Lois Meade 14 - Suspicion at Seven

by Ann Purser

  Dot Nimmo laughed, and Lois joined in the general amusement.

  “Perhaps they’ve got Aurora Black locked up in the bathroom,” said Andrew.

  “We’re getting a bit wild here, I’m afraid,” said Lois.

  “I think it’s probably got a bad-luck jinx on it now,” said Hazel. “People coming in to the office in Tresham have mentioned the case a lot lately. They know our farm spreads quite a long way towards Brigham, and are curious to hear about the deaths there. I don’t say much, but if I hear anything, I’ll certainly pass it on, Mrs. M.”

  Sheila Stratford, whose husband was a retired farmworker, said that she would ask him if he’d heard any gossip in the pub, as he spent quite a long lunchtime there most days. Sheila was the one who was most willing to work over lunch hours, and had given him permission to meet his friends.

  “You know I shall ask around the seamier sides of town,” said Dot. “I think I know the right questions and the right people to ask. I hope you don’t mind, Mrs. M, but I do have a hunch about something. I’d like to follow up a possible sighting of Aurora. I am not at all sure, but I think I caught a quick flash of the back of her outside the bakery, down a little alley at the side of the house, after she was supposed to have gone missing. I haven’t reported it to the police, because I could not swear it was her, and anyway, they never believe a word I say. I can just hear old Cowgill: ‘Don’t waste our time, Mrs. Nimmo.’”

  “I would like to know more about that, Dot. I’ll see if anyone else has caught sight of her. That’s the most optimistic thing we’ve heard.”

  “I’ll go carefully, though. I’ll let you know if I can find out more. Is that okay?”

  “Keep in touch, promise? I’d rather you told us; then we can all help if it goes wrong.”

  “Don’t forget I’m a Nimmo, will you? Nimmos hunt alone, like the dreaded panther.”

  This was so ridiculous that they all laughed, but kindly, and after that left in good order.

  FORTY-SIX

  Lois decided to collect bread and buns after lunch, and to have a chat with Milly. When she told her mother this, Gran frowned disapproval.

  “Why don’t you come to the Women’s Institute with me and Joan this afternoon, Lois?” said Gran, as she cleared the dishes from the table. There had been only she and her daughter having lunch, and Gran had thought Lois looked exhausted. She was surprised, as usually the team’s meeting bucked her up, and after the girls and Andrew had all gone, Lois would often seem fired up and ready for anything. Today, all she looked ready for was bed.

  “Thanks, but no thanks, Mum. I plan to go and stock up on bread and buns from Milly at the bakery.”

  “Oh, Lois, why don’t you let Cowgill and his henchmen find Aurora? They’re professionals, and it’s only a hobby for you. A ridiculous hobby, as I’ve said many times. But I might as well save my breath.” She put her arm round Lois’s shoulders, and kissed the top of her head.

  This was such an unaccustomed gesture that Lois looked at her mother’s concerned face, and said she was very sorry for causing her worry, but she felt they were close to the end now, and she would take a long break from ferretin’ after that.

  “Don’t stay over at Brigham too long then. Joan is coming to tea, and I know she’d like to see you. She’s been dropping hints!”

  “I’m always pleased to see Joan. Are you cooking up some other scheme?”

  “Not necessarily. But we are a bit like you and your ferretin’, my dear. Our intentions are good, but we seldom keep to them.”

  “True. Well, I know everyone enjoyed the last party, so maybe we can muster the troops and do it as a combined effort.”

  Gran nodded. “We hoped you’d say that. Well done, Lois. Your father would be proud of you.”

  “So where are you planning to have it?”

  “At Mrs. Prentise’s house. She’s offered. She even said she would love to help and knew that all her rich friends would enjoy a gossip and the opportunity to buy.”

  “Does Floss know about this? She didn’t mention it at the meeting.”

  “No, nobody else, except Joan and you and me. We’ll get more supplies from our jeweller friends in Tresham, and second time round, we shall find it much easier. Correct the mistakes we made as beginners.”

  “Next stop a boutique in London’s West End, I suppose?”

  “Why not? Now, you go to Brigham and I’ll go to the Women’s Institute with Joan. And could you ask Milly to put this notice up in the shop?”

  “Mum! You’ve been plotting this for days! And who did this notice for you?”

  “Joan, of course. She’s a whiz on the computer. Do you think I should get one? If she can master it, I’m sure I could do the same.”

  “Heaven preserve us! You’d have it on the muck heap before one week was out! Stay as sweet as you are, as the old song says. Now I must be off. See you at teatime.”

  * * *

  The sky was grey and promised rain, but the narrow road to Brigham was empty of traffic, and Lois drove along slowly, appreciating time to get her thoughts straight. She could not ignore Dot’s uncertain report that she might have seen Aurora, though she thought it well nigh impossible, and if she had, she might well be walking into some kind of trap. Her phone would not have stopped ringing if the poor woman had come home. So now she had to think of a way of asking Milly if she too had seen her mother.

  The bakery had a closed sign in the window, and Lois rang the house bell. After a long interval, she tried again. She heard steps from the bakehouse, and then felt a soft hand on her arm.

  “Mrs. Meade, how lovely to see you.” It was Milly and she was outside, standing behind Lois, who quickly turned around.

  “Hello, Milly! I came over hoping you’d have some bread left.”

  “Yes, and currant buns? I know Meades love currant buns. I came out here thinking I heard footsteps in the backyard. Ours is an old house, and we do have noises with no explanation. Anyway, enough of that. Come on in, and let’s have a chat.”

  As they walked into the shop, Lois could now hear scuffling noises coming from the bakehouse. As Milly led the way through, Lois was astonished to hear her yell, one single high-pitched yell, and then see her crumple to the floor.

  She rushed to help her, and in the space of a few seconds, Milly regained consciousness and sat up. She tried to say something, but only croaked one word, pointing to the oven.

  “Mum!” she said again, and a figure stepped out of the shadows and rushed over to Milly.

  “Aurora!” said Lois. “For God’s sake, woman, where have you been?”

  FORTY-SEVEN

  Between them, Lois and Aurora helped Milly to a chair in the kitchen. Aurora thanked Lois over and over for helping her daughter, but Lois was concerned only with making sure Milly was fully conscious, and recovering from shock.

  After a few minutes, Lois suggested she should leave them together, as they would have lots to talk about. She also intended to warn Cowgill that they should not have the police arriving too soon. It was possible, of course, that Aurora would vanish again, but Lois chose to ignore that possibility, risking Cowgill’s wrath.

  Milly and her mother both begged her to stay, but she felt that the two of them would have a lot to say that they would not necessarily reveal in front of her.

  “I have to go now, but I’ll pop over in the morning and see that all’s well. Lovely to have you back, Aurora, though I have to say you are not looking your usual calm and happy self. Now, no questions from me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She kissed each of them on the cheek, and left quickly. On the way home she stopped in a lay-by and called Derek on her mobile to give him the news. He replied that she was to go straight home and watch television or something to take her mind off things.

  “Going to be difficult!” Lois said. “Will you be hom
e early? I need some sensible advice. It is possible that Aurora will report to the police herself. But she seemed very far from her former self. Turned inward, if you know what I mean. And her voice was strained, and she looked awful.”

  Derek said worriedly that he was surprised Lois was able to tear herself away. He agreed that she should leave everything until tomorrow, and then wait to see what was going on before blundering in on something very odd indeed. And, he said, she should not mention it in front of Gran, as she was known to be the best purveyor of gossip in the village.

  * * *

  It was not until Gran had gone up to bed that Lois was able to tell Derek the full story. Not, as she said, that there was much to say. Aurora had appeared out of nowhere, and Milly had fainted from shock. They had all settled down eventually, and Lois was able to leave, somewhat unhappily. Aurora was looking very strange, and Lois worried about Milly’s reaction.

  Luckily, Derek was able to help her to a sensible conclusion by asking her to think herself into Aurora’s place. Supposing she was not about to disappear again, there would be a lot of questioning for her to face. And, even more important, she would have to rebuild her relationship with her own daughter.

  “They’ll need time, poor things,” he said. “I expect she will start baking again, and everyone around will find they need one of Aurora’s stone-ground wholemeal loaves. At least it will be good for business.”

  “You are not saying she did it deliberately?” asked Lois fiercely.

  “It’s been known. Business not doing so well. An unexplained fire in an upper room, or a missing person in trouble with a hefty insurance claim. Aurora wouldn’t be the first to be up to that dodge.”

  “There hasn’t been a fire in an upper room.”

  “How do you know? How do you know Milly isn’t in the same scam? How do you know anything at all about what goes on in Brigham Bakery?”

  Lois was taken aback by this full frontal attack. She had thought Derek would give her calm advice on leaving mother and daughter to settle down and sort themselves out, ready to open the shop, do the baking and be nice to customers. What they would say would be up to them. There had been many questions Lois wanted to ask Aurora, but she instinctively gave way to the mother and daughter. First things first, and Milly’s questions must come first.

  “I suppose they could say Aurora had been in Brighton for a few days, revisiting places where she and Donald did their courting. When she was ready, she had come home, wanting to get back to normal, with the help of her charming daughter.” Lois was beginning to feel irritated with both Aurora and Milly. Derek as always, enabled her to see more clearly. As far as any explanation was concerned, she was becoming suspicious. “Collusion” was the word that came to mind.

  * * *

  As soon as Lois had left, Milly began hysterically to accuse her mother of cruelty and selfishness. “Wherever you have been,” she said, “you obviously didn’t think of me at all. You just left! The trouble you have caused! Police! Friends! Everyone in Brigham. Even the hotel was overbooked with ghouls wanting to join in dredging the millpond.”

  To her horror, her mother had begun to laugh. “They did not dredge the millpond,” Aurora said. “Come on now, Milly, you’ve done brilliantly well. I have been really proud of you. But that sniffer dog was useless! Although at one point I thought you would look up above where he settled and see the warm place above the oven. Was the dog Lois’s idea?”

  “No, it was Mrs. Tollervey-Jones’s. At least, I think it was. Either hers or Gloria’s. You remember Gloria?”

  “Of course I remember Gloria. A bottle redhead. One of your father’s little bits of fluff. I should have thought Gloria would not want me around, not after Donald was drowned and his ex-lover Sylvia was thought to be inheriting his estate . . .”

  “What d’you mean? You’d be in the way? Oh, for heaven’s sake, Mother, be sensible. I don’t know where you’ve been, but you clearly need some tender loving care, so up to bed, and we’ll talk later.”

  “Thanks, Milly love. I will go and have a rest. There’ll be lots of sorting out to do tomorrow, I expect, but with you here to help, I’m sure I will get through it.”

  Milly took a cup of hot milk up to Aurora when she was in bed, and wished her sweet dreams. There was strain in her voice, and Aurora blew her a kiss and turned away.

  FORTY-EIGHT

  “Where’s she been then? And what did she have to say about causing so much trouble? That poor daughter of hers. I should think she was pretty sharp!” Gran looked as if she was about to fly off to Brigham and tackle Aurora herself.

  “It wasn’t at all like that,” Lois said. She and Derek had agreed that they should give Gran an edited version of what had happened, but now she realised Gran would winkle out the whole thing in the end. Best to tell her now, before she concocted her own version. “We were going into the back kitchen for a cup of tea when Milly said she had heard a noise from the backyard. So we went into the bakehouse, and Milly yelled suddenly and her knees gave way and she fell. Then I saw it was Aurora, and she rushed with me to help poor Milly. After that, we calmed down, and when I was sure they were going to be okay, I left. That’s it, Mum, straight from the horse’s mouth.”

  “Mmm,” said Gran. “So you don’t know where that Aurora went and why? Well, thanks for giving me some of the facts, because without a doubt, the gossips will be busy with the whole thing, not to mention the police. I hope Cowgill sends our Matthew to see them. He’s got such a good heart, bless him.”

  “And don’t forget Josie in the shop,” said Derek. “She’ll be bombarded with questions. Let’s hope business will be good, and she’ll make a fortune in one day.”

  “That’s all you think about! Money! I think everybody should leave the pair of them alone for a bit to sort themselves out . . .” Before she could finish her sentence, the phone began to ring, and she went off to her office to take the call.

  “Cowgill? You haven’t wasted any time. I was going to call you after we’ve finished our breakfast.”

  “Sorry, Lois. I had a call from an unnamed informer that the woman at the bakery was back and had been seen through the window. Another solid citizen called and claimed they had seen a light in the shop window, and there she was, the missing Mrs. Black.”

  “Why are you calling me, then?”

  “Strangely enough, because I thought I would be giving you the good news.”

  “I was there when she reappeared. Seems there was a secret hiding place—maybe a kind of priest hole?—above the oven, and that’s where she went. And where Henry refused to leave. Poor Aurora. Panic attack times six. Couldn’t bring herself to come out again until she did eventually. Maternal instinct finally triumphed!”

  “Quite right. So I shall be going along there this afternoon, and I’d be glad if you could find time to meet me there. About three o’clock, shall we say? I’d really appreciate it, Lois.”

  “Is that an order, nicely wrapped up?”

  “However you like to take it, Lois love. See you later.”

  A wily old fox, thought Lois. He may be partly retired, but he knows what he’s doing. Most of the time. She returned to the kitchen, and told Derek and Gran.

  “What about going with Joan and me to the jewellers? Mrs. Prentise asked if she could come along and choose the stuff with us. She hoped Gloria would be free, too.”

  “Could you put it off until tomorrow? I would really love to come along.”

  Gran sniffed. She would have to ring round the others. But Lois had a ferretin’ look in her eye, which alone would be sufficient warning that whatever she planned to do this afternoon would come first.

  * * *

  At a quarter to three, Lois set off for Brigham. Cowgill was there before her, and Milly and Aurora were obviously not surprised to see her.

  “I have told Milly and her mother that y
ou would be coming, Lois. I think you may be able to help in remembering things that perhaps in the extraordinary nature of Aurora’s disappearance may be forgotten.”

  Milly nodded, and Aurora looked as if everything was so confusing that Lois’s presence was welcome. Cowgill said that they would begin at the beginning, the day when Milly first discovered her mother had gone.

  Milly cleared her throat and reached for her mother’s hand. She began when her mother did not come home when expected, and how she had gradually worried more and more. Then, when her mother did not appear again, she thought of a million things that could have happened to her. Lois had been very helpful, and Milly described how she had tried to get the bakery going again.

  “And baked some very good loaves,” said Aurora proudly.

  “How do you know that, Aurora?” said Cowgill.

  “Because she is my daughter, and has always been a lovely, talented girl,” she answered. Except that she hadn’t really answered, Lois decided. She said nothing, and waited while Cowgill tried and failed to get some hard facts from Aurora.

  Finally, he turned to Lois and said he realised she would be going over the same ground as Milly, but could she describe in detail the shocking moment when Aurora reappeared?

  The whole episode was so clear in Lois’s mind that she was able to give a very detailed account, starting from when Aurora appeared like a dark shadow from the bakehouse and Milly had understandably fainted. Cowgill stopped her there, asking how Aurora had seemed. Was she confused, or injured in any way? Had she mentioned, even casually, or given any indication where she might have been? Had other people been involved? Had she been sleeping rough, and if so, where, and under what bridge?