by K E O'Connor
“As you’ve just discovered, I’m ready for danger. What are we waiting for?”
“On three?” I said.
Alice nodded. “One, two, threeeeeee!”
I pushed off with my foot, and after a wobbly few seconds, we found a rhythm as we cycled through the castle’s grounds and onto the public road.
I was soon sweating and pedaling twice as hard as I usually did. A quick glance over my shoulder told me why. Alice wasn’t pedaling. “Do you mind giving me a hand, your majesty? This thing is heavy.”
“Sorry, I got distracted by the scenery. It’s been ages since I’ve been out on a bike. What fun.”
“It would be even more fun if I wasn’t doing all the work.”
“I’m pedaling now!”
“Only sometimes,” I mumbled. I was glad we’d reached the top of the first hill, and I got to slack off as we rode down. “We’re heading to Threadneedle Lane.”
“I know,” she said. “Granny said that’s where you’d be going.”
“How can she be so accurate about this particular prediction?”
“When someone she cares about is in mortal peril, her visions become clearer.”
“She should work for Campbell if she’s that good,” I said.
“Maybe she already does.” Alice giggled. “Oh bother! We’ve got company behind us. I’d thought I’d given them the slip.”
I glanced over my shoulder again to see a large black SUV following us. “I hope they don’t get too close or they’ll give us away.”
Alice waved a hand at the SUV. “They know not to get too near.”
I stopped pedaling. “Since they’re here, why can’t we grab a ride with them?”
“No, silly! You don’t want to scare off the killer. If we turn up looking all menacing with our private security in tow that could spoil it all. The killer will make a run for it before I karate chop them.”
“We don’t want an easy ride, do we? And I thought you did tae kwon do, not karate?”
“I do both. So, fill me in. Why are we going to Threadneedle Lane? Will the killer really be there?”
“Hopefully not. We’re looking for Pete’s missing laptop,” I said. “We traced its location. Well, Saracen did.”
“There isn’t much along that lane,” Alice said. “A couple of cottages at the first turn, but then it leads to the recycling center.”
I sucked in a breath. “Of course! What better place to hide a laptop?”
“Yuck! Don’t tell me we’re going to search everybody’s trash for this missing laptop?”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you to do something so base, Princess,” I said.
“Just so you know, I am sticking my tongue out at you,” she said.
I chuckled. “This is a clever move by whoever took the laptop. The recycling center deals with all kinds of materials. It’s a perfect hiding place.”
We turned into Threadneedle Lane and cycled along until we reached the entrance of the recycling center.
I stopped the bike and leaned to one side, resting my foot on the ground. My gaze ran over the half a dozen huge metal containers of recycling. If the laptop was in here, there was no way we were going to find it.
Alice hopped off the bike and hurried to the front. “What are you waiting for?”
“I’m trying to get over the overwhelming sense of defeat that covered me when I looked at all that recycling.”
“How about you start with the electricals?”
That wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe our killer was green-minded. “What are you going to do?”
“It looks strange if we come to a recycling center and have nothing to recycle. I’m going to sweet talk the staff. This can be an unplanned visit to show our appreciation of their hard work in keeping our village beautiful and free of trash. While I get the foreman to show me around this wonderful, pungent smelling site, you head to those big cages of electricals and see if the laptop’s in there.”
I’d thought it before, but Alice was so much more than the blonde bimbo she pretended she was.
“That’s an excellent plan.”
Alice giggled. “Come on, it’s show time.” She turned and smiled sweetly at the large, bald man wearing a fluorescent jacket who was staring at her in shock.
“Princess Alice?” he stammered.
“The one and only. Unless you count Queen Victoria’s child, Alice. But of course, she’s dead. Apparently, she was lovely. A big supporter of women’s causes. I’m certain she would have loved to visit a place like this.” She strode over, took hold of his arm, and turned him away from me. “I hope you don’t mind me taking up your valuable time. I’d like to look around. I was saying to the Duchess the other day what amazing work you do.”
“Oh! Well, that’s good of you, Princess. You really want to take a look around?” His gaze ran over her silk dress and white shoes. “It’s not the cleanest of places.”
“I’ll be fine. I can brush any dirt off my clothes. I’m really interested in your scrap metal. Why don’t we start with that?” She led him to the farthest end of the recycling center, giving me a discreet thumbs up behind her back as she walked away.
Several other workers on site trailed behind them as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
I grinned as I pushed my bike through the center and headed toward the cages housing the electrical items. There were five large metal containers, packed full of ancient rusting microwaves, lime-scaled kettles, several bulky computer screens, and broken blenders. I glanced around to make sure no one was looking before starting the hunt for the laptop.
“Woof woof.” Meatball bounced up and down in the basket.
“I’ll let you out, but you have to stay on your leash,” I said. “There’s lots of machinery around here, including things that crush adorable little pups because they can’t see them. I don’t want you anywhere near those.”
“Woof.”
“That’s right. No messing with the dangerous equipment.” I lifted him out of the basket, made sure his extendable leash was secured, and then wrapped it around my wrist before continuing my search.
I found a couple of laptops, but neither was the right model.
The leash tugged around my wrist, and I turned, gently tugging back to let Meatball know he’d gone as far as he was allowed.
The leash slackened as he returned. He sat by my feet and dropped a filthy old boot next to me.
“Good effort, but no juicy bone for you. We’re looking for a laptop.”
“Woof woof.” He bounced away again, his tail wagging with delight.
I found another two laptops, both the wrong kind.
I moved onto the final cage of electricals. There was no guarantee that whoever took the laptop put it here. They could have tossed it inside any of these recycling containers to hide the evidence.
Meatball returned again. This time, he had three grubby tennis balls stuffed into his mouth. He dropped each one on the ground and grinned up at me.
“You’re very clever for finding those,” I said. “They’re so much nicer than the dozens of clean, sweet smelling toys you’ve got back home.”
“Woof woof.” He bounced away again.
He made two more trips and arrived back with two more equally disgusting balls.
“Hey! What are you doing over here?” A tall broad man with a scruffy beard strode over to me.
Meatball growled and guarded his newfound tennis balls.
“Oh! Nothing. I was just checking to see—”
“And here we are at the electricals.” Alice emerged on the other side of the metal cages, still holding tightly to the foreman’s arm. “It’s all been so fascinating. What do you do with these?” She raised her eyebrows and nodded at me.
The man who’d found me poking around was still glaring, but uncertainty crossed his face as he witnessed a beautiful silk clad princess emerge from the trash.
“Holly! There you are,” Alice said. “I hope you’re fin
ding the visit useful. Holly’s my assistant. She comes everywhere with me. She’s very industrious, but a bit obsessed with computers. You couldn’t resist this lot, could you?” She gave me a discreet wink.
“It’s all very interesting,” I said.
The bearded man who’d accosted me seemed to have forgotten I existed as he stared at Alice.
“Everyone’s working so hard,” she said. “When I get back to the castle, I’ll make sure the Duchess sends you some thank you gifts for your efforts in keeping our lovely village so clean and green.”
“That’s very good of you, Princess,” the foreman said. “There’s really no need. We’re just doing our jobs.”
“Although some treats would be nice,” the bearded man said.
Alice giggled. “Then it’s all arranged. Well, have we seen everything we need to?” She addressed the question to me.
The laptop wasn’t in the cages, and the place was too big to search on our own. “We have. Thanks for letting us look around.”
“Any time you want to come back, you just let me know,” the foreman said. “It’s been a pleasure to show you around.”
“The pleasure has been all mine.” Alice let go of his arm, caught hold of mine, and we hurried away as I pushed the bike alongside me.
Meatball trotted along beside us, his mouth full of the manky tennis balls he’d collected.
“Any sign of the laptop?” she whispered.
“No. It could be anywhere in here. The killer obviously wasn’t green-minded, and we can’t hunt through all this trash.”
Alice slowed as we reached the exit. “What we need is a pie.”
I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”
“We need something to eat. Something to stimulate the old gray matter and help us figure this out.”
“Okay, but I’ve not long had breakfast. Why do you want a pie in particular?”
“Because I’ve just spotted that food truck over there covered in pictures of pies.”
I followed the direction her finger was pointing, and my mouth fell open. I slapped the side of my head. “I’ve been such an idiot. I didn’t even see that when we rode past. That’s Dennis’s food truck. We’ve been looking in the wrong place.”
Chapter 14
We hurried over to the food truck. I rested the bike against the side of it before peeping in through the window.
“Is Dennis in there?” Alice whispered.
“There’s no sign of anyone inside,” I said.
“Come look. The door’s open.”
I hurried around the side and saw her grasping the handle. “Isn’t that breaking and entering?”
“No! I’ve seen the TV shows. If there’s a just cause and impediment to go inside the premises, then it’s not breaking any laws.”
“You’re getting marriage vows mixed up with the police right of entry,” I said.
“It’s the same thing,” she said. “It’s all legal and binding. The door’s unlocked, which means it’s fine to go in and have a friendly chat with our neighborhood killer. And if he’s not there, we might just accidentally look around and find something incriminating while we wait for him.”
“Keep your voice down,” I said. “He might be asleep in there, and I missed him.”
“If anything gets serious, we have backup.” She pointed over my shoulder at the black SUV lingering by the curb.
“We can take a quick look,” I said. “The first sign of trouble, we’re out of here.”
“You sound almost as serious as Campbell,” she said.
“He has sort of put me in charge.”
“I heard you were his secretary, going around taking notes and typing up the dictation.”
I scowled at her. “I’m definitely not Campbell’s secretary. It was a case of desperate times called for desperate measures, and I was the only option he had. Anyway, get in the food truck before people notice us poking around and call the police.”
Alice stepped inside and wrinkled her nose. “It smells like gone off cheese in here.”
I crept in after her with Meatball and had a quick look inside one of the refrigerators. “That’s because there are several blocks of stinking blue Stilton cheese in here.”
“That’s it! I knew I could smell something nasty. I don’t mind a bit of brie, but that’s about as strong as I go. Men are obsessed with their strong smelling moldy cheeses.”
“Let’s concentrate on finding the laptop and not worrying about the stinky cheese.” I closed the refrigerator door and cast my gaze around the food truck. It was a standard layout, with a large food preparation area along one side, shelves with condiments lining them, two large refrigerators, and a freezer for food storage. The hatch to the food truck was shut, so it was gloomy inside.
“Any sign of the laptop?” I whispered.
“I can’t see it. I’ll take the right side, you take the left. We’ll go through the cupboards and find it,” Alice said.
I nodded as I got to work on pulling open the sliding drawers and taking a look inside. Everything was neat and orderly, but it was all cooking equipment and utensils.
The laptop had to be in here. Dennis must have taken it after he’d killed Pete and stashed it away. There could be important information on there he needed to keep.
Meatball dropped his dirty tennis balls on the floor of the truck and growled.
I headed to the back door and peered out the small window. My stomach clenched, and I backed away. “Dennis is coming!”
“We need to hide!” Alice bumped against the walls before ducking behind the counter.
“I can still see you,” I said. “Your skirt is sticking out.”
“What are we going to do?” She stood from her hiding place, her eyes wide.
I swallowed my nerves and stood in front of the door. “Stay behind me.”
The door swung open, and Dennis stepped inside. He froze for a second. “What the heck are you doing here?”
“It’s so lovely to see you again.” Alice brushed past me, a wide smile on her face. “I was just saying to Holly that we had to meet the best pie maker in this country. And here you are.”
Indecision raced across his face before it settled into a frown. “What are you talking about? What are you doing in my truck?”
“Waiting for you,” Alice said. “We were hoping to get treats from you before you left the village. Please say we can buy some of your lovely pies.”
His forehead wrinkled as his gaze went from Alice to me. “You were at the food fair. What are you doing here?”
“Just like Princess Alice said, we were hoping to buy some of your produce.” It didn’t sound like a great lie, no matter how we phrased it.
“I haven’t got anything for sale. And this is private property. You’d better not have damaged the door breaking in here.” Dennis leaned down and checked the lock.
“Oh, no. We’d never do that.” Alice flashed me a puzzled look. For once, her charm wasn’t working. “It was open. We thought we’d wait inside until you got back.”
His lips pursed, and his gaze ran over the food counter. “I hope you haven’t been messing with my equipment. There’s expensive stuff in here.”
“We haven’t touched a thing,” Alice said.
“Good. You need to leave.” He advanced on us swiftly.
Meatball barked and growled, doing his best impression of a tiny brown wolf.
Alice ducked behind me, and I backed up, my calves bashing into the small seating area. I toppled backward and landed heavily on a seat. As I sat up, there was something hard beneath me. I reached under the cushion and pulled out a laptop.
Alice gasped. “You found it! Is that the missing laptop?”
I grimaced and discreetly shook my head at her. “Is this yours?” I asked Dennis.
“What? No, that’s not mine. Why did you put it there?”
“I didn’t. Why were you hiding it?” A quick check of the laptop model showed me this was wh
at we’d been looking for.
He stared at the laptop. “I’ve no clue what you’re talking about. I’m telling you, I’ve never seen that before.”
He was lying. He had to be. “Alice, it’s time for that backup.”
“I’m on it.” She leaned out the door and waved frantically.
“What backup are you talking about?” Dennis glared at me. “What mess are you getting me into?”
“I have questions for you about Pete Saunders,” I said.
He lifted his hands, palms facing me. “I’ve answered all the questions and given a statement already. I’m leaving today. You can’t stop me.”
“I definitely can’t,” I said. “But this is Pete’s missing laptop. Did you take it after you killed him?”
Dennis staggered back, his hand going to his chest. “I didn’t kill him.”
“You didn’t like him,” I said.
“I don’t like a lot of people. There’s always someone trying to undercut me or put me out of business. That doesn’t mean I go around killing them.” He jabbed a finger at the laptop. “And that’s got nothing to do with me. For all I know, you put it there. Maybe you’re framing me for this murder.”
Two of the castle’s security guards appeared in the doorway.
“This man needs to be taken into custody,” Alice said. “He’s guilty of murdering Pete Saunders.”
“No! You’ve got it all wrong.” Dennis backed away from the men.
“There’s no need to cause a scene, sir,” one of the security guards said. “Come with us.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re not the police,” Dennis said.
“But they’re assisting with the police inquiries into Pete’s murder. Surely you want to help with that,” I said. “Especially if it clears your name.”
“I don’t want to help Pete. He caused me nothing but trouble since he set up his business. He runs a shambles of a business. I’m embarrassed to be seen at the same event with him.”
“So you killed him,” I said. “He made you angry, put your business at risk, and you struck back. Did he say something to provoke you?”
One of the security guards caught hold of Dennis’s arm, and after a brief struggle, they pulled him out of the food truck.