by Purser, Ann
“So, is that all?” All the newsboys had been dispatched, and the regulars who came in to collect bread and their papers had been served. Matthew looked out of the shop door and saw heavy dark clouds massing beyond the playing field. The first cricket practice session would be starting at eleven, and he was a keen coach, having been a useful batsman and bowler when at school.
“Yes, that’s it,” said Josie. “Here’s my keys. Could you lock up, while I run up to Mum’s and check when she wants to get going on the ads and posters?”
“For the flat tenant? Yep, of course. I’ll go straight down to the pavilion, and then come up to Meade House to pick you up when we’re finished with cricket.”
Josie disappeared, and Matthew went back into the stockroom for one last check. It had occurred to him that someone could have hidden upstairs in the flat when she had left the shop for a few minutes, perhaps to talk to a deliveryman. They could have nipped upstairs and then, when Josie had shut up shop on Friday evening, crept out and released the snake, hidden the toad in the drawer, and scarpered next morning when she came in. This unknown person could have been hiding in the flat all the time and got his kicks from hearing her scream! Why hadn’t anybody thought of that?
Then another thought struck him. Although Josie wasn’t sure that she locked the back door of the shop which led into the garden, it would still have been difficult to get into the flat. Surely that had been locked at the top of the stairs? But had it? Josie used to live there when a bachelor girl, and still had one or two of her things in cupboards. She could have been in and out and forgotten to lock it. Habit dies hard.
Thinking it might be a good idea to investigate upstairs right now, he fetched the flat key from where Josie kept it hidden, and started upstairs. It was dark, and about halfway up, he felt something soft and squelchy under his foot. Ye Gods! Not another one. He reached down and extracted from under his shoe the body of a very dead frog. Not as evil-looking as the toad, but very nasty when squashed.
“Thank goodness she’s gone up to Lois’s,” he muttered. “She’d have had hysterics!” He checked the flat door, and found it locked. Then he found a rag and cleaned the stair, dug a hole in the back garden and disposed of the frog, then set off for the playing field.
Was the frog mere coincidence? Frogs do sometimes venture indoors. He considered this and rejected it. This was a very deliberate campaign, and the obvious motive—to frighten Josie into a nervous state—was a slender one. He was already an experienced policeman, and knew that motives were often complicated and often rooted in past grudges or resentments.
He decided not to tell her about the frog.
*
Lois and Derek were lingering over a late Sunday breakfast, and Gran had joined them at the table. Conversation was desultory, but all three were thinking around the same subject. Josie and the reptiles. When they saw her passing by the window with a smile and a wave, they were all relieved, and looked forward to being able to immerse themselves in the doings of the rich and famous in the Sunday newspapers.
“Hi everybody,” Josie said. “Looks like rain. Matthew came with me to open the shop, and now he’s gone down to cricket. He’ll be disappointed if they’re rained off.”
“Never mind,” said Gran. “We can talk about the advertisements for a shop tenant. If you ask me, we’re going to have to take great care to get the right person. After all, they’ll be left on the premises and could help themselves to anything they fancied.”
Josie shook her head. “No, Gran. There’s a door we can keep locked between the storeroom and the stairs to the flat, so the tenant will use only the back door that leads only to the stairs.”
“Good gel,” said Derek. “I’m sure it will all work well, and you’ll have no more trouble. I’ll put a lick of paint inside the flat to smarten it up. We should get a decent rent, then. We’ve had several enquiries since you and Matthew got married, and you moved down to his cottage. We can follow them up. Should have done it months ago.”
“Should have done a lot of things, but it ain’t until something bad happens that we all get round to thinking about it,” said Gran. “But yeah, you’re right. It could be a nice little income.”
“We could get new curtains,” said Lois. “And we need to think about whether it will be a male or female tenant.”
“Oh blimey,” said Derek. “Does it matter, so long as they’re decent, honest people?”
“And is it going to be one tenant or two?”
At this point, heavy raindrops rattled against the window, and they saw Matthew running past. He came breathlessly in through the kitchen door.
“Rained off!” he said, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table. “But still, some good came out of being down there. The vicar came over soon after we started, and we had a chat. I mentioned a tenant for the flat, and he said he had just the right person. Or persons. I think there would be two of them.”
“Matthew! You didn’t say they could have it, did you? Mum will want to go through the proper procedure, won’t you, Mum?”
Although Josie was in sole charge of the shop, the actual premises and business had been bought by Lois and Derek, and so in matters like tenancy, they had the final say.
“Afraid so,” Lois said. “We have to know a great deal about any likely tenants. I expect the vicar’s candidates will be the deserving poor.”
“So?” said Josie, coming to her husband’s defence. “So surely we can do our bit to help?”
Derek frowned. “That’s all very well,” he said. “But your mother’s right. We need a nice middle-aged couple, perhaps with a dog that’ll bark in the middle of the night. Maybe a retired caretaker. Somebody like that.”
Lois’s dog, Jeems, divining that they were talking about dogs, decided it was time for her party trick, and she unhooked her red lead and deposited it at Derek’s feet.
“Hello, here’s somebody who wants a walk,” he said, and suggested they all leave the subject of tenants until tomorrow. They could get together after Lois finished her weekly meeting with Andrew and the cleaning girls of New Brooms.
Matthew and Josie declined an invitation to stay for lunch, and Derek decided to take Jemima for a walk down to the playing field. “She loves picking up the ball and scoring a few runs,” he said. “Maybe it’ll have stopped raining by the time we get down there.”
Gran said that it was time she got the joint of lamb in the oven, and Lois retired to her study to check papers for tomorrow’s meeting. She watched Josie and her husband walking down the drive to their car, and smiled. A lovely couple, thank goodness. Then, as she looked, Matthew turned and ran back into the house.
“Lois?” he said. “Didn’t want to tell you in front of Josie, but when I went upstairs to check on the flat, halfway up I trod on something squashy. It was a frog, already dead, but not nice.”
“Ugh! Well, thanks for telling me, and you did the right thing not telling Josie. Poor gel won’t take much more.”
*
Coffee time came, and Gran appeared with a mug and a biscuit for Lois. She sat down on a chair by the window and looked down the street towards the shop.
“Who do you reckon done it, Lois?” she said.
“No idea. It’d have to be someone who was able to get the snake out of the zoo and keep it until it was time to leave it in the stockroom. And it’s not all that easy to find toads and frogs these days. Some nature-reserve nutter? Or a worker at the zoo? They get all kinds of nasties to look after in there. Reptiles, an’ that.”
“And all kinds of nasties working in that place?” said Gran. “I reckon you’re on to something there, Lois. We’ll suggest that at the meeting tomorrow.”
“I think I’ll ask Dot Nimmo to stay after New Brooms is finished. She knows the local underworld and its scams and dodges in Tresham. Perhaps we could recruit her to be on our investigating team?” Lois had worked before with Dot. But in Gran’s opinion, this member of Lois’s team was a pain in the neck,
and she showed no great enthusiasm for Lois’s suggestion.
“Maybe later,” she said. “So are you taking up the snake case?”
“Of course,” said Lois. “It’s not just the cruelty to the creatures, but to our Josie as well. And then there’s the security thing. Okay, so Josie left the doors open for any bloke to get in. But then the alarm should have gone off. Maybe she forgot to set it. Trouble is, living in a village where you know everybody, you get careless about security. No wonder poor Josie was so upset! She’s sure it was her fault.”
“You’ve assumed it was a man, I see.” Gram sniffed. “It is just possible it could’ve been a woman with a grudge. Some old jilted girlfriend of Matthew?”
Lois laughed. “I think that’s letting your imagination run away with you, Mother,” she said. “Anyway, we’ll discuss all these things tomorrow. I think I’ll go and meet Derek and Jeems on their way back. Looks like the rain has stopped.”
“And I’d think twice about Dot Nimmo, if I was you,” Gran said. “And tell Derek there’s to be no dropping off at the pub for a pint. This is a prime piece of lamb, and I don’t want it spoilt.”
*
In nearby Tresham, in the bar of the county hotel, two men sat talking, drinks in hand. One was youngish, boyish almost, and with colourful casual clothes, and the other an autocratic-looking man in a well-cut grey suit.
“So do you think it will work, Justin?” the older man said.
“Okay so far, Uncle. I had a quick look around after dark, and getting in was not difficult. There is a very suitable wooden shed at the back, and I would be on the spot. Could be ideal, and I could keep an eye on comings and goings in the shop. In the evenings, of course, there’s no one about, unless the girl is working in the stockroom, so I could attend to things then.”
“And did the snake thing do the trick? Will it frighten other possible tenants?”
The younger man laughed. “Good God, yes! Did you see the news item on the telly? The shopkeeper girl was frightened out of her wits. If she has any, that is. No problems, Uncle. Couldn’t be better. I shall proceed with my plan as outlined.”
A waiter approached, and said, “Your table is ready, Mr Pettison. Come this way, please,” and the two went happily in to lunch.
Four
The New Brooms team had completed their weekly discussions on clients and equipment, and exchanged tidbits of news they thought would interest Lois. They drifted away, chatting, all except for Dot Nimmo, who had been asked to stay behind for a short while.
Being Dot, she immediately sniffed trouble. What had she done wrong? Nothing, as far as she could remember. She was very attached to Lois, who had rescued her from a period of severe depression after both her son and her husband had died. She was a loyal and efficient worker, and would do anything for Lois.
She remained sitting on her chair until Lois returned from seeing off the others, and said at once, “What’ve I done, then, Mrs M?”
Lois laughed. “Nothing wrong, of course, Dot. The thing is, we need your help.”
“What kind of help?” said Dot, breathing a sigh of relief. “You name it, an’ I’ll do it.”
“It’s information and connections we need. The sort you may well have, living as you do amongst the underworld of Tresham.”
“Here, wait a minute, Mrs M! It ain’t that bad. Since my Handy died, I’ve kept away from that lot. Mind you, I have to admit that I know who to ask if a favour’s needed.”
“Exactly,” said Lois. “I’ll tell you briefly what happened on Saturday morning in the shop.” She began with the snake, and watched the colour drain from Dot’s face.
“Oh my God!”
“Dot?”
Dot took a deep breath. “I saw the local paper, o’course, and hoped it’d all been sorted out. Stolen, wasn’t it? As a matter of fact, Mrs M, I got this phobia. I can’t stand them things. Can’t even say the name. I don’t mind toads and frogs, so long as they keep their distance. But them other things, no! I’ll be only too pleased to help out on anything else. I don’t know why people have to catch them and put them in zoos. Talk about immigrants! I reckon them slithery things ought to be banned from entering our country. And them that are here already should be sent home. Or, better still, put quietly out of their misery.”
“Ah, yes, well,” said Lois. “The less said about that the better. Now, Matthew and Derek and Josie will be here in a minute, and we’re going to have a discussion and make a plan to investigate the whole thing. It needs nipping in the bud before it gets any worse. So, if you wouldn’t mind having a sandwich with us, I’d be very grateful.”
*
Gran appeared in due course with several plates of sandwiches, and sat down as far as possible away from Dot Nimmo. “I must say, Lois,” she said, “it’s very nice for me to be included for once, instead of being sent away to sit among the cinders. I promise to keep quiet unless I get something useful to say.”
That’ll be a first, then, thought Derek. But he smiled and said he hoped this wasn’t going to take long. He had a job to finish in Waltonby.
“Right,” said Lois. “Now, Josie, is Floss safely in the shop until you get back? And no more creepy crawlies? I think we all know about the reptiles and what happened, so we can go straight to the kind of person we want in the flat and how we find them. I’ve made a list, and you can all add to it. We could have a notice put up in the shop, saying the flat was to let, and giving our contact numbers to ring for an interview.”
“Fine, me duck,” said Derek. “And maybe we should all have a look at details of people who apply.”
Lois nodded. “So first we put ads in the local papers as well as the shop. Tresham Advertiser and the Echo, I think.”
“Most people want a written application these days, Mrs M,” said Dot. “You can tell a lot before they come for the interview. Especially if they’ve done it in their own writing.”
“Good point,” said Matthew. “I’m with Dot there. And at least two references. Of course, people can falsify references, but you can always check.”
Gran seemed to be sticking to her promise to keep quiet, and Lois wondered if she was guarding a bombshell she intended to drop dramatically at the end. All avenues had been explored, all sandwiches eaten, and Lois thanked Dot for staying behind. “Great help, Dot,” she said. “We’ll let you know how we get on.”
“I am very happy to do interviewing, too, Mrs M,” she replied. “Local knowledge an’ that.”
Gran sat up in her chair and folded her arms. “Well, if you’re all finished,” she said, “I’d like to add one thing. It might be the answer to all our problems.”
“Mum?” said Lois, her heart sinking.
“I’d like to propose one person for the flat,” Gran continued. “Very reliable, still active and with full complement of marbles. Respectable, churchgoing and with a decent nest egg to pay the rent.”
Matthew grinned. “So who is this paragon of virtues?” he asked.
“Me,” said Gran. “Mrs Weedon, at present living at Meade House. Wishing to retire from household duties, but will cook for a suitable wage. Good at living alone, and a light sleeper in case of nighttime marauders. Not partial to reptiles, but not scared of them, either.”
*
“Do you think she meant it?” said Derek to Lois, when they were left alone together in the office.
“God knows. There’s no telling with Mum. She must have been brooding on it before she made her announcement. Perhaps she really is fed up with housework. She’s getting on, after all.”
“Best if we leave it ’til this evening. Then we can ask her if she’s serious. After supper, maybe.”
“She might bring up the subject sooner,” said Lois. “And then what do we say?”
Lois was feeling bad, as if someone had kicked her in the stomach and winded her. Gran was such a solid part of Meade House. She had seen the children grow up there, witnessed the mixed blessing of the national lottery being won
by Lois and Derek. She had consistently opposed Lois’s ferretin’, supporting Derek in all his attempts to persuade her to give it up.
Derek, too, was taken aback by Gran’s proposal. Surely she was happy living with them? They rubbed along together very well. At least, he had supposed they did. Perhaps they had taken her too much for granted, and this was her way of showing that she was fed up and needed a change and a rest.
“Maybe we’ve forgotten she’s an old woman, and no longer up to the job,” said Lois sadly.
“She’d not like to hear you say that,” Derek said. “Anyway, I’d best be off to work. We’ll think on it, and have a chat with her this evening.”
Five
Lois and Derek were still in bed, waiting to hear the sounds of Gran preparing breakfast, when it slowly dawned on Lois that there were no clattering dishes nor the usual off-key singing coming from the kitchen.
“Derek! What’s the time?”
“Mm? What? Oh, the time.” He turned over to look at the bedside clock, and shot up and out of bed. “Good heavens, it’s past eight! Come on, gel, look lively. I’ve got a full day’s work ahead.”
“Mum’s not up yet. Something’s wrong, Derek, and I’m going to see what’s happened to her.”
Last evening’s plan to discuss Gran’s bombshell had been thwarted when she announced after tea that she was going straight to bed to watch the Olympics on her television set upstairs. Discussion had to be postponed, and later, neither Derek nor Lois had found it easy to get to sleep.
Lois went along the corridor to her mother’s room and knocked gently. “Mum? Are you awake?”
No answer.
Lois knocked again, and then opened the door softly. She peered in, and was astonished to see a neatly made bed and no signs of occupancy. She shot downstairs, feet bare and nightie flapping around her legs.
