that Gran thought they would need. “I expect we’ll find mice nesting in the bath and spiders galore. Just as well I’m not scared of creepy crawlies,” she added.

By the time they drove down to the shop, laden with enough cleaning materials to shine up the entire village, most of the trade had gone, and Josie was sitting on the top step in the sun, waiting for them to arrive.

“I thought Gran would like to go up first, just to get used to the stairs an’ that, and we’ll make a start. I can help between customers. It’s usually pretty quiet until the school bus gets in. Then it’s like a madhouse for ten minutes or so, then peace until closing time.”

With Gran leading the way, they climbed the stairs, and with the key Josie had handed to her, she unlocked the door. It creaked loudly, and she had to push it firmly to open it. “There’s something the other side,” she said. “I can’t move it no further.”

“Let me have a go,” said Lois. “It’s probably a bit damp.” She pushed as hard as she could, and the door began to move.

“Heave-ho, my hearties!” said Gran, adding her weight to Lois’s final push. They half stumbled into the room, and Josie followed. She turned to look back to see what had blocked their efforts, and froze. Then she screamed, and ran swiftly out and down the stairs into the back garden.

“What on earth is she doing?” said Lois.

“Look,” said Gran. “Look behind the door.”

It was a very large grey rat, and its tail was trapped under the half-open door. If rats could snarl, it would have snarled at them. It was an animal at bay, faced with an unknown enemy, and it twisted and turned, making a hideous noise, trying to free itself.

“Oh my God!” said Lois. “What do we do now?”

“Catch it,” said Gran. “We’ll catch it and take it back for Derek to deal with. Now, what we need is a strong cardboard box and a flat piece of wood to slide under it. Quick as you can, Lois, before it gets free.”

Lois found a box and the necessary piece of flat board, and watched in amazement as her mother turned the box upside down over the rat. “Now shut the door slowly, so its tail is freed. I’ll keep it trapped.”

With a shaky hand, Lois did as she was told, and held her breath as Gran very carefully slid the board under the box. Then she lifted slowly and turned it the right way up, trapping the rat inside.

“You stay here and look after Josie and the shop, and I’ll take this up to Derek. I think he’s working at home this afternoon. I’ll be back here in two ticks. And no, Lois, I don’t need no help. Just stand at the bottom of the stairs and catch me when I fall . . .”

*

“The rat was just bad luck,” Lois said, as they all sat round the supper table. “Josie pulled herself together quickly, and we made cups of tea all round. Fortunately, nobody came into the shop until the school bus, and we were able to make a start. We made up the bed and switched on the electric blanket to air the mattress, and then we had a good clean all round, so at least that will be all right for Mum.”

“I can tackle the rest tomorrow,” Gran said cheerfully. “I’ll set traps, and them vermin will either meet a swift end, or turn tail and run. I’ll soon show them who’s boss in that flat.”

“We’ll wash up these supper things, Mum,” Derek said. “But first I shall see you down to the shop, and make sure you’re safely settled before I leave. Josie’s put supplies in the fridge for you, and we’ll get breakfast ready in time for you to come up and tell us how it’s gone overnight. Okay?”

“Fine,” said Gran. “Except that I shall let myself in here tomorrow morning and have breakfast on the go before you wake up. Old habits die hard, and I need to make an early start to my day.”

After Derek and Gran had gone, Lois went into her study to prepare for the following working day. She stood at the window, watching them walk down the road in the dim light to the shop. Her mother’s step was firm, and she had a hand through Derek’s arm. Tears came unbidden to Lois’s eyes. What a brave woman she was! Still able to cope with horrible rats, and determined to change her situation dramatically, when most women of her age would be thinking about warden-controlled flats and sheltered accommodation.

When Derek returned, Lois greeted him anxiously. “Was she all right? I mean,
really
all right?” she said.

He smiled. “Practically turned me out when I suggested helping her to sort out a few things. And I heard her lock the door as soon as I left. I made sure the storeroom was secure.”

“Was Matthew around?”

“Yep. At least, I think it was Matthew. Definitely a figure in a car parked down the road from the shop. Cowgill wouldn’t forget.”

“Right, then. Let’s watch a bit of telly. I can’t say I’m happy about all this. I really hope she decides to come back home tomorrow.”

Seven

T
rue to her word,
G
ran was back in the
M
eade
H
ouse kitchen at seven o’clock sharp.
L
ois came down in her dressing gown and asked anxiously if she had had a good night.

“Slept like a log,” Gran said. “I set my alarm, and when I remembered where I was, I shot straight out of bed to the window. It’s quite refreshing, you know, to wake to a different scene. There was not a soul about, and I was washed and dressed in no time. Had the street to myself when I walked up here. No sign of Matthew, but I expect he’d gone off duty once it got light.”

“So will you go back there again tonight? We missed you, you know.”

“Oh yes. I shall cook breakfast, clear away and generally tidy up, then I’ll be back to my flat by coffee time. Plenty there for me to do, and I shall hear life going on down below in the shop.”

Lois could see that the novelty of the whole exercise was giving a much-needed lift to her mother, and she went back upstairs to find consolation with Derek.

“It’s not that she’s that far away,” she said. “But she’s been with us, here, part of the family, for so long now, there’s a big gap. Still, I expect we’ll get used to it.”

“Give it time,” said Derek. “I reckon about two weeks should do it, then she’ll be back here in her own bed, ruling the roost over the rest of us chickens.”

*

Josie was serving a customer when Gran arrived back, her duties at Meade House completed.

“Sleep well, Gran?” she said.

“Yes, thank you, dear, and I shall be quite all right without Matthew keeping guard tonight. I’ve brought an old cricket bat with me, so woe betide any nighttime visitors!”

She disappeared up the stairs to the flat, and Josie heard tuneless whistling as Gran moved from room to room above. It was some time since Josie had lived up there herself, and she liked to hear sounds of occupation again.

“Good morning! Can you direct me to Waltonby? Satnav broken down.”

A tall, well-built man clad in casual clothes, a knotted cravat at his neck, smiled at her quizzically.

“Certainly,” said Josie, and gave him clear directions to the next village along from Long Farnden. “It’s only two or three miles. Can I get you anything while you’re here?” She looked more closely at him. He was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t pin it down.

“No, thanks, although I do have some small fliers for our travelling theatricals. I see you have a notice board. Could you put one up for me?”

“Of course. We charge a nominal sum of fifty pence per week. When is the show?”

“Well, we take it round several villages, and perform in their community halls. Altogether it covers quite a wide area. Very popular, I’m glad to say!”

Josie frowned. And through the window, she could see a neat little red Fiat 500.

“Is this what you do for a living, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Well, I shall never get rich!” He laughed. “I’m on my own, and I have an uncle in Tresham who’s always good for a free lunch. I get by pretty well. So here’s a couple of pounds. That should cover enough for the moment. I hope to call again—you’ve a really nice little shop here. Do you live up above?”

In true village-shopkeeper tradition, she failed to answer a direct question, and made a mental note to ask around her customers for further information. She looked at the leaflet left on the counter, and saw that the show was in fact a play.
The Black Hand Mystery
, she read, and below, a cast of names, none of which she recognised.

“Are you on this list?” she said.

“Justin Brookes, that’s me. A man of many parts!”

Josie smiled faintly, and something made her clam up. She wished him a good morning and watched him speed away in his little red car. Just like Noddy, she thought, but not from Toyland, she was sure of that.

*

The next customer was familiar. Gran’s friend Joan had come in for her weekly women’s magazine. “How are you today, dear?” she asked. “And is Elsie settling in above? Perhaps I can nip up to see her for a couple of minutes. Can’t stay long.”

“Of course,” Josie said, thinking that half the village would soon be in to see Gran in her new abode. “And by the way, Joan, do you know anything about a travelling theatre show, a play with actors? Here’s the details.” She handed the leaflet to Joan, who nodded.

“Yes, they do come round every so often. Usually very good. I think they like coming to small audiences. More intimate, like.”

“Where do they come from?”

“Oh, they come from all over. Actors get work where they can, I reckon. They usually get lodgings near to where they’re based. I expect this lot are to do with the repertory theatre in Tresham.”

“Very likely. This chap was very friendly. Fancy dresser. Well, I suppose that’s part of being in the theatre.”

“We’ll probably go to the show, Elsie and me. Why don’t you come too, Josie? They’re always worth seeing. Anyway, I’ll go up and see Elsie; then I must run. It’s the institute this afternoon, and I’m doing teas. Now, have you got any raspberry jam? I need it for my sponge cake. Remind me about the play.”

*

The Fiat gathered speed and flew up the long hill into Waltonby, its twin turbo engine making a sound more like a Ferrari as it zoomed to a halt outside the village pub. Justin Brookes got out with difficulty, unfolding his long legs as he stepped out onto the pavement. He stretched his arms above his head, took several deep breaths, and turned to go into the pub. Then he stopped. He had forgotten his fliers, and turned back.

The publican saw him, and smiled. It was the chap from the theatre lot. It’d be their play coming round again. “Mildred! It’s Justin Brookes! You know, the actor from the rep troupe. He’s always good for a free ticket. Come on through.”

Mildred came into the bar, wiping her wet hands. “Oh Justin,” she said. “Your usual?” She put a half of bitter in front of him, and smiled. “What’s this one about, then? Ooh,
The Black Hand Mystery
! Sounds good. We’ll go, shall we, me duck?”

Justin slid his beer money across the counter, together with a flier and a couple of tickets. “Next Monday,” he said. “Best day for you? Two for the price of one, as it’s my favourite pub. Like the car? Present from my uncle. Mind you, it means I don’t do much walking!”

“You’d do well to sell that snazzy little vehicle, and get yourself a bicycle,” said the publican. “Rushing round the countryside like a bat out of hell! We can hear you coming a mile off. No, only laughing. I reckon acting is quite a physical job? We shall look forward to the play.”

“You could be right about the cycling. But how could I part with the Fiat? She would be heartbroken, and give up the ghost. Her wheels would never move again!”

“Bollocks,” said publican Paul, and pushed a packet of crisps across the bar counter to Justin’s waiting hand.

*

“Did you notice his watch?” said Mildred, after they had seen Justin drive away with a roar.

Paul shook his head. “No, I was busy. Why?”

“Very expensive. A Rolex, I reckon. Family money, more than likely. Nice chap, though. Did you pay him for the tickets?”

“One,” said Paul. “And he paid me for the crisps.”