by Anne Lown
“Maybe they’re going to kill someone else.” Scott shuddered. He rubbed his hands on his jeans and bit his lower lip.
Jenny narrowed her gaze in his direction. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Yeah, right,” Jason said. “You look like you’re about to be skinned alive.”
Jenny turned back to Jason. “Does Nick know anything about who might’ve taken them?”
“No. Harvey got them to leave soon after and didn’t say anything about it. He’s upset but not willing to discuss it.” Jason glanced from one to the other. “What do you think it means, a turf war maybe?”
Jenny’s mouth fell open. “What, over drugs?” It was something she hadn’t considered.
“Not here. Not enough customers for a start. They can hardly be doing big business, can they.” There was a mocking tone in Scott’s voice.
Jenny let it go. She guessed he was struggling with the thought someone might come after him. “Should we try to speak to Harvey, see what he thinks is going on? Chatting to Nick would be good, too, and that Pete.” She counted off on her fingers the people who might know something, even if they didn’t realise it.
“What about you new boyfriend, Les Mack?” Scott sneered the words. He was clearly on a roll.
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Jenny had no idea why she was having to defend herself.
“You were down the pub with him, Nick said.” Jason seemed equally willing to get in a dig at her expense.
“Only for a short time. I had to come back to wait for George so I could give him the cigarette butt.”
Scott had no idea what they were talking about. He was being held in Bishop police station while they’d been traipsing around in the woods and being mugged. Jason told the story for Scott’s benefit, leaving nothing out. “What did George say about the butt? I thought you were going to use it with the camper?”
“He wasn’t too impressed. Thinks we should’ve stayed out of it.”
“I bet he did.” Jason’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Jenny could understand his bad feeling towards the man. If it hadn’t been for them, George wouldn’t have caught the killer of Paul and Emma back in the spring.
“Well, I for one am tired. I need to get to bed as I’ve got work in the morning.” Jenny yawned to drive home the point.
“Come round mine,” Jason said. “You can kip there if you like.”
Jenny closed the front door behind them. The two of them together should be all right walking back to Jason’s place. Now she was alone, she had a chance to work out what to do next. One thing she did know, she needed to find that camper.
Chapter Eighteen
The work day passed in a blur. Tuesday seemed to be the heavier day of the week due to letters and parcels from the weekend being posted on the Monday. It took the night to get through the system, lorries ferrying everything between the different mail centres and then on to the postmen by the start of their shift.
Jenny and Adam worked like donkeys. They were on the stretch heading for the Christmas season, and many people liked to get in early, no doubt because of having to purchase gifts and post to family overseas in the coming two months. There was no time to dwell or ruminate over what was happening, and for that she was grateful.
They pulled into the parking area for the delivery vans and worked in unison to finish the tasks of the day. She said goodbye to a few of her colleagues, grabbed her coat from her locker, and headed through the mail centre. Jenny strolled along the walkway and past the letter area. She’d forgotten Nick only worked two days a week to top up his pension from the previous employments he was forbidden to talk about.
He was standing at one of the letter sorting frames busy recanting a tale to his neighbouring colleague. Jenny smiled when she saw him. It reminded her she needed to catch up and talk to him herself, and not just rely on secondhand information.
“Hey, Nick,” she said, capturing his attention.
He greeted her with a smile. “You staying to give me a hand?”
“That’s wishful thinking, and hell no.” Jenny laughed.
“I see. Now you are a real postie you no longer have time for us lesser beings.”
She loved it that Nick was always in a good mood at work. The rest of his week was spent at home and probably by himself. That would account for all the conversation he managed to shoehorn into the few hours he was in the building. “I need to talk to you about something, in private if you can.”
“Sure,” he said and followed her back the way she’d come so they were hidden between the delivery sorting frames.
“I heard two knives have gone missing from Harvey’s place. What do you know about that?”
“Not a lot really. Only one went missing while he was away and the other one in the last week. He doesn’t know what day or how they got in.”
“Do you think one of them was used in the murder?”
Nick did his usual thing of contemplating his answer on anything serious. “I don’t know for sure, but it is a good possibility. Why, I have no idea.”
“Was there any significance to either of them, like where they came from?”
He nodded. “There could be. He gets them from all around the world. I would have to work out which ones went missing to know for sure. You thinking someone was trying to prove a point?”
As mad as it would seem, that was exactly what Jenny had been thinking. Someone would have to know about him bringing them back, where they were displayed, and his movements to be able to get hold of them. If those two blades had been taken because of a significance, then that would have been to get someone’s attention for sure. Who that someone was and why was the mystery.
“One last question. Have you spoken to anyone else about this?”
“Yeah, of course. Loads of people.”
“Notice anything different about any of them?” Jenny was hoping he’d noticed their body language in the same way Graham had when Paul had been murdered. Nick was also an astute person and good at dealing with other people. Years in his other jobs had taught him that.
“I can’t think of anything offhand,” he said, “except, that is, one person didn’t seem as shocked and interested as everyone else. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now I think about it, it might mean something.”
Jenny held her breath. Maybe it was a breakthrough she could do something with. Then something moved in the corner of her vision, and she knew she’d have to wait until later.
“Nick, back to work.” His manager, Arun, had found them hiding between the frames.
The man had been in a meeting in the office opposite the letter sorting area at the time she’d encouraged Nick away. Arun must’ve seen him go and come after his worker once the meeting had ended. He was known for being a micromanager, in the way he had to be involved in what each of his workers were doing, unlike some of the others who’d just let their staff get on with their jobs.
Arun walked away and greeted another member of staff. “Eavesdropping, are we?” he said, followed by a small laugh.
That got Jenny’s attention. Someone had been listening to their conversation, but by the time she’d marched over to where Arun had been, the person was gone.
Nick walked by on the way back to his letter frame. “We’ll chat later, I’d better get back to work.”
Jenny left the building and headed for her car. She unlocked the driver’s-side door and got in. Then a thought struck her.
Nick didn’t say who it was.
She sat in the driver’s seat contemplating going back into the mail centre, but she knew Arun would have Nick under constant surveillance by now. If she wanted to talk to him she’d be better off doing it down the pub. Maybe she’d drop by later in the hope he’d pop in.
Whatever happens, I think I’m starting to get somewhere.
Chapter Nineteen
Back in Chapel End, Jenny parked her car outside Jason’
s place. The street was quiet because she’d stopped to chat to Nick and had missed the local primary school turfing out the children. She got out of the car and walked through his garden to the unlocked back gate and headed for the back door, praying he was in. She needn’t have worried. Scott’s dulcet tones rang out when she rounded the corner of the house. He was standing on the back step smoking a normal cigarette for a change.
“What brings you here, fair lady?” He winked at her.
“I had a chat with Nick before I left work. He says someone didn’t react like everyone else at the news of the missing knives. Didn’t get to find out who it was, said he’d tell me later. Maybe someone we know is in on this.”
“Who could that be?” Jason popped his head through the doorway, nearly knocking Scott off the step.
She looked from one to the other. She’d been wrong. Scott was smoking dope, and Jason was trying to cover for him. Thing was, it was none of her concern. They’d broken up months ago, and he could do as he wished.
“I have no idea, we were interrupted before he could say.”
“So what you’re thinking is the person who stole the knives might be the killer. On top of that, we actually know them?”
“Yep.” She hadn’t got that far in the conversation, but it was a possibility. Stranger danger was not the big thing people thought it was because most crimes were committed by someone in the victim’s circle of friends, acquaintances, or family.
Jenny sat on a garden chair despite the weather being chilly. It seemed rude to insist on going inside while Scott smoked, and it was a dry day anyway.
Jason joined her and sat on the chair on the opposite side of the table. “Why would anyone want to steal the knives in the first place?”
That point had been sticking in her mind. If someone wanted to kill another person, they didn’t need to break into someone else’s home to do so. A kitchen knife would’ve done the job.
It’s got to be in some way connected to Harvey.
“Maybe the question is: who knew about Harvey’s knives?”
Jason nodded. “Maybe it’s someone he’s shown the knives to or who’s told someone else about them.”
“I think the first thing we need to do, other than talk to Nick again, is see what Harvey has to say.”
“So where are you meeting him?” Jason asked.
“He might be at the pub tonight. See you there about ten-thirty?”
“Sure, we’ll be there.”
*******
Jenny stood outside the pub and held her hands out in front of her. Both were trembling. It was madness how nervous she felt. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, hoping to appear braver than she was.
The door opened, and a couple she didn’t know left the building, pushing past her on their way to meet their waiting taxi. She watched the car pull onto the road and then gave herself a shake.
Do it for Scott.
She’d been surprised by his lack of effort to prove himself innocent. All she could think was his reason must be a good one or he was risking his future for nothing. The thought of him made her angry.
The damn fool.
“You going in?”
Les had walked up behind her, and she hadn’t noticed him until he spoke. “Um, yes. What’re you doing here?” Her tone was less polite than she meant it to be, but she hadn’t expected to see him that evening.
“Can’t a man go back to the last place he saw a beautiful woman?” He winked and gave her a broad smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“Shall we go in?”
Jenny waited while Les got the door and held it open so she could enter first. The room was the same as it was the night before, with the same people present, except for Nick. She knew he couldn’t leave work until his shift ended at ten o’clock, and that was why she’d got there so late, but it was the same with some of the others. The only other difference was Colette was at the bar, but without George. She was currently trying to gain Harvey’s interest, and he was ignoring her, but something about the situation between them seemed strange. Jenny was sure those two still had something going on, but it wasn’t clear what it was.
She gave Martin another wide berth and stood at the far end of the bar.
“What are you having?” Les was again being a gentleman, and she found it endearing.
“White wine, please.”
Jenny glanced along the row of people and managed to catch Harvey’s attention. She gave a small nod, and it seemed enough for him to follow her away from all the others. Once out of earshot, she dared to speak. “I wanted to talk to you. Have you got a minute?”
It looked like Harvey prickled. He stood up straight and shifted on his feet. “That depends,” he said.
“I hear you had two knives go missing. Can you tell me about it?”
She could see from his expression his barricades were going up. Whatever all this was about, he wasn’t about to impart the information easily. “Why do you want to know?”
“Well. I was talking to Nick earlier, and he said one went missing when you were away and then the other within the last week. I was wondering what you thought was going on and if it was connected to the murder?”
She finished talking. The cords on his neck stood out. His hard-set face glared at her, and she flinched in response.
“What the hell’s that got to do with you?”
“I…I thought it might help. Scott got taken in by the police. I’m just trying to help.”
Harvey moved forward and loomed over her. “You wanna help,” he said through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you ask your friend, Nick? He seems to know everything.”
Finally he walked away, leaving Jenny feeling like an idiot. She flitted her gaze from one face to another. Everyone seemed to have watched the exchange between them. She’d presumed because they were colleagues and had known each other years, he’d just tell her what he knew. That hadn’t turned out to be the case at all.
“Come on,” Les said, “sit over here with me.” He took her by the arm and led her to the table George had occupied the evening before.
Jenny slid into the chair. She would’ve preferred the ground to have swallowed her up, but turning her back to the others would have to do. “I don’t understand?”
Les sat opposite and gave her hand a squeeze. She looked up at him. Concern etched his face, but somehow it didn’t feel real.
“Did you hear what I said?” he asked.
Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She swallowed hard before speaking, trying not to let the tears break free. “I’m sorry, say it again.”
“I was asking you about your walk. How are you finding it?”
“Oh, right.” She tried to pull herself together and join in the conversation. Like Harvey said, she could ask Nick if she really wanted to know. Maybe he’d know something about the campers, too.
“Do you like it? Is it yours for good?”
“Maybe,” she said. “That’s if the duty holder can’t return. He’s going to be on light duties for a while yet because his ankle hasn’t healed well, so I know it’s mine for the foreseeable future.”
“Which bits do you do? All the roads he did, or does Adam swap with you?”
It wasn’t until Les mentioned Adam by name that Jenny became uneasy with the subject for a reason she couldn’t pinpoint. “Why do you ask?”
“Nothing really,” Les said, “I was just wondering how things were going on that route.”
Something about his explanation irked her. It was a lot of detailed information for no real reason. “Fine, no problems we can’t sort out.”
Jenny glanced behind her. The others were now chatting among themselves and no longer watching what she was up to. Except for a wiry man with sandy hair she’d seen about the village on occasion but didn’t know personally. He was standing along the bar and leaning on his elbows until Dave placed a tall glass of what appeared to be fruit juice in front of him. She hadn’t not
iced him arrive, but then she’d not been on top form since her run-in with Harvey.
She looked at her watch. Neither Scott nor Jason had turned up. So much for helping her with information gathering.
“You’re not listening to me,” Les said.
“What?” It was true, she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
“I was asking you how you cope, going from full-time nights to part-time days. I bet it was one hell of a drop in pay for you. Got a second job?”
“Um, no. I cope.” Jenny didn’t know where the conversation was leading.
“Ever thought about taking one on?”
“No, why?”
“Just thought you might need the extra money. I’ve got an opportunity for you, if you’re interested?”
She stared at him, not sure if she wanted to hear it right then but relented. “Go on.”
“Can’t talk to you about it here. How about we go back to your place?”
Jenny hesitated. She wasn’t in the mood to entertain anyone, not even Les. “Just tell me.”
“It’s kinda private. I don’t want everyone to know.”
Jenny pondered his words. If she was going to let him come home with her then she was going to get something in return. “Okay,” she said, “on one condition. You help me find the campers who were in the village the other night.”
Les sat back in his chair. “You’ve got to be joking?”
“That’s the condition.” She copied his body language and folded her arms, her jaw set rigid. If Jason and Scott weren’t going to help her, then Les damn well would if he wanted something from her.
He nodded. “Sure. We’ll talk about it at your house.”
Jenny put her hoodie back on and zipped it up. She turned to leave, but it didn’t escape her that the man by the bar was still staring. Colette stood next to him chatting away, but he didn’t appear to be listening to a word of it. Les led her to the door and held it open. On instinct, she glanced back to find Colette was now staring, too.