by Ian Shimwell
OLD TOM: Very good, Trench.
TRENCH: But why did Lord Reaves impose such a ban on his nephew and niece in the first place?
OLD TOM: I suspect Lord Reaves saw something in the brother and sister’s relationship that shouldn’t have been there. The love that perhaps dare not speak its name..?
TRENCH: A failed marriage, Richard’s apparent disinterest in other women.
OLD TOM: Maybe they only had eyes for each other…
TRENCH: And that coupled with their evident greed…
OLD TOM: Which meant Lord Reaves did not wish for them to inherit and so devised a scheme to make it very difficult for his remaining relatives to do so. If he would have done the usual thing and waited until he had died – he knew they would have contested the will. But, as he was a sporting fellow, he gave them a fighting chance – the clue from the pocket watch.
TRENCH: Well, that is one thing you don’t know, Old Tom – the all-important four-digit safe code.
OLD TOM: Four digits, eh? Oh, that’s easy. The code is: one, one, one, six.
TRENCH: Oh come on, that’s impossible. How in Stokeham could you have known that?
OLD TOM: The clue was clearly displayed on the pocket watch all along on the actual face. Remember the watch only stopped on weekdays at eleven and four o’clock respectfully which, of course, coincided with Lord Reaves’ beloved elevenses at eleven and afternoon tea at four.
TRENCH: My brain’s ticking, but still not quite there yet…
OLD TOM: I’ll spell it out then. As suggested by the pocket watch, Lord Reaves safe code consisted of elevenses and afternoon tea merged together.
TRENCH: Got it! One, one is eleven from elevenses – and one, six is sixteen from the twenty-four hour clock meaning four o’clock, afternoon tea!
OLD TOM: Correct, my friend.
TRENCH: Oh no, I’ve just had a terrible thought. Maybe we’ve all been hoodwinked by the real brains behind this master plan, the person who was left the entire fortune: Mavis.
OLD TOM: What are you suggesting, Trench?
TRENCH: Has an apparently slow, lowly cleaner outwitted the great armchair detective?
OLD TOM: An uncomfortable thought – drink your tea, Trench.
TRENCH: Oh don’t worry, Old Tom – as with the pocket watch and your mantle clock, I was only winding you up!
(An ever-loud ticking sound merges into:)
CLOSING MYSTERY MUSIC
NEXT IN SERIES THREE:
The Armchair Detective In London
The Armchair Detective and the Mystery of Mandrake
www.thearmchairdetective.moonfruit.com
