by Anna Jacobs
He too ran off down the street.
Pandora arrived at the police station, followed by Dot, puffing badly now, and the man who’d helped Dot. She burst in and rushed across to the desk. ‘Where’s Zachary?’
The policeman stared at her. ‘I beg your pardon, miss?’
‘Two policemen took Zachary Carr away. I need to see him. I can prove he’s innocent.’
‘They took him straight to the magistrate’s house. Mr Thwaite is holding a hearing because it’s an open and shut case.’
‘Oh, no, it isn’t!’ She darted out of the police station and along the street, thankful Mr Thwaite lived close by.
When she knocked on the side door of his house, a maid opened it.
‘I need to see Mr Thwaite. It’s really urgent. I can prove the man they brought here is innocent. Please.’
‘All right. His study is through here.’ She knocked on the door. ‘Another witness, sir. She says it’s urgent.’
Pandora found herself in a large room at the rear of the house. The magistrate, a plump, red-faced gentleman noted for his bad temper, was sitting behind a huge desk while Zachary was standing in front of it.
‘I can prove Zachary’s innocent,’ she said.
Harry, who was sitting at the side of the room, bobbed to his feet. ‘This woman’s his mistress, your worship! A woman of her sort will only tell lies.’
Zachary jerked round at this insult and the policeman took hold of his arm.
The magistrate scowled at her and Pandora was suddenly conscious of her windblown appearance.
‘I’m sorry to be so untidy, sir, but I ran all the way. And I’m not Zachary’s mistress.’ She wasn’t given time to add that she was his wife, as Mr Thwaite pointed to a bench at the back.
‘Sit down and only speak when spoken to,’ the clerk whispered.
From across the room, Harry continued to glare at her, then turned back to the magistrate, opening his mouth to speak. But he too was gestured to keep silent.
Zachary looked across at Pandora, embarrassed at the predicament he was in.
The charge was read again and he was asked whether he was guilty or not guilty. He straightened up and answered in a clear voice, ‘Not guilty, your worship.’
The clerk began to read out a summary of the evidence.
Part way through, the magistrate interrupted to ask, ‘Do you deny that you climbed the gate into the yard behind the shop, Carr?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Why did you do that?’
He looked at Pandora, hesitating, and she stood up. ‘He was coming to visit me, sir.’
The magistrate turned to stare at her. ‘For what purpose?’
‘We needed to talk.’
‘A clandestine meeting, then. This won’t reflect well on your evidence, young woman.’
She opened her mouth to protest, but the clerk made a shushing noise.
Harry smirked again.
The magistrate waved one hand. ‘Continue with the evidence.’
If she didn’t get a chance to say what had really happened, what her relationship to Zachary really was, how could she save him from being unjustly convicted? Should she shout it out? No, that might offend Mr Thwaite. Better wait and see if an opportunity presented itself to do it without upsetting him.
Marshall ran as fast as he could to Mr Featherworth’s rooms. There he panted out a demand to see Mr Featherworth and Mr Dawson at once.
‘They’re with a client and can’t be disturbed,’ the junior clerk sitting in the front office said.
‘It’s urgent. They’ll want to be disturbed.’
‘I can’t take it upon myself to do that.’
Marshall had had enough of delays, so strode along the corridor.
The clerk followed, bleating, ‘Sir, you must come outside. You can’t interr—.’
Annoyed, Marshall flung open the door of Mr Featherworth’s room, muttering, ‘Thank goodness’ when he found the two men he was looking for. ‘I’m very sorry to interrupt you, sirs, but something extremely urgent has come up and unless we can stop them, they’re going to jail Mr Carr.’
That got their attention.
Ralph Dawson stood up at once. ‘I’ll go and hear what he has to say then come back if we need you, Mr Featherworth.’ He turned to the client. ‘I do apologise for this interruption, sir.’
In the corridor Marshall explained rapidly what had happened.
Ralph gaped at him for a moment, then went back to Mr Featherworth. ‘We need you to come at once to the magistrate’s house and stop Mr Thwaite committing Zachary for trial unjustly. You know how difficult it will be to sort things out quickly if they actually commit him for trial.’
Mr Featherworth stood up at once.
‘I’ll run ahead,’ Ralph said, knowing his employer wasn’t the sort of man to move quickly.
He arrived at the house and got the maid to show him into the magistrate’s room. Just inside the door he stopped to bow his head and wait to be recognised, acting as if this was a court, because he knew Thwaite was a stickler for doing things properly.
‘Well, what is it, Dawson?’
‘Urgent new evidence, sir.’
‘What evidence? Seems like an open and shut case to me.’
‘Your honour, my employer, Mr Featherworth is following as fast as he can, but has asked me to run ahead and let you know he’s coming, because it will save a lot of trouble in the long run if things are settled at this stage, as well as preventing an injustice.’
‘Seems clear enough the fellow’s guilty to me,’ Mr Thwaite grumbled. ‘Oh, very well. If Featherworth thinks he knows something, I’ll wait till he gets here.’
Mr Featherworth arrived a couple of minutes later, face scarlet, panting audibly. He too waited by the door for permission to join them, then moved towards the front.
‘Tell me what this new evidence is,’ Thwaite said. ‘I’ve already had the prisoner’s mistress saying he didn’t do it,’ he pointed to Pandora, ‘but she’s hardly a reliable witness, now is she?’
Mr Featherworth stared at him in shock. ‘Your worship, this young lady is not the prisoner’s mistress but his wife.’
There was dead silence in the room, then Prebble exclaimed, ‘You sneaky devil!’
‘Silence!’ roared the clerk.
Harry swung round, as if to leave.
‘Stay where you are!’ the magistrate bellowed. ‘Where do you think you’re going, fellow? You’re the one who brought this case to our attention and you’ll stay till I give you permission to leave.’
‘They’ll all stick together and tell lies. What’s the use?’ But Mr Thwaite looked so angry, Harry sat down again.
Speaking quietly now, Mr Featherworth said, ‘As the husband of the owner of the shop, it isn’t possible for Mr Carr to rob himself, nor would he need to break in.’
‘You’re sure they’re married?’ Mr Thwaite asked suspiciously.
‘Certain, your honour. I’ve known for a while and have seen their marriage lines.’
‘Then why are they not living together?’
‘We were trying to find out who had been stealing from the shop, thefts which began while Mr Carr was still in Australia, I might add.’
The magistrate stared at Prebble. ‘This is highly suspicious and if any evidence turns up to show you have been involved in planting false evidence, then I shall be pleased to have you up before me.’
Mr Featherworth turned to Pandora. ‘Tell Mr Thwaite what happened last night.’
‘Zachary wanted to see me without anyone knowing, but we couldn’t open the side gate because we didn’t have a key, so he climbed over. He stayed for an hour or so, then left. I was with him the whole time, saw him climb back over the gate. I’d have heard if anyone else had climbed over, because the gate rattles loudly, so if anyone broke into the shop, they must have had a key to the back gate.’
She had spoken with her usual clarity and returned Mr Thwaite’s stare with her chin
up.
Mr Dawson cleared his throat and got a nod to speak. ‘I can vouch for the fact that Mrs Carr hasn’t a key to the side gate, your worship. I quite overlooked that when she moved in because no one uses that gate much. The shop people open the rear gate for deliveries.’
Mr Thwaite nodded slowly. ‘I see. Case dismissed, then. Come and join me for luncheon, Featherworth. I want to hear more about what’s going on with these young people. Our clerks can see to the details.’
Everyone stood up as the magistrate left the room and, with an apologetic smile at Pandora and Zachary, Mr Featherworth followed his old friend into the main house.
When the door had closed behind them, Ralph looked round. Prebble was missing. How had he managed to leave the court without anyone noticing?
As Pandora moved towards him, Zachary clasped her hands. ‘I can’t believe Harry got so far with this.’
‘He didn’t succeed, that’s the main thing. And we’ll have to tell people we’re married now.’ She beamed at the thought.
His face was still dark with anger. ‘I’m not letting Harry get away with this. I’m going to follow him and punch him in the face.’
Ralph joined them, saying, ‘You’ll do no such thing, Zachary, much as he deserves it. And besides, we have various formalities to go through with the magistrate’s clerk before you can go anywhere.’
When that was done, Zachary had calmed down. Ralph smiled at them, envying them their closeness. ‘About time people knew you were married.’
‘That’s what I think,’ Pandora said softly, still keeping hold of her husband’s hand.
22
Ralph escorted the young couple outside. ‘We’d better go to the shop first and find out what’s happened there. I sent Marshall back to keep an eye on things but I doubt Prebble will have returned there.’
Pandora linked her arm in Zachary’s as they walked along, smiling at him.
He slowed down to stare at her solemnly. ‘You’re absolutely sure?’
She shook his arm, pretending to be angry. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? Yes, I’m sure I want to stay married to you. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.’
His beaming smile made him seem almost handsome, lighting up his bony face as it always did. ‘You’ll need to tell me you love me every day of our lives if you want me to go on believing that. And I’ll promise to do the same to you.’
They stopped walking for a moment or two to look at one another, clasping hands, lost to the world. Then Mr Dawson, cleared his throat, gave them a warm smile and they all started moving again.
At the shop, they found Marshall serving a customer while the two shopmen were in the back room hovering over Daniel, who had a big bump on his forehead and was very pale.
‘Prebble turned up. Took me by surprise.’ He scowled. ‘I didn’t see him come in and the sod hit me over the head from behind.’
‘He went into the office and came out with something stuffed down his jacket,’ one of the shopmen said.
‘You should have stopped him,’ Zachary said. ‘There were two of you.’
‘And two of them,’ the other said. ‘Don’t forget the shop lad. He’s a Prebble too and he went off with Harry. Besides, I’ve never been any good at fighting.’ He touched his wire-rimmed spectacles self-consciously. ‘Too afraid of these getting broken.’
The shop bell tinkled and Zachary went to peer through the little window in the door to the shop. ‘Go and serve our customer, but say nothing about what’s happened. We’ll sort everything out later.’ He looked at Daniel. ‘Are you all right or do we need to send for the doctor?’
‘I’ll be fine. It’s nobbut a tap on the head. I went dizzy for a few minutes, but I can see straight again now.’
Mr Dawson went into the office and Zachary and Pandora followed him. ‘Can you see anything out of place?’ he asked.
Zachary stared round. ‘Not at first glance.’
‘I can,’ she said. ‘There was a blue book on the shelf there, behind the black one. I saw Harry hide it one day. Zachary and I were going to look for it after work.’
‘And we’d better check the cash box,’ Zachary said.
It was missing completely.
‘Well, he must have taken it. I advise you to leave it to the police to catch him. Your main job is to keep everything going smoothly at the shop.’ Mr Dawson took out his pocket watch and checked the time against the clock on the wall, clicking his tongue in annoyance. ‘I’d better get back to Mr Featherworth’s rooms. He has an appointment in five minutes’ time, but he’s probably still at the magistrate’s house. I’d better send the office boy to remind him.’ He moved to the door. ‘I think I can safely leave everything here in your capable hands now, Zachary. I’ll send a message to the police about Prebble coming here and stealing the money. I repeat, leave it to them now.’
Pandora blocked his way. ‘I want to make it clear that from now on Zachary is to be the new manager of the shop.’
Mr Dawson raised his eyebrows. ‘Well, of course. Who better?’ He started to move away, then paused again. ‘Do you want me to make an announcement about your marriage in the local newspaper?’
‘Yes, please.’
When they were alone, Zachary pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. ‘Can I move in with you tonight?’
‘I insist on it. What about your mother and sister?’
‘We’ll go and see them after work.’
‘Will they be pleased, do you think?’
‘I’m sure they will.’
‘I hope they like me.’
‘How could they not?’
They stared at one another a while longer, then she sighed and stepped back from him. ‘I’ll tell Dot what’s happened, then I’m coming back to help in the shop. You’re short-handed and if I only pack things for you, or tidy up, it’ll be some help.’ She raised her chin. ‘I’ll not be left out.’
He chuckled. ‘I’ve realised that by now.’
She went back to find that Alice had come home, so quickly told her friend and Dot what had been going on.
‘I knew you were married, miss, I mean Mrs Carr,’ Dot said. ‘I hear you talking to Mr Carr one day.’
‘And you said nothing?’
She shrugged. ‘It wasn’t my business.’
‘Well, I really value your loyalty and good sense and I hope you’ll go on working for us.’
‘Yes, please, miss – I mean, ma’am.’
When Dot had left, Pandora turned to Alice. ‘You don’t have to move out until you’ve found yourself a new job.’
‘Thank you. But I can go to live with my cousins. You and Zachary don’t need me here to play gooseberry.’
Pandora could feel herself blushing and couldn’t deny that.
In the middle of the afternoon, one of the policemen came to Mr Featherworth’s rooms.
‘Did you arrest Prebble for the thefts?’ Ralph asked.
‘I’m afraid not. He wasn’t at his home. We’re searching for him now.’
‘He may get away. He’s a cunning fellow.’
‘I don’t think so, sir. We’re keeping a watch on the railway station, as well as on the roads out of town. There are some advantages to being near the moors with only two or three ways to leave the area, unless he walks across the tops.’ He smiled. ‘No, Prebble will have to be pretty slippery to get past us, sir.’
Ralph wasn’t as sure that they would catch him, but didn’t pursue the point. ‘I don’t know what Zachary’s going to say about this. He’s very angry at Prebble.’
‘I hope he’ll not do anything foolish like getting into a fight with him.’
‘I hope so too.’ Ralph sighed. ‘I’d better go and tell him how matters stand.’
As he was walking towards the shop, the door to the living quarters opened and he saw Alice come out, dressed in her outdoor clothes but looking worried. He hurried towards her. ‘Are you all right?’
She smiled, but it wa
s a strained smile. ‘Yes, of course. It’s good news that Zachary is taking over the shop, isn’t it?’
‘Yes.’ He felt uncharacteristically shy. ‘Um – what are you going to do now?’
Her smile slipped and the worried look returned. ‘Go and stay with my cousins until I can find another job.’
The thought that she might move away from Outham gave Ralph the courage to say, ‘No! You mustn’t leave.’
She looked at him in surprise.
He took a deep breath. ‘Alice, my dear, if I may call you that, if you don’t object, that is—’ He faltered to a halt and then said it baldly because he couldn’t think of any romantic words, wasn’t that sort of man. ‘Do you think you might like to marry me instead of finding a job?’
He held his breath, waiting for her response, sure she was going to turn him down, because he was a clerk and she was a lady. Instead he saw joy bloom on her face and heard her reply, ‘Of course I’ll marry you!’
‘You will? I mean, I’m so glad. I’m a plain man and I’m not – not good at romantic words and—’
She took his hand. ‘You don’t need fancy words with me, Ralph. We’ve become such good friends, you and I. Yes, and your sister too. When we’re married, Judith will still live with us, won’t she?’
He nodded and grew daring enough to plant a kiss on her cheek. Drawing his head back for a few seconds he saw how gloriously she was smiling now, so took her in his arms and kissed her properly.
‘Miss, I—’
He came back to an awareness of his surroundings to see Dot goggling at them and said simply, ‘You may be the first to congratulate me, Dot. Miss Alice has just agreed to become my wife.’
As Hallie was walking to the corner shop, a woman cried out for help from the alley next to it. She turned into the entrance and before she could do anything, a man stepped out of the first doorway and grabbed her, muffling her cries with his hand.
A woman joined him, tying Hallie’s hands tightly behind her.
Terrified, she struggled with all her might, but they were two to one and they’d taken her by surprise.
