Chapter 28
Jen went out after lunch to have a quiet smoke and a chat with Callum. But as she walked into the kitchen garden, she saw him disappearing round the back. Something about the way he was hurrying, struck her as furtive and she decided to follow him. She trailed him as he walked down to the garage and then round the back. She was behind him so she nearly missed seeing him walking towards the fence that separated Wilkington Manor from Bluebell Woods. She hurried after him; glad she had her stout brogues on, as the grass was damp. She was just in time to see him duck down under some branches of an oak tree and disappear.
She ran forward and looked under the branches, there was a gap in the fence that a slim person could easily go through and a larger person might struggle with. Jen looked ruefully at her uniform and then squeezed through. As she had expected, her dress was now stained with damp and decorated with a couple of insects.
It was very quiet in the wood apart from the sound of birds calling to one another nearby. She could hear Callum ahead of her and guessed that the birdsong was the result of his disturbing them. She followed him as quietly as she could, trying not to step on twigs or sticks. Then she heard the noise of digging. She came closer and hiding behind a large tree, looked round.
Callum was ruthlessly pulling up bluebells by a blackened stump, and chucking them over his shoulder, the green stalks and blue flowers hitting the ground with great velocity. He looked round once and Jen shrank back behind the tree, hoping it hid her from view. Then she heard him give a triumphant shout. Looking round, she saw him pull a large, brown leather rucksack from a hole. Opening it, he drew out a sparkling rope of stones. Another diamond necklace!
Jen was totally confused.
‘Gotcha!’ Another triumphant shout and suddenly there were two men in navy uniforms, policemen, Jen’s dazed brain told her, rushing forward to seize Callum’s arms and Sergeant Wolf striding across, trampling the bluebells underfoot.
Callum looked as surprised as Jen felt.
‘Your little game is up, my son,’ the sergeant informed him.
‘I’m not your son,’ Callum spat out.
‘No, you’re not and very grateful I am for that fact,’ Sergeant Wolf replied. ‘Miss James, you can come out from behind that tree now.’
Surprised again, Jen stepped out from behind the tree.
‘Jane!’ Callum cried reproachfully.
‘I didn’t know they were here,’ she told him.
‘Did you lead them here?’
‘I’ll ask the questions,’ said the sergeant sharply. ‘And in fact, she did not, we’ve had our eye on you for a little while now,’ he added.
At that, Callum’s shoulders went down and he sagged a little. The two policemen pulled him back up.
‘Come along now,’ the sergeant instructed. ‘We’ve got a nice cosy cell waiting for you. Callum Fraser, I’m arresting you on suspicion of stealing this diamond necklace. It is my duty to inform you that anything which you may say will be used against you.’ He turned round to Jen. ‘And we’ll need a witness statement from you about this too.’
Jen accompanied Sergeant Wolf, the two policemen and Callum back along the path. One police constable forced Callum through the gap while the other stood on the other side, ready to receive him. As they trudged back to the house, Jen’s mind was in a whirl. There was a second diamond necklace. Was it then the real diamond necklace if the other one was a fake? And Callum had stolen the real diamond necklace? So had he killed Evangeline Spinoza and Cecil Mowbray? Her blood ran cold. How did this fit in with his fierce espousal of the workers’ cause?
Mr. Cook and Mrs. Wagstaff were in the hallway as they dragged Callum through the main door. Probably the first time he had ever been through it, Jen’s brain took time to note. There were gasps of surprise followed by a look of supreme satisfaction on Mr. Cook’s face. Jen realised then how much he disliked Callum.
‘Stay here while I telephone for a car,’ the sergeant told his men. ‘If you wouldn’t mind waiting too, miss, it’d be more convenient if you came to the station too and gave your statement as soon as possible.’
The sergeant strode off and Jen saw the look of confusion on Mr. Cook and Mrs. Wagstaff’s faces and wanted to shout at them that she was not the guilty one but that pleasure would have to wait for later.
A door opened and Miss Mittens and Etta came out. The next minute, Etta was flying to her, shouting, ‘Mum, what’s happened?’
That’s let the cat out of the bag, thought Jen. The look on the two senior servants’ faces turned from confusion to shock and even horror.
Jen gave Etta a hug, which drew gasps from Mr. Cook and Mrs. Wagstaff.
‘Yes, she’s my daughter,’ she told them. ‘It’s a long story. Etta, Hetty, it’s ok; I’m not in trouble. It’s Callum. He had a diamond necklace out in the woods.’
‘`Indeed,’ Miss Mittens said, who had reached them by now. ‘How very interesting.’
‘Jane, don’t say another word, I’m begging you,‘ Callum rasped.
‘Shut up, you,’ one of the policemen barked.
‘It’s not what you think,’ Callum began but was silenced by a vicious nudge by the other policemen.
‘Hey!’ exclaimed Jen.
‘What’s going on?’ Sergeant Wolf asked, rejoining them.
‘Told the prisoner to stay quiet and he didn’t, sarge.’
‘Hmm. The car will be here in a few minutes, go back outside and wait.’
“I’m going with them to the police station to give a statement,’ Jen told Etta and Miss Mittens after the men had gone out, ‘so I’d better wait outside too.’
‘Wait a minute. Callum had another diamond necklace? So did he kill Evangeline and Cecil?’
‘Who knows? Except, I wouldn’t have thought Callum would have had enough money to make it worth Cecil blackmailing him.’
‘The discovery of another necklace does make it very intriguing,’ Miss Mittens said coolly. ‘It will be interesting to discover what role the chauffeur has played in all of this.’
‘His name is Callum,’ Jen said and went outside to wait for the police car.
Murder and Mittens Page 28
