Found Guilty at Five (11 page)

T
WENTY

T
HE CONVENT OF
S
T.
I
GNATIUS AND
A
LL
A
NGELS HAD BEEN
built around a courtyard, well protected by huge double doors that screened the nuns from the main road outside. At all four corners of the building there were Gothic-looking towers, three used for storage and one originally as a retreat, accommodating a single nun who needed to be by herself for a given period of time. When Nakamasa moved in, he had been told that it was haunted by a suicidal nun who had starved herself to death there, and being a superstitious man, he had ordered that it be kept permanently locked.

Ezekiel Parsons had long been familiar with this story, and decided it would be the perfect place for his prisoner. He was always in and out of the offices on Nakamasa’s business, and nobody would even notice his presence as he went to and fro. It had been simplicity itself for him to steal the key, have it duplicated and returned, and the new one slipped on to his bunch of usefully copied keys.

When he had opened up the tower cell to check on its contents, he found only two hard chairs and a narrow iron-framed bed. He remembered Nakamasa ordering the builders not to disturb the spirit of the starving nun, but to leave it exactly as they found it. The perfect place, then.

Late in the quiet Sunday night, he had brought in a struggling Akiko, a gag over her mouth, and locked her in with an assurance that if she behaved herself, no harm would come to her. Then, padding softly along to Nakamasa’s office, he had placed on his desk a ready-written note, his handwriting heavily disguised, demanding a ransom of one million pounds for the return of his daughter. Instructions where to leave the money would follow.

It had all been so easy, Ezekiel Parsons had congratulated himself. Safely back in his own bed-sitter, he had waited for his mobile phone to ring.

*   *   *

A
T EIGHT O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING
N
AKAMASA HAD CALLED,
swearing and cursing, blaming Ezekiel for not keeping an eye on his wayward daughter, and saying she had left the building. “Gone to that Meade and run away with him!” he had shouted. “Stupid blackmail demand to put me off the scent!”

Ezekiel was to present himself at the convent immediately and receive instructions.

The day had gone by without sight of the truant, and despite the ransom demand on his desk, Nakamasa had now convinced himself that she had run away to join her lover. He had decided that the notes were part of an amateurish diversionary plan, and had screwed them up in a fury and thrown them into the bin.

“I should have seen it coming!” he had screamed. “Wretched Meade is not content with stealing my daughter! He wants my fortune as well!”

Ezekiel had been sent for again and instructed to pursue every possible option for retrieving her. He had had to invent places where she might have gone, lie about investigating these, and report back that he had found no trace. Nor had he any news of Jamie Meade, he had confessed apologetically.

Later that night Parsons had taken in a stale bread roll and bottle of milk for Akiko, but she would eat nothing, though she was awake. She had turned away from him, not speaking. She had not bothered to get up from the bed and he was worried. He had reckoned on Nakamasa’s quick agreement to the demand. After all, one million pounds was peanuts to him. But now the old man was reacting in a completely unexpected way, discounting random abduction and fixing venomously on Meade as the guilty party.

Parsons supposed he could keep up the demand notes, making them more and more threatening, but how long was it going to take? He had no stomach for allowing his prisoner to die! Not only was he squeamish, but there would be nothing in it for him.

Still, no need to be so ridiculously melodramatic, he told himself. I can play a waiting game as well as the next man, providing I can persuade Miss Akiko to buck up and eat some grub. He realised the food he had given her so far was, to say the least, unappetising, and he planned to buy something more tasty. Perhaps that would cheer her up. If challenged, he could always say it was for himself.

Jamie, meanwhile, was also anxious to get things moving. Digesting Cowgill’s advice in the Wilmore restaurant, he reckoned giving Akiko more time was all very well, but it did not mean that he had to do nothing. Surely he could pass the time with some preliminary searching around? He doubted very much that he was being followed. There would be no need for that, if Cowgill was right in advising him that Akiko was secretly recharging her batteries somewhere else, known only to her and her father. Knowing how much she cared for her father, he was sure she would have kept him informed. Perhaps he could approach Nakamasa? But Cowgill had cautioned strongly against that.

A little surreptitious research? That could do no harm. He knew that Akiko’s father had London offices in the former convent of St. Ignatius, or a name similar, and he had surfed around until he had found it. He could work out ways and means of getting inside the building in a bona fide role. As a tourist, maybe? Nobody would recognise him. Once inside, he reckoned if he kept his ears open, and casually mentioned Akiko’s name, it shouldn’t be too difficult to pick up some clues as to where she might have gone. Then he could retreat and decide what to do next.

Tomorrow, then, he would be up with the lark and make an early start. Feeling much better, Jamie retired to bed and went straight to sleep.

*   *   *

B
RIGHT AND EARLY NEXT DAY,
L
OIS’S PHONE RANG. “
L
OIS, MY
dear! How are you this fine morning?” Cowgill sounded irritatingly jolly.

Lois groaned. “Oh no, not the golf club captain again.”

“I cannot think what you mean. It
is
a fine morning, and you
are
very dear to me.”

“Hunter Cowgill! That is quite enough. What do you want?”

“Just to tell you that we’ve had another report of an instrument theft, a violin this time, and are following it up. The more we know about this one, the more likely it is that Akiko’s cello will be traced.”

“Bully for you!” said Lois. “I don’t know where the police would be without a brilliant brain like yours. I’m sure the whole case will be mopped up by teatime. Hope you win. At golf, of course. Bye-ee!”

*   *   *

O
H, FOR HOME SWEET HOME!
J
AMIE WAS FEELING HOMESICK.
How tempting it would be to relax in the bosom of his family and forget all about stolen cellos and Akiko Nakamasa herself! But then her gentle face rose up before him, and he knew he could not desert her, unless it was proved to him that she really did want to be left alone.

His father had rung and this in itself proved to Jamie how worried they must be. It was almost always Mum on the phone. After some preliminaries, he asked, “How’s Gran?”

“No improvement,” his father had said, and they both laughed and assured each other that everything was fine and promised to keep in touch.

*   *   *

“S
O WHAT DID HE SAY?”
L
OIS ASKED.

“Not a lot,” Derek said. “Asked after you, Gran,” he added, smiling at his mother-in-law.

“He’s a good boy,” said Gran. “I’ve always said he is a good boy. Not one to let other people do the dirty work. Has that ever occurred to you, Lois? As long as you go on interfering with other people’s lives, your family are always at risk of being hurt.”

“It wasn’t me that got Jamie involved with Akiko!” Lois said defensively. “He did that on a professional basis, all by himself. I don’t see how you can blame me for that.”

“It’s no good going all round the houses and thinking you’ll get round me,” said Gran, her colour high. “I don’t know where we went wrong in your upbringing, but you’re nothing like either me or your dad! And you can take that smile off your face, Derek Meade. If you were any way half good as a husband, you’d’ve given her a smack bottom long before this!”

Lois looked at Derek’s horrified face and began to laugh. “I might enjoy that,” she said in a whisper to him.

“And I heard that!” Gran continued, sitting down heavily at the table. “I don’t know I’m sure, what to do for the best.”

“All you usually do,” said Derek, reaching out a hand to pat her arm. “We’d be nowhere without you. It’s just too late to change people, once they’re past a certain age. But we do take notice of what you say, and maybe act on it afterwards, when nobody notices. Come on, my duck, drink up your tea and we’ll stack the dishes, won’t we, Lois?”

“Natch,” she replied. It was a slang word she had caught from Josie, and found it really useful.

“Oh well. I’ve had my say,” Gran muttered. “Might as well do a bit of ironing. It doesn’t do itself you know.”

Derek put his elbows on the table and covered his eyes. “Heaven preserve me from the gentler sex,” he said.

T
WENTY-
O
NE

C
OWGILL WAS STANDING ON THE DOORSTEP OF
M
EADE
House, wondering if it was a mistake to call unannounced. When Lois answered the door, he smiled fondly at her.

“Sorry to be a pest, my dear,” he said. “I was passing, and as I had one or two more questions to ask, I decided to stop off and hope to catch you at home. Can you spare a few minutes? Is Derek here? It would be useful to have him in with us, if you don’t mind.”

“And me,” said Gran, coming up behind Lois. “I’m an indispensable part of this household, you know, Inspector.”

He laughed. “And you, of course, Mrs. Weedon, if you can tear yourself away from your kitchen.”

“In other words,” said Gran, pursing her lips, “you’d like a cup of tea. Well, I can manage that, so come on in and sit yourself down.”

Derek appeared then, and frowned. “Wouldn’t it wait until tomorrow, Inspector?” he said. “We have had a busy day today, arguing and disagreeing over the Jamie and Akiko nonsense. Very tiring. Still, you’d better come in and get it over with.”

“Hard work, isn’t it,” Cowgill answered sympathetically, “keeping all the members of your family happy.”

“Most of the time it’s a waste of time trying,” Lois said. “Anyway, sit down. When Mum’s brought in tea, we’ll ask her to sit in with us. She means well, you know. Meantime, how’s Matthew getting on, now he’s a married man?”

“Exactly the same. He is a very competent young police officer, and if anything, more dedicated than ever. Your Josie is a lovely girl, and has her head screwed on right. Takes after her mother.”

“They do seem to make a good team. I expect she’s told him all about the missing cello and cellist. Nothing escapes my Josie. And being in the shop all day, she hears a lot of local gossip. But this is something different. Not much to do with locals, I reckon. Except for one new local, possibly.”

The door opened and Gran came in with a tray.

“Please join us, Mrs. Weedon,” said Cowgill politely, and Gran replied that as far as she could see, they weren’t coming apart. None of them laughed, and she sat bolt upright on a hard chair and folded her arms.

Lois said that they should cut the cackle and concentrate on talking about Akiko Nakamasa, her cello and what had happened to both. If they exchanged what they knew up to date, then something new might emerge.

“I’ll begin, shall I?” said Cowgill.

“Okay,” said Lois, “but try not to tell us what we know already. There’s a telly programme I want to watch soon.”

Cowgill nodded. “So shall I begin? Just a quick summing up first. Always useful, even if we know it all already. So, I heard about the case from you, Lois. A valuable cello had gone missing from a car parked in the driveway of Meade House. It belonged to Akiko Nakamasa, who has disappeared and not been traced, so far. She played regularly with Jamie Meade, pianist, and they had performed many concerts together. Almost the last time she was seen was at the Wilmore Hall in London, when I saw her backstage talking to a strange man. There was subsequently an unconfirmed sighting of her by one of my men the same evening. We have put into place the usual procedures, but have not as yet found either the cello or the cellist.”

He came to a halt, and looked at Lois. “Anything to add? Something about the one new local person talked about in the shop?” asked Cowgill.

Still no slouch, thought Lois. Even if he is semiretired. “It doesn’t sound much, but it is the only unusual thing that has happened around Farnden since this whole thing started. It’s the new gamekeeper at the hall.”

She described her encounter with him and said she had mentioned him to Melanie Norrington. “Neither she nor Geoff seem very sure of him. He apparently applied for the job about three weeks ago, and was taken on. On probation for a couple of months, says Geoff. Although already he seems to come and go as he chooses.”

“But what might this have to do with Akiko?”

“Maybe nothing, but as I’m sure you know, Cowgill, anything out of the ordinary in villages is worth noting. He was weird and went on about
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
. Then sort of warned me off when he thought I was trespassing. Jemima was growling and he seemed scared of her. Not much like a gamekeeper!”

“Quite right,” said Cowgill. “We’ll make a policeman out of you yet. But I can put your minds at rest about the gamekeeper. We know all about him. Foster, his name is. Slippery customer, but not dangerous. Destructive thieving is his thing. Let’s hope he’s learnt his lesson and is a reformed character. Now, the reason I called in is to see if there is anything new from Jamie about what he intends to do. Am I right to think that in spite of good advice, he is not willing to do nothing about Akiko for the moment?”

Lois nodded. “I reckon you’re right there. That’s the impression we’ve been getting, haven’t we, Derek. And no, we’ve heard nothing more about his intentions.”

Cowgill frowned. “I am anxious to know if he has tried to get in touch with Akiko’s father. I have told him, maybe more than once, that this would be a mistake. The old man has had a heart attack, apparently, and should be taking things easy.”

“How do you know that?” said Lois sharply. “Have you spoken to him?”

“No, but we have a contact who works in his office. I am reliably informed that he worships the ground Akiko walks on, and would never dream of allowing any harm to come to her. At the same time, he would not hesitate to take action if he thought she was in danger. All this points to her being safe and her father knowing where she is. But he is unlikely to tell Jamie, as we believe your son is persona non grata as far as Nakamasa is concerned.”

“In other words, he don’t take to our Jamie?” said Gran. “Well, I must say I don’t take to
him
, either. Keeping that girl under his thumb all these years. It doesn’t do, you know. They break out eventually.”

“Quite right, Mrs. Weedon,” Cowgill said. “So you see my point. Jamie must not try to get in touch with him. I am sure you can stress this, Lois. Or Derek? He might take it more seriously coming from you?”

“He listens to both of us,” Lois answered huffily, “but whether he takes any notice is another matter.”

*   *   *

“N
OT SUCH A BAD CHAP,”
G
RAN ANNOUNCED, AFTER
C
OWGILL
had gone. “Quite a gentleman really. Now, what do you fancy for supper? Early yet, but I’ll cook, and you and Derek can watch the telly. My quiz show is on later. We do really all work together very happily, don’t we?” she added, and stalked off, leaving Lois and Derek speechless.