by G. M. Dobbs
Mark looked up at the old woman.
‘More questions?’
‘Yes,’ Granny nodded. ‘I need to know what the police asked you and a bit more besides.’
‘I’ll tell you anything I can,’ Mark said.
‘Good,’ the old woman said. ‘I won’t be a moment.’ And then vanished into the kitchen to make them both another mug of tea.
Sixteen
‘Absolutely not,’ Twice said. ‘You are going to get yourself in serious hot water.’
‘Typical,’ Granny said. ‘I spent most of the day waiting for you to call and if I hadn’t come here I’d still be waiting for you to call.’
‘No one at the station seemed to know anything,’ Twice protested. ‘And Miskin’s not been in all day. I did my best.’
‘Which evidently wasn’t good enough,’ Granny said.
She had called at Twice’s home that evening to request that come morning he drive her down to Caerleon and see what they could discover from Carol’s mother. Since Granny had decided against a telephone call and felt a visit in person would be much better. Twice had refused, saying that she was getting too deeply involved in what was, after all, a police operation. Granny didn’t tell Twice where she had gotten the information on Carol’s mum’s address, nor did the special policeman ask.
‘I’ve got be careful. It’s not as if I can tell them down the nick that I’m trying to get information for a member of the public.’ Twice said.
‘It’s always excuses with you, Dai,’ Granny retorted. ‘And besides I’ve already seen Mark. He called around this afternoon after you lot released him.’
‘He came around to see you?’
‘Yes,’ Granny said, smugly. ‘Honestly Dai you are next to useless. It seems to me as if I’m the only one trying to find poor Carol’s killer.’
That was it. Twice was angry now and he clenched his fists. Sometimes, and this was one of these times, he had to remind himself that Granny was an old woman. There were moments when he felt that he’d like nothing better than to land one on her chin. It annoyed him that the old woman seemed to know more than he did, and after spending the day trying to discover just what was happening regarding Mark he had come away empty handed. It was galling that once again Granny seemed to be several steps ahead.
‘You stay out of police business,’ he warned. ‘If you get into any trouble I won’t be able to help you. You can’t go around sticking your nose into matters that don’t concern you.’
‘I won’t get into any trouble,’ Granny said. ‘There’s no law says I can’t speak to people if I wish. If I want to speak to Carol’s mother then I will, her sister too if I please. This is still a free country and I’ll speak to whoever I bloody well like.’
Twice sighed.
‘Look,’ he said, in what he thought was a placatory tone but actually sounded patronising as hell to Granny. ‘Carol was murdered and the last thing you want to do is come up against her killer.
‘Someone’s got to,’ Granny insisted. She looked over her shoulder as two teenagers, a boy and girl, went down the street. She watched them go for a moment and then turned back to the special policeman.
‘This is not movie,’ Twice said. ‘And you’re not Miss Marple. You could be putting yourself in very real danger.’
‘You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs,’ Granny pointed out. ‘I’ll do whatever is necessary.’
Standing there on his doorstep, Twice felt the chill of the evening air, but he wasn’t going to invite Granny in. As far as he was concerned the sooner he got rid of her the better.
‘Best leave the investigating to the professionals,’ he said.
‘Oh, go and play with your speed cameras,’ Granny snapped, turned on her heels and started back along the estate.
That night Granny sat alone in the house, listening to music, Holy Diver by Ronnie James Dio, and making notes in a reporters pad that she had picked up from Mr Patel’s expressively for notes regarding the investigation into Carol’s murder.
She’d noted several bullet points to job her memory. She noted that Carol seemed to have a number of sexual fetishes and was likely promiscuous. The old woman also guessed that Carol might have had something in her past that she
Wanted hidden. That could be a possible motive for her murder, someone from her past suddenly turning up, wanting revenge, or simply driven psychotic with jealousy.
A spurned lover, perhaps.
It was only now when Granny thought about it that she realised how little Carol had talked about her past. She had also told everyone differing stories about her life before settling in Gilfach, which suggested to the old woman that there was an almighty skeleton hidden somewhere. Granny wrote that down, in a large scrawl – S K E L E T O N.
There was also the question of Mark and Granny had written his name in block capitals followed by a large question mark. Did the fact that he had visited Granny, pleading with her to prove his innocence mean that he was indeed innocent? Or was it a bluff, the actions of a guilty man wanting to ensure the old woman didn’t know anything about what had happened? Granny was not at all sure but she did have a gut feeling that Mark was not guilty of Carol’s murder. He was the obvious suspect and it was common knowledge that he had a violent temper, but Granny didn’t think he had been responsible.
It was gone nine thirty and Granny had gone from the Dio album to Black Sabbath when her mobile phone ran. She looked at the caller display, seeing that it was Twice.
‘Yeah,’ Granny said and ran and turned the music down.
‘Granny,’ Twice said. ‘I’ll be around at ten in the morning.’
There was a resigned tone to his voice and Granny smiled.
‘Why?’ she asked. She knew very well why.
‘To take you to Caerleon,’ Twice said. ‘Why else?’
‘You know it makes sense,’ Granny was trying not to sound overly smug but most certainly feeling that way.
‘Well you’ll go with or without me,’ Twice said. ‘So I figure I just as well come along to keep you from hanging yourself.’
‘You’re all heart,’ Granny said. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ She immediately turned the music back up just in time for Ozzy Osborne to go from a folksy vocal to an all out scream.
She felt better now that Twice had called. She had planned on getting Gerald or Mansall to drive her to Caerleon but it was much better if Dai Twice took her. The fact that he would likely drive them in the police car and would definitely be wearing the uniform would make everything seem official. Carol’s mother would be much more likely to talk to her if she had a policeman in tow.
That night Granny had trouble sleeping.
It wasn’t the sound of Arthur snoring away besides her that kept her awake, though it certainly didn’t help, but more to do with the fact that each time she closed her eyes and started drifting towards Twilight Avenue that led to Sleepsville, she would see Carol’s face.
Not as she had been in life but as she had been in the pond.
Lifeless eyes and tangled hair.
Granny tossed and turned for a while but at a little after midnight decided that it was useless trying to sleep. She may as well goes downstairs and have a cup of tea and a smoke and then return to bed when she was more likely to actually get some rest.
She climbed from bed, footed her slippers on and went and got her dressing gown from the hook on the bedroom door. She slipped it on over her nightdress and carefully closed the bedroom door behind her.
Arthur’s snoring continued at its regular rhythm.
On the landing Granny paused at the door to Gerald’s bedroom and gently pushed the door open. She looked in on her son. He was fast sleep, wearing his lime green pyjamas, his head buried in his thick pillow and one of his feet, all snug in a pink slipper sock, protruding from the bottom of the quilt.
Granny smiled. Bless, she thought.
Gerald may have been in his forties but as far as she was conc
erned he would always be her little boy. It was hard to believe that he would be getting married soon and then fly the nest. When he had been younger Granny had expected it, dreaded it even, but when he had gone into his thirties and then his forties with no indication of a romantic entanglement, she had assumed Gerald would stay at home forever. Now though he was finally about to leave home and embark on a life of his own.
Granny supposed she should have been happy for him, but she had mixed emotions about the wedding, the Royal Wedding. One the one hand she was pleased that her son had finally found love and seemed happy, but on the other she was struggling to come to terms with the concept of gay marriage. The world had changed so much since Granny had been young and sometimes she found it difficult to keep up with all that was happening. So many things had changed. Attitudes that had prevailed for generations were being swept aside and banished as ideals from less enlightened times. The modern ideology had no tolerance for bigotry and small mindedness.
Even so, Granny knew, that her son and his partner –
what would Wayne become?
Gerald’s husband?
His wife?
– would still have to face those who would see their union as wrong, depraved even. And they would do it, together they would do it, the old woman had no doubt of that. If their love for each other was strong enough, and Granny believed it was, then they would stand proud against all the world threw against them.
‘Sleep well, little man,’ Granny whispered into the darkened bedroom.
Once again Granny told herself that it was Gerald’s happiness that was the important thing. Gay or straight didn’t matter as long as he was happy.
With that thought Granny closed the door and made her way downstairs. A cup of tea and a pipe she decided was just the thing she needed to relax her, and help her get some much-needed rest.
She had a big day ahead of her and needed to be mentally sharp when she spoke to Carol’s mother.
Seventeen
‘It was back there, ‘ Granny said. ‘We’ve missed the turning.’
‘Not according to my sat-nav,’ Twice said and pointed at the screen. The device was telling them they still had a hundred and fifty yards to go before they had to take a left hand turning.
‘Then that sat-thingie is wrong,’ Granny crossed her arms and frowned.
‘No offence,’ Twice said, one eye on the road and the other on the display of the navigation device. ‘But my sat-nav is a complex piece of cutting edge technology, whilst you are not.’
‘I saw the sign for Roman Way back there,’ Granny said.
‘Human error,’ Twice dismissed Granny and continued on the route set by his navigation device. It was then that the sat-nav screen blanked out before the word, “REFRESH” appeared on the screen and they were told by the robotic voice to, ‘Do a U-turn when possible.’
Granny smiled, said nothing.
‘There’s nowhere to turn,’ Twice grumbled. They were in a steady flow of traffic, both sides of the road being equally busy and no suitable turning point in sight. ‘Bugger.’
Granny reached across and turned on the police light, followed by the sirens. Immediately the traffic in front of them started to slow in order to allow the police vehicle to pass.
‘There,’ Granny said.
Twice frowned but nevertheless indicated that he was about to do a U-turn in the road. This would have been an illegal manoeuvre, but the flashing blue lights meant that they were on an emergency call and could do whatever was necessary to get somewhere quickly. With the lights flashing and the sirens wailing it was up to all other traffic to get out of their way as quickly as possible.
‘The blues and twos are only for emergency use,’ Twice grumbled.
‘I’d call this an emergency,’ Granny said.
‘How come?’ Twice asked as he skilfully took the car in through a hundred and eighty degrees turn and then sped up in the direction they had come.
‘We need to get there quickly,’ Granny explained. ‘I’m busting for a pee.’
Twice smiled and now that they were back in the flow of traffic he switched the siren off but left the blues flashing. He’d switch them off as soon as they turned into the correct street.
‘Next right,’ Granny said. This was then confirmed by the sat-nav telling them to take the turn right after another two hundred yards. Then, the sat-nav proudly announced, “You have reached your destination.”
‘Now remember,’ Twice said as they got out of the police car. ‘You are not in the job so don’t go telling this woman you are. I can’t be a party to you impersonating a police officer.’
‘Agreed,’ Granny said. ‘Just let me do the talking.’
‘Do I have any choice?’
‘Nope,’ Granny said and led the way.
The house, a semi detached, had a small and very neat front garden with all available space used for planting. There were flowerbeds in each corner of the lawn and neatly cut borders around the edges. Granny admired the summer bedding plants that were starting to burst into life. It was still a little early in the year for the garden to be at its best but in a week or so (God we’ll be in May then. Where does the time go?) it would be awash with an abundance of colour. The flowerbeds were all planted up in a formal fashion, nothing left to run ragged and each side of the front door there were yet more plants. This time planted in what had once been beer barrels but had been sawn in half, stained a rich brown, and turned into planting containers.
Granny recognised the unmistakable leaves of a nasturtium plant and she smiled. A few years back Arthur had planted nasturtiums in their own garden, not knowing the plants would grow in virtually any conditions, indeed seemed to thrive in quite poor soil, and would self seed, returning every year. They did tend to get a little out of control but they provided a riot of cheeky and bold colour and the entire plant, save the stems, could be used in salads. They tasted a lot like radish and the brightly coloured petals brightened up the aesthetic qualities of the meal.
‘Shall I knock the door,’ Granny asked.
Twice adjusted his tunic and pushed past the old woman.
‘I’ll knock,’ he said, adopting his official tone of voice. He rapped on the door, four knocks in quick succession.
A few moments later the door was opened and an elderly woman stood there, peering at them over her glasses. Granny guessed that this woman had at least ten years on her, maybe a little more. It was difficult to put a precise age on the woman but it was a safe bet that she would never see eighty again.
‘Yes?’ she asked.
‘We’ve come to ask you a few questions,’ Twice said.
‘About my Carol?’
‘Yes,’ Twice nodded.
‘But I’ve already spoken to the police,’ the old lady said. ‘I told them I hadn’t seen Carol for months.’
Twice didn’t know what to say to that but before he could respond Granny jumped in.
‘We need to ask some follow up questions,’ Granny said. ‘This is Constable Davies and I’m Special Agent Smith. Can we come in?’
For a moment the old woman looked unsure but eventually she stepped aside and Twice and Granny walked in. Granny avoided eye contact with Twice, knowing that he would not be happy with the way she had identified herself and that once again she had taken the initiative. No doubt Twice would be worried about what Chief Inspector Miskin would do if he found out he had brought Granny here. Granny didn’t care though because not for one moment did she think she wouldn’t crack this case, and then of course Twice would get most of the credit. He would win out in the long run.
They followed the old woman through to a neat living room. The old woman offered them to sit and they sat side by side on a small two-seater sofa. The old woman sat opposite them and looked at them expectantly.
‘We’re sorry about your daughter,’ Granny said.
The old woman nodded and looked at Granny for a moment.
‘Aren’t you a little old for
the police?’ she asked.
Granny smarted at that. She felt positively young seated here looking at the much older woman, but regardless of that she never liked to be reminded of her age.
‘If only I could retire,’ Granny said and kicked Twice in the shin to silence him. ‘They keep moving the goalposts regarding retirement age. Still I’m as fit as a fiddle and more than capable of my doing my duty.’
The old woman clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. A frown crossed her face as a thought occurred to her. ‘How rude of me. Would you like a cup of tea?’
‘Please,’ Granny said.
‘Thank you,’ Twice smiled at the old woman.
‘I won’t be a moment,’ the old woman said and groaned as she got up out of her chair.
As soon as the old woman had left the room Twice turned to Granny.
‘What do you think you are playing at?’ he asked. ‘Special agent?’
Granny decided to counter the awkward question with one of her own.
‘You didn’t tell me the police had already questioned Carol’s mum. Why didn’t you say?’
‘I didn’t know,’ Twice said. ‘Though I suppose it’s obvious that they would do so. They’d have to inform relatives of Carol’s death for one thing.’
‘Would it have been our force?’ Granny asked. ‘Would Miskin have sent anyone here or would they have passed the job onto a local force?’
‘It’s likely the local division that were given the task,’ Twice said. ‘Our station would have notified CID in this area and they would have sent someone around to see the old woman.’
Granny was about to say something when the old woman returned carrying a tray.
‘Help the lady, Constable,’ Granny ordered and gave Twice a tight smirk. She wanted the old woman to think she was in charge since she hoped to lead the questioning in the direction she had planned, and not give Twice the chance to bugger things up. She wanted to learn what she could about Carol’s background, which would help her fill in the picture of what kind of woman Carol had been. Granny was still without any credible theories as to who had done for Carol and she was hoping she would discover something today that would give her something to build on, a lead of some sort. ANYTHING.
