by Ann Purser
§
Cowgill was waiting for her. She noticed he was dressed entirely in a kind of khaki-green, and smiled.
“Camouflaged, are we?” she said.
“Ever been birdwatching, Lois?” he replied, without an answering smile.
She shook her head. “The likes of me don’t go bird-watching,” she said.
“Rubbish,” said Cowgill, and continued, “and anyway, if you had, you’d know that if you want to be invisible you don’t wear a scarlet anorak.” Then he smiled, and she didn’t. The anorak had been her Christmas present from Derek, and she was very fond of it.
“I could be mistaken for a robin,” she said. “You know, Robin Redbreast?”
“Shall we get down to business?” he said. “I presume you’ve got something to tell me, and this isn’t a trap where I shall be attacked by a revengeful husband?”
“Yes, I have,” said Lois frostily, “but first you can tell me where you’ve got to in finding the writer of those shitty letters.”
“We’re making progress,” Cowgill said. “And may I suggest we call a truce? At least for this morning? I wish you both nothing but well, Lois, you know that.”
She wasn’t so sure about the ‘both’, but began to tell him the latest on Edward Abraham. “Miss Clitheroe said the cave was somewhere in these woods, near to where an old quarry used to be.” She went on to fill him in on the impossible situation for Enid at Cathanger Mill, and ended up, “So the sooner we catch the bugger the better.”
“Right,” he said. “Most useful. But there is one small thing I have to point out to you. I know you’re Enid’s employer, and feel sorry for her, and like her. But we cannot ignore the possibility that there is collusion there. If he had that much hold over the family, he may still be exercising it. He’s been missing for longer than we’d usually expect in such circumstances, and this probably means someone’s helping him.”
“You’re not suggesting Enid is…” Lois bristled, and Cowgill retreated a step or two.
“Steady now,” he said. “Just try to think it out clearly, Lois. In this business the head must always rule the heart, and there’s nothing wrong with your head.”
“So what do you want me to do?” Lois said grudgingly.
“Talk to her. The piano lessons should give you the opportunity. Does she trust you?”
Lois nodded. “I think so. And that’s why I don’t want to…”
“Well, it’s up to you,” said Cowgill, straightening his khaki cap and turning away. “But don’t forget, Lois,” he added, “you could be helping Enid Abraham in the long run. Maybe changing her life. Think about it.”
Twenty-Six
“Staff meeting this morning,” Lois said, climbing out of bed and helping Derek zip up his trousers. The zip had stuck, and he was losing patience.
“Hey! Watch it!”
Lois began to laugh. “You’ll be puttin’ our marriage in danger if you don’t go careful. Here, let me do it.”
And then, of course, one thing led to another, the zip was fixed, and some time elapsed before both of them went downstairs and into the kitchen for breakfast.
“You’re late,” said Gran. “I’ve got some black puddin’ spoiling here in the pan. The kids have refused to eat it, so I’m relying on you two.” She was surprised at the way they wolfed it down, especially Lois, who normally nibbled a piece of toast.
“Nothing like a spot of exercise,” said Derek, “to give you a good appetite.” Since neither had been outside the back door, Gran merely raised her eyebrows.
“Bill phoned,” she said. “He might be a bit late for the meeting. His client asked him to do an extra hour – got people coming to stay – so he said unless he heard from you, he’d go ahead and do it.”
“Fine,” said Lois. “Thanks, Mum.”
“Hope he remembers his apron,” said Derek, carefully distancing himself from Lois, “specially if they got guests.” Lois stood up, but she was not quick enough, and he had gone, Douglas holding the back door open to aid his escape.
§
“Hi, everybody.” Lois noticed that Bill had not yet arrived, but all the others were there. Bridie and daughter Hazel were sitting at opposite ends of the room, and Lois wondered what was up. Sheila Stratford had brought her knitting, and was triumphantly casting off the final sleeve of a vast jersey for her husband. Enid Abraham sat neatly as ever, smiling gently at her colleagues, but as remote as if merely an onlooker.
They had the usual discussion on schedules, and then Lois asked if there were any problems. Silence. This was also usual. It took a few minutes before anything personal emerged. Then Bridie spoke. “There is something,” she said, “but it’s about Bill’s girlfriend, so I’m not sure…”
“Do you want to tell me privately?” Lois said.
“Not really. It affects us all, so if it’s OK?” Lois nodded, and Bridie continued. “Well, you know she works at Waltonby school? Apparently someone’s been gossiping there, and saying New Brooms is rubbish. The most likely person is Rebecca, though she seems nice enough to me.”
There was a shocked hush, and then Sheila Stratford spoke. “I’ve not heard anything,” she said. “And I often stand at the school gates talking to the mums. I meet my grandchildren, and they haven’t said nothing, either.”
Bridie looked across at Hazel. “Well,” she said, “go on, Hazel, tell what you heard.”
Hazel sighed. She had told her mother to keep quiet about it, but she wouldn’t listen. They’d had words before coming to the meeting. Hazel had said the best thing to do with gossip was to ignore it, but Bridie was incensed. Lois, her oldest friend, was being criticized, and she intended to get to the bottom of it.
“Well, Hazel?” Lois was curious, though not particularly worried. Gossip was meat and drink to some, and she always listened. But it hadn’t been about her lately, and could mean something. Something to do with Enid?
Hazel glared at her mother, and said, “It’s probably nothing much…just one of those big-mouths at the school gates. I happened to be talking to a friend, and heard this woman say she’d heard things about New Brooms. Rotten job, cleaning, she reckoned. Only fit for people who couldn’t do anything else. Like that woman from the mill. Nobody else’d employ her, they said.” Lois looked up sharply, worrying that Hazel had gone too far, but Enid’s face was as calm as ever. “Then they started laughing,” Hazel continued, “and Bill’s name was mentioned. I suppose they think a bloke doin’ cleaning is a real joke. Anyway, I just turned round and told them to mind their own bloody business, and they went off to get their precious darlings from the playground.” She shrugged. “Sorry, Lois,” she added. “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. You know what they’re like.”
“Yes,” said Lois, remembering the unpleasant buzz that went round Long Farnden when she, a cleaner, and her family moved into the doctor’s house. “Yes, I know. Thanks anyway, both of you. And don’t any of you think any more about it. Could be one of them didn’t get the job when I was recruiting. But the gossip’s not likely to come from Rebecca, not when her Bill is one of us. Still, I’ll mention it. He’s coming later.”
Bill came about ten minutes later, and Lois said nothing, planning to keep him back after the meeting. As it happened, he wanted a private chat too, so after the others had gone the two sat down again and Lois opened the conversation. She told him what Hazel had said, and he exploded. When he had calmed down, Lois gave him the possible explanation, and he agreed that probably the best thing was to do nothing. “But if it gets around that Rebecca is gossiping, then that’s serious,” he said. “Could prejudice her job.”
Lois smiled. “Not with her uncle bein’ chairman of the governors,” she said.
“Ah, well, p’raps not,” he answered, and added, “anyway, can I just tell you something funny that happened? Something to do with Enid Abraham? I know you think I’ve got it in for her, but I haven’t, an’ it’s something you ought to know.”
> He told her what the Rev Rogers had relayed to Rebecca. “Enid was really upset about that woman saying her brother was a danger to children. And then there was that odd business with slamming doors and running footsteps, and her denying hearing anything.”
He added what Seb Charrington had told him about Enid and the dog, and her trying to stop Seb going into the woods. “She’s up to something, I reckon,” he said finally. “Hazel thinks so, too. You could say it’s none of our business, but this is more than gossip.” He got up then, and looked down at Lois.
He’s an attractive bloke, she thought objectively. She had noted Hazel’s name included in his judgement, and wondered when those two had got together. It wasn’t on any cleaning job. She had instinctively avoided that. She didn’t want to lose him. He was a big strong lad, and might come in useful if she ever got herself into another tight corner working for Cowgill.
She thanked him and said she’d be on the watch, but that Enid had proved satisfactory in every way as an employee of New Brooms. “Still, I’ll certainly keep my eyes and ears open,” she said, and saw him to the door.
§
Gran and Lois sat at the kitchen table. There were just the two of them for lunch, and silence had fallen.
“Meeting go all right?” said Gran. She could see that Lois was distracted.
“Yeah, fine, except for Hazel telling us a nasty piece of gossip from Waltonby.” Lois did not elaborate.
“Villages are rife with it.”
“Yep.”
“Don’t you want to know why I said that?” Gran was irritated by the monosyllabic Lois.
“Oh, all right. Why did you say that?”
“Well,” said Gran, settling in her chair, “at the WI meeting last night I heard a little tit-bit that might interest you. It was a group meeting, with other Wis in the district.” Suddenly Lois was concentrating.
Gran warmed to her task. “There was this woman, secretary of the Round Ringford lot. Miss Beasley, or Beastly, or something. I heard her talking to our president…”
“Ooh la!” interrupted Lois, smiling, “it’s ‘our president’ already?”
“Be quiet, Lois,” said Gran. “Let me finish. There was this Miss Whatever, and she was asking about the cleaning service in our village. Said she’d heard about it, and was it true that Enid Abraham was working for it?”
Lois’s heart sank. Snippets of suspicion about Enid were piling up. But suspicion of what? Most of it seemed to be about brother Edward. She’d heard nothing bad about Enid herself. There was that hint from Cowgill that she might be involved in Edward’s disappearance, but he’d had nothing to go on. “What did she say about Enid?”
“I couldn’t hear much, as I was being introduced to some other woman, but I did catch Miss Beastly’s voice saying, ‘If you ask me, they should put them both behind bars, unpleasant pair. That’s twins for you’. That was a surprise, Lois. Enid’s never mentioned she’s a twin.” Gran got up then, and began to clear the table.
“She’s not,” said Lois, “she told me. But it’s odd that I heard that from Bridie, too.”
“Well, twin or not, she’s a very nice woman, and I count her as a friend.” Gran began to stack plates in the dishwasher with a clatter, as if to bring an end to the subject, and Lois took herself off to her office to make some notes. She’d better have a word with Hazel this afternoon. And Enid would be coming to give Jamie his piano lesson tomorrow. There should be an opportunity then to see what else she could discover.
§
Bridie was at home when Lois arrived, but Hazel was still over at Mrs Jordan’s on the new estate.
“That job’s a doddle,” Bridie said. “House as clean as a new pin, and nothing out of place, before Hazel starts! Not like our muddly old vicar…Have you got time for a cup of tea, Lois?”
As the purpose of Lois’s visit was to see Hazel, she said yes and sat down to wait.
“You know you said Enid was a twin,” she said to Bridie, who was busying herself with mugs and tea bags, pleased that Lois was staying for a gossip. They had been good friends ever since school, but now Lois was her boss, there was a slight reserve between them.
Bridie never knew quite how much she could, or should, say. Like the others, she was puzzled by Enid Abraham. She did not exactly dislike her, but found her distant…though always pleasant. Bridie supposed it was because she seemed so superior, with her previous jobs and her piano playing. None of them could quite work out why Enid had taken to cleaning. But then, come to that, why had Bill? Because he wanted to, he said frequently, and that was good enough, surely.
“Yep, I know I said it, but I’m not sure. They were just very close, like I told you.” Bridie handed Lois her mug of tea and sat down opposite her. “Why? Is it important?”
“Dunno,” said Lois. “Enid seems to be a bit of a mystery. Mum heard someone at the WI last night saying she and her brother should be locked up…Well, for God’s sake, why?”
“Ah,” said Bridie, and then stopped.
“Go on,” Lois said.
“Well, um, you know you always say New Brooms shouldn’t gossip, so I’m not sure if I should say…”
“I’m sure,” said Lois firmly. “It could be important, Bridie. Was it something that happened in the past?”
Bridie nodded. “There was a kind of scandal, about ten years ago. Something to do with swindling a shop in Tresham. It was him, the brother. He used Enid’s name somehow. I don’t quite know how it worked, but he juggled payments until he’d run up a huge bill. The police were involved eventually, but it was all hushed up at Cathanger. Now it looks as if the bugger is at it again. Gone missing, hasn’t he?”
“Who’s gone missing?” said Hazel, coming in breezily after a very untaxing afternoon’s work.
“Oh, you know, that chap from Cathanger,” said her mother, disappointed that her cosy chat with Lois had been interrupted. Once Hazel was back, no one got much of a chance of a quiet conversation.
“Oh, him,” said Hazel, “brother of our Enid. Yes, well, the longer he stays missing the better, from what I hear.”
“What have you heard, Hazel?” said Lois.
“He’s a villain. A small-time crook, according to the locals. And you’d do well to keep an eye on Enid. Me and Bill were talking, and agreed it’s just as well you don’t keep a lot of cash in your office.”
Lois stood up, furious. “Hazel! You deserve your cards for that! How dare you talk like that about one of your colleagues? It’s all just bloody gossip and tittle-tattle! Enid, poor sod, has enough to put up with, without people she thinks are her friends putting the boot in. If you or any of the others have got something to say about her, please say it to me. And, by the way, when have you and Bill been getting together to stir it up?”
Hazel stared at her. “What d’you mean?” she said. “Bill and me? That’s rubbish! He’s got Rebecca, and they’re really good together. If you really want to know, and I don’t see it’s any of your business, we had a drink when we met in the pub – and Rebecca was there too – and talked a bit about Enid, because we all think she’s a bit weird!”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” said Lois. “As an employee of New Brooms, she’s excellent, can’t be faulted. I get good reports all the time.”
“Bully for her,” said Hazel mutinously.
“And now I’m going. Thanks for the tea, Bridie. You can ring me when you’ve thought a bit, Hazel. I’m not sure an apology will be enough, but you can try.”
The door slammed behind her, and Bridie began to speak, but Hazel interrupted. “Leave it, Mum. I’ve got things to do.”
Bridie, left alone, sighed. Since her husband Dick died, she had found it a comfort having Hazel still at home. But if she left New Brooms she’d probably be off somewhere else, to college or to find another job. It would be lonely without her.
§
Lois was still steaming when she arrived home. The kids were back from school, and Jamie had gone straight
to the piano to do his daily practice. As well as the exercises Enid had given him, he picked out familiar tunes, getting them right first time. Derek had listened and reluctantly agreed with Lois that the boy had a good ear. If he had the stamina to keep it up, maybe he’d go somewhere with it.
“Jamie! Tea’s ready!” Gran could see Lois was in a rage, and decided diplomatically to take over the children until she calmed down.
Jamie closed the piano lid and ran out to the kitchen, bumping straight into his mother in the doorway.
“For God’s sake, Jamie!” Lois said. “Look where you’re going!”
He grinned at her. “Sorry…but you want me to practise, don’t you? And it’s my lesson tomorrow. Miss Abraham’ll be cross if I haven’t practised. ‘Cept she’s not like that, is she. Really cool, for an old woman.”
His grin had its usual effect on Lois, and she ruffled his hair. “Good lad,” she said. “I’m glad Enid has one fan, at least.”
Twenty-Seven
Jamie was ready for Enid Abraham ten minutes before she was due, and he sat playing his scale, up and down, over and over again. He heard the telephone, but didn’t get up. It’d be one of Mum’s cleaners. He began to pick out his favourite tune, and attempted a few notes that sounded OK in the left hand.
The door opened, and Lois came in. “Jamie, that was Enid. Seems she’s stuck. A tyre’s blown, and her dad’s gone out in the truck. He’ll see to the tyre when he gets back, but it won’t be until later. She’s really sorry, and says she’ll give you a lesson another day. We’ll fix it tomorrow. Sorry, love.”
Jamie’s face fell. “Oh, Mum! I was all ready for her…” He followed Lois into the kitchen.
“Never mind,” she said. “Have something to eat, then you can get on with your homework.”
“Great! Just what I was hoping for…an early start on my homework…”
“No need to be cheeky,” said Gran quietly. “Here, I made this cake this afternoon. Try it…might sweeten you up.”