Scandal at Six (Lois Meade Mystery) (12 page)

Twenty-two

“H
andy
N
immo’s wife?
Y
ou must be mad,
R
obert.”
J
ustin
B
rookes was relaxing in
P
ettison’s most comfortable chair, smoking a sweet-smelling cigarette.

“Not at all mad. Better to have Dot Nimmo where I can see her than wondering what tales she’s told to all and sundry, especially Mrs Meade, who, as we know, works as a nark with old Cowgill. And he, by the way, came to see me this morning about my latest disaster with the king cobra. That stupid keeper would never listen to me. Always knew better. A very arrogant sort of chap.”

“Mm,” said Justin. “I’m still waiting to hear from Mrs Meade whether I can have the shop flat. I went there on my very best behaviour.”

“And wearing your very best suit, I hope. None of the flamboyant actor with questionable friends?”

“No, of course I was the perfect young executive. You know how well I can perform. If it had been young Josie by herself, I’d have been in there right away. But she said her parents are the landlords, and so I had to talk to them, too.”

“She recognised you as the actor delivering fliers, of course?”

“Yes, she did. But I kept up a very sober character.”

“Ah well, I very much hope you get it. It could be very useful if you keep your ear to the ground. Literally! The shop on the ground floor could yield very good snippets of information. And you could keep an eye on Lois Meade. I must say I wasn’t too sure about the garden shed, but as long as you are careful . . .”

“A perfectly innocent hobby. A lifelong interest in small animals. I made that clear. And they don’t use the shed themselves, so there will be no problems. Besides which, Uncle dear, we all know that we don’t notice what goes on under our noses.”

“We shall see,” said Pettison. “But now we have to talk business. I have had policemen wandering all over the place during the last few days, and it’s been tricky making sure they don’t find anything untoward. First of all, our gardener and his wife. Old Richardson is still spending all hours that God gives in our flowerbeds. Fortunately, the latest on his wife’s recovery is good. The police seem to have accepted that for some reason she went into the zoo to say farewell to a keeper.”

He paused, and reached for a glass of whiskey at his side. “I can make a guess,” he continued. “We had had words up here when she suddenly gave in her notice, and she probably went down to the zoo to stir up trouble. She was a great stirrer, you know, and I am well rid of her.”

“Has Mr Richardson given in his notice as well?”

“No! He’d be heartbroken if he had to. No, I reckon her sharp tongue drives him out in all weathers. Still, he’s tough as old boots. Must be the fresh air.”

“I suppose you’ll want us to keep a low profile for a bit? I hope you’ve warned the Brierleys. Best not to give them any specimens at the moment?”

“I’ve dealt with that,” said Pettison grimly. “To change the subject, how are your parents? I have one special little creature arriving shortly. Your father is so good at keeping them alive until I need them. Good old Brooksey!”

Idiot, thought Justin. He had always suspected that Pettison had some kind of hold over his father, and that’s how he’d persuaded him to be part of his “team.” I’ll wipe the smile off his face one of these days, he thought.

“Dad’s had a serious collapse, and Mother is naturally thinking mostly about him. But I come and go to the farm in Lincolnshire as often as I can. The small barn there, where I keep the stuff, is kept heated, so all should be well. And if I can get the shop flat, I should be able to have them in the future nearer to us.”

“Good lad,” said Pettison.

“It has occurred to me, Uncle Robert,” Justin continued slowly, “that you may soon have enough kosher exhibits in your zoo? I know it is dangerous to have them too crowded. You might have mutiny in the colony. And in that case, will you dispense with my services as a middleman?”

“Ah, but you are on the other side of the business, Justin, my boy. As you know, I now have a number of regular clients for my special little people, all very hush-hush, of course, but also very lucrative. They are never on show in the zoo, and there’ll always be a need to shelter them temporarily, and that’s where you will continue to be a vital member of the team.”

Justin sighed. He supposed he must be satisfied that for the moment there was still money to be made from associating with his uncle, and he got to his feet. “Can I sell you a ticket to the play, Uncle?” he said. “Excellent performance from yours truly as a butler. I have one line—‘Anyone for tennis?’—but it always raises a laugh.”

Pettison waved a dismissive hand. “Away, Justin! I have to make an important call to Africa.”

*

A
t
M
eade
H
ouse,
L
ois,
D
erek and
J
osie were having a conference over a late supper. Lois had been with Josie to the Women’s Institute meeting, and Derek had prepared a risotto with prawns, a dish he was particularly proud of.

“Yum, this is good,” Josie said. “Are you planning to put Gran on a pension, and take over the housekeeping? Where is she, by the way?”

“She went off with her friend Joan. Something to do with photographs of Joan’s new grandchild. She’ll be back soon.”

“I don’t like her being out late on her own,” Lois said. “She’s not all that steady on her pins, and you know how dark it is in the village. More streetlights might be a good thing, if the council could afford it, which is unlikely. Anyway, are we going to talk about the flat?”

“I think I’ve decided,” Josie said, “but you and Dad must make the decision. The property is yours.”

“So what’s your suggestion?” said Lois, thinking that she knew Josie’s preference already.

There had in fact been only one other applicant, and that was a single mother with two small children. Lois was all for settling for her, but Derek was not keen. He had worried about the rent being paid regularly, and whether having children up there would be storing up trouble.

“My suggestion,” said Josie, “is the young executive in the smart suit. Mr Justin Brookes. He seemed ideal to me. I’m not keen on the single mother and two children. The kids are small at the moment, but they were very noisy, and I’m afraid they’d be all over the place. I’m sorry for the mother, but I have to think about security for the shop. How about you, Dad?”

“Much the same as you. The smooth businessman was not altogether to my liking, but we’ve had no more enquiries. No, I tell a lie, there was one, but she rang back to say she’d heard about the snake, and she couldn’t possibly come anywhere near us. I tried to explain it was all safe and tickety-boo, but she put the phone down on me. So I say we should go for Mr Brookes.”

“Then it’s settled,” said Lois. “On balance, I agree with you two, though I did like that young woman. She was very nice and neatly turned out, and the kids were spotless.”

“Right, then. I’ll ring Brookes, and tell him he can have it, okay?”

*

“
H
ello?
O
h, it’s you,
M
r
M
eade.
N
ice to hear from you. How are the ladies?”

“What ladies?” said Derek, immediately wondering if they had made the right decision.

“Mrs Meade and Josie, of course. I’m afraid I didn’t catch your daughter’s surname. Vickers? Must have been difficult for her husband when he was at school!”

“Very likely,” said Derek. “Now, about the flat. We have talked it over, and decided that you can have it on a six-months lease, to be renewed if all is satisfactory. Does that suit?” He sounded reluctant, and Justin hoped there would be no snags.

“Excellent!” he said, grinning broadly. “May I plan on moving in more or less straightaway? And could I just confirm that I shall find the shed very useful, if that is included in the lease?”

“Yes, that’s okay. We’ll clean it out a bit for you. It’s all rubbish in there, anyway.”

“I’ll be in tomorrow morning, then, to have a good look at things. Have you a solicitor handling the lease?”

“Yes, that’s all in order. You’ll be hearing from him.”

“Goodbye, then, Mr Meade. I’ll look forward to meeting you again. Goodbye.”

“Yippee!” he said aloud, and smiled as he thought about the reptiles. He knew Pettison had disapproved, saying it sounded like a boarding-school jape. “Like putting a dead mouse in the head prefect’s bed,” he had said.

Now Justin reckoned he could tell from Meade’s voice that they had had no other applicants. The thought of reptiles reappearing must have done the trick.

Twenty-three

O
n
M
onday morning, at the same time as
J
ustin
B
rookes was driving over to
L
ong
F
arnden with the final installment of his belongings,
D
ot
N
immo made her way cheerfully up the drive to
C
ameroon
H
all.
S
he had had a quick chat with
M
argie
T
urner on the gate, and said she would see her again on her way out.

Justin had spent all weekend ferrying the contents of his bed-sitter to the shop flat, and now looked around with pleasure. It was a really pleasant little place, he realised, once he had arranged things to his liking. The sitting-room windows looked over the rooftops to the village hall and playing fields beyond, and if he leaned to one side through an open window, he could just see the front of Meade House, about a hundred yards up the road. Even as he watched, he saw Lois Meade’s New Brooms van come out and disappear off towards Tresham. If a spy was needed, he would be Robert’s man.

Now for his parents. He would call about visiting, and hope there would be good news about his father.

Meanwhile, Dot Nimmo had arrived at the hall, and after a preliminary chat with Robert Pettison, she had begun work upstairs in the bedrooms.

“I always start at the top and work down,” she had said to him. When he replied that he could think of circumstances where that policy could be very pleasurable, she snapped at him that she was a respectable widow and that was quite enough of that.

As she worked steadily from one room to another, she came across a locked door. She went downstairs and found Pettison in the kitchen.

“Can I have the key for that locked bedroom?” she said.

He shook his head. “No, Dot, I’m afraid that is always locked. Not that I’ve got Miss Havisham shut up in there! No, it’s just that we’ve lost the key. I must get a man to change the lock sometime, but there’s only boxes of books I don’t want in there, so there’s no urgency. Just give it a miss,” he said, and changed the subject. “What time do you have coffee? Would half past ten suit you? Then I have to go down to the zoo to check that all is well.”

“
That’s fine by me,” said Dot.
“
And what
about
that zoo? You got another person in trouble in there, I heard. My dear old Handy used to say one death could be explained away, but two was careless.”

“I remember Handy well! But in this case there is only one death. My ex-cleaner, Mrs Richardson, fell out with one of my chimp people, but the police are satisfied that there is a good explanation. In the sad case of the keeper attacked by his majesty, the king cobra, my man made a ridiculous error in going into the cobra cage alone and at night when no one else was around.”

“Made the front page, though, didn’t it,” Dot said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get on. If you want a handyman to fix that lock, I can recommend one of my nephews.”

She disappeared upstairs, and Pettison reflected that he would not allow any of Dot Nimmo’s nephews anywhere near the place. A good thing they’d got the mausoleum dealt with straightaway. It would be a disaster if she was confronted with a hanging gorilla and surgical specimens of splayed-out creatures.

By the time Dot had finished her four hours, she was ready for another coffee, and as Pettison had gone out, and had said no need to lock up, as he would be back very shortly, she decided to call in on Margie Turner and see if she had a free lunch hour. They could go to the zoo snack bar and have a gossip. She had not forgotten that Mrs M had expressly forbidden her to do either of these things, and if challenged, would remind her boss that she was in her free time, and could choose whatever she liked to do.

“Yes, okay, Dot. My replacement for the lunch hour should be here in a couple of minutes. You go and get us a seat, and then I’ll join you,” said Margie.

Dot made her way to the snack bar, passing a roomy cage full of brightly plumaged birds making unfamiliar chattering squawks, and then the famous monkey enclosure, where a tiny wizened face looked slyly at her. She quickened her step and found the snack bar, where she ordered a coffee and a sandwich, and sat down to wait for Margie.

*

T
he line to
J
ustin’s parents was busy every time he tried to ring them, until he had their phone number checked, and was told the receiver must have been left off the hook. Mother was getting really absentminded. The burden of Dad clinging on to life, and not knowing when the end would come, was becoming too much for her.

Now his phone was ringing, and it was his mother. “Justin? Have you tried to get hold of us. Sorry! I left the phone off. Done it several times lately. How are you, dear? Are you coming up to see your father? He’s much the same.”

“Yes, I’ll come very soon. Glad to hear he’s no worse. Now, have you got a pen handy? I’ve moved into a new flat, and I’ll give you the address. I shall get cards printed to send out, but in case you need to know sooner. Ready? Right. The Flat, General Stores, 25 High Street, Long Farnden, Tresham, WZ1 2GB. Yes, that’s right. A new phone number, too, but you can easily ring my mobile. That’s always with me.”

His mother wanted to know all about the new flat, and he gave her a brief description before signing off and saying he’d be in touch very soon. Before he switched off, she said something that bothered him considerably.

“What did you say, Mother?” he asked anxiously. “It escaped while you were feeding it, and you couldn’t catch it? It’s still in the barn somewhere? Right, well, keep the door firmly shut, and I’ll deal with it when I arrive. Thanks a lot, Ma, and don’t worry about it.”

He turned the radio on to a classical music station to calm his nerves, and sat down to think. He knew it was a rotten trick of Pettison’s to ask his father to house Robert’s consignments, but the money was good, and though his mother was not keen, his father had seemed quite happy about it. In fact, he had been fascinated by some of the creatures, and had taken it for granted that he mustn’t mention them to anyone. Pettison had reminded Justin that he must stress to his parents how valuable they were, and that collectors could break in and do damage if they knew where they were.

Now, to his dismay, he heard his mother’s voice breaking into tears as she said how much she was looking forward to seeing him, and he opened his diary to suggest a date.

Loud voices caused him to look down into the street, and he groaned when he saw Robert Pettison’s car. He thought of locking his door and pretending to be out. Then the loud voice was outside on the stairs, and he knew that would be hopeless. Robert would know exactly where he was. Robert had a knack of knowing, and so he crossed to the door and opened it, forcing a smile of welcome.

“Very nice, boy,” said Pettison, as he looked around. “I really think that with Dottie coming to clean for me, and you being up here well within earshot of the irritating Lois Meade, we should have that little problem solved. Nip in the bud any forays into enquiring too closely into our activities, won’t you?”

“I have already logged in the time she disappeared off to Tresham,” Justin said. “But no, only joking. I can see up to her house, though, and who knows, that might be useful.”

“Good lad,” said Pettison expansively. “Now, when will you be able to receive some very small people? Silent but deadly, as the saying goes.”