Sewer Mayhem

by Annie Appleton

  ‘Colleen is a stranger to Milbury, isn’t she?’ Dave words shook Jacob out of his reverie.

  ‘Yes, as far as we know.’

  ‘Even so, apparently there is someone here who knows enough about her to write you this letter.’

  Jacob pondered this for a bit. ‘If Colleen is not her real name, then we need to find out her real one. It seems it’s important that we know about her duplicity, so we better find out more about her.’

  ‘How are you going to do that?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Jacob said. ‘I must admit that up till now, finding Nate’s murderer hasn’t really been a priority for me. I just went along with Emily in her quest to help her friend. But now that it seems that Colleen is involved, I’m getting more and more intrigued.’

  Dave smiled. ‘Can’t let a good mystery rest, can you?’

  ‘Seems that way.’ Jacob looked at his watch. ‘Blimey, is that the time? I need to teach!’ He stuffed the letter into his pocket and made his way to the door.

  ‘Whatever you do,’ Dave said, ‘don’t get too preoccupied with this anonymous letter. Peggy won’t like it if you talk about nothing else during your date with her this afternoon.’

  Jacob glared at his friend. ‘It’s not a date.’

  Dave looked smug, his eyes twinkling.

  Jacob slammed the door of the office behind him. It was not a date!

  * * *

  4 April 1972

  Jacob’s heart was in his throat. It thumped so hard, that he was sure the adults downstairs would hear it. He tried to be absolutely silent as he sat himself down at the top of the stairs.

  ‘An anonymous letter?’ his father said. Martin’s was voice muffled a bit, as the door to the kitchen was only opened an inch or two.

  ‘The police received it this morning,’ Dave’s father said. ‘They told us about it when I got home this afternoon.’

  ‘What did it say?’ Jacob’s mother Dot said.

  ‘It said that Cornelius Clark might have kidnapped Robbie, and now they have taken him in for questioning.’

  ‘Cornelius Clark?’ There was a chink as Dot put her cup down on its saucer. ‘That’s utter rubbish, David. He’s got nothing to do with it. He helped me take down the washing the other day when it suddenly started pouring with rain. That man hasn’t got a bad bone in his body.’

  Jacob agreed with his mother. Cornelius was perhaps a bit weird, but why would he have kidnapped Robbie?

  David let out a deep sigh. ‘I know that it’s very unlikely that Cornelius would have anything to do with it, but it’s been nearly a week and there’s been no progress in the investigation at all.’

  ‘We know,’ Martin mumbled.

  A chair scraped as David got up. ‘I better get back, Margaret is waiting for me. She’s trying to hang in there, but she’s taken it all very hard.’

  The kitchen door opened and the two men came down the narrow hallway. At the front door, David turned around.

  ‘We all know what Cornelius is like, don’t we?’ he said under his breath to Martin. ‘Who is to say that men who like other men don’t go for little boys?’

  Martin put his hand on the other man’s shoulder. ‘Listen to me. I know you’re upset, but you know as well as I do that it’s simply not true. Of course men like that don’t go for little boys.’

  ‘I know.’ David looked at his shoes, then up into Martin’s face. ‘It’s just been so very hard, you know. I just want my little boy back.’

  Martin nodded and watched as his neighbour disappeared down the street. Then he closed the door and turned round. He looked up the stairs and saw Jacob looking down on him.

  A coldness hit Jacob at his core, when he noticed that tears streamed down his father’s face.

  * * *

  Paddy

  The first sign we got that the Mafia was approaching, was a little tingle from the bells inside the wall. It sounded innocent enough, but it put us on high alert in an instant. We stared at the hole in the wall, our senses heightened, as confusing sounds drifted out.

  ‘Be quiet,’ Victor hissed.

  ‘It’s not my fault,’ Dino said. ‘There’s something hanging here and it’s stuck behind my ears.’ The bells tingled even louder as he tried to untangle himself.

  ‘Idiot!’

  Leo looked at me over his shoulder, a big grin on his face. ‘It’s working.’

  We’d entrenched ourselves in the front room of the old building behind an assortment of boxes and an old wobbly chair that we’d dragged in from the kitchen. Hoping to ambush the Mob, we waited in silence, piles of ammunition by our sides.

  Then the first of our enemies stuck his nose out of the hole. It was Sal, who looked around the room with his beady eyes, whiskers twitching.

  Next to me, Gus picked up a large paper clip without making a sound, ready to start chucking it at his cousin.

  ‘Wait,’ I mouthed to him, and he nodded his head. The tension in the air was palpable, something that wasn’t lost on the Three Bambini.

  ‘Something’s wrong,’ Sal said, stepping out into the front room. ‘Didn’t you say they were here?’ He turned to Dino, who studied the pile of boxes in the middle of the room.

  ‘That wasn’t here before,’ he said.

  Through the crack between the boxes I could see Victor pushing his way into the room. He’d managed to fasten the diamond ring to his paper clip necklace. It glinted in the morning light.

  ‘Where are those little runts,’ he said looking about him. ‘No doubt hidden away somewhere, trembling in fright.’

  He motioned with his paw to Dino and Sal, who started moving, one to the left and one to the right. ‘Let’s find those jewels and then make this joint our new headquarters. There’s so much more room here than down in those dank sewers.’

  I held my breath as I watched Dino and Sal getting nearer, while Victor kept hanging back.

  ‘Now!’ I shouted and we jumped clear of the boxes pelting the startled rats with paper clips and erasers, shouting at the top of our lungs.

  Daisy had the most success in hitting the enemy. She’d fashioned a makeshift catapult out of two pencils, which she’d stuck in the side of a cardboard box. With a rubber band, she was able to accurately shoot paper clips at Dino, who in a sort of blind panic came running towards her at great speed. He stopped in his tracks, though, when she hit him right in the eye and then soon after, painfully on his nose.

  Gus climbed on top of the chair and chucked streamers and confetti down, which we’d found in an old box with some other party supplies. It added nicely to the confusion, as Dino and Sal nearly ran into each other, trying to keep clear of our assault.

  Victor was the only one who kept a cool head, realising that our barrage mostly focussed on his brothers. He spotted a spare box, pushed it in front of the hole in the wall and ducked behind it, motioning to Dino and Sal to join him.

  ‘Stop,’ I said, holding up my paw, as the Three Bambini disappeared behind their box. ‘We’d better save our ammunition.’

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Gus said, pulling at the fur on his head.

  ‘Let’s just wait for a bit,’ Vinnie said. ‘They’re bound to do something stupid.’ He turned his ears towards the enemy box. Voices now could be heard from behind it.

  ‘My eye hurts,’ Dino’s voice came. ‘You said we’d steamroll them.’

  ‘Stupid knucklehead,’ Victor said. ‘It was you who warned them by walking into their trap.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Sal said. ‘If you’d kept your eyes open, we would have jumped them.’

  Victor put his nose around the box, but quickly withdrew it when Daisy shot a paper clip at him.

  ‘You’d better retreat, Victor,’ I yelled, the adrenaline surging through my body. ‘You’re not going to kick us out so easily this time!’

  ‘Give us the jewellery and we’ll leave you in peace, you mangy Irish bum,’ he yelled back.

  ‘Never!’ Gus yelled. ‘The treasure is mine and I�
�ll defend it tooth and nail.’

  ‘Ha! You don’t have enough Italian blood in you to defend yourself! You don’t stand a chance.’

  Vinnie looked at me. ‘This has the potential to turn into a standoff,’ he said in my ear. ‘What do you think of implementing your secret weapon?’

  ‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘Before Victor has a chance to come up with a plan himself.’ The hurling of insults could only go on so long and we’d better keep the upper hand and surprise them some more. I looked over my shoulder at the shelving on the back wall. Time for me to do some climbing.

  ‘Keep them busy,’ I said.

  Vinnie nodded. ‘Good luck,’ he said, but his slightly droopy ears betrayed his real feeling about my rather outrageous plan. It didn’t fill me with confidence.

  I crept away to the back wall unseen by the Mob, who were still trading insults with Gus and Leo.

  ‘I’m richer than you, Victor,’ Gus yelled from behind our defences, while I made my way up to the top of the shelf, trying not to dislodge anything and give myself away. ‘I have more diamonds!’

  ‘You’d better show me where they are, dear cousin,’ Victor yelled back. ‘Or I’ll send my brothers to squeeze them out of you.’

  I arrived at the top shelf and took in the view of the room below. I could see the Three Bambini sitting behind their box. Dino still pawed his eye; a lump had now formed above it. He didn’t seem at all menacing from up here.

  Looking down, I had second thoughts about the wisdom of my plan.

  The evening before, we’d fashioned a strong piece of twine from the top shelf to the windowsill across the room. Using that piece of twine as a zip line, I planned to dive-bomb the Mob with heavy rolls of one-penny coins we’d found in a drawer of some old desk. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now the twine looked very thin and the drop very high. I’d better do this now, before I changed my mind.

  I swallowed as I grabbed the large paper clip we’d clipped around the twine. Straddling a roll of pennies with my legs, I took a deep breath before launching myself off the shelf.

  As I zipped down the twine, holding on to the paper clip for dear life, the ground came closer and closer. So did the box behind which Victor and his brothers huddled. They had now spotted the movement and I could see Sal pointing me out to Victor. Soon it would be time to release the roll, in the hope it would hit one of them on the head, knocking them unconscious.

  Suddenly the twine slackened. It had come loose from the shelf and I now no longer zipped through the air, but dropped to the floor like a stone.

  A yell escaped from my throat, then I hit the floor with a bump, the twine falling all around me. The room spun and I closed my eyes to avoid getting nauseated. I inhaled deep down into my lungs, while moving my limbs one by one, trying to find out if I had broken anything.

  ‘Grab him!’ Victor yelled and I opened my eyes just in time to see Dino and Sal jump on top of me. But instead of grabbing me, the twine that had entangled me, tangled them as well. Sal tripped and in his fall, hit his head on the side of the roll of pennies that had come down with me. Dazed, he sat shaking his head.

  ‘You nitwits!’ Victor shouted from behind his box, hiding like the coward he was.

  Dino managed to free himself from the twine and grabbing hold of my leg, started dragging me across the floor in the direction of the enemy box. I tried to kick him in the side, but with little success. The rat was simply too big and too strong.

  Then something whizzed over me and hit Dino in the head.

  ‘Ouch!’ he said and let go of my leg. Another thing whizzed over me, this time hitting Dino in the chest.

  I looked up and saw Daisy standing behind her catapult, loading another paper clip. Vinnie and Gus stood next to her, motioning wildly with their arms for me to start running towards them.

  ‘Run!’ Leo yelled. ‘Run!’

  I scrambled up, setting myself in motion at the same time, while Daisy shot another paper clip. It narrowly missed me, but I could hear it hitting Dino’s body.

  ‘Ouch! Not again!’ He grabbed his shoulder.

  In no time, I was back behind the safety of our defences. Vinnie checked me over, while I watched as Dino and Sal limped back behind their own box, zigzagging a bit to avoid the barrage of paper clips from Daisy’s catapult.

  ‘Better not do that zip-line thing again,’ Vinnie said. ‘I admire your courage, but that was just a bit too crazy.’

  I nodded, trying to catch my breath. ‘Agreed. We need a better plan for next time.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The sun had come out after last night’s showers and despite his worries about the anonymous letter, Jacob felt good about today. Well, if you forgot about the fact that he was about to have lunch with Peggy. Butterflies danced in his stomach. What on earth were they going to talk about?

  All too soon, Jacob arrived at Posh Nosh, where Peggy was waiting for him, with a large tote bag full of food. Was that the corner of a blanket he saw sticking out? Were they supposed to have a picnic? A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and he swiped at it with his hanky.

  ‘You look nice, Jacob,’ Peggy said, eyeing his dark grey trousers, grey shirt and Argyle sleeveless sweater, which had been a Christmas present from his mother.

  Jacob’s cheeks burned as he looked at Peggy, all lovely in a light blue summer dress printed with large flowers. ‘You too.’

  He saw Emily smirk at him from the corner of his eye and managed to refrain from glaring at her.

  ‘Shall we go?’ Peggy said. ‘Before it gets too busy on the green? I bet lots of people want to take their lunch there today.’

  Jacob took the bag from Peggy and held the door open for her. In silence they walked down Woolaston Road. Was it his imagination or was everyone staring at them and giggling behind their backs?

  From the corner of his eye he saw Patrizia go into Sant’Ambrogio’s. Darn it. He mustn’t forget to ask her about that anonymous letter. She was a likely candidate for being the writer, especially after reading the text Emily had sent him about what Sam had told her this morning.

  ‘Jacob?’ Peggy said, looking at him with her eyebrows raised. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said?’

  ‘Oh, sorry. No I didn’t. I was miles away, busy morning at the school and such…’

  Peggy looked at him, her eyes slightly narrowed. ‘I asked if you think we are in for a spell of nice weather.’

  ‘Ah, well yes. I wouldn’t know why not. It being July.’ He stared in the opposite direction to avoid her look.

  ‘Exactly what I was thinking.’

  As they turned into Milbury Road, they saw Abe Monday walking in their direction.

  ‘Good to see you both,’ the young Detective Constable said as he reached them. ‘I’ve got an update on the money conundrum.’ He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

  ‘I had a look at the ASBOW accounts and found some irregularities dating five years back. I’ve given the accounts to a colleague who knows more about accounting to check my findings.’ He looked from Jacob to Peggy as if expecting a reply. ‘Aren’t you the current ASBOW secretary, Peggy? Did you know anything about this?’

  Peggy folded her arms in front of her chest and tapped her foot on the pavement. ‘I am, but I’m also not interested in it right now. Jacob and I are on our way to Milbury Green for lunch and we would like to get on.’

  Abe swallowed, then his eyes started to twinkle. A grin appeared on his face. ‘Of course, I’m sorry. You are on your date.’

  Jacob glared at Abe, who winked at him then continued on. ‘Have fun.’

  ‘I’m sorry about that,’ Jacob said. ‘Abe’s just very enthusiastic about something relating to Nate’s murder.’

  Peggy walked on. ‘Let’s not talk about that now.’

  When they reached the green, there were quite a few people about. Many of them were secondary school students and Jacob realised that they might be his students. Fingers crossed they weren’t going to
make fun of him later in class.

  They found a nice shady spot under a tree.

  ‘Don’t you want to sit on a bench?’ Jacob said, pointing at one just a few yards away. But Peggy was already pulling the blanket out of the bag.

  ‘No, a proper picnic is far more fun,’ she said as she sat down and started unpacking the bag.

  Jacob pulled up his trouser legs a bit, then sat down. He looked around the green. Were those people over there giving them sly glances?

  ‘So there’s sandwiches, tomatoes and fruit,’ Peggy said, waving at the food now sitting between them. ‘And to top it all off, muffins.’

  ‘Looks great, Peggy,’ Jacob said and he gave her a quick smile. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’ As Jacob reached for a sandwich, Peggy lightly touched his arm. ‘Now tell me about that project of yours.’

  He shrugged. ‘There’s not that much to tell really. I had a bit of a setback and now I don’t know if I should continue it.’

  ‘Of course you should.’ Peggy looked at him, her eyes all wide. ‘We all deserve to know what happened to Robbie and you’re the only person who can find out.’

  Jacob traced the squares on the blanket with his finger. ‘I’m not so sure any more that I’m the person who can solve this. I was counting on my test to work.’

  ‘But that’s just one little setback. You’ve worked too hard on this for too long. You can’t just give up.’ Peggy touched his arm again and looked into his eyes. ‘I know you can do it.’

  Jacob smiled at her. ‘Well, if you’re sure, I will give it another try. But it might take some time before I figure out how to continue.’