A Fatal Deception

by P. F. Ford

  As he walked away from his parked car, he almost gave in and did actually pull the phone from his pocket. But then he reminded himself he was on his way to a business meeting, ignored the message, made sure the phone was switched off, and slipped it back into his pocket.

  ***

  Norman guessed Dr Bartholomew must be about 60 years old. His thick, white, hair was balding on top, but it was plentiful enough at the sides. He was a good six feet tall, and his upright stance and firm handshake gave him an air of calm authority. He studied Norman's face through intelligent blue eyes framed by gold-rimmed glasses.

  'I've heard a lot about you, Mr Norman,' he said.

  'I hope it was all good.'

  'Oh, indeed it was. You come highly recommended.'

  'I do?' Norman couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

  'Oh yes. I'm not going to name names, but I'm assured you know the meaning of the words discretion, and integrity.'

  'I like to think so,' said Norman, 'but I should warn you I also have a habit of stepping on toes, and I have been known to speak out of turn.'

  Dr Bartholomew gave him another warm smile.

  'Ah, yes, but only in the name of truth and honesty, I'm told. That's perfectly acceptable in my book.'

  'Well, in the name of honesty, I have to confess I know nothing about you, or about this college,' admitted Norman, 'but then I've never had the need. Anyway, I'm guessing you didn't ask me here to exchange pleasantries, so why don't you tell me what I can help you with?'

  'I'm afraid you may find it rather trivial. It's certainly not the sort of thing you normally deal with.'

  'When I retired from the police, I had to accept I wasn't likely to be investigating many major crimes,' said Norman. 'I don't think it's something I'm going to miss.'

  'Well this certainly isn't major, it's just petty theft. Stuff is going missing from the girls’ rooms. The thing is it can cause ill feeling when people don't know who they can trust.'

  'Don't you have security?'

  'We have someone who watches CCTV and keeps the wrong sort of people out, but he's not exactly subtle, nor is he a detective.'

  'What about the police?'

  'This college has a reputation, Mr Norman. Having the police around wouldn't look good. I called you because I'd rather rely on someone who can sort this out quietly, and discreetly, without too much fuss. I'm sure you are more than capable of quickly resolving this issue. What do you say? Will you take this job?'

  Norman pretended to be thinking. The truth was he was more than happy to take the job. It didn't sound like it would be particularly taxing, and he could certainly do with something to occupy his mind at the moment. It also appeared Dr Bartholomew knew some people who mattered, and that may well lead to more work in the future.

  'I think I can fit you in Dr Bartholomew,' he said. 'I can start tomorrow if that's okay, but I'm going to need some background information to start, and I need to know who's had stuff stolen.'

  'That's excellent news,' said Bartholomew. He handed Norman a folder. 'I think you'll find enough information in here to get you started. My Secretary will arrange to have a security pass waiting for you tomorrow morning.'

  ***

  As Norman wandered back to his car, he remembered the text message he had ignored earlier. He climbed into the car, slipped the folder onto the passenger seat and pulled the phone from his pocket. A smile flitted across his face when he saw the sender's name. It was Naomi Darling.

  "Landing, Gatwick, 6 pm. Can you pick me up?"

  Norman's smile became a grin as he carefully picked out the reply, "I'll be there," and clicked send.

  Chapter Two

  Norman had time to kill before he needed to leave for Gatwick airport, so he headed into town hoping to find something to improve his mood before he made the four hour round trip. But Tinton seemed to be suffering from pre-Christmas depression and lacked the seasonal spark he had hoped to find.

  As he ambled along the high street, he noticed a lone girl huddled in the doorway of an empty shop. She was sitting on a sheet of cardboard. A small begging bowl on the ground before her contained a few coins. She was literally singing for her supper, and Norman stopped for a moment to wonder at the quality her voice. He recognised the song and marvelled at how she could sing it like this with no apparent accompaniment.

  The threadbare coat she wore couldn't possibly be keeping her warm, but from beneath the collar, a pair of unmistakable thin white cables ran up to her ears. Now Norm could understand how she did it; she was singing along to an MP3 player!

  He reached into his pockets but realised he had no cash. There was a bank with an ATM less than a hundred yards away, so he hurried down the street and drew some money from the machine. As he walked back towards the girl, he dived into a shop where they sold outdoor gear.

  Five minutes later he emerged from the shop, carrying a bag, and walked back to the girl. She sang with her eyes closed, and he didn't want to startle her, so he waited as she finished the next song, and then gave her a little round of applause. She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

  'Thank you,' she said.

  'You have a beautiful voice,' he said. 'You should be in front of a real audience. Your talent is wasted out here.'

  'Yeah, if only,' she said, sadly. 'Maybe, one day.'

  'I was going to give you cash,' said Norman. 'But looking at your coat, I thought maybe you'd appreciate something a bit more practical, especially now winter’s here.’

  Norman handed her the bag, and she seemed to hesitate, almost as if she thought he was going to snatch it back.

  'It's fantastic of you to do this, and I don't want to sound ungrateful,' she said, looking up at him uncertainly. 'The thing is, I can't eat practical.'

  'Yeah, I understand that,' he said, 'but you'll never survive a cold winter in that flimsy coat. I got you a warm, waterproof coat, a sleeping bag, and a groundsheet. They roll up pretty neat and small, so they'll fit in the rucksack that's in the bag.'

  'Bloody 'ell, Mister,' said the girl, looking into the bag in disbelief. 'That's very generous of you. I dunno what to say.'

  She pulled the coat from the bag and held it up before her.

  'You don't have to say anything,' said Norman. 'Just promise me you'll wear them and that you won't sell them.'

  She got to her feet and struggled out of her old coat.

  'Sell them? Are you kidding?' she asked. 'This is Christmas come early. I need stuff like this.'

  Norman held the coat for her, and she slipped her arms into the sleeves, shrugged it up over her shoulders, and zipped up the front.

  'But you'd never buy them for yourself if I gave you the cash, right?' asked Norman.

  She turned to show off the coat and smiled up at him.

  'You know how it works, then?'

  'I've done some work with homeless people,' said Norman, admiring the coat. 'Do a twirl for me.'

  The girl did as he requested. 'Well, what d'you think?'

  'It's not exactly high fashion,' he admitted, 'but as I said, it's practical, and it seems to be the right size. Is it warm? That's what matters, isn't it?'

  'I'm as warm as toast in here,' she said. 'It's lovely. Thank you ever so much.'

  'I don't think I've seen you before,' said Norman. 'Are you new in town?'

  'I've been here about a week and a half.'

  'I hope you're not getting any hassle,' said Norman.

  'It's been okay so far,' she said, 'but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.'

  'There's a church not far from here that provides free dinners,' said Norman, 'and they have a shelter. It's got to be better than sleeping in a shop doorway.'

  'I have somewhere safe and warm to sleep.'

  'Okay, well, the Church shelter's always open if ever you need it,' said Norman.

  'Thank you, I'll bear that in mind,' said the girl. 'When I first saw you, I thought you were going to move me on, but you're alright, you are. What's your name?
'

  'Norm. What's yours?'

  'Millie,' she said.

  'Well, it's nice to meet you, Millie. Do you intend to stick around for long?'

  'I dunno,' she said. 'I tend not to have plans, but then it's not as if I've got anywhere to rush off to, you know? I'll probably stay for a week or so, and see what happens.'

  'I have to go now,' said Norman, 'but I'll look out for you next time I'm in town.'

  'Yeah, I'd like that,' said Millie. 'Maybe I'll make enough money to buy you a coffee to say thank you.'

  'You can thank me by taking care of yourself,' said Norman, 'and check out that Church. The food's good and the shelter's warm and dry.'

  As Norman walked back to his car, he began to feel the beginnings of a warm glow deep down inside, and for the first time in many days, he felt quite good about himself.

  Even though it was only mid-December, the arrivals lounge at Gatwick was heaving. Norman watched as some people, apparently worried they might miss the person they were meeting, battled their way to the front of the barrier. He didn't bother with any of that. Even though he wasn't the tallest of men, he knew his hair made him almost impossible to miss, and Darling knew this too. Sure enough, she found him almost straight away.

  Because of the thirty year age difference, their friendship was like that of father and daughter. To say they were close would be an understatement, but even so, Norman was caught unawares by her greeting. As soon as she reached him, she dropped her case, flung her arms around his neck, and hugged him close for what seemed like an age.

  'Hey,' he said, as he wrapped his arms around her. 'It's only been a couple of weeks.'

  She didn't seem to be in any hurry to let go of him, and she didn't say anything. He began to worry that something terrible must have happened to her while she had been away.

  'Are you okay? Has something happened?' he asked.

  'No, I'm fine,' she mumbled in his ear. 'But I feel terrible about leaving you like that.'

  'Aw, come on,' he said. 'You don't need to feel bad about anything.'

  Finally, she let go, stepped back and looked up at him.

  'I shouldn't have gone. You were so unhappy, and I just cleared off and left you to it. I'm so sorry; it was very selfish of me.'

  'Nuts,' said Norman. 'I seem to recall I was the one who suggested you needed to get away for a couple of weeks. I could see how you were struggling to deal with that kid's death, and I thought getting away on your own would help you deal with it. Change is as good as a rest, right? Anyway, what's important is how you're feeling now, so, are you feeling better?'

  'Yes, I am. I had time to do a lot of thinking.'

  'What about?'

  'I'll tell you later,' she said. 'Right now I want to know about you. Are you okay?'

  'You know me,' said Norman. 'I'm a little rough around the edges, but I manage. Come on, let me take that case and let's get you home.'

  He picked up the case in his right hand, and, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she slipped her arm through his free arm and, side by side, they headed off towards the car park.

  'So, tell me, what was the hotel like?' he asked, as they began walking.

  Norman's knuckles were turning white as he gripped the steering wheel.

  'Jeez, I hate these spiral ramps,' he said, as he negotiated the down ramp from the car park, 'they seem so narrow I always think I'm going to hit the sides.’

  'I wasn't sure you would want to be driving,' she said.

  'Yeah, well, I didn't have much choice with both you and Dave being away. And how did you think I was going to pick you up? Walking's okay for getting around locally, but it's not all it's cracked up to be if you want to cover any sort of distance in a hurry.'

  'What have you been up to while I've been away?' she asked.

  'Oh, this, and that.'

  'You mean nothing?'

  Norman harrumphed, guiltily.

  'Actually, I've been looking for some detective work, and I have to say you couldn't have timed your return any better. It's perfect. It just so happens I have secured us a new job, and we start tomorrow.'

  He took his eyes off the road just long enough to slip a quick grin in her direction.

  Darling stared at him as he turned his face back to the road. He seemed genuinely happy to see her, and he apparently thought they were a working partnership. She thought she really ought to tell him, but didn't want to spoil the moment.

  'Okay, so what is this job?' she heard herself asking.

  'It's okay,' he said, hastily. 'There's no dead body to identify or anything like that. It's just a few kids stealing stuff from each other at the Performing Arts College. It'll be a piece of cake.'

  'Petty theft? That sounds a bit tame for you.'

  'Yeah,' he agreed, 'It's not exactly Murder On The Orient Express, but we need the work, and the guy who runs the College seems to know a lot of influential people. This one might be a small job, but if we make a good fist of it and get a quick result, it could open one or two doors for us.'

  'Us?'

  'Yeah. Norman and Darling, Detectives. I think it'll look great over a door, and it has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I've still got the keys to the old offices Dave and I were going to use.'

  Darling felt a mild panic beginning inside.

  'You haven't already set this partnership in motion, have you?'

  'Heck, no, I couldn't do that without you. We'd have to draw up a proper business agreement and stuff. You know I'm no good at things like that.'

  She breathed a small sigh of relief.

  'We don't have to do that right now, do we?'

  'I thought we'd leave it until after this job,' said Norman. 'We can think about how it's gonna work while we do this one, and then decide on the details after.'

  'It'll be Christmas by then,' she said. 'Why not leave it until after Christmas?'

  Norman couldn't see the need for waiting, but there again he didn't want to rush her, and he was confident she'd come round to his way of thinking once they got working.

  'Okay,' he agreed. 'We can sort it out after Christmas. New year, new start, right?'

  'Yeah,' she agreed, 'something like that.'

  'There, you see,' said Norman, happily. 'We're on the same wavelength already.'

  Darling didn't know how to respond to that, so she settled for changing the subject instead.

  'Have you eaten?' she asked. 'The last meal I had was hours ago.'

  'What do you want?' asked Norman. 'You name it I'll find it.'

  'I don't fancy a late night,' she said. 'A takeaway would be good. How about we just stop and pick up a pizza when we get nearer home?'

  'Sure,' said Norman. 'I can run the job past you while we eat. It'll only take a few minutes.'

  Darling gazed unhappily at the sea of red lights ahead go them on the motorway.

  'I'm not promising I'll take it all in,' she said. 'I'm exhausted, and I'm going to need an early night if you want me to start in the morning.'

  'I promise it won't even take five minutes,' said Norman. 'And then I'll get off home so you can have your early night.'

  Chapter Three

  Tuesday 16th December

  'So, basically,' said Darling, as they drove into the college car park next morning. 'Four of the girls have had stuff stolen from their rooms, and they're all blaming each other.'

  'That's about the size of it,' agreed Norman.

  'If this were a nursery the teachers would sort this out in five minutes,' said Darling, 'so why can't the college handle it on their own?'

  'I guess most of the staff are much too precious, and arty-farty, to get their hands dirty,' said Norman, 'but that's okay, it means there's work for people like us.'

  'What about the police?'

  'That was one of the questions I asked. It turns out the college relies on a lot of sponsorships, and this is the time of year when most of the sponsors are likely to show their faces. The Principal feels the pr
esence of the boys in blue might prevent some of those nice big juicy wallets from opening. He thinks we'll be a bit less conspicuous around the place.'

  'Less conspicuous?' she asked, looking at Norman's hair which, this morning, had chosen late 70s Afro style. 'He has met you, and your hair, has he?'

  'Hey, look, this is a performing arts college, right?' said Norman. 'I'll blend right in.'

  'Yeah, right. Dream on, Norm,' she said.

  'Whatever,' said Norman, genially. 'Besides that's exactly why I need you here. You will blend in, especially in the girl's accommodation block.'

  'Why do the sponsors pick this time of year to appear?' asked Darling.

  'Because every year they stage a big Christmas show. It's the highlight of their year, and all the students want to be in it. The show runs for about a week, during which time half the local town will be here to see it, as will most of the sponsors. But some of them are also here during rehearsals, offering tips and advice to the budding superstars.'

  Norman parked the car and switched off the engine. 'Okay. How d'you wanna play this?'

  'Really?' said Darling. 'How about you act like the senior detective you are, and I follow your directions?'

  'What happened to partners?' asked Norman. 'Do you have a problem with that?'

  'What if I said I find it hard to reconcile my two years experience with your thirty plus years? There's no way I'm ever going to consider myself your equal, is there?'

  'But you're like my daughter. I can't order you around,' said Norman.

  'Even real father and daughter teams have a boss. Usually, it's the father because he has the most experience. And it's not about you ordering me around; it's about you guiding me because you have the experience to know the best way to proceed.'

  'Well, I suppose if you put it like that.'

  'It's how it is, Norm, and I certainly couldn't tell you where to start, now could I?'