Sewer Mayhem

by Annie Appleton

  ‘You were right, Jacob. He didn’t recognise me when we met in Italy. But I recognised him. I thought it would be sweet justice to make him fall in love with me. But I couldn’t help falling for him. Even though I knew what a horrible man he was.

  ‘Back in England he got very angry when he discovered who I actually was. At first he pretended I didn’t exist, but then it turned out I was pregnant. For a while I thought everything was going to be okay and that we could be a happy family together. But apart from buying me a house, he never financially supported me. He just showed up sometimes with toys for our son. Guilt, no doubt. Ashamed to tell anyone about our existence.

  ‘I came to Milbury to confront him and to find out more about his family. After all, his parents are the grandparents of our son and they have a right to know him.

  ‘I told all this to Nate and I wish I never had. Nate became very angry and I begged him not to confront Gianni. I told him that Gianni had a foul temper, but Nate said it would be okay.’ Tears now ran down Colleen’s face. ‘But it didn’t turn out okay, did it?’

  Sam walked over to Colleen and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

  ‘You’re right. It didn’t turn out okay,’ Jacob said. He faced Gianni. ‘Nate confronted you that evening, in his shop, didn’t he?’

  Everyone stared at Gianni, who looked back, his jaw set. Then his shoulders slumped somewhat.

  ‘Nate pulled me into his shop when I walked by,’ Gianni said. ‘He told me he knew all about Sarah and that he’d had it with me. He said he wasn’t scared any more and that Sarah deserved better than this. Then he said that he didn’t care if I told everyone he was gay.’ Gianni looked at the ground. ‘Why did Nate have to say that? Stupid idiot. Why couldn’t he just have left it alone? That way everything would have stayed the same.’

  Silence descended over the little group as Gianni’s words sank in.

  Jacob was the first to react. ‘So you reached out for the hatpin and stabbed him in the chest?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh, no… Gianni. Why?’ Sam said and started to cry.

  Lorenzo looked at his brother and shook his head. ‘You stupid fool.’

  ‘And like today, you were wearing those driving gloves,’ Jacob continued, ‘so there were no fingerprints on the hatpin.’

  Gianni pulled off his gloves and stuffed them in the pocket of his jeans.

  Jacob turned to McDermott. ‘And in the middle of the night a burglar came. He saw that the door was unlocked and grabbed his opportunity, never realising that Nate’s body was lying behind the counter.’

  McDermott’s nostrils flared. ‘What about Patrizia?’

  ‘Patrizia was on to Gianni,’ Jacob said, trying not to look too smug as he faced the inspector. ‘Especially when she realised that she’d seen Sarah before somewhere. She asked her aunt in Milan if there was a picture of the girl Gianni had dated for a summer.’

  Jacob gestured towards Emily. ‘Could you hold up your phone, Emily, so that everyone can see?’

  Emily did as she was told.

  ‘My guess is that Patrizia put two and two together after Colleen came to Gianni’s shop to confront him,’ Jacob said. ‘Perhaps she even overheard them talking about the child. She must have confronted Gianni about Colleen and like Nate, paid for it with her life.’

  Sam now looked at Colleen. ‘So that’s why you wanted to become friends? Because we are family and your son is my nephew?’

  Colleen nodded and the two women hugged.

  ‘Okay, that’s enough with the emotional displays,’ McDermott said. ‘I’ve had enough of this charade.’ He motioned to Abe. ‘Cuff him.’

  Abe took his handcuffs out and arrested Gianni. He grinned at Jacob. ‘Well done!’

  McDermott glared at his DC, then looked at Jacob. ‘I will speak to you later.’

  Jacob shrugged and watched as the two policemen led Gianni away to McDermott’s car. He felt rather drained.

  Emily hugged him. ‘You did it again!’ The grin on her face was enormous. ‘Now you can never tell me any more that you don’t enjoy finding a murderer.’

  ‘Only if you stop nagging me about it.’

  ‘Deal.’

  ‘That was amazing, my friend,’ Dave said, shaking Jacob’s hand until it almost fell off. ‘How did you deduce all that?’

  ‘To be totally honest, most of it just fell into place while I was talking about it just now.’ Jacob looked at Emily, who was talking to Sam and Colleen. ‘But I couldn’t have done it without their help. Together we found all the pieces of the puzzle.’

  Spencer and Kenneth walked up to him.

  ‘Thank you,’ Spencer said and together the two men disappeared around the corner. Hopefully their friendship would repair itself one day.

  ‘Sam and Lorenzo are going to take Colleen back to the restaurant,’ Emily said, materialising beside Jacob. ‘How do you think Sam will take the fact that her brother is a double murderer? Will she ever be okay again?’

  Jacob watched them go. ‘I think she will. Her brother might have turned out to be a murderer, but she’s also gained a friend.’

  ‘Yes, and to imagine that only an hour ago she was afraid to be next on Colleen’s list.’

  Jacob nodded. Then a voice came from behind them. ‘Dave, please listen to what this nitwit has to say.’

  They turned around to see Gladys of the fish and chip shop walking towards them, pulling a young man along by his ear.

  ‘What is it you need to tell me, Frank?’ Dave said, looking at the young man, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

  Frank looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. ‘Umm…’

  ‘Tell him!’ Gladys said, poking him in the side.

  ‘Well… er… I poured loads of chip fat down the drain in the street.’

  Dave’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. ‘Really? And why would you do such a stupid thing?’

  Frank turned red, but didn’t respond.

  Gladys sighed. ‘Tell him that you were too lazy to take the chip fat to the recycling centre as you should have done.’

  ‘I was lazy,’ Frank said.

  Gladys clipped him about the ears. ‘And now look what has come of it. You wrecked the whole street, you stupid boy! You’re in big trouble!’

  ‘You are indeed,’ Dave said, shaking his head. ‘Let’s go and talk to the sewer people about it.’

  Jacob and Emily watched them go, picking their way through the puddles of raw sewage that were still lying about.

  ‘So, he created the big blob of fat,’ Jacob said. ‘Peggy will be relieved to hear that mystery is solved.’

  ‘And happy that she’s off Uncle Dave’s suspect list.’

  Jacob smiled.

  ‘That still doesn’t explain though what the jewellery was doing in the sewer,’ Emily continued. ‘And why all those mysterious burglaries happened.’

  ‘Indeed it doesn’t,’ Jacob said. ‘And we might actually never find out.’

  * * *

  Paddy

  The crowd of two-leggeds was thinning out a bit, leaving mostly the more official looking ones behind. We were still sitting under the bench, watching the proceedings.

  To my dismay, after White Coat, Blue Hair and Boss Guy had run off, other two-leggeds took their place in searching the road for Gus’ treasure. They walked, hands clasped behind their backs and noses towards the ground, in little circles, every now and then picking up a piece of treasure.

  I was glad that so far, Gus seemed oblivious to what was going on. He and Leo were discussing with Daisy and Charlie what to do about the fact that their home in the sewer was destroyed.

  ‘But we can’t go back down there,’ Leo said. He pointed at the hole in the road. ‘There’s no roof any more. If it rained we would get wet.’

  ‘Besides,’ Daisy said, ‘the place is crawling with two-leggeds now.’

  Gus sighed. ‘What are we supposed to do then? Move somewhere else?’ He had a haunted look in h
is eyes and I realised that Gus was the kind of rat that liked things to stay the way they always had been. Even the thought of having to move somewhere else freaked him out somewhat.

  ‘I know,’ Charlie said, his ears wide. ‘Why don’t you come and live in Ratville for a while? It would be fun.’

  Gus’ shoulders slumped. ‘Too many rats there.’

  ‘Why not stay in the old building?’ Daisy said.

  ‘And be constantly reminded of how I lost my treasure?’

  Leo glared at Gus. ‘Well, we need to go somewhere.’

  Vinnie had lost interest in the conversation. He was studying the proceedings on the road.

  ‘What are those two-leggeds doing?’ he said leaning towards me, so that the others couldn’t hear. ‘Picking up pieces of glass?’

  I motioned with my head and we moved a little further away from the others.

  ‘It seems that at least part of Gus’ treasure wasn’t swept away down the sewer,’ I said under my breath. ‘It looks like a considerable amount of it made it up to the surface and is now strewn across the road. White Coat discovered what happened and now those two-leggeds are collecting the bits and pieces.’

  ‘Ah,’ Vinnie said, glancing at our companions. ‘Let’s hope Gus doesn’t find out.’

  At that moment the conversation between the others fell silent. Apparently no compromise had been reached, as Gus sighed and looked across the road to where his home used to be.

  He watched as the two-leggeds picked up more of his treasure. One of them had come pretty close to the bench and it was clear to see for all of us that he picked up a pearl earring.

  Gus’ ears pricked up. ‘Did you see that?’

  ‘What?’ I said, pretending to be uninterested, by studying a nearby dandelion, as it swayed in the breeze.

  ‘That two-legged just picked up a piece of my treasure.’

  ‘Really?’ I said. ‘You must be mistaken.’

  Vinnie nodded. ‘Yeah, your treasure is already down in Pocklington.’

  ‘No, it isn’t! Look!’ Gus pointed as another two-legged picked up an object that was clearly a diamond ring. ‘My treasure is still here and the two-leggeds are stealing it!’ He bounced up and down on his legs, his fur all on end. ‘I need to get it back!’

  He jumped forward, teeth bared, ready to attack the two-legged’s ankles.

  I jumped after him, just managing to grab him by the tip of his tail.

  Besides me, Vinnie had sprung into action as well. He launched himself in front of Gus and the two rats collided in full force.

  ‘What are you doing, you idiots,’ Gus grunted at us. ‘Let me go!’ He started trashing about.

  Then Charlie jumped on top of Gus, pinning him down on to the grass.

  ‘You’re going nowhere, buddy,’ he said, but Gus wasn’t about to give up so easily.

  He kicked violently with his back legs, hitting me in the side. It knocked the wind out of me a bit and I let go of his tail. At the same time, Leo tried to grab him by the neck, but Gus bit him in the ear.

  ‘Stop it, you idiot!’ Leo said, rubbing his ear with his paw. ‘What’s gotten into you?’

  Gus bared his teeth and thrashed about some more. ‘I want my treasure back!’

  ‘You can’t have it back!’ I said. ‘The two-leggeds have it now.’

  ‘But I need it back!’ Gus gave Vinnie an almighty shove and bit Charlie on his paw. Being now almost free he jumped forward again, not realising that Leo and I had both grabbed his tail. He dragged us forward a bit, then gave up, sagging down on the grass.

  ‘This treasure is the best thing that has ever happened to me,’ he said, whiskers and ears drooping. ‘And now I’ve lost it all over again. I’ll never be anything now.’ He watched as the two-leggeds finished their search of the road.

  Daisy lay down next to him, curling her tail around Gus’ back. ‘You don’t need a treasure to be special, dear.’ She gave him a nudge with her shoulder. ‘You are very special and beautiful just by yourself, without all the glittery jewels.’

  Gus smiled at her. ‘Do you really think so?’

  ‘I was your girlfriend already before you got the treasure, wasn’t I?’

  ‘Yes, you were.’ They nuzzled their noses together.

  Grateful that things seemed back to normal again, I sank down on the grass as well, trying to catch my breath.

  ‘This has been a really weird week, hasn’t it,’ Leo said. He looked at me. ‘I’m afraid it must have marred your holiday.’

  I reflected on it. ‘Marred? No, I wouldn’t call it that. Made it interesting? Definitely!’

  Leo smiled. ‘I’m glad.’ He looked about him. ‘You know what? I’m getting quite hungry. Let’s get something to eat and go back to the old building. I’m sick of looking at this hole.’

  ‘Great idea,’ Vinnie said. ‘I could eat a whole pizza by myself.’

  We got up and made our way to the car park, Gus trailing behind.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ his voice came. We turned around to see him pick up a glittery object from the grass.

  ‘Look at this!’ Gus held up a ring with a large blue diamond. His whiskers danced as he hugged it to his chest. ‘This one is mine!’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Two weeks later

  It was busy in the Fox & Glove. Most of the tables were occupied and a number of people hung around the bar, waiting for their drinks, or talking to friends; the explosion in the sewer still being the hot topic in the neighbourhood.

  Jacob and Emily had made it to the pub as well. Peggy had organised a lunch to update everyone on what had happened to the hole in Woolaston Road in the last few weeks.

  ‘I talked to Gareth yesterday,’ she said. ‘He seems happy with the rate the repairs are progressing. Everything will be up and running again in no time.’

  ‘Glad to hear,’ Emily said. ‘I’m already more than sick of using one of those portable toilet cubicles in the alleyway. So embarrassing.’

  Abe grinned. ‘You could always not drink during your shift.’

  Emily stuck her tongue out at him.

  ‘What about visitors to the shop?’ Jacob said. ‘With Woolaston Road still closed for traffic, I would guess the shops will have some loss of revenue.’

  ‘It’s not been too bad, really,’ Peggy said. ‘I think people like coming, because it’s nice and quiet now without all the noisy cars.’

  ‘Or,’ Dave said a twinkle in his eye, ‘they’re coming to gawp at the excrement still pasted to your shop window.’

  Peggy swiped at him with her hand. ‘Not funny, Dave. Everything has been cleaned, you know that.’

  Jacob turned to Sam and Colleen, who had also joined them. ‘I’ve heard you two’ve got plans for the old post office.’

  ‘Yes, we do,’ Sam said with a bit of a smile on her face. ‘Colleen and I want to start a health food shop, perhaps with a yoga studio in the apartment above it.’

  ‘Ooh, that’s a great idea,’ Emily said. ‘So you’re leaving the restaurant?’

  Sam nodded. ‘Yes, as much as I love working with my family, I think it’s time for a change.’

  ‘And it’s great that something is going to happen to the post office,’ Peggy said. ‘It’s so sad to see it standing empty.’ She touched Sam’s arm. ‘The members of ASBOW are happy to have another type of shop on Woolaston Road. It’s important to keep up the diversity.’

  Peggy smiled to herself. ‘And Spencer can’t stop talking about how much more of a chance we will have to win the competition with a brand-new sewer.’

  ‘Why?’ Abe said. ‘Is he going to take the judges down in them?’ Everyone giggled.

  ‘Well, it remains to be seen if the repairs of the sewers will actually be finished by the time the judges arrive,’ Dave said.

  Peggy made a face. ‘Let’s hope so, otherwise Spencer will have another nervous breakdown.’

  ‘I don’t think I could handle that,’ Jacob said. He took a sip of his pint.


  ‘It remains a sad business, though,’ Dave said. ‘That Nate actually felt the need to keep a life-long secret. That can’t have been an easy way to live.’

  Everyone nodded and Jacob thought about Spencer still keeping his secret. True to his word he hadn’t told anyone about Spencer’s confession to him.

  ‘But from what I understood,’ Colleen said, ‘it seems that Nate had accepted himself in the end. That’s something I like to hold on to.’

  Jacob smiled at her. ‘That’s a nice thought indeed.’

  Emily turned to Colleen. ‘Are you happy with your impromptu move to York?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Colleen said. ‘I’m very happy to be closer to the Bandonis, despite all that happened. And I’m so glad that my son now has new grandparents and an aunt and uncle.’ She smiled at Sam.

  ‘But aren’t your parents sad that you moved away from Leeds?’ Peggy said. ‘They will see their grandson less now.’

  Colleen shook her head. ‘No, they’re not. Actually, they’re even thinking of moving back to Milbury themselves.’ She looked around the table. ‘Is it okay if I ask you all something?’ She turned red.

  ‘Of course,’ Jacob said. ‘Go ahead.’

  ‘I know you all know me as Colleen, but I’d like to be known by my first name again, Sarah.’

  ‘No problem,’ Emily said. ‘Sarah it is from now on.’ The two young women smiled at each other.

  Dave clapped both Jacob and Peggy on a shoulder. ‘So, tomorrow is another big day for you two, I hear. Going on a second date.’

  Jacob got all hot under the collar and he whipped his hanky out to dab his forehead. He glanced at Peggy and saw that her face had gone red. Across from him, Emily smirked at them both.

  ‘Where is Jacob going to take you, Peggy?’ Abe said. ‘Around a tour of all his bug experiments?’ He grinned.

  Jacob glared at Abe.

  ‘No,’ Peggy said, her face returning to a normal colour. ‘We’re going to watch a movie at the community centre.’ She laid a hand on Jacob’s arm. ‘And besides, perhaps it’s better if Jacob stays away from his bugs for a while. McDermott is still on the warpath and I don’t want to see him locked up.’