“How do you know all of this?”
“One of my old buddies at Washbridge police station gave me a call. He’ll be in a whole heap of trouble if anyone finds out that he’s contacted me. As far as I can make out, they charged Chris because they found traces of the poison on a cigarette butt that Bill had dropped.”
“How does that tie into Chris?”
“Bill was supposed to have given up smoking, so he never had any cigarettes of his own. He was always bumming them off Chris. When I left them last night, they were having a crafty smoke.”
“Is there any possibility at all that Chris could have murdered Bill?”
“None. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. The trouble is I can’t do anything to help him. If I get involved, I’ll be thrown out of the force because I’m a friend of the suspect, and anyway, this is no longer my patch. That’s why I came to see you.”
“You want me to investigate?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to be discreet.”
“I always am.”
“Your idea of discreet and mine are very different, but this time, you’ll have to be ultra-careful not to tread on any toes—particularly not Sue Shay’s. If it gets out that you’re doing this for me, I’ll be for the high jump.”
“Don’t worry. You can trust me.”
“Thanks. It’s not worth my going back to West Chipping now, so I reckon I’ll head home.”
“Yeah, me too. I need to call in at the shop on my way in, so I’ll see you at the house.”
We kissed, and then he left. I was just about to follow when I heard a muffled voice.
“Let me out!”
“Sorry, Winky, I’d forgotten you were in there.”
“I was almost out of air.” He stumbled out.
“Don’t be so melodramatic. There are plenty of holes in that old cupboard.”
***
My visit to the corner shop was to pick up essential supplies.
“Anything apart from the custard creams, Jill?” Little Jack Corner had taken to wearing bow ties; today’s little number was orange.
“No, thanks. Just those.”
“One, two, three, four packets. Will that be enough?”
“Yes, they should keep me going for quite some time.”
“Like the four packets you bought two days ago?”
“I’m sure it was much longer ago than that.”
“It’s definitely two days. I remember because I was wearing my favourite bow tie—the purple one.”
“We’ve had quite a few visitors to the house since then,” I lied. “They ate most of the biscuits.” I glanced around. “I haven’t seen Missy for a while.”
“Didn’t you know? She handed in her notice and left a month ago.”
“I thought she liked working here?”
“She did, but then out of the blue, she quit.”
“Do you know why?”
“Yes, and it was for a really silly reason. She was in the store room, eating her lunch when a giant spider came down from the ceiling and sat next to her. It scared her to death. I tried to talk her into staying, but she’d made her mind up that she wanted out. Last I heard, she was working as an admin assistant in a solicitor’s office: Birds and Day, I think.”
“That must have left you shorthanded?”
“It did for a while, but I’ve managed to recruit a replacement.” He took out his walkie-talkie. “Lucy? Lucy, are you there? Over?” There was no reply, so he tried again, but without any luck. “Where is that girl?” He came out from behind the counter and started down one of the aisles.
I followed.
Standing next to the freezers, was a young woman with curly, ginger hair. She was wearing huge gloves.
“Lucy. Why didn’t you pick up when I called?” Little Jack Corner said.
“Sorry, Jack.” She held up her hands. “The walkie-talkie is in my pocket, and I couldn’t get it out with these gloves on.”
“Never mind. This is the customer I told you about. The one who buys ninety percent of our custard creams.”
“I’m sure it isn’t that many.” I laughed. “I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Jill.”
“Nice to meet you too, Jill. I’m Lucy. Lucy Locket.”
Chapter 8
The next morning when I came downstairs, Jack was on his phone.
“Just a minute, Sarah. Jill’s here now. It’s Sarah—Chris’s wife. Will you be able to go and see her this morning?”
“Of course. What time?”
“Sarah, what time would be good for you? Nine-thirty?”
I nodded.
“That’s fine. Jill will see you then. Try to keep your chin up. Everything’s going to be okay.”
“How did she sound?” I asked when he’d ended the call.
“Not great. She’s worried sick. Chris hasn’t been in the best of health recently, so there’s no telling what this kind of stress might do to him. Will you let me know how you get on?”
“Sure.”
“Have you seen our new next-door neighbour yet?” Jack asked after he’d finished his breakfast.
“I have, unfortunately. It’s Mr Ivers.”
“Why do I recognise that name?”
“He was one of my neighbours at my old place, and he worked in the pay-booth at the toll-bridge until recently.”
“The weird little guy with the mechanical arm.”
“Andy.”
“Is that his name?”
“No, that was the name of his mechanical arm. I can’t remember Ivers’ first name—oh, hang on. It’s Montgomery, I think. I can’t believe he’s moved in next door. That man has been the bane of my life for years now.”
“Is he married?”
“No. I seem to remember a couple of girlfriends, but they didn’t last long. Hardly surprising because he could bore for England.”
“Is he working for himself now? I saw his van but couldn’t make head or tail of the name.”
“He’s in the door-to-door movie rental business, apparently. I give it six months.”
“He must be doing okay if he can afford to buy next door.”
“He paid for that with his lottery win.”
“He won the lottery?”
“Not the jackpot, but enough to buy the house and set up his new business. He’s hoping to make a living renting out movies on DVD. And get this: he’s never heard of movie streaming.”
“Oh dear.”
“You said it. And while we’re on the subject of Mr Ivers, whatever you do, don’t get too friendly with him. Under no circumstances, must you ever invite him over here. I won’t be responsible for my actions if you do.”
“He can’t be that bad.”
“Trust me, he’s worse. Much worse.”
Jack had finished his breakfast and gone through to the lounge to get his morning update from TenPin TV. I was still chewing my way through a bowl of muesli, which in a moment of madness, I’d allowed Jack to persuade me to have for breakfast.
How did he eat this stuff?
“Jill! Come and look at this!”
“Okay.” Any excuse to get away from the muesli.
“Look.” He pointed out of the window. “I haven’t seen that thing for ages.”
Neither had I, and I’d hoped never to see it again. Parked at the bottom of our drive was Bessie, Mr Hosey’s ridiculous train. The last time I’d seen that stupid thing, it had been lying on its side, having crashed into another train owned by Mr Kilbride, our kilt-making ex-neighbour.
Mr Hosey jumped out of the engine and looked our way.
“Duck!” I stooped down below the level of the window. “Don’t let him see us.”
“Too late.” Jack laughed. “He’s coming up the drive.”
“Don’t answer the door. He’ll think we’ve gone to work.”
“Both of our cars are on the drive.”
“Maybe he’ll think we’re having a lie in.”
“He’s already seen me.”
“Why didn’t you hide?”
“Err—because I’m not insane? Come on. Let’s see what he wants.”
“Whatever you do, don’t let him in this house.” I followed Jack to the door.
“Morning, Jack,” Mr Hosey said. “Where’s Jill—oh, there you are. I almost didn’t see you behind the door.”
“Morning, Mr Hosey,” Jack said. “I see you’ve got your train back on the road.”
“Indeed, but only after much blood, sweat and tears. It cost a small fortune to repair, but it was worth every penny, wouldn’t you say?”
“It’s looking very good.” Jack nodded.
I managed a grunt.
“A little bird tells me that you two are tying the knot next week.”