by Anita Waller
‘What the bloody hell is going on here?’ Doris stood in the doorway, taking in the scene in front of her.
Leon spun around and saw the small, grey-haired woman, her cheeks flushed with anger.
He turned to look at Kat. ‘We appear to have a little old lady standing in our kitchen.’
Tension broken, Kat and Mouse laughed aloud, and a hiccupping Kat introduced her husband to Doris Lester.
Doris stepped into the kitchen and picked up the gun. ‘Is it loaded?’
‘Not yet,’ Leon said. ‘I was just about to show these two how to load it and fire it, but now you’re here, I’ll show all three of you.’
Doris smiled. ‘You don’t need to show me, but go ahead and teach my granddaughter how to kill people. I’m sure that skill will come in handy one day.’
Leon stood and held a chair out for her. ‘Sit, woman.’
She complied, and looked him up and down. ‘You’re a beautiful man, Kat’s husband. You got a father who’s looking for a new wife?’
He grinned. ‘I do have a father, but he’s got a wife, thanks. I’ll tell him to put you on a waiting list.’
‘You do that. Now, what are you going to tell these two?’
The gun lay in the drawer, and Mouse kept opening it to look at the weapon. She hated it, but she recognised Leon’s logic. A burnt-out house, two deaths, Anthony Jackson, a nan on the run from a potential murderer, and two further vulnerable women – the gun was a necessity until the murderer was under lock and key. Leon had made it very clear that it was a deal-breaker; if she refused to consider having it in the bedroom with her, she would have to find someone else’s bedroom to hide in.
The biggest surprise of all had been that her nan had handled the gun with ease; she hadn’t been lying when she said she needed no instruction, but she wouldn’t say why her knowledge was all-encompassing.
Mouse slipped on her nightie and climbed into bed. Knowing Doris Lester was in the next bedroom and not at home in her own house gave Mouse a degree of comfort. She turned out the light, hoping she would sleep without her mind wandering to that alleyway, but it was difficult. Seeing Leon’s gun had brought the horror pouring back into her mind, and she knew she had to get over it. It wasn’t the gun, it was a gun, and she could ignore it by putting something on top of it so that she didn’t see it whenever she opened the drawer.
She would talk to Kat in the morning, she decided, and they would go to the scene of the murder behind Leon’s pharmacy, to see if anything new occurred to her. She needed her memory to open up, the headaches to subside so that she could start functioning properly, to divulge who the hell the taxi driver was. Then she might just need the damn gun in the bedside drawer, she might very easily need it.
Chapter 13
Kat and Mouse left Doris finishing the deadheading that Kat had started the previous afternoon, and headed down to the village centre. They walked, enjoying the sunshine, and on the way, Kat pointed out various tourist sites, the most notable in Mouse’s eyes being the Plague Cottages on Church Street. George Vickers, the hapless tailor who had taken receipt of the damp bolt of cloth from London, had hung it around the fire to dry, releasing the plague infested fleas living within it, the disease that had started with rats.
Eyam’s beauty lay in its stone cottages dotted ad hoc throughout the length of the village, cottages that had seemingly been there for ever. It was a typical Derbyshire village; Mouse smiled at the weather vane atop the plague museum, the metal figure of a rat standing in place of a more traditional cockerel.
Mouse stared at the cottages. ‘How many died?’
‘Two hundred and sixty people over fourteen months, but very courageous people. They quarantined themselves. Others left food and medical supplies for them in the walls surrounding the village, and eventually the plague died out, along with most of the residents of Eyam. But it didn’t spread.’
‘Such selfless people.’ Mouse breathed the words out quietly. ‘Everybody knows Eyam is the plague village, but it’s only when you stand here looking at the cottages, the graves, the village in its entirety, that you realise the magnitude of it.’ She shivered. ‘What a wonderful place you live in, Kat.’
‘I agree. We waited until a house came up for sale here, and then pounced. It was in a bit of a state when we bought it, but we didn’t care. We wanted to preserve it, and keep it safe for all time.’
Kat and Mouse stopped for a moment and took in the beautiful plague cottages, and Kat spoke again. ‘You want a bit more information? The children’s nursery rhyme Ring o’ ring o’ roses is from plague times. Ring o’ ring o’ roses, a pocketful of posies, atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down. Ring of roses refers to the rash a victim develops on the skin, pocket full of posies talks about people carrying nosegays or small bunches of herbs as they tried to ward off the germs, atishoo is the sneezing that was one of the symptoms of plague, and we all fall down means the victim is being overtaken by death.’
Mouse sighed. ‘That’s so awful. I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like to live here then.’
They continued down into the centre, and Kat grasped Mouse’s hand. ‘Okay, the pharmacy across the road is ours. The little alleyway down the side is where you and Anthony were taken. You up for this?’
Mouse shivered again. ‘I am. It has to be done. I have to know if it will bring anything back.’
They crossed the road, passing along the front of the shop. Kat waved at Neil as they walked by the window, who waved back and immediately picked up his mobile phone.
‘Kat’s just walked past the shop, Leon. With another woman. Thought I should keep you informed.’
‘Thanks, Neil. Can you tell where she’s going?’
‘Hang on.’ He moved across to the screen fed by the CCTV cameras and switched the view to the back door. ‘They’ve gone to the alleyway. Want me to do anything?’
‘No, it’s fine. They were bound to go there at some point, but I don’t want this information going anywhere else. Understand, Neil?’
‘Of course.’
‘Okay. Thanks for letting me know.’
Neil stared at the screen after disconnecting from his boss, and watched what the two women were doing. The alleyway was free of everything except the wheelie bins, and they walked the length of it, slowly and without speaking. When the dark-haired woman reached the end, she turned around and looked back, and he saw her flinch. Kat went towards her and put her arms around her, holding her tightly. Then they walked back up the alleyway towards the High Street. He switched the screen view back to the shop front door, and followed their progress until they were out of range of the camera.
‘Can we go home?’ Mouse asked.
‘Of course. You remembered nothing new? Don’t hold out on me, Mouse, we’re not vigilantes.’
‘Nothing, I promise you. I still feel I knew that evil bugger. I’ve met him at some point in my life, I just can’t place him yet, but I will. And then watch how well I remember what Leon taught us about using that gun.’ Her tone was bitter.
Kat stared at her. ‘Come with me.’
They walked a little further up the main road, and then turned off into the churchyard.
‘I don’t want to go in,’ Mouse said. ‘I’m too angry.’
‘It’s because you’ve been in that bad place, that alleyway. Trust me. This will help. I know you have no faith, but just come and take in the peace.’
She pushed open the door, and led Mouse into the body of the church.
‘Pick a seat,’ she said.
Mouse walked down the aisle, presuming Kat was following her, and sat down on a pew. Kat was nowhere in sight.
Mouse stared around her and watched the sunlight filtering through the stained-glass windows, creating patterns on the columns and the floor. She waited, still expecting Kat to join her, but she didn’t.
It took ten minutes for Mouse to realise a simple fact; there was peace here, whether the belief in God was present or
not.
When Kat did eventually arrive to reclaim her friend, Mouse almost felt sorry.
‘Now are you ready to go home?’ Kat smiled.
‘I am, and thank you for this. It’s soothed my heart.’
‘You’re very welcome, and it’s always here for you if you feel you need it again.’
Twenty minutes later, they were home, both quiet. Doris was in the armchair, her head to one side, sleeping. They left her and moved to the kitchen.
Kat poured two glasses of water. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked Mouse as she passed her drink across to her.
‘Not sure. I thought I might sense… something, I don’t know what, but I didn’t. I went through seeing Anthony’s head explode all over again, but I could remember that anyway. It was no big revelation.’
‘How do you feel about the funeral?’
‘You mean will I be going? I don’t think so. I only met him that night. I know we got on well, but it wasn’t love at first sight or anything silly like that, and I know I’m still in danger, so I won’t be going.’
A knock at the door interrupted their discussion and Kat walked through to the front door. She returned with a parcel.
‘Your laptop, I presume,’ and she handed it to Mouse.
‘Good, now we can really get started.’
‘Get started with what?’
‘We’re going to find out who wants me dead, and we’re going to find out why it happened in that alleyway. Now go away, woman, while I connect this to your Internet.’
Kat didn’t go away; she watched, fascinated by everything Mouse was doing.
Eventually Mouse sat back, a satisfied smile on her face. ‘This is good. It’s fast, very responsive – even you could use it.’
Kat’s laughter echoed around the kitchen and they heard the voice of Doris as she asked if anybody was making a cup of tea.
‘I’ll make you one, Nan,’ Mouse called, and Kat stood to switch on the kettle.
‘Sit down, Kat,’ Mouse said, ‘you’re not here to wait on us. I don’t think I’m up to scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms yet, but I can make tea.’
Kat hesitated, then sat down. ‘Okay, but please don’t start scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms. I have a cleaner for that sort of stuff.’
Doris joined them in the kitchen, a smile on her face. ‘I was just resting my eyes. I wasn’t asleep.’
‘Nan, you were snoring,’ Mouse pointed out.
‘Never!’
The two younger women grinned at each other. ‘I think you were just a little bit asleep,’ Kat said, and Doris nodded.
‘Where’s my cup of tea?’
‘Coming up, Nan,’ Mouse said. ‘Look at that.’ She nodded towards the laptop. ‘Mine was burnt in the fire, so I’ve replaced it.’
Doris moved around the table and sat where her granddaughter had been sitting while setting it up. ‘This is nice. Was it expensive?’
Mouse shrugged. ‘So so.’
‘I’ll transfer the money,’ Doris said, and pulled the computer towards her. She typed and waited while it loaded whatever it was she had requested. She nodded, and then typed something else.
‘Don’t, Nan,’ Mouse said. ‘I can afford it. Keep your money, you’ve done more than enough for me.’
‘Your money won’t last forever, and you’ll have packed the escort job in now, won’t you?’
‘What?’
‘You seriously thought I didn’t know? I just prayed you would stay safe. Seeing you in that hospital bed showed me just how unsafe it was.’
She carried on typing on the computer. ‘I don’t know how much it was, but I’ve transferred a thousand. Can I play now?’
‘You can. Did you bring yours?’
‘Yes, it’s upstairs. I need your Wi-Fi password, Kat, please. I couldn’t do much last night without it.’
Kat was aware her mouth had dropped open, and Mouse put her arm around her and gave her a hug, pulling her tightly to her. ‘Don’t look so down, my pet dinosaur. One day you’ll learn how to do more than turn it on. Nan got her degree in all things IT related when she was in her late fifties, and she gave me that love of technology. There’s precious little we can’t handle. I’ll teach you, I’m very patient.’
‘No!’ Kat continued to lean against Mouse. ‘I don’t want to learn. I’ve got Leon. My mind just closes down and things break. Like all the wwws. If I find something I want, I never find it again, it disappears. I’m quite happy being a dinosaur, thank you. Besides, when we start up in business together, that can be your specialty.’
Mouse stared. ‘Is that what we’re going to do?’
‘Did I just say that?’ Kat shrugged. ‘It’s a thought though, isn’t it?’
‘I think it would be good,’ Mouse said, slowly and carefully.
There was a moment’s pause and Kat spoke again. ‘What sort of business? I don’t want to be an escort.’
‘You haven’t made any suggestions about that yet. But apparently I’m dealing with the technical side of it.’ Mouse grinned. ‘And I promise you that neither you nor Nan will ever have to be an escort.’
Leon arrived before they could discuss anything further, jokingly or otherwise, and he offered to take everyone out for a meal, instead of Kat cooking. Kat was relieved. She wanted time to think and hoped the other two would fill in for her if her mind wandered.
Tessa Marsden faced her team. There was a picture of a burnt-out house attached to the crime board, and she pointed to it.
‘Our colleagues in Sheffield have passed this case to us as it is closely linked to our own investigation, so I need to fill you in on the details. Two girls died in the first-floor bedrooms. It seems that the stairs running up the middle of the house, with a bedroom either side at the top, was the core of the fire. This means that someone broke in through the back door, quietly enough to not wake anyone either in the house or the neighbouring houses. This is a professional hit, believe me. He or she knew what they were doing. It seems that the stairs were soaked in petrol, a petrol bomb thrown to the top of the stairs, and then one at the bottom, presumably as our laddo was leaving these two young women to burn.’
Marsden paused and looked around the room. ‘This is the important bit at the moment. That house belonged to Bethan Walters, the student who almost died in the back alley in Eyam. The fire-raiser obviously thought she was there, and I think that was the reason for the fire-bomb at the bottom of the stairs. The front room downstairs was Bethan’s bedroom. I think he had been there earlier, snooping around. We need to saturate that road, find out if anyone saw anything. It only needed a glance through the bay window downstairs to show him it was a bedroom, so he could then plan accordingly. And keep an open mind. I only said he because it’s easier, but it could just as easily have been a woman. Right, I want at least four of you on door-to-door. Dave, you’re in charge, take another three with you, and make it thorough. I believe whoever set this fire killed Anthony Jackson and almost killed Bethan Walters. Let’s get the bugger off the streets.’
Dave Irwin held a thumb up and turned to select three colleagues. He enjoyed door-to-door work and could always get people talking. It was good to know his boss recognised that.
‘And don’t spend all day chatting, Dave,’ Tessa called as she left the room. ‘We need results quickly.’
She pulled her keyboard towards her and brought her screen to life. Then sat and just stared at it. What next?
Why was it so important to kill Bethan Walters? Marsden needed to talk to her again, but maybe at the station, put some pressure on her. Marsden was only guessing, but her guess was that Bethan had to die because the killer had known her, and so presumed she would eventually remember him. Or her.
She pulled up the reports that had already been filed and read them once more. There was nothing new to excite her, to make her think why did we miss that first time around.
She concentrated particularly on the interviews with Bethan Walters but could f
ind nothing that made her stop and think. Was she really unable to remember, or was she holding something back?
Had she really not escorted Anthony Jackson before? Marsden then pulled up the report they had received from the escort agency, where they listed every one of Anthony Jackson’s escorts, and Bethan had been the third one.
Marsden made a note of the previous two girls and picked up the phone.
The agency was helpful, once she had said they would be helpful over the phone or they would have to come down to the station and be helpful.
‘Caroline Boldock and Gaynor Isaacs,’ the disembodied voice said, and then gave their addresses and telephone numbers to a smiling DI.
‘Thank you. I’ll get back to you if I need further information.’
Tessa quickly typed the information into her computer, aware that she might not remember what had been said, and her illegible handwriting wouldn’t help her.
She rang the telephone numbers and made arrangements for the ladies to come down to the station, an hour apart.
Both agreed reluctantly, having became very aware that it wasn’t a request, more an instruction.
Kat recognised that Leon was worrying about their welfare; he would be away from home the following night, leaving three helpless females in the house. All three had burst out laughing when he had said it, causing laughter to come from him as well.
‘Four years we’ve been married, and you don’t know me yet?’ Kat grinned. ‘Get on with you, Leon Rowe. I’m as tough as old boots. Stop worrying, we’ll be okay, we’ve got our secret weapon… Nan.’ She had taken to calling Doris by the name Mouse used, and she was now Nan to both of them.
‘You’ll lock all the doors and windows?’
‘All of them,’ she promised, ‘and set the alarm. We’ll be absolutely fine.’
Chapter 14
