The Secrets of Ice Cream Success (19 page)

‘
Nup.’ Carlo
shook his head. ‘Just picked up my stuff and left on my bike as
normal.’ he finished, indicating his bag and the books on the
desk.

‘
The diary?’
Newton exclaimed, looking at the desk. ‘You’ve never brought that
home before have you?’ he asked.

‘
Well, no,
but…’

‘
That’s what’s
different.’ he shouted excitedly, reaching over to grab
it.

‘
Ahem!’
Luigi’s voice rang out rather pointedly. Newton paused mid-grasp,
whilst Norton and Abi jumped up again, looking
uncomfortable.

‘
What?’ Newton
asked looking at Carlo.

‘
We can’t read
it.’ Carlo answered with another shrug, suggesting this was not his
idea.

‘
Why not?’ Ben
asked. ‘I’ve been dying to know what’s in there for
ages.’

Abi laughed, suggesting it
highly unlikely her brother had ever wanted to know the contents of
any book. Newton pulled his hand back but still continued to throw
the diary longing looks. Unlike Ben he had opened every book he had
ever come across and being denied one was a new experience for
him.

Carlo looked at Abi. ‘Would you
want people to read your diary?’

She shot an accusatory glare
across at Norton. ‘No!’ she replied.

‘
Well it’s the
same thing. It’s my Dad’s diary and he doesn’t want us to read
it.’

‘
But he’s
dead!’ Norton countered in the whiney voice he knew his parents
eventually gave in to, though it rarely worked with the rest of the
gang.

‘
No.’ Carlo
said firmly. ‘It’s his diary and it’s important to him.’

Norton frowned and started
looking around the room again. ‘Boring.’ he muttered under his
breath.

But unexpectedly Newton hopped
up onto his knees, a big smile on his face. ‘I’ve got it!’ he
said.

‘
Got what?’
Abi asked.

‘
The reason Mr
Leodoni bounced between the study and Carlo, but has now followed
him here. Carlo said it earlier. It’s obvious!’

As usual Newton was answered
with blank stares and silence. Above Carlo on the wall a
translucent face appeared looking down at Newton with
curiosity.

‘
The diary is
important to Mr Leodoni and obviously
Carlo
is important to Mr Leodoni.’
Newton explained slowly. ‘Therefore, given the results of the
experiments you have undertaken and the events of your journey
home, Carlo, it seems clear that spirits are linked to objects or
places that they feel most strongly connected too and will be drawn
back to the closest one if they move out of range. It makes perfect
sense!’

‘
Does it?
Carlo asked, lost.

‘
Yes, think
about every ghost story you’ve ever heard. They’re always haunting
places they used to live or work or were killed in. Places with a
strong emotional connection. I mean, if I was a ghost I would visit
the world and see all the things I didn’t see in life. But perhaps
ghosts don’t have that option. They are linked to things that meant
a lot to them before they died, in this case the diary and you.’
Newton finished with a smile at Carlo, who nodded with a small
smile of his own, until they all jumped up in fright as Abi
screamed loudly having seen Mr Leodoni’s face staring at them, who
then screamed in return and vanished backwards through the
wall.

Ben and Norton skidded around
the open doors to the factory floor and came to a thudding halt
against the railings before creeping slowly back to peer around the
edge of the door into the courtyard and main gates beyond, Norton
wheezing slightly having had all the wind knocked out of him.

‘
What on earth
are they up to?’ Carlo said aloud, looking up from the back of the
factory where he was listening to Lumsden’s confirmation that all
but one small sample of the tainted ice cream had been destroyed,
with Carlo deciding the final sample should be stored as evidence
in case the culprit was apprehended.

Both Ben and Norton were
pushing each other to try and get a view from behind the doors
without being noticed by someone unknown to Carlo. Abruptly they
fell over each other in an attempt to run the other way, obviously
having spotted whoever it was they were hiding from.

Carlo shook his head, handed
the clipboard back to Lumsden and bounded up the stairs at the back
of the factory to the office level just as Ben came tearing up the
stairs at the opposite end of the row running towards Carlo with a
panicked expression, followed at a slightly slower pace by
Norton.

‘
Whoa! What’s
going on?’ Carlo asked, holding his hands out to try and slow Ben’s
passage.

Ben slid to a standstill
breathing heavily and as Norton caught them up he took a quick look
over his shoulder towards the doors and then pulled Carlo into one
of the unused offices at the far end from the main entrance.

‘
What?’ Carlo
asked again.

Ben just pointed towards the
door, too breathless to speak. Carlo walked over and gently peered
around the edge of the door down to the factory gates where he saw
Lucy talking to someone just outside, but the bright sunshine was
obscuring the view of who it was. As Carlo looked he realised there
was something familiar about the rather large shadow that was being
cast through the factory door by the other person. The hefty round
shadow was bobbing up and down as it talked to Lucy and gave the
impression that she was speaking to an animated beach ball in a top
hat.

Carlo turned back to Norton and
Ben. ‘What’s Hill doing here?’ he asked in an accusatory whisper
having realised who the talking beach ball must be.

‘
I have
absolutely no idea.’ Norton answered, even less convincingly than
normal.

Ben sighed, peaked out the door
himself and then turned back with guilt all over his face. ‘He’s
looking for us.’

‘
Why?’

‘
We think
someone saw us earlier.’ Ben said.

Carlo had a feeling he knew
where this was going. ‘What were you doing?’ he asked in amused
exasperation.

‘
Work!
Detecting!’ Norton answered with a note of defiance. ‘Looking for
evil-doers!’

Carlo sighed
and turned to Ben. ‘What
exactly
were you doing?’ he asked.

‘
We hopped the
wall and were listening at his office window coz he was talking to
Prime Suspect Number One!’ Ben admitted, before adding, ‘Herbert.’
when Carlo looked confused. ‘Anyway, then this one’ Ben digged
Norton in the ribs with his elbow, ‘fell off the crate we were
stood on and screamed like a little girl when someone came round
the corner to see what the noise was.’

‘
I did not
scream like a girl! That was a warrior’s battle cry!’ Norton huffed
in indignation.

‘
Anyway,’ Ben
continued ignoring Norton, ‘We made a run for it but it looks like
they followed us.’

Carlo looked back out the door
and saw Lucy leading Mr Hill into the factory with, to Carlo’s
surprise, Herbert Fitzherbert lumbering along behind them. ‘This
could be tricky.’ Carlo noted as his friends both swore on seeing
Fitzherbert coming up the stairs too. ‘Did you actually hear
anything while you were there. Any evidence?’

Ben and Norton shook their
heads. ‘We haven’t tailed Herbert properly yet. But we’ve ruled out
Neil because he’s too busy at the Fish shop, so I reckon it’s
Herbert.’ Norton added.

‘
Based on
what?’ Carlo asked.

‘
Gut
feeling.’

‘
Big enough
gut!’ Ben pointed out.

Carlo sighed. ‘Look, you two
just go and keep out of trouble somewhere. I better go and see
what’s going on.’ he said, taking a quick glance out of the door
before heading back down to his office, whilst Ben and Norton took
the opportunity to scoot in the opposite direction, down the stairs
to the canteen.

Carlo entered the office to
find Mr Hill seated by Carlo’s desk and Fitzherbert loitering near
the door like a bodyguard. Lucy was stood next to Carlo’s
chair.

‘
Ah, I was
just going to get you and Randy.’ Lucy said with a smile. ‘Can I
get everyone a drink whilst we wait?’

Mr Hill asked for a tea,
Fitzherbert a lemonade, but Carlo declined. The past week since
Luigi’s Ghost had reappeared and the renewed optimism throughout
the factory that had followed had left Carlo feeling elated, but
the arrival of Mr Hill once more seemed rather ominous to Carlo,
who waited in silence, sat staring at his visitors.

Lucy eventually returned with
the drinks followed by Randy who looked just as unhappy as Carlo at
Mr Hill’s unexpected visit.

‘
Haverton!’
Randy brayed trying to cover his initial surprise. ‘Why you should
have phoned. Is this a social call or work? I would have come to
you and saved you the trip… if I’d have known you wanted to talk.’
he finished, with what Carlo thought sounded like a little too much
emphasis on the last words.

‘
I was just in
the area, Fox, my man. Thought we could catch up. Young Herbert
here had never seen the place. Good for his education to see how,
err…
other
people
do things.’ Mr Hill said, jovially. The barbed comment did not pass
Carlo by.

‘
I see you
still have this young scamp around the place.’ Mr Hill continued,
indicating Carlo with a nod of the head. ‘Good for moral I suppose.
Keeps the troops happy to have him around, I’m sure.’ he finished,
as if he was talking to Randy about his pet dog.

Randy laughed nervously and
ignored the comment whilst Carlo silently fumed.

‘
But, enough
of the small talk. Herbert, if you will…?’ Mr Hill continued,
holding out his hand and taking a folder from Fitzherbert. ‘Right,
yes… here we are. Bad business, Randy, awful shock, obviously. To
think this would rear its head again! Wish you had taken my call,
m’boy. I could have helped.’ Hill rambled on, seeming to take
pleasure from the vague statements.

Randy looked increasingly
uncomfortable, but seemed to understand what Hill was intimating.
“Well, yes, terrible timing, but extremely sensitive, Haverton,
what with, err… everything. Thought it best to keep in house for
now.’

‘
Hmmm, hmmm.
Yes, understand entirely. However, there is the matter of the
press, dear boy. Would be dreadful, just dreadful if this were to
become common knowledge.’

‘
Well,
hopefully that can be avoided… can’t it?’ Randy replied.

Carlo looked back and forth
between the two men as if watching a tennis match, not at sure what
was being discussed but certain there was something more meaningful
behind the words. Carlo slammed is hand down on the desk jolting
both men into silence as they turned towards him in surprise.

‘
Fly.’ Carlo
said to no one in particular, absently flicking the pretend remains
of an insect into the bin next to the desk. ‘So, Mr Hill, how can I
help you?’ he continued, pointedly straightening the sign on his
desk that said “Giancarlo Leodoni – Owner and Jnr Managing
Director” so it faced Mr Hill directly, before interlocking his
fingers on the table in front of him and smiling pleasantly at the
large man opposite him.

Mr Hill looked at Randy with
interest, saying ‘Going off script a little here aren’t we, Fox, my
man?’ but as Randy opened his mouth to reply, Mr Hill raised his
pudgy hand to silence him, turning to Carlo with a smile. ‘Let’s
see how this plays out,’ he continued, seemingly amused.

‘
Master
Leodoni. It has come to my attention,’ Hill said with his usual
guttural gargle, brandishing the papers he had taken from Herbert,
‘that an illegal substance has been used in the manufacturing
process here at Leodoni’s. Obviously as a worried citizen such news
is of great concern, but as a supportive neighbour, not to say
competitor, I am here to offer whatever…’

‘
No it
hasn’t.’ Carlo said, interrupting Mr Hill, still with a smile upon
his face.

‘
Excuse me?’
Mr Hill said, taken aback.

‘
No illegal
substance has been used in the manufacturing process here at
Leodoni’s.’ Carlo emphasised.

Mr Hill smiled, though with
little warmth. ‘Ah, I see. Have it your way.’ he continued, ‘Let’s
just call it an “unorthodox ingredient”, shall we.’

Carlo shook his head. ‘You
misunderstand, Mr Hill. I mean there has been no non-approved
ingredient used in our factory and I would take great offence at
any suggestion otherwise.’ he finished, giving himself a mental
slap on the back for the professional nature of his retort.

‘
You deny that
your stock has been contaminated?’ Mr Hill shouted, in
indignation.

‘
There has
been no non-approved ingredient used in our factory and I would
take great offence at any suggestion otherwise.’ Carlo
repeated.

‘
I have
evidence to the contrary!’ Hill countered, waving the papers once
again.

‘
Show me.’
Carlo replied, stretching out his hand.

Mr Hill withdrew the papers and
placed them back into the folder, handing them back to Fitzherbert,
who shot Carlo and angry look as he took them.

‘
I think not.’
Mr Hill said, standing up.

‘
But I thought
you were here to offer help in the name of neighbourly concern?’
Carlo added, also standing.