Sewer Mayhem

by Annie Appleton

  A man in a trench coat came up to the counter, where Eddy, the owner, stood watching it all.

  ‘For one, there is a horrible sewage smell in your shop,’ the man said, his brow knitted in anger. ‘And now there’s rats everywhere. Have you got any idea what this is doing to your reputation?’ He stalked out, without waiting for an answer.

  ‘There must be something we can do,’ Eddy said, looking at Jacob.

  ‘What, though? It’s not going to be possible to catch these rats.’

  A bookshelf near the counter exploded, as one by one all the books toppled off, littering the floor. The five rats jumped from the bookshelf on to Eddy’s counter and were out of the door, before either of the two men could blink.

  Once more the rats crossed Woolaston Road and running past the shops, now made their way back to the car park, where Dave had just helped the girl down from the recycled paper bin and sent her on her way.

  Jacob ran up to him, panting. ‘They’re back,’ he managed to bring out.

  ‘Well, actually, I think some of them remained here,’ Dave said. He pointed at some shopping bags that were lying deserted near a car. ‘The owner of that car saw another group of rats, then ran off towards Milbury Road. I hope he’ll come back for his groceries.’

  ‘There must be more than five then,’ Jacob said. He looked about him. All seemed quiet again and he could hear some bees buzzing in the shrubs behind him.

  ‘Where have they gone?’ he said.

  Dave shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’

  Suddenly the air exploded with angry shrieks. The two men watched as a large group of rats came together in the middle of the car park. Four of them faced another six rats, but it didn’t take long before all of them took off again. In a flash, they were around the corner and out of sight.

  Jacob and Dave ran towards the back of the shops, but the rats had disappeared.

  ‘Where are they?’ Dave said.

  ‘Maybe they went back down into the sewers.’ Jacob looked at his watch. ‘Oh dear, I will be late for school now. Better get going.’ With a wave of his hand he crossed the car park. At the corner he nearly bumped into a young man, who, pulling the hood of his sweater over his head, mumbled an apology, then moved off between the cars.

  Jacob watched him, realising it was Ricky Haddon. How funny he should bump into that young man again.

  * * *

  The bell kept tingling as more and more customers found their way into Posh Nosh for the lunch rush. Emily looked at the long line of waiting people. Why was it always so much more busy on Fridays?

  Although she needed to concentrate on helping the customers, she couldn’t help but overhear that many of them were talking about the rats that had just now wreaked havoc along Woolaston Road.

  ‘I swear to you, there were at least twenty of them,’ Mrs Jefferson said to the cluster of interested listeners standing around her. ‘They all but destroyed Hoofs Haven.’

  ‘I hear Fifi Peacock was so shocked that she fainted on the floor of the changing rooms,’ old Mrs Jenkins said. ‘She was carried out by Jacob Hicks, wearing nothing but her bra and knickers.’ Everyone gasped.

  ‘He’s always been a strange one, that Jacob Hicks,’ Mrs Jefferson said and Emily had to smile, despite pretending not to listen.

  ‘Well, whatever happened, I’m glad they didn’t make it into Posh Nosh,’ Peggy said. ‘That would have been a disaster.’

  ‘Why?’ Emily said, wrapping up a piece of cheese and handing it to a customer.

  Peggy looked at her with narrowed eyes. ‘I would have had to throw my whole stock out, that’s why.’

  Blood rushed to Emily’s face. ‘Ah… er… I didn’t know that.’

  ‘No, I didn’t think you did.’

  Emily handed the customer some change, averting her eyes from Peggy’s glare. She was glad that she had taken Trevor and Mike home after the funeral.

  Then the peace and quiet of Woolaston Road was disturbed once again as first one, then another police car raced by, sirens blaring and lights flashing. The customers closest to the door craned their necks to see what was going on.

  A teenaged student opened the door and poked his head out. ‘Looks like they’ve stopped in front of that new designer clothes shop.’

  Emily went to the window. It was true. Several police cars had stopped in front of Fortunato’s and uniformed policemen were running up and down to the shop. Her stomach turned. Something was seriously wrong.

  ‘Emily!’ Peggy said. ‘Come back here and help me serve these customers. Haven’t you learned anything?’

  Emily glared at Peggy, then went on serving the customers. It was Mrs Jefferson’s turn.

  ‘Better make it quick, dearie,’ Mrs Jefferson said. ‘I want to know what’s going on outside.’

  Thirty minutes later and with the lunch rush over, Emily stood in the open door looking at the host of police cars that now partially blocked Woolaston Road. Blue and white crime scene tape was strung over the pavement and McDermott’s dark blue Mercedes had just driven up.

  ‘Oh, hi, Emily,’ Eddy said as he locked the door of his bookshop behind him. ‘Have you heard the news? There’s been another murder.’

  ‘What? Who?’ Emily stepped back and let Eddy into Posh Nosh.

  ‘It’s that Italian woman that runs the clothes shop,’ Eddy said. ‘Apparently her shop was broken into, just like Nate’s.’

  ‘Do you mean Patrizia Affini?’ The hairs on Emily’s neck stood on end. ‘That can’t be. I saw her this morning at the funeral.’

  ‘Well, it’s her,’ Eddy said.

  Emily’s brain went into overdrive. Patrizia murdered? But by who? Colleen? Did this mean that Sam was in danger? She was Patrizia’s cousin after all. Perhaps Colleen had found out about Patrizia recognising her from before?

  She took her phone out of the pocket of her apron and typed a quick text for Jacob. He needed to know about this asap.

  The door opened and Angie from the Pickled Onion Café walked in. She was white as a sheet.

  ‘There’s been another murder,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe it. Where is this going to end?’

  Peggy put her arm around Angie’s shaking shoulders. ‘Take a deep breath, Ange. It’s going to be alright.’

  ‘Is it?’ Angie said, her eyes wide as she looked from Peggy to Eddy. ‘Are we all at risk now?’ She shook herself loose from Peggy’s grip. ‘Perhaps it’s better that we close our shops until the murderer is found.’

  Peggy took Angie by the arm. ‘Let’s go to the back for a minute. I’ll make you a nice cup of tea.’

  The bell tingled again and John Baxter walked in. His hardware store was the largest shop on Woolaston Road.

  ‘Hey, John,’ Eddy said. ‘Have you heard?’

  John ran his hand through his thinning grey hair and nodded.

  ‘I had a word with one of the police officers,’ he said. ‘Apparently a customer found Patrizia just after half past twelve. She was strangled by a necklace.’ He shook his head. ‘Such a shame. She really was a nice person.’

  ‘She was, actually. Always caring for her family,’ Emily said. ‘Umm… Eddy said the shop was broken into. Is that right?’

  John nodded. ‘Yes, the place was ransacked. It looks like a burglary gone wrong again.’

  ‘A burglary in broad daylight?’ Emily wrinkled her brow. ‘That seems such a risky thing to do.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ John said. ‘But don’t forget that Field’s was burgled in daylight as well. It seems to be the MO of this creep.’

  ‘Hmm… perhaps.’

  Sounds came from the kitchen where Peggy still tried to calm Angie down a bit.

  ‘Should we be worried, John?’ Eddy said, shuffling his feet. ‘Closing our shops and so on?’

  ‘No, I don’t think so. There’s far too much police around at the moment, so whoever did this would be crazy to try it again today.’

  Peggy walked back into the shop with Angie. She looked a lot bette
r. She smiled at Emily and Eddy. ‘Sorry I freaked out, guys. I was just so shocked.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Emily said. ‘It is an upsetting situation.’

  ‘I was thinking,’ Angie said. ‘Perhaps it’s an idea to call an emergency meeting of ASBOW to discuss all this?’ She turned to Peggy. ‘You could organise it, as association secretary.’

  Peggy opened her mouth to answer when the door opened and Spencer Peacock walked in. His face was a pasty white and sweat dripped down from his hairline. His eyes widened when he saw who was in the shop.

  ‘What are you all doing here?’ he said. He looked at his watch. ‘It’s not yet time to close our shops, is it?’

  They all stared at him. He took off his cravat and stuffed it in the pocket of his jacket.

  ‘Haven’t you heard yet, Spencer?’ John said. ‘There’s been another murder.’

  ‘What? Who?’ Spencer’s knees buckled under him. For a moment Emily thought he was going to faint, but he held on to the counter for support.

  ‘Are you okay, Spencer?’ Peggy said. ‘Perhaps you’re a bit overworked with this street party business. Maybe we should postpone it until this whole situation is cleared up.’

  Spencer pushed himself up, blinking at Peggy as if he hadn’t heard her.

  ‘And the sewer smell is still getting worse,’ Peggy continued. ‘Not that that’s important now…’

  Emily smiled. So like Aunt Peggy to keep her priorities straight.

  ‘No… not important now…’ Spencer said. He glanced around with vacant eyes, then walked out the door.

  They all stared, mouths open.

  ‘What on earth has gotten into him?’ Eddy said. ‘I’ve never seen him like this before.’

  Emily nodded. What indeed had gotten into Spencer?

  * * *

  Jacob shone his black light on the spinach juice. Instead of being bright green, it coloured a fluorescent red.

  ‘Woah!’ young Michael said, his eyes wide. ‘That’s so cool.’

  Glad to have been able to hold his students’ attention long enough to dispel, at least for now, any thoughts of the weekend, Jacob set them to work to produce the same results themselves.

  Walking along the tables where, in pairs, the students were cutting their spinach, Jacob felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He must have forgotten to turn it off. He took the phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. It was a text from Emily. What could she have to say?

  He looked at his students. They were all concentrating on the experiment. None of them had noticed Jacob’s phone. A quick look couldn’t hurt. He touched the screen.

  Patrizia has been murdered!

  What?! No, couldn’t be. He scrolled the text, but that was all it said. His mind raced. When had this happened? And how? His chest tightened. This was his fault. If he had pressured Patrizia more about Colleen, she might have told him something that could have saved her life.

  ‘Mr Hicks?’ Josie, who was working closest to where he stood, pulled at his lab coat. ‘Are we doing this right? Our spinach isn’t turning red.’

  His cheeks burned as he turned his attention back to his students. It wasn’t like him to get distracted in class.

  Jacob set to work helping his students and before he knew it, the bell went and they all trooped out. Weekend.

  Jacob sat down behind his desk and took his phone out again. Rereading Emily’s text, he realised that this was the first time he has seen Colleen as the murderer. Why? Because Patrizia had met her before and she wanted to remain incognito? It hardly seemed enough of a reason to murder someone. If he only knew what Colleen had talked to Patrizia about at the cemetery.

  He stared at his desk for a little bit. If Colleen was the murderer, why would she have killed Nate? There was a missing link here, but what?

  Jacob got up. Frustrated. There were too many questions and he wasn’t even sure that Colleen was the murderer. It could just as well be someone else. He closed the classroom door behind him and walked down the stairs. The corridors were deserted.

  In the hallway he heard voices coming from the teachers’ lounge. He looked down the corridor and saw a few of his colleagues looking at some of the pictures on the wall. One of them pointed at something and a giggle broke out.

  Jacob walked further down the hallway. As he put out his hand to open the door, something clicked in his brain. Wait a minute…

  Hadn’t he seen Colleen looking at a picture near the teachers’ lounge in in the first week she was here?

  He walked back to the corridor. To his relief his colleagues had disappeared. He made his way down. Quite a few old class photos adorned the wall. Yes! He stood still and closed his eyes. Colleen had been looking at the picture hanging closest to the teachers’ lounge.

  He opened his eyes and immediately saw that the picture was gone. There was nothing left other than a nail sticking out of the wall and a small sign reading ‘Year 11, 1998’.

  He stared at the empty spot. Was it a coincidence that this particular picture had gone? Or had Colleen taken it? If so, there must have been something in that picture that could incriminate her with regards to the murders.

  Now where was he going to get a copy of it?

  * * *

  Paddy

  Leo and I were back in the old building, still shaking from the insane chase around the car park. We had regrouped with Gus, Vinnie and Daisy, and not long after Charlie and the rest of the Rat Squad joined us. Now both warring sides were back behind their respective entrenchments and the stand-off resumed amidst a renewed barrage of paper clips and pencils.

  ‘Why did we let ourselves be split up from the group?’ I said, plucking at the fur on my head. ‘We abandoned you.’

  Charlie clapped me on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry about it. These things happen.’ He swatted at a paper clip that landed right in front of his feet. ‘In the confusion of you being chased out, the Mafiosi got their paws on quite a bit of our ammunition, but at least we managed to hold our own.’

  ‘Yes,’ Gus said. ‘We won’t let them win!’ He handed two paper clips to Daisy who loaded them both in her catapult and sent them off.

  ‘Ouch,’ Dino yelled, as he was hit in his side after trying to grab some ammunition from no man’s land. I saw that the Mob had enlarged their defences considerably – the new boxes still crisp and clean. Unlike ours that were now severely pockmarked by dents.

  It kept raining paper clips and I watched as one of the Rat Squad members wafted fresh air at his fellow squaddie with some cardboard. He was sitting on the floor behind our boxes, looking about him in a daze; a big lump on the side of his head. Gus’ injury from the day before sprang back to my mind.

  ‘Did they find a way to hurl penny rolls at you?’ I said to the Squad member, my heartbeat quickening as I realised that Victor might have achieved something I hadn’t been able to.

  ‘No,’ the squaddie said, his whiskers drooping a bit. ‘Rolf here repaired your zip-line, but couldn’t hold on when he tried it.’

  ‘Ah.’

  I turned back to Charlie and Vinnie. ‘This can’t go on much longer.’ We ducked for cover when a large number of pennies rained down on us. They must’ve taken one of the rolls apart and for half a second I admired the effectiveness of chucking individual pennies, instead of the whole roll. Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

  ‘There’s too many of them,’ Vinnie said. ‘We must think of something else.’

  The barrage of stuff suddenly stopped.

  ‘You’re outnumbered,’ Victor’s voice came. ‘Give yourselves up and tell me where the jewellery is!’

  ‘Never,’ Gus yelled. ‘It’s mine! I won’t let you bully me like when we were young.’

  ‘Actually, we’re winning this, so I can bully you all I like,’ Victor yelled. A number of Mafiosi sniggered. ‘If you don’t give yourselves up, we’ll start an all-out assault. You’ll regret that.’

  ‘Do whatever you want, Victor!’ I ye
lled. ‘This is our building and we’re not scared of you.’

  ‘I am,’ Leo mumbled. He had sagged to the floor and his fur lay flat. The chase around the car park had taken it all out of him. He seemed on the brink of collapse.

  ‘It will be fine, Leo,’ Daisy said, patting his paw. ‘They won’t dare do an assault!’

  I was just thinking that I hoped they wouldn’t be famous last words, when a terrific yelling rose up from behind the Mob’s defences. I looked around the corner and saw a large number of rats charging at us beneath the windows, going for our left flank.

  ‘They’re coming around,’ I yelled, but it was too late to do much about it. We picked up some pencils and waited for the Mafiosi to come around the boxes. I wasn’t surprised to see that Victor hid himself behind his rats.

  While the rest of the Mafiosi advanced on us, Dino strutted up to me and snatched the pencil out of my paws. He quickly gnawed it in half and baring his teeth, threw the two pieces aside with a rather insane look in his beady eyes.

  The Mob moved forward, backing us more and more into a corner. Charlie signalled a retreat.

  ‘Let’s go in there,’ he said and pointed to the kitchen.

  ‘There’s no way out from there,’ Vinnie said.

  Instead, we turned to the back room, but it was too late. A few of the Mafiosi had blocked our exit to the back door.

  ‘We can’t go into the kitchen,’ came Gus’ urgent whisper. ‘My treasure is in there!’

  ‘Too late,’ I said.

  Before we knew it, the Mafiosi had forced us into the kitchen, through the narrow door. My heart sank, as I knew there was nothing in there for us to fight with.

  As we backed into the kitchen cabinets, the Mafiosi grouped together around the door. Victor came up from behind and stood in front of his rats. His eyes were bulging, and drool dripped on to the tiles from his half-open mouth.

  ‘Gotch ya,’ he said. ‘There’s no escape now, my stupid little cousins. Time for you to realise that the treasure is mine. Surrender it!’ Behind him, Dino and Sal nodded their heads and rippled their muscles.