Found Guilty at Five, page 14
THIRTY-ONE
AFTER COWGILL HAD GONE, AND JAMIE AND AKIKO SET OFF for a walk, Lois sat in her office, trying to make sense of notes she had scribbled earlier, but subsequent events had removed all recollections of a conversation with Dot Nimmo. Something about a possible new client, but she had not been clear about the woman’s address, or whether she had definitely decided to hire New Brooms.
She grinned as she remembered Cowgill surreptitiously taking her hand as he left. He was a naughty old thing! She looked at her watch. Dot had a clear morning today and would be at home, so she put in a call. The messaging voice was interrupted by Dot, who yelled, “Hello! Hello! Don’t go! I’m here!”
Holding the receiver away from the bellowing in her ear, Lois’s grin widened. Thank goodness Dot would never change. She was comic relief in dark times. “Hi, Dot,” she said. “I’m just going over my notes from the last meeting and can’t read some of it. You know you told me about a possible new client? Can you go over that again?”
“Yeah, sure. It was a woman I met at the bus stop. She was very respectable, and said her car was in for service so she had to take the bus. We got talking—”
“As you do,” said Lois.
“—And when she heard I worked for New Brooms, she said she was moving house and would need some help, cleanin’ up an’ that. I said I’d tell you, and you’d get in touch.”
“Details?” said Lois.
“A Mrs. Rowntree, from Waltonby. She’s moving to a smaller house.”
“When?”
“Next week. It’s all happened quickly, apparently. The sale of her own house, an’ all of that. She lives at Walnut House, Keats Meadow, in Waltonby. She said she was in the telephone book, so you could look her up. Or would you like me to?”
“No, no, Dot! That’s fine. I’ll give her a ring. Thanks a lot.”
A tap at her office door brought Gran in, with a long face.
“What’s up, Mum?” Lois asked.
“It’s them two. Akiko and Jamie. Jamie’s changed his mind and they’ve decided to go back to London in a couple of days’ time, and I shall never have another minute’s peace until we get all that other thing settled. Akiko told me about her father being very ill, and I reckon she’s behind this new idea to go back. Are you sure you’ve told Cowgill everything?”
“More to the point,” answered Lois, “has he told me everything? Anyway, we’ll all talk about Jamie and Akiko over lunch, see what we can sort out. I’ll get on to this new client now.”
“A new one? Where’s she live? You’d think we’d got the entire area covered by now. Is she in Farnden?”
Lois shook her head. “No, Waltonby. Dot met her at the bus stop, and chatted her up. Might not come to anything, but I’ll give her a ring.”
“Huh! That Dot Nimmo! She’ll land herself in trouble one of these days, talking to all and sundry wherever she happens to be. If you’d listened to me—”
“I know,” said Lois. “If I’d listened to you, I’d never have employed Dot. And then I’d have lost one of my best cleaners and a good friend into the bargain.”
* * *
IN FARNDEN HALL, MELANIE STOOD IN THE DOORWAY OF THEIR elegant but only half-furnished drawing room, and looked across at Geoff. He was buried behind the newspaper, and she waited for him to appear. “So did you hire him? And did you give him a warning that one more transgression would see him out on the streets?”
“Um, what? What did you say?”
“I said, did you give the gamekeeper his job back, and did you warn him that this was his last chance?”
“No to both questions,” said Geoff. “He was cocky and unrepentant, so I told him to get lost and not turn up here again.”
“What did he say?”
“Muttered something about plenty more fish in the sea, and then he turned on his heel and walked off.”
“Why did you change your mind? I thought you were going to give him another go at it?”
“The minute I started talking to him, I realised it was a bad idea. He offered no apology, and seemed to assume we would take him on again without question. Oh yes, and the woman’s gone. So that’s that. There are limits to my patience, Mel.”
“Oh, don’t think I’m criticising! I never wanted him back in the first place. Thank God you sent him packing. As for empty threats of revenge, I think we can take them for what they are.”
“And what are they? More burglaries? House set on fire?”
Melanie shivered. “Not likely. More the words of a weirdo. He’s probably used to living on his wits. I doubt we’ll see him again. I’ll advertise, and we’ll make sure we get reliable references next time.”
* * *
FOSTER HAD NOT GONE FAR. HE HAD CHECKED IN WITH THE Last Resort community, the group of oddly assorted people living in a large farmhouse in Waltonby. They had been useful to Foster in the past, and he intended to turn to them again. One of the great advantages of the community, as far as he was concerned, was their absolute vow of discretion. They released no names or information of any kind to questioners outside the group, and required equal discretion from members about the community itself. According to reports that occasionally filtered out through the invisible walls of silence, once inside it proved very difficult to get out again. Unless your name was Foster or Parsons.
This community had grown, buying up businesses and accommodation in the area. Among the community’s members were professionals and skilled persons of all kinds, and whatever they undertook was done successfully.
Now, when Ezekiel Parsons arrived after a lucky lift from a sympathetic motorist, he was desperate and exhausted, and received gratefully the usual welcome of a hot bath, clean clothes, a Bible and a bed, and a repeated lecture on loyalty to the community. He was known to those in charge as an unreliable liar, but the more scrupulous of them argued against banning him. “What would Jesus have said?” had been the comment. “He who consorted with thieves and prostitutes?”
Left to himself in his room, Parsons stretched out on the bed, fully clothed, and thought about his options. If Nakamasa was now dead, however you looked at it, he had killed the golden goose. If only Nakky had not finally guessed that Ezekiel himself, his right-hand assistant, was actually his blackmailer, and had not scorched his ears with an angry diatribe about kidnapping Akiko. If he had not then added threats of what would happen to Parsons if he did not turn around on the M1 and take him back to London immediately, the old fool might not have been provoked into a heart attack.
If, if, if. He had made a mess of it all round. Forgetting to lock the turret door was careless, handcuffing Nakamasa was not necessary with the frail old man. Anybody finding him would know it had been a crime. And worse, he should have stayed and made sure that Nakky was either alive or dead. As it was, he was in limbo.
If Nakamasa was dead, he was a murderer. With Nakamasa alive, he was still an abductor and blackmailer. In order to plan what he would do next, he desperately needed to know for sure whether the old boy had survived. He had never wished him dead. Last Resort House was indeed his last resort, and he knew from his close observations of Akiko in the past that the parents of the Meade chap lived close by, in the next village. Through them, he might find out what he needed to know about Nakky.
He had discovered that Foster was still in the community, but at the moment was out. He had been working locally as a gamekeeper, apparently, but that had come to an end and he was back living in the community. Parsons had on arrival talked to Solomon Grundy, the man in charge, and had reminded him of what he knew about violins and cellos, and their agreed terms, and suggested he would do well to abide by them. Anonymity was essential to Parsons’s survival. He was now once again a fugitive from the law.
Grundy’s business on the side, trading in old musical instruments, was shady. One of his residents was a very skilled craftsman. That was all Parsons knew about it, but it was enough for his purposes. He looked forward to seeing Foster again and discussing his own plight. While some of Last Resort’s residents had families anxiously trying to retrieve them, Parsons had no relations of any kind. His father and mother were shadowy figures in his past, and he had much clearer memories of the orphanage where he grew up.
Then, as he settled for a nap on one of the community’s comfortable beds and closed his eyes, all at once he had a subliminal flash of Nakamasa slumped in the car, his old, veined hands still clamped together in his lap. A heavy weight in the pit of his stomach caused him to sit up in fear. For the first time in a life of petty crimes, and some not so petty, he realised there was a strong possibility that he could now be on the run from a charge of murder.
THIRTY-TWO
AFTER LUNCH, LOIS ANNOUNCED THEY SHOULD RELAX AND have a discussion with Jamie and Akiko about when they would return to London after a sensible interval. Jamie had cancelled a number of concerts when Akiko had gone missing, when there had been no clues to where she was or whether she would be able to return to performing with him. As a result, they had three weeks or so before they needed to be in Edinburgh for a concert in a small venue in the old town.
While they were out walking, Akiko had told him her father regarded her English accompanist as “the enemy.” She stammered as she revealed this, and Jamie took her hand reassuringly. “He is a very old man,” he replied, “and no doubt has his own grim memories of the last world war. When all the survivors have gone, perhaps time will tell whether the memories will stay alive or be slotted into history.”
They were approaching Stone House and as they passed, the front door was flung open and Mrs. Tollervey-Jones appeared, waving and smiling.
“Jamie! Akiko! You are back here safely! Do come in and tell me all about it. I’ve just made a pot of coffee. There’s plenty of time before lunch.”
Jamie hesitated. He was not sure about Akiko’s reaction. She could well not want to talk about her father or Ezekiel Parsons. But to his surprise she turned back and said they would be delighted, so he followed her into Mrs. T-J’s kitchen, where they sat around the table and exchanged pleasantries. A light breeze fanned them through the open kitchen door, and there was a tempting smell of real coffee brewing.
“Let’s stay in here,” Akiko said, refusing a suggestion that they retire to the drawing room. “I love your kitchen, Mrs. T-J,” she added. “It is so peaceful and reassuring.”
“You poor child, you must have had a very bad experience?” She patted Akiko’s hand and beamed at Jamie. “What adventures have you two been having since we last spoke?”
Jamie gave her a sketchy account of their abduction, thanked her for handling his message to his mother and sending Robert to help them and looked enquiringly at Akiko. She nodded, and took over the telling, haltingly at first, but then as she described the quarrel between her father and Parsons, the rest of the story came out in a rush.
“So how is your father now?”
“I have telephoned the hospital,” Akiko answered, “and he is making very good progress. In fact, they said he was demanding to be released! Of course, they are not allowing this.”
“But have you a plan what to do when he does come out of hospital?”
Jamie looked at the old lady, and could see from her expression that she was rapidly thinking ahead. Even so, he was surprised by her next words.
“No?” she said. “Then you must let me make a suggestion, Akiko. I have a large house here, with plenty of help and plenty of money to hire nursing assistance if required. I would like to offer a period of convalescence for your father, until he is well enough to make plans for himself. Do think about it, and let me know.”
Akiko smiled broadly, and said she did not need to think about it. She said that she had been quite prepared to take on the care of her father in some way. The Parsons man had almost certainly disappeared, and so Papa would need support. She would encourage her father to reorganise his life, once he was better, and then they could make a new start. She accepted Mrs. T-J’s offer straightaway, and added that in this way she would be able to stay with Jamie and his family in Farnden for longer, and know that her father was in the best possible hands.
“Of course,” she said, “he will want to repay your kindness. He too has plenty of money, Mrs. T-J.”
Good God, thought Jamie, stunned into silence. They’ll have the old boy proposing to Mrs. T-J in no time! Then money will be sloshing around all over the place!
But Mrs. Tollervey-Jones had not finished. “And now we have to think about finding that wicked man who imprisoned you. I presume it was a serious quarrel he had had with your father. Something to do with money, do you think? He clearly meant to leave him for dead, and could so easily have been wanted for murder by now. He will no doubt have gone into hiding somewhere, but our beloved Inspector Cowgill, ably assisted by your mother and myself, will surely be able to find him in no time. Then he will be severely punished, Akiko, for his wickedness. So is there anything else I should know?”
Akiko and Jamie exchanged a glance. Both knew that the subject of Parsons’s longtime hold over Nakamasa had not been mentioned. Akiko shook her head, and said quickly that there was nothing more to tell, and then they all relaxed and talked of happier times to come.
* * *
LUNCH WAS ON THE TABLE BY THE TIME THEY RETURNED TO Meade House, and Gran was in a fighting mood. “Don’t you two think of anybody but yourselves?” she said fiercely as they walked in. “Your mother’s been biting her nails worrying about where you’d got to. You must know we are all on tenterhooks not knowing what’s going to happen next.”
“Sorry Gran,” said Jamie. “But we’ll tell you what’s going to happen next, the minute you have dished up whatever it is that smells so good. Sit down, Akiko, and don’t look so alarmed. Gran’s like dog Jeems; her bark is much worse than her bite.”
After giving the details of their conversation with Mrs. T-J, and especially her amazing offer to turn her house into a convalescent home, they looked around for reactions.
Lois stood up, scraping her chair on the tiled floor. “Right! That’s it then,” she said. “Another session with the inspector, and then we make a plan to catch Thingy Parsons, or whatever his name is. Mind you,” she added more gently, “I think it would be best if Akiko and Jamie concentrate on getting back to working together and putting their music first. If they can.”
“And not forgetting my father,” Akiko said softly. “Without him, I am alone in the world. And I remember the good times, when he would come to visit me at grandmamma’s and play lovely games in the park with our dog.”
Jamie saw her tears and squeezed her hand. “And now he will be taken care of properly,” he said. “And don’t forget you’re not alone. You have me and my family around you.” Oh Lord, he said to himself as he saw Akiko’s loving look. Perhaps that was going a bit overboard.
Gran’s eyebrows shot up, and Lois blinked. “Um, yes, of course,” she said. “And your dad, too, when he gets back from work.”
* * *
AFTER SHE HAD HAD TIME TO DIGEST THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT and discuss all aspects of Akiko’s father staying in Farnden, Lois remembered about Dot’s possible new client. She had noted the number to call, and went into her office, telling Gran she would put in an hour’s work to make up for time lost this afternoon.
“Hello? Is that Mrs. Rowntree?” A firm voice answered that yes, it was, and she had been expecting a call from New Brooms.
“I usually like to come and see potential clients to talk about what you need from us, look around the house and so on. Would that be convenient? Tomorrow morning? Yes, thank you, Mrs. Rowntree, eleven o’clock would be fine. I understand you are moving to a smaller house in Waltonby, so there will be a number of things to discuss? See you tomorrow, then.”
Sounds a nice enough woman, thought Lois, as she settled down to orders for new equipment and supplies for the team. There would be a question of who took on the new job. Perhaps as Dot had found Mrs. Rowntree, she ought to be given first option? The other girls were more or less fully occupied, though possibly a little reshuffling might be a good idea. Floss and Paula, for instance, had been ages working with Mrs. T-J at Stone House, and at the hall before that. Lois made a note in her diary, and decided to leave the rest of her paperwork until tomorrow. She set off to have a shower and change, and steel herself for a conversation with Derek, filling him in with all that had been discussed this afternoon. She could imagine what he would say. No further involvement of the family. Hand over to Inspector Cowgill, and refuse any future part in ferretin’ of any kind. Concentrate on New Brooms business and friends and family, and take up singing in the choir or knitting.
“Lois! I’m home!” It was Derek, returning in time to hear the six o’clock news on the radio. She had not expected him until seven-ish, and now here he was, calling from downstairs, thwarting her plans for drowning herself in seductive perfumes before tackling him. Perhaps she was too weary for seduction anyway. And these days, after a hard day’s work, Derek fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Weekends were different, thank God, and today was Friday.
As it happened, Derek was in a very good mood, having just received a request to rewire the entire premises of Tresham football club. Not only was this a lucrative contract, but he would get to rub shoulders with his heroes.
“Very sensible,” he said, when he was told Mrs. T-J’s offer to receive Nakamasa into her house. “Akiko’s father may have been genuine in his strong feelings against the British, but all that was a long time ago,” he suggested. “Mind you, a couple of weeks staying with Mrs. T-J could make or break!”
