Scarlett thought about snapping back, telling him she wasn’t a dog, but decided not to take the bait. She trudged back, coming to a halt inches away from him, their toes almost touching.
PC Baldwin’s face looked awash with annoyance. “You can’t just show up at a crime scene and go swanning off at your convenience.”
“I know that, but I really need to get back to work. I’m late already.”
“Is that right? Serves you right for going ‘round snooping then, doesn’t it? Shoving your nose in where it doesn’t concern you?”
“I was only trying to help.”
“Trying to help.” He sniggered
Out of nowhere, Karl’s face flashed into her head. She’d been late a few times recently and got the impression she was on thin ice with him. The wrath of Karl was the last thing she needed.
“Please. I’m going to be late. I don’t want to—”
“This won’t take long.”
Scarlett stood rooted to the spot while the policeman fired questions at her.
“Are you being deliberately difficult, miss? Because if you are… ”
“No, I’m not. I just need to get back to work. My boss, he’s—he just won’t understand.”
The policeman’s expression softened a tad. “OK then, you’ve done nothing wrong I suppose, have you? I don’t want to go getting you into trouble at work.”
“Thank you, officer.”
“Go on then, you get off back to work.”
She turned and headed for the door.
“But!”
Scarlett stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder. “But what?”
“There are lots of unanswered questions, so we’ll be in touch shortly. Where do you work?”
“Bicester Vintners.”
“Well, you go on then.”
This was much easier than she’d imagined it would be. Surely the DCIs wouldn’t have been willing to let her leave so easily if she had been a suspect.
Scarlett ran down the stairs without pausing or even looking up to glance through the windows. It was only once she’d reached the ground floor that she noticed the decidedly fresher air. She’d become used to the smell, though the thought of going back inside repulsed her.
She couldn’t resist replaying the events again and again in her mind. The clues were there somewhere, they had to be. Maybe the card or chocolates had something to do with it. Maybe they weren’t intended for him. Maybe his girlfriend had bought them for a lover and he’d found them. The two of them might have fought to the death, with Robert losing the battle. However, by the time she’d reached the door, she’d already dismissed this theory.
If there had been a fight, there would have been clues—and witnesses. No, this was a stupid theory that a pro would never have come up with. Once again, she’d let her imagination run away with itself.
Opening the door she stepped back onto the street. Taking in a few gulps of fresh air she came to the conclusion that she only got through her current episode relatively unscathed because she’d experienced so many terrible things and disgusting smells at the base that time they’d rescued Ronnie.
She saw Amanda hanging around, staring down at her phone, looking concerned and baffled in equal measures.
She crept up behind her and tapped Amanda on the shoulder. “Hi!”
Amanda jumped and swung around. “Scarlett! Don’t do that to me.”
She grinned. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“Mmm. You used up your quota of unfunny jokes when you flaunted your marshmallows and chocolate earlier.”
“Sorry.”
Amanda grinned. “It’s okay. I was just reaping some revenge of my own.”
Scarlett smiled.
Curious, Amanda probed “So, what’s going on then? Why did the two of you go running out like that? And why was the place swarming with the Old Bill?”
She chuckled. “The Old Bill, never heard you say that before. You sound like a right cockney gangster.”
“Okay, the boys in blue, then. So, what happened?”
“Well...” Scarlett’s jovial expression dissipated. “There was a murder.”
Amanda’s jaw dropped. “A murder? Really?”
Scarlett nodded.
“What happened? Come on, fill me in.”
“Rosa, the woman that caused the commotion in the cafe, took me to the flat above.” She pointed behind her. “In the living room, there he was, in a heap on the couch.”
“Oh my God! So go on, what had happened?”
“We don’t know for sure, but from the looks of things, he’d been stabbed, just once, in the abdomen. And the smell… ” She felt herself turn pale.
“What smell?”
“It hits you the minute you step into the building. It was enough to make me retch as we got closer and then when I was in the flat, I almost… I almost couldn’t hold it in.”
“So what was it, did you find out?”
“Yeah. It was decaying flesh. Looked like he’d been there for quite some time.”
“Errgh. Lovely image. I suppose there were maggots crawling over him too, weren’t there?”
Scarlett shook her head. “No, but here’s the most interesting thing—he was clutching his phone.”
Amanda nodded. “Mmm. That is interesting.”
“It begs the question, why didn’t he phone for help? That’s what I’d like to know.”
The building behind them reverberated to the sound of thundering footsteps and the door opened.
Scarlett looked down at the sidewalk. “I’ve got to run,” she said, looking up without raising her chin. “I was due back at work ages ago. Catch up with you later, I promise.”
She sprinted along the sidewalk, looking over her shoulder at the departing policemen and settled into a jog. If she was stopped again for questioning, Karl would blow his top. Quite literally.
Chapter Three
Bicester Vintners, Market Square, Bicester
“Hi Karl, so sorry I’m late. Uh, again. I—”
Karl was standing behind the counter, face like a slapped arse. Without looking up, he raised a hand signalling for her to stop talking.
Scarlett scurried through the shop. “Karl, I’m so, so sorry, it won’t happen again, I’ll be your perfect employee from now on, I’ll scrub the floor, I’ll do all the lifting, I’ll be more helpful to the customers, I’ll—”
“No,” he said curtly. “Just man the till like you’re supposed to, that will be enough.” He shook his head and glanced up at the ceiling. “Lord, why do you punish me with such bad employees? Is it too much to expect that they arrive on time and do the job I pay them for?”
Scarlett fought to hide her grin. If anyone else had said this, she would have laughed, but with Karl, she just knew better. In some ways, he reminded her of Basil Fawlty, whose people skills were slightly below par. But was she the voice of reason like Sybil? Maybe that was the role she could grow into. She smiled at the thought of being appreciated and taking on more responsibility.
“Well, I’m going to the back for a while. Probably for the rest of the day, in fact. Think you can cope out here on your own?”
Scarlett nodded. He seemed to be in a rare good mood, despite everything. Maybe that was why he’d let her off relatively lightly.
“Good girl.”
The short-lived feeling of goodwill followed Karl into the back room. He had the rare knack of being able to floor people with one comment. She gave it a moment’s thought and cringed. If Tabitha and Tarquin got together, maybe she’d have to get used to everyone speaking to her like a child.
Standing behind the counter, doing her best to look like a cheery, happy bunny despite everything, her mind began to wander. She couldn’t help but ruminate on the excitement of the afternoon. Saying everything aloud to Amanda earlier had helped her focus and allowed her to go through everything logically without being affected by her emotions. Like all good detectives, she had to remain focused an
d approach everything methodically. Maybe this was the mistake she’d made when investigating the dead man’s flat and why she’d come up short.
Roughly an hour after she’d returned from her break, Scarlett’s rehearsed grin wore off and she slumped forward onto the counter. The afternoon had been so slow, with hardly any customers. If things continued like this, she wouldn’t get the chance to emulate Sybil Fawlty. She grinned at her choice of role models and managed to muster up enough enthusiasm to smile at the door, ready to welcome any customers that might step in.
She’d only been smiling for a matter of seconds when the door opened.
Scarlett stood up straight, put on her most enticing smile and straightened her dress. She couldn’t help running an eye over the shelves and trying to second guess what the customer might be looking for. An initial glimpse of black boot provided her with the information she needed to make an educated guess.
Once the second foot appeared, followed by a torso and finally the head, her smile evaporated. “Good afternoon, Miss?”
“Slater.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Slater, we meet again.”
Looking at PC Baldwin she had to bite her tongue. The words “goody, goody” came to mind. “Good afternoon, constable.”
His eyes darted around the shop. He found his way to the counter she was standing at and leaned in over it. “Is now a good time to talk?”
“Oh, err, yes… as good as any.”
“Good.” He grinned. “Not that it would have made a blind bit of difference if it wasn’t.”
Scarlett admired his honesty, despite the fact that it was a blatant attempt to assert his total authority.
“So, do you want to start by telling me everything you know?”
“Everything?”
“Yes, go on, right from the start. Let no detail remain untold.”
“It started when I was in the coffee shop and this woman entered screaming for someone to call the police.”
“Oh, sorry, Miss Slater, just hang on a jiffy.” He took out his notepad, clicked his pen and began scribbling, repeating everything word for word as he wrote.
“Sorry about that, do go on. You’d just seen a woman shouting to call the police. Then what happened?”
“Then, after I’d calmed her down she took me into the flat upstairs.”
“Was that the building we found you in?”
“Yes.”
“And did you notice anything strange about the building itself?”
“Only the smell. It was… well, it was pretty much the worse smell I’ve ever experienced. It knocked me sick.”
“Yes, yes, I do recall having a similar reaction myself.”
“So then the cleaner led me up the stairs to the top floor. And there he was— sitting on the couch in the living room. Just as you found him.”
“Anything else?”
“The smell got stronger as I approached. I have a feeling it was—”
“Rotting flesh, yes, we managed to work that much out for ourselves. Thank you very much, Miss Marple.”
She felt a sharp twinge of annoyance, but kept her face void of all expression. “And then there was the bathroom. I looked carefully in there too, but nothing.”
He nodded, still scribbling. “Anything else?”
Time to reap her revenge. “Well, hm… there was the card and the box of chocolates...”
His eyes lit up. “There was a card and a box of chocolates? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Oh, didn’t think it was important.”
He looked at the heavens and shook his head in the same way Karl had earlier. “Well, that’s one possible avenue of inquiry. Anything else?”
“He had a phone in his hand. I assume you saw it?”
The policeman nodded. “What about it?”
“It’s a bit strange, don’t you think. I mean, if he had his phone, why didn’t he call for help?”
He appeared to be deep in thought. “Well, maybe something was stopping him.”
A smart looking man stepped out from behind a shelf. Scarlett wasn’t sure how long he’d been there. He brought with him a strong air of authority.
“Good afternoon, miss. I’m DCI Yates.”
The constable swung around. “Oh, err, hello—sir. What a pleasure it is to see you. As always.”
The Detective Chief Inspector glared at the constable, who blushed and muttered his apologies under his breath.
Scarlett refused to be distracted. “Maybe. Or maybe the signal from his flat was really bad. Or maybe it’s something else entirely.”
DCI Yates decided it was time to make a contribution. “What makes you say that? Do you know something else?”
“Well, Rosa–the cleaner that goes ‘round every month—said he had a girlfriend who came by all the time. She couldn’t remember her name exactly, but said it was some kind of bird like Robin or—blackbird.” Scarlett flashed a smile. “But she never once said that the name began with the letter V.”
The DCI gave her a considering look. “Letter V?”
“From the card and a box of chocolates on the table.”
The constable looked at his superior. “She was just telling me about this when you walked in, sir.”
He nodded. “Can you describe these to me, miss?”
“There was a card and a box of chocolates on the table. The chocolates were all melted and the letter had a lipstick kiss on it. It was signed with the letter V.”
The DCI pressed his lips together. Scarlett couldn’t tell if he was annoyed with her for coming up with something he hadn’t, or impressed that she’d come to the same conclusion he already had. “So, either the cleaner’s mistaken or he was two-timing her, is that what you’re saying?”
Scarlett saw her moment to shine. “My gut feeling is, the card wasn’t from his regular girlfriend.”
The DCI smiled; a slight uptick of his mouth that Scarlett could just barely make out. “Now, that is an interesting theory.”
Scarlett grinned. “Thank you.”
The DCI looked at her. “Well, Miss Slater, you certainly seem to know a lot about this case.”
“I just pay attention to what I see. Always have. I had ambitions of being a detective when I was young.”
The constable spoke up. “Not only when you were young, if your snooping is anything to go by.”
The DCI pushed up the collar on his jacket and glanced through the window. “I think that just about concludes things for now.”
Scarlett smiled. “Okay.”
“But, you’re not off the hook yet. There are still lots of things we need to investigate and we can’t do anything until we’ve established a few facts. Miss Slater, I strongly advise you not to leave town for the foreseeable future.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t.”
They both turned to head for the door and in the blink of an eye, she was serving a customer like nothing untoward had happened. Five minutes later, she was alone, mulling over the day's events.
She felt hot breath on the back of her neck. Startled, she swung around to see that Karl had wandered in from the back room.
“Karl! Finished your stock take?”
He nodded. “I was, err, listening in on your conversation with the police earlier and I just wondered—is everything ok?”
“Oh yes, everything’s fine now, couldn’t be better.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Scarlett furrowed her brow. “Yes Karl, I’m sure. ”
“That’s just as well, because if you are in any kind of trouble, then—well that’s bad news for everyone isn’t it?”
She shrugged. “Oh, it’s nothing, really.”
“Let me be the judge of that. What happened?”
“Ah, well, I might have witnessed a crime scene earlier, that’s all.”
He blinked in surprise, then rolled his eyes and wandered back to the backroom. “Oh, of course you did.”
+++
Thursday, La
te Afternoon
Slater residence, Bicester, England
Scarlett removed her jacket and sighed. “Oh, it’s been a long day. Amanda?”
A note lay on the kitchen table, informing her that she’d gone to Ronnie’s for the night. Apparently, they were doing some new-fangled keto dinner or something. Whatever it was, it sounded disgusting. Precisely the opposite of what Scarlett needed on a day like this.
“Good evening!”
Scarlett nearly jumped out of her skin. “What the—?!”
Raven was standing by her feet, looking up at her.
“Raven, didn’t I ask you not to go creeping up on people? You gave me a heart attack just now.”
“Sorry. Busy day then, I take it?”
“Well, not busy as such. More like, exhausting.”
“Sounds intriguing.”
“You think? Well, I’ll tell you about it if you like?”
“The penny’s dropped, I see.”
Scarlett sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. For the second time that afternoon, she recounted everything, from the woman in Costa to the card and chocolates on the table. Only this time, of course, she had the police visit to relay as well.
Raven tilted her head to the side. “Well, I agree. That does sound like a thoroughly exhausting day. Why don’t you relax after dinner? Have a bath and an early night? After feeding me, I mean.”
Scarlett laughed, and got up to refill Raven’s cat bowl. “That sounds like a fantastic idea, in theory. But I’ve got too many thoughts swirling around to sleep. I’d just be up awake all night.”
“You’re not worried about the investigation are you? That you might be a suspect?”
“Oh no, nothing like that. It was just something Karl said.”
“Karl? What did he say?”
“Well, he didn’t say anything, not exactly. It was more like an insinuation.”
Raven sighed, lashing her tail back and forth. “Please, let’s not play fifty questions here. What did he insinuate?”
Scarlett chuckled. “He insinuated that I’d drawn suspicion to myself and not only that, I’d also put everyone’s safety in jeopardy. Oh Raven, I just couldn’t live with myself if—”
A Very British Witch Boxed Set Page 64
