by Diane Ezzard
“Would you like me to take a look?”
“It’s driving me insane. I’ve been wading through everything and it doesn’t add up. There has been money going out each month, eating away at his pension fund. I’m not talking about hundreds, but thousands.”
“That seems odd.”
“That’s what I thought. Unfortunately, the bank can’t help me until probate comes through, but they said there is nothing in the savings account. The last I knew there was at least twenty thousand. Where has it all gone?”
“I don’t know but a fresh pair of eyes may be what is needed, and I promise you my lips are sealed. This is between you and me. I won’t divulge anything you have told me to anyone.” Dotty had her fingers crossed behind her back. That promise didn’t include her two best friends who she classed as exempt from any confidentiality clause, spoken or otherwise.
Dotty had enough trouble sorting out her own finances never mind a complete stranger’s. The two women sat together for two hours pouring over Nigel’s accounts.
“There seem to be two separate regular payments going out that you can’t figure out what they were for. Is that correct?” Dotty felt she would have done better had Judith not been there. All she seemed to do was confuse things.
“If you say so.” Judith sighed. She was tired of this now and if she weren’t careful, she’d be having nightmares with all these figures jumping out at her.
“Yes, there are some large payments to the White Brethren Society and £1000 each month to Stargazer Enterprises. Was Nigel a keen astronomer?”
“No, not at all.”
“It’s a shame you say the police have impounded his laptop. That may have thrown some light on to what these payments were for.”
“It’s all very strange.” Judith shook her head.
Chapter 19
“You better come over and see this.” Kylie sat in the café chatting to Dotty and Rachel. She had Chris on loudspeaker.
“What is it, Uncle Chris?”
“She’s home and this story surpasses any of her past escapades. You won’t believe it.”
“Come on girls, grab your coats and finish your drinks. Auntie Flo has surfaced. We’ll go and see her.”
The sight that greeted them when they arrived at Chris and Flo’s place was of a dishevelled forlorn-looking woman. Her sheepish expression did nothing to ward off Chris’s anger at her tales of woe.
“Where’ve you been? We’ve been worried sick about you.” Kylie hugged her auntie.
“Believe me, this story takes the biscuit.” Chris shook his head and folded his arms. The girls sat down and waited for Flo to begin. She looked down at the carpet as Chris spoke. “It’s a wonder she didn’t make the national news. She’s made a mockery out of national security.” Chris’s mouth thinned.
“Why what has she done?” Kylie looked at her uncle.
“Tell them. Go on, tell them what you did.” Chris raised his hand, beckoning his wife. His tone was the same as if he were speaking to a small child. Flo’s head stayed lowered.
“I’ve been to France,” she whispered.
“Where?” Dotty and Kylie chorused.
“I was in France, so I didn’t realise anyone was looking for me.”
“France?” Kylie repeated. “I don’t understand. How did you get to France? Uncle Chris said your passport was still here.” Kylie’s hands were on her hips. This would take some explaining.
“It’s all very hazy. I can’t remember how I got there.”
“What, you woke up one morning, and you were in France?” Kylie pulled a face in disbelief.
“Well yes, I came to in a farmhouse in Lille.” Flo wanted everyone to go away and leave her alone.
“How did you manage that?” Dotty found this very amusing but tried not to show any emotion. Why would someone go on a trip to France then not be excited and want to talk about it?
“So, come on, you didn’t get there on a magic carpet. What happened?” Kylie got more irritated by her auntie’s evasion by the minute. Poor Uncle Chris didn’t like confrontation, and he stood hovering over the women who sat on the sofa. He kept changing feet, leaning from one side to the other, then he bit his fingernails. He looked embarrassed, knowing what was to come.
“I’d been in the King’s Head and I had a few too many. My mate, Victor from the bowls club was there, and he told me he was going down in his car that night to Dover, doing a booze run. I thought it would be fun to go along for the ride with him and his mate, Charles. I didn’t think about my passport. They never stopped talking on the journey. Worse than women, they were. You should have heard them going on about Brexit, the weather, football, you name it. I got bored and fell asleep in the back of the car. Apparently, they threw a coat over me. I think they forgot I was there if I’m honest. So, when they went through Customs, the officers never noticed me. The following day, I woke up in a farmhouse. The place belonged to a friend of Victor’s, Pierre. He lived there with his two sons, Henri and Davide. Their home was a right mess. They told me their mother walked out on them, so I stayed and tidied up. By lunchtime, they had brought the wine out, and we all started drinking again. My phone died, so I had no way of contacting anyone. We had to do the courteous thing and stay to sample more of the wine. That drinking session lasted a few days. I’m sorry if you were all worried.” Flo’s voice was hoarse thanks to too much booze. She kept quiet about her aching head. She hadn’t changed her clothes in days and couldn’t wait to get in the bath and wash away her troubles. She felt like a street tramp.
“Well, it sounds like you’ve made a mockery of our country’s security system.” Kylie’s voice was raised now. She was angry with herself as much as Flo for all the sleepless nights she had, worrying about her auntie. All that time, Auntie Flo was having the time of her life drinking French wine, getting sozzled.
“How did they let you back in the country without a passport?” Dotty asked.
“Apparently, they’ve launched a major investigation at the port how it could have happened. Border protection had seemingly been tightened up, but I slunk into France unannounced. The customs officers interviewed me for eight hours. It wasn’t pleasant.” If Flo wanted sympathy, then she had come to the wrong place. This group of vultures wouldn’t show her any mercy. They’d been too worried, Kylie especially, thinking she was dead in an alley somewhere.
“When will you grow up, Auntie Flo?” Kylie confronted Flo with all the questions Chris should have asked but was too fearful of losing his wife to say anything. Instead, he sat down in the corner and let his anger stew.
“I never meant to worry anyone. I’m sorry. This whole business over Nigel Hastings has got to me. Because I mentioned at one point that I wanted to kill him, the police think I had something to do with it. It has all been very stressful. None of you understands.” Flo looked close to tears.
“It’s no reason to run off and not get in touch.”
“I’ve been through a terrible ordeal. How would you like it if the police spent forever interviewing you? All I did was get a lift into their miserable country. It’s not as though I pinched any garlic or onions or their beastly frog’s legs. I won’t be going back in a hurry I can tell you.” Flo’s mouth went down at the edges.
“Your breach of security is the least of your worries. You realise that by absconding, it makes the police even more suspicious. You are probably their prime suspect in Nigel’s murder now. It’s a wonder your picture wasn’t shown on Crimewatch as public enemy number one. You’ve not helped yourself by disappearing.”
“How would you like it, being accused of something when you’ve done nothing wrong?” Flo looked at the others to see if anyone showed any signs of being on her side. She was met with blank stares of indifference mixed with anger. “It’s alright for you lot, sat in your comfy homes while I didn’t even have a toothbrush.” Flo was not going the right way about winning over any of her audience. Kylie flexed the muscles in her fingers as though she was getting ready to
pounce. Her hand crunched in a ball. She made the bones crack. Dotty and Rachel watched their friend. They could almost see her blood physically rising.
“What, no toothbrush, you poor thing! You’ll have to take one out with you next time you do a runner. That will make you happier and ease your conscience.” Kylie couldn’t help herself from being sarcastic. She was so annoyed. “I’d do something about removing all those marijuana plants if I were you. The police will be knocking on your door soon to interview you. I don’t want to be trailing up to Holloway prison in London to visit you.” Flo had expected her family to be more supportive. Instead, they gave her a hard time. She whimpered.
Kylie got herself so worked up over her auntie’s behaviour that she couldn’t bear to look her in the eye any longer. Uncle Chris bit his lip. He looked at the state of his wife. She looked dreadful anyway but Kylie’s comments caused the tears to pour out. Flo’s face turned red and blotchy. Kylie was in no mood to express any sympathy for her auntie even with all her remorse. If she didn’t leave soon, she knew she would need restraining to be stopped from attacking her. Getting up, she stormed out of the house, leaving Dotty and Rachel trailing after her. The front door opened, and Flo’s wailing could be heard in the background.
“What an idiot she is,” Kylie said as she climbed into Rachel’s car and they drove off.
Chapter 20
Dotty had another date arranged with Wayne. For all he was an over-sensitive soul, he seemed keen, so she decided she would ignore his recent moodiness and give him the benefit of the doubt. He had invited her over to his place for a meal. He offered to pick her up, but she insisted on driving. She wanted to be in control. That way she could leave when she wanted. Plus, if he were cooking, he would be too busy to give her a lift.
His aftershave smelt divine and she blinked at the sight of him in a blue T-shirt. His muscles squeezed out of the sleeves. She imagined him as a white version of the Incredible Hulk and that his top would ping apart any moment.
“You look nice,” he said as he kissed her and pulled her into the hall.
“So, do you.” Dotty smiled as Wayne helped her out of her leather jacket. Tonight, she had worn a tight-fitting black and white dress which had big red roses dotted about the material. It highlighted Dotty’s curves. The pencil style skirt made moving difficult, and it had to be done with grace and poise. The cotton and lycra mix showed no mercy. Dotty would normally have worn her large body-shaping spandex knickers underneath, but they weren’t the most flattering. If tonight was going to be the night that the couple made sweet music, then Dotty didn’t want Wayne finding out all her body confidence secrets. So, instead, she wore her sexiest lingerie, matching eyelash black lace bra and knickers.
The anticipation of how the evening would pan out made her nervous. She was shown to the sofa of the small cottage. She crossed and uncrossed her legs. The table had been laid with a white cloth and a small posy of flowers in the middle. Dotty was impressed. Wayne fixed drinks for them both then left Dotty while he rushed into the kitchen to tend to his cooking.
“Do you need any help,” Dotty shouted.
“No, you relax. I shouldn’t be too long. When Wayne returned, he wore an apron that had the words – do you want to see my sausage emblazoned across the front. Dotty smiled. It wasn’t exactly subtle, but she liked his sense of humour. There was a candle on the table that Wayne promptly lit.
“If you’d like to be seated. madam, your first course awaits.” Wayne bowed his head and Dotty took the napkin off the table, placing it on her knee. Wayne brought out two plates of duck liver pate, served with toast.
“I’m impressed. Did you make this yourself?” She smiled across at Wayne sat opposite.
“I could lie and say yes but then I’d come unstuck if you asked me for the recipe. It’s Sainsbury’s Finest.”
“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble.”
“I’ve got competition, haven’t I? If I’m going to woo you, I must put the effort in.” He winked at her.
“You’re certainly doing that,” she said, nodding. “This tastes delicious.”
Wayne followed up the first course with lasagne and then strawberries and ice cream. By the time Dotty finished, she was stuffed. Wayne had bought in ready meals because he didn’t want there to be any mistakes. He could make one or two dishes himself from scratch, but tonight was not the occasion to be experimenting and showing any lack of culinary knowledge.
“I’ve enjoyed this, thank you for all your hard work,” Dotty said.
“I know I didn’t do any of the cooking, but I wanted you to enjoy it, not poison you.” Dotty thought what a faux pa that remark was, as she thought of Nigel lying in the morgue.
“How are things going with the murder investigation?” she asked.
“With these cases, there is always so much research to do and people to interview. It is a thankless task.”
“Talking of research, if I wanted to investigate an organisation that I can find no record of on the net, how would I go about it?”
“You’re not getting involved with this murder inquiry, are you?”
“Oh no, nothing like that.” Dotty hoped her facial expression didn’t give the game away. She wasn’t the best at telling fibs. Even as a child, her mum always knew when she was lying.
“I would try the library or maybe the dark web.”
“The dark web?”
“Yes, don’t you know about that?”
“Not really, no.”
“I shouldn’t be telling you about it. It is more commonly used by criminals carrying out illegal activities.”
“Sounds interesting.” Dotty’s eyes widened. She helped Wayne clear the plates away then passed the crockery to him as he loaded the dishwasher. As the door of the appliance closed, he lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. Dotty stared up at him, dazed. She hadn’t expected his eagerness.
“Do you want coffee, or shall we go upstairs?” She gulped, but no words came out. Wayne took her silence to be affirmative, and he swept her body up into his arms and carried her over the threshold. They behaved like a couple of newlyweds until they reached the bedroom door. Dotty’s eyes glared wide as she saw what lay on the bed. She was greeted with a selection of sex toys from a bad kitty mask to a faux fur animal tail butt plug. There were a set of claws, some cat ears and a leather flogger. She picked up a see-through leopard skin corset and turned to Wayne. He stood in the doorway smiling.
“I’ve got that for you to put on for me.” Dotty didn’t want to be a killjoy, and she fancied Wayne, but she had never done anything kinky like this before. Her previous sexual encounters hadn’t been very adventurous, so she wasn’t sure if she could go through with it, especially if this was their first time. Dotty bared her lower palette, a strange look that wasn’t very alluring. “You have dressed up before, haven’t you?”
“I…”
“Don’t tell me you haven’t.” Wayne rubbed his hands together. “This will make it even more exciting — a sex games virgin. There’s some lubrication in the bathroom if you’re feeling shy and want to pop the outfit on in there.”
Dotty took the costume and breezed past him. Her heart was going ten to the dozen, and it wasn’t lust causing it. It was fear. She locked the bathroom door and put her back to it while she contemplated what to do next. This wasn’t anything like she imagined things to be. If she’d had her phone with her, she’d have sent Kylie a text for some advice, but she’d left it downstairs. Kylie was more liberal in the sex stakes, more of a woman of the world. Kylie would know what to do in this situation.
In the end, it was Dotty’s body that decided what she should do next. The rumblings in her tummy weren’t just nerves. Shooting pains stabbed chaotically through her stomach muscles and she got to the toilet just in time. A rush of brown faeces hit the pan at lightning speed. Her body shivered. She licked her cracked lips and waited for another wave of diarrhoea. This situation wasn’t ideal, but Dotty felt it was pre
ferable to the one waiting for her on the other side of the door.
Dotty glanced in the bathroom mirror. She looked deathly pale.
When Dotty finally opened the bathroom door, she was still perspiring.
“Are you okay?” Wayne looked at her, full of concern.
“My stomach is off. I think I better go home.”
“No wait, see if it settles.” Wayne grabbed hold of her arm.
“I’m not feeling very well. Can’t you see how pale I’ve gone.”
“I’ll get you a glass of water. It will blow over.”
“I’m sorry, Wayne. Some other time perhaps.” Wayne held on to Dotty’s arm tightly enough to cause a bruise.
“You can’t leave me like this. I’m all excited now. You can at least relieve me.”
“Let go of my arm, Wayne. I’m doing nothing of the sort. I told you, I’m feeling ill.” Dotty’s long fingernails pushed into Wayne’s skin.
“Ow, you bitch. What do you think you are doing?”
“I asked you nicely to let me go now get out of my way.” Dotty’s voice went up a notch. She pushed past him and down the stairs. Quickly, she grabbed her coat and bag, not waiting for Wayne to show her out. She didn’t like how his tone had changed. She wasn’t waiting around to see if his attitude improved. If he wanted his oats, he would have to look elsewhere. As she rushed towards the front door, the waves of pains started up again in her stomach. Nausea clawed at her throat. She tried to force down the bile, but it was too late. Her stomach contracted violently, and she lurched forward spewing up liquid onto the walls. She heaved as the pungent stench invaded her nostrils. She took a breath then another wave came. All the food Wayne had cooked for her regurgitated onto the hall carpet. In any other circumstances, she would have stayed to clear it up but after what just happened, there was only one place she was going and that was home. She opened the front door to leave as Wayne turned up behind her.
“I’ve left you a present.” She pointed at the display of vomit and rushed out to her car.
