Jackson Is Missing

by Wendy Gill

  Mr Grundy patted her hand and replied, "If you leave my dear, it will be of your own choosing. You too have brought light back into my life. You have even surpassed Fran’s antics. She never produced a body in a trunk. Life is full of little surprises and I am glad you are part of it Ella. If you are pleased I got in contact with you, I am equally pleased you decided to come and stay.

  “If you are offended by Charlie’s reference to you being his fiancée, I would have told him it was in bad taste but, if you are comfortable with it, I will say no more on the subject. First thing in the morning, we will go to the bank and get your Aunt Fran’s money signed over to you, and then all will be in order. Goodnight my dear.”

  “Before you retire Mr Grundy, how did my Aunt Fran come to have a lot of money of her own?” Ella wanted to know.

  “I paid her for working for me. I preferred to have Fran working in my office when I was absent, I knew I could trust her and she was a very good office worker if I do say so myself.”

  “I am sure she was,” Ella said.

  "Believe it or not, Fran put nearly every penny I paid her for working for me into a bank account for you. But she also inherited Lady Whiteman’s estate and she put all the money she got from the estate into the bank account for you as well. She said you needed it more than she did, and you also had a right to a share of it.

  "This caused another angry exchange between your father and Fran. Your father said half of the estate should have gone to him. Fran explained that she was putting it all into the bank for you to inherit but still your father would not agree to you meeting her. Fran was very upset about it, so she refused to speak to him again. Your father never tried to get back in touch with Fran so that was the end of that.

  “Fran would have loved to have been part of your life Ella, but she was afraid she would not have been welcome. Your father never replied to any of the letters she sent him, but she was looking out for you and I am so pleased she did. She would have been over the moon to know that the money she saved up for you has been gratefully received.”

  “I shall be eternally grateful to my Aunt Fran for refusing to give my father half of Lady Whiteman’s money. I loved my father dearly, but he had given no thought about what was to become of me after his death. He spent all his money and more besides. I was left with nothing. But surely now my aunt has passed on, the money belongs to you?”

  "We had plenty of money coming in from the business. Fran had access to it whenever she wanted anything. It was what Fran wanted to do, and now having met you I am very pleased she did.

  “Because she loved, well, we both loved Charlie, Jackson and even Blanche, having met them I am sure you can understand that, we agreed that when both of us had passed away, whatever we had would be split four ways between all of you. But her money, she wanted you alone to have that. There is a will and I shall show you where to find it, so all is in order when the time comes.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Mr Grundy. I still cannot believe all of this is happening to me, but do you know what I like best of all, being able to have a lie-in on a morning for as long as I like. That is a luxury I never thought I would have again. Not that I have ever been one for lying in bed, but just to know I can if I want to is worth a fortune,” Ella admitted.

  “Well my dear, you cannot have a lie-in in the morning for we are going to the bank first thing then it is off to the office for you, to start on that filing. I will join you later in the afternoon as I have some pressing business to see to before I go back to the office,” Mr Grundy told her.

  “That dream did not last very long then did it?” she laughed.

  "There will be plenty more mornings for you to have a lie-in. When things have settled down and Blanche and Jackson are married. PC Keyser will be out of our way and we shall be able to do whatever we wish to do.

  “Do you know, I think I am going to like being retired and helping Jackson out when he needs a helping hand?”

  They said their goodnights and went to bed.

  In a dirty rundown room in Hotshell, Bert Cole looked across at his partner in crime.

  “What are we going to do now, Danny?”

  “Until we find out whether the man we shot is dead or alive, we cannot do anything. We dare not go and dig up the money if he is alive, he could have informed the constabulary of what he saw. Why didn’t you shoot to kill when you saw him watching us, you idiot? Look at the mess you have got us into now.”

  “You are as much to blame as me Danny, you fired off a round as well and you only hit him in the leg.”

  “It is too late now to be putting the blame on each other, the thing is done. We are going to have to think of a way of finding out what happened to him. All that jewellery and money just lying there waiting for us to spend, and we cannot touch it. What do we know about the people who live in that end house where we thought he had gone to ground?”

  "The old man is a solicitor but there is nothing known about the young woman that was there with him at the time we did our search of the house. I have not been able to find anybody who knows anything about her. She is a woman of mystery.

  "The old solicitor has an office in West Street. I suppose we could try there, see if they have taken him to the office just in case we go back to the house again. We don’t want to be doing that Danny, going back to their house I mean, not with their next-door neighbour being Charlie Blurr.

  “You have had dealings with him before. The last thing we want is to be spotted by him. He would soon put two and two together and we would be behind bars before we could turn and run.”

  “Charlie Blurr?” questioned Danny.

  "Yes, you remember Inspector Blurr, he came to see you once when that bank in Cartermore was raided. He found your name and address in the pocket of that prostitute. She was the wife of the leader of the gang that did Cartermore bank over.

  "Charlie Blurr was the policeman that put them all away, even your prostitute. He has a reputation of always getting his man does Inspector Blurr. He saw me too you know, when he came here to see if you had anything to do with that bank robbery. We do not want him on our trail, do we?

  “It’s a good job too, that Inspector Blurr put the prostitute’s husband behind bars, when he found out you had been sleeping with his wife he threatened to do you in. Sleeping with a prostitute and paying her for it is a lot different from sleeping with one and not paying for it. You do push things to the limit sometimes, Danny.” Bert looked across at Danny.

  “Inspector Blurr, I remember him now. Yes, you are right. We certainly do not want him on our trail.”

  “I have been thinking Danny; we should not have been tempted to rob that jeweller. We have been doing alright nipping in and out of people’s houses, now we are up there with the big boys, and to be honest, I do not like it very much.”

  "You could be right, Bert. I did not expect Inspector Blurr to be involved with this, it is not his patch, and I don’t much like it either. We have shot somebody and if he dies, then we are not only thieves, but murderers.

  “Tomorrow we will go to the solicitor’s office and see what we can find out. We could always say we are with the police if the solicitor is there, he will never realise we are not, so why not pretend to be the police and see where it leads.”

  “Let’s hope to God that the man we shot does not die, I only shot him because I panicked,” Bert remarked.

  “Too late to be sorry now Bert, much too late,” Danny informed him.

  Chapter Eight

  After accompanying Mr Grundy to the bank, Ella made her way to see Blanche. She was going to Mr Grundy’s office to make a start on the filing system, which according to Mr Grundy did not exist. He told Ella he had let it slide since Fran had died, that had been one of Fran’s jobs and he had yet to fathom it out.

  Ella thought Blanche might like to help her, to give her something to do to take her mind off Friday and the wedding because Blanche had told Ella she was as nervous as a kitten about it
.

  “Hello Ella, this is a lovely surprise,” Blanche said looking up from the embroidery she was doing.

  “I have come to see if you would like to come with me to Mr Grundy’s office. I am going to make a start on the filing system, it would seem it has got itself into a bit of a mess since Aunt Fran died, or so Mr Grundy informs me. Really all we are going to do is store the files down in the basement. Once the files are out of the way, we can start to turn the office into a home then you and Jackson can have the house on Haywood Street.”

  "I would love to have come with you Ella, but my mother has made an appointment for me to see the doctor. Both my mother and father have been so good about the baby I do not want to disappoint them. I guess I will have to go and see the doctor sometime, I only wish my mother had waited until after Jackson and I are married.

  "You know how frowned upon having a baby out of wedlock is. I am surprised my mother did not wait until we are married before booking the appointment and I told her so. She said whatever we discuss with the doctor should stay with the doctor, so I need not worry about it.

  "A pointless remark really, people will soon be able to tell I am with child. It is something that you cannot hide, the baby will tell the world very soon it is on the way. No way to hide it and to be honest, I don’t want to hide it.

  “Everyone has been so good about the baby, Ella, I feel utterly guilty for putting everyone in this position, but everything seems to have fallen into place without the least effort or argument on my part. I am very lucky, don’t you think?” asked Blanche.

  “Five days ago, I had no family, friends or money. Not even a job or any prospects of one. Now I have an uncle, some of the nicest people imaginable that have become my friends and loads of money. I think we are both very lucky.” Ella bent down and gave Blanche a hug then headed back to West Street with a spring in her step.

  Taking the keys Mr Grundy had given her out of her pocket, Ella was about to insert one of them into the lock when she heard a whimper to her left.

  Turning her head towards the noise Ella saw, sitting in the same place where she had sat on her arrival in Marchum, a very thin, shabbily dressed young woman with a small child upon her knee.

  “Hello,” Ella said.

  “Hello, I want to see Mr Grundy,” the young woman informed her.

  “Then you had better come in and wait for him. I am expecting him back around midday. I will get your carpet bag for you.” Ella told the young woman and she unlocked the door and held it open for her and the baby to go through.

  After only a short hesitation, the young woman stood up, hoisting the child up to her shoulder she patted its back in a comforting way and headed for the open door.

  Ella went over and picked up the young woman’s carpetbag then followed her inside the office where Ella told her to sit down while she put the kettle on and they would have a nice cup of tea. Ella brought out some homemade biscuits and placed them on the table in front of the young woman and poured her a cup of tea.

  The young woman put a spoonful of sugar in the cup then after stirring it well, she lifted the cup and poured some of the tea into the saucer. She took one of the biscuits and crumbled this into the saucer also, mixing it well into the tea. When the mixture was well mashed with no lumps in it, the young woman took a spoonful, then blowing on it to make sure it was not too hot, she fed the mixture to the child.

  “Thank you, I hope you don’t mind me doing this, but we have had nothing to eat today, this is very welcome.”

  Ella poured out a second cup of tea and indicated to the young woman that it was for her.

  The young woman took a sip of the hot tea and nibbled at one to the biscuits whilst she continued to feed the child.

  “What is your name?” Ella asked.

  “My married name is Ruth Houseway, before that it was Ruth Keyser,” was the reply.

  “I know it is none of my business, but may I enquire why you wish to see Mr Grundy?”

  “My father told me that if one day he did not return home, I was to come here to see the solicitor, Mr Grundy. My father has, what can sometimes be, a dangerous job, and he gave me a letter and told me to pass it onto Mr Grundy. To tell him that my name was Ruth Keyser. That is all I can tell you. My father has not returned home for five days now and we have run out of food and money and I do not know what to do so I came to find Mr Grundy. But when I got here, the place was closed and I did not know what else to do so I decided the best thing was to sit and wait and hope Mr Grundy would turn up.”

  “When you have finished feeding the baby I think it would be best if you came with me Ruth, back to our house, it is not very far. I am Mr Grundy’s niece, and Mr Grundy might even be home when we get there for it is nearly lunchtime and he sometimes calls home for something to eat. I will carry your carpet bag; you have enough on with the baby.”

  After the baby had been fed, Ella picked up the carpetbag and Ruth followed her outside. She waited until Ella had closed and locked the door, then they set off for home.

  Ella and Ruth had just turned the corner at the bottom of West Street into Haywood Street as Danny and Bert turned into the top of West Street. They missed each other by seconds.

  Danny tried the door of the solicitor’s office but found it locked. The porch yielded plenty of cover from the street and it did not take Bert long to apply himself to the task of lock picking, and they were in.

  They searched the building from top to bottom including the basement but found no evidence of any injured man. Back in the main office Danny showed his frustration by kicking a chair that contained a pile of paper files and the files spilled onto the floor. Some of the files burst open and scattered their contents further afield. He did the same with a second chair but this one landed on its side with a crash and more files scattered across the floor.

  “That was a stupid thing to do, Danny. Now they will know someone has been here. We could have been in and out without anyone being any the wiser. I thought we were supposed to be keeping a low profile.”

  “In that case there is no reason why they should find a bit more mess to clear up, is there?” He went to the filing cabinets, ran his hand along the top and a cascade of files went crashing onto the floor.

  “What is the point of all that? We had better get out of here before we are rumbled.” Bert headed for the door.

  “It is a warning. They know something about the injured man, I know they do. They are hiding our witness so now they will know we are onto them and that they had better watch out.” Danny followed Bert out of the building.

  Later that morning, Mr Grundy stepped onto his porch in West Street to find his office door wide open. He entered his office with strong purposeful strides expecting to find Ella there but all he found was chaos.

  He was taken aback and said out loud, “What the devil…!” he turned and went back out, locking the door behind him.

  Ella went straight into Charlie’s house with Ruth and the child following. They found Blanche busy in the kitchen preparing the evening meal, “Hello Ella, whom have you found now. Another stray?”

  “This is Ruth Keyser and her baby,” Ella announced.

  “Is it now?” Blanche said looking at the young woman and her child with much interest.

  “You certainly know how to keep the suspense flowing Ella, I will give you that. Come and sit down my dear, you look all in. I shall make us all a nice warm drink.” Blanche pulled out a chair for the young woman who sat down thankfully.

  “Jackson is in the workshop,” Blanche looked across at Ella.

  “I will go and get him.”

  Ella found Jackson pulling a large wooden table into the centre of the room.

  He looked up as she entered, and he told her, “Charlie’s not here if you are looking for him. He’s off catching criminals.”

  “No Jackson, I came to get you. I have come across Ruth Keyser, and she has lost her father.”

  “The devil you have. I have never k
nown anyone like you for finding people. Where is she?”

  “She is with Blanche, who is making hot chocolate for us all.”

  “Chocolate eh, I could do with a cup of chocolate. This vet business is hard work.”

  Ella laughed, “You have not even started yet.”

  “It’s all in the mind,” Jackson said following Ella.

  “If Charlie were here, I am sure he would say he didn’t know you had a mind.”

  “More likely he would say I had left it back on Mars.”

  Jackson went over and kissed Blanche. Then looked at the young woman and asked, “Are you Melvin Keyser’s daughter?”

  “I am. Do you know my father? Do you know where he is?” the young woman asked eagerly.

  "Yes, my dear, your father is here but he has been in the wars, so he has been put to bed. While Blanche is making hot chocolate for us all, we will go up and see him. He has been injured but he is going to be alright.

  “He has lost a lot of blood and he cannot remember anything of his past but seeing you might help jog his memory. If you want to hand the baby over to Ella, I am sure she will keep it entertained whilst we are in the sickroom,” Jackson said.

  Ella was left holding a wriggling infant. She found holding such a small bundle more difficult than she had thought.

  She looked at her friend and asked, “Do you want to get some practice in while I take over making the chocolate?”

  Blanche held out her arms and the little boy put his arms out to her and she cuddled him close, rocking him from side to side. His head rested on her breast and she began to sing softly to the innocent little face looking up at hers. She saw his eyelids begin to droop as the gentle swaying and her soft musical voice lulled him to sleep.

  The two friends exchanged glances, “You are going to be a natural.”

  “I hope so Ella, I really hope so. I know I am putting a brave face on but just thinking about it scares me stiff. I know nothing about bringing up a child.”