by Purser, Ann
“Shall I get it?” Lois said.
“Better not. It’s bound to be some supplier.” Josie picked up the receiver and her smile faded. “Oh my God! Hang on; I’ll put you on to Mum. Dot Nimmo,” she mouthed to Lois and gave her the phone.
After a few minutes, she handed it back to Josie, and shook her head. “I don’t know whether it’s bad news or good,” she said, and explained that when Dot went into Cameroon Hall this morning, she found everything still and quiet, dark because the curtains hadn’t been drawn, and all Pettison’s dirty dishes from yesterday on the kitchen table.
“And then she found him lying on the floor, surrounded by broken glass and a puddle of whiskey and water mixed, out cold. She thought he was dead, but then saw his leg begin to move. She rushed to call the ambulance, which was there in record time. They took him to the hospital, where they said he had a broken leg and multiple injuries. Poor Dot was sounding nearly hysterical. At least, that’s what I thought. But no, not Dot. She was actually making a big effort to stop laughing!”
“Good heavens! It’s one thing after another this morning,” Josie said. “First Justin’s father and now old Pettison out of action.”
“I hope there’ll not be a third, then,” said Lois. “Just watch where you put your feet, Josie love. I’m off now, and I’ll see you after lunch.”
*
It was not until Justin had eaten a sad lunch with his mother, and had returned from taking her on a food-shopping trip to nearby Spalding, that he remembered the cage and the little animals, concealed in the garden shed behind his flat. He swore to himself, and went into the chilly front room, never used except for family Christmases and funeral wakes, and dialled Pettison’s number. He would have to explain, ask him to collect and hope that he would understand.
There was no reply, and he finally left a message asking Pettison to ring him, saying it was urgent. He went to join his mother in the kitchen, wondering what to do if his uncle did not ring him back. Should he ask Josie to find them and take them to the zoo? No, the fat would really be in the fire if he did that. He would have to rely on Uncle Robert. There was nobody else. The new keeper had not been in on everything, and in any case, he couldn’t think of a good story the man could tell when asking for the key to the shed. Then, of course, there was always Betsy. He had had his own key to the shed copied and left it with her, in case of emergencies. Well, this wasn’t an emergency. Not yet, anyway.
Perhaps nobody would find them, and they would die. He saw again the little faces looking at him. Sod it! They were trapped, but then so was he. And he had more to lose. But what more could you lose than your life? If Uncle Robert did not ring him, he would think again, and the hell with it. At least he would not be responsible for animal murder.
Thirty-five
Greeted with the news of Pettison’s accident, Margie Turner stepped in and said she was quite capable of running things from her kiosk for the present, and she would ask her friend Dot Nimmo to help.
“Dot is a cleaner here,” she explained to the young policeman, who had turned up to see if there was any help needed. Inspector Cowgill had sent him, he said, and he was obviously dying to do something exciting, like cleaning out the tiger’s cage, or swinging around with the chimps.
“We’ve got a new keeper, and him and me can cope well enough, with Dot Nimmo alongside.” Margie had seen the constable’s face fall, and took pity on him. She said that he could help her handle the big bales of wood shavings used for bedding. When that was done, she sent him away, saying she would always ring if she needed further help.
“There’ll be some others coming from the police station,” he said. “Inspector Cowgill will be going up to the house later on.”
“That’s fine,” said Margie. “I know him well. He’ll probably have his lady friend in tow.”
*
Margie was wrong for once, as Lois was already down at the shop when Cowgill rang, and Gran forgot to pass on the message. Josie and her mother had made a start on the shed, and although it was a lot more empty than it had been, there were still a number of things to go into the skip, and others which Josie said she would take home to the cottage.
“Do you think you should check on Gran in the shop?” Lois said now. “Her arithmetic is not what it used to be.”
Josie laughed. “I’ll just make sure she’s okay; then we’ll tackle the rest.” She disappeared, and Lois looked round at the other items to be dumped. There was a very old pram, probably vintage, left by the previous, elderly owners, and also a ferocious-looking mangle, with a long iron handle and hefty wooden rollers. These things never wore out, thought Josie. Perhaps some collector might be interested in them. She had to wait for Josie to help her move them outside, where Derek could collect them. She took down the piece of cloth over the window. Surely Justin wouldn’t want that? It effectively shut out all the light. She threw it in the big bin outside the shed, and went back in.
A white bag on a high shelf at the back caught her eye. It had been torn and looked like rubbish. She put out a hand to grab it, but felt something inside. She removed the cage carefully, and something glinted at her from inside. It disappeared, and she blinked. A result of coming in from the sunlight outside, she thought. But then it happened again, and she moved to look closer.
Two pairs of eyes stared at her, and she saw two little animal bodies, frozen with fear.
“What the hell are these!?” she shouted, and Josie came running. “Oh Lor, Mum,” she said. “They must belong to Justin. Maybe he’s keeping them as pets? What on earth are they?”
“They’re not mice,” Lois said.
“Not gerbils or hamsters,” Josie said.
“They’re furry, but smooth with it. And they have tails like mice. And long trunky noses. They’re not baby rats, are they?” Lois asked.
“I can’t be doing with rats,” Josie replied, backing away.
“No, I’m sure they’re not rats. Best not tell Gran, or she’ll have hysterics. We’ll get Derek down to have a look at them after the shop’s shut. Have they got food and water?”
They found the foodstuff for them and pushed it through the bars at the back of the cage, and managed to fill up the water bottle upended and attached to the inside. Then they just stood and watched, riveted to the spot, as the creatures began to move, eating so neatly.
“Aren’t you finished yet, you two?” yelled Gran from the shop. “I have to go round to Joan’s soon. She said to come round and have a cup of tea.”
Josie yelled back that they would be finished in five minutes, and then she could leave. Lois put the bag back over the cage, and turned to Josie.
“And then we’ll lock up the shed, and ring Gran to ask Derek to come down as soon as he’s back from work,” Lois said. “Don’t worry, Josie dear. We’ll sort it all out. Poor Justin must have forgotten all about them, what with his father dying, and all that.”
*
When Derek came home from work, he was greeted by Gran, saying he was to go straight down to the shop, where Josie and Lois were still tidying up.
“They want you to do something in the shed,” she said. “They wouldn’t tell me what it was, but they were both excited. By the way, young Justin’s gone off to Lincolnshire. His dad’s died, and he’ll be away for a couple of weeks. Now, do you want to hear the latest tidbit of gossip? Dot Nimmo phoned, and we had a chat. You know that Pettison at the zoo? Him that’s the boss, and lives by himself up in the big house? Well, when Dot went in first thing—she goes in to clean most days—she found him at the bottom of the stairs, surrounded by a broken whiskey glass and, to all intents and purposes, dead. Then, guess what happened?”
“Get on with it, Gran. I’m tired and hungry, and don’t much care about Pettison, alive or dead.”
Gran sniffed. “Oh, very well. I won’t tell you any more. You’d better get down to the shop, so that you can all come back and have our tea.”
“Gran!”
“Well,
he wasn’t dead, but had broken a lot of bones and is in Tresham General Hospital. Very serious accident, they said on the news.”
Derek stood up from the kitchen chair where he had flopped down, exhausted. “I’ll walk down to the shop, then. Five minutes, an’ I’ll be back. Perhaps we could have supper on the table?”
“Yes, sir; no, sir; three bags full, sir.” Gran sniffed again, and turned her back on him.
Lois and Josie were sitting in the stockroom discussing what they had found when Derek arrived. Lois could see at once that he was in a very bad mood.
“Something wrong?” she said, kissing his cheek.
“I was having hallucinations on the way home,” he said. “A warm kitchen, with good smells coming from the Rayburn, and a beautiful wife in a frilly pinny stirring a saucepan, with a happy smile on her face. And what did I get? A mother-in-law with a frown, ordering me to turn round and go out again into the cold night air, to find my wife and daughter with a problem. Oh yes, and something about the zookeeper having had a fall. Apart from that, no, nothing’s wrong.”
Lois and Josie laughed. “Poor old thing,” said Lois. “Well, this won’t take long. Come out to the shed. We’ve got something to show you.”
When they put on the light and removed the bag, the little cage was clearly visible, and inside the small occupants once more stared out.
“For God’s sake, what the hell are those things?”
“Baby elephants,” said Josie.
“They look like shrews to me,” Derek said, peering more closely. “But shrews don’t have that long snout, do they? Very small anteaters? They’re actually quite sweet, aren’t they, Josie? Bright little eyes. Not really frightened of us. But I see what you mean by baby elephants! Let’s hope they’re slow growing. So what d’you think? Is Justin keeping them as pets? Did he say anything about them before he left?”
Lois shook her head. “No, he rushed off up to help his mother, didn’t he, Josie?”
They decided to try and find Justin’s home number and ring him to see if they needed to do anything with the baby elephants before he returned. Then they shut up the shed and locked it, and made their way back to an irritated Gran.
“So what’s so important about a couple of white mice?” she said.
“Good guess,” said Lois. “No, not mice, but something rare, I reckon. We’re going to get hold of Justin. But supper first! Derek is faint from want of food.”
“Oh, and by the way, Lois, Cowgill rang, and Dot Nimmo rang. Cowgill said he’ll try again tomorrow, and Dot said to watch the news on the telly. I reckon it’s something to do with that Pettison at the zoo. He fell downstairs and Dot found him this morning.”
“Dead?” said Lois sharply.
“No, but badly hurt. He’s in hospital. Now, please get on with your supper. They’re showing a good film in the village hall tonight, and I’m going with Joan. You’ll wash up, won’t you?”
Thirty-six
“Here it is,” said Gran. Lois and Derek were eating hot apple tart and custard, and Gran had relented and offered to call enquiries for Justin’s number while they ate.
“What has enquiries found?” Lois asked.
“Very helpful,” said Gran, putting down the phone. “Sounded such a nice woman. I reckon she was hoping for a chat.”
“Yes, well, what did she say?”
“‘Brookes, D. Holly Farm, Longtoft Fen’. That sounds like it, doesn’t it? You could try that, anyway.”
“Well done, Mum,” Lois said. “Right, Derek, will you, or shall I?”
“You do it. I’ve been thinking. Do you think Justin has anything to do with the zoo? Them creatures looked very unusual. Maybe a rare species? I should ask him outright, if I were you.”
Lois dialled the number, and a woman’s voice answered. “Mrs Brookes? Oh good. It’s Lois Meade here. We own the shop where Justin has moved into the flat. That’s right. Well, we said he could use the shed in the garden to keep some of his stuff. There’s something we have to ask him. Is he there, please? Oh, and please accept my condolences on your sad loss.”
“Is he there?” said Gran in a stage whisper.
Lois nodded. “She’s gone to fetch him. Sounded a nice person, anxious to help. Shame about her husband. Oh, is that you, Justin? Right. It’s just that Josie and me were getting rid of some of the junk in the shed, and found these little animals in a cage thing. Yours?” She turned and nodded at Derek. “So would you like us to look after them while you’re away?”
She paused, and the others watched, waiting for the answer. Then she nodded and said she hoped everything would go smoothly for the funeral, and hung up.
“So?” said Derek. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
“He said he’d be glad if we could make sure they were warm, and give them food and water. He also said that they were a secret present for somebody, and asked us to keep mum on them being here. Or there, in the shop. As long as they were not disturbed, he said, they’d be okay. Fright could kill them, he said.”
“Huh!” said Gran. “I reckon there’s something funny going on there. If I were you, Lois, I’d inform Inspector Cowgill. He’ll know what to do.”
“But we know what to do,” said Lois. “Look after them, and don’t let on we know they’re there. Simple enough, and the least we can do under the circumstances.”
Gran went off to the film, and Lois and Derek turned on the television to catch the news. The item about Robert Pettison was brief. The man had had a serious accident and was in Tresham General. The zoo remained open to the public, and was being run by a team of helpers with the newly trained keeper.
“What about that message from Cowgill?” Derek said.
“It’ll keep until tomorrow,” said Lois. “Nobody’s dead, and there’s only the baby elephants to report. And we’re not doing that until Justin gets back. I need to think.”
“What about?”
“About what Gran said. Something funny going on there. She’s a shrewd old dame, my mum, and when you think about it, Derek, who does Justin know who would want a couple of baby elephants for a birthday present?”
*
“Morning, Lois. How’s my favourite spy this morning?”
“Not as chirpy as you, Cowgill,” Lois said. “But I got your message. What do you want?”
“You,” said the inspector. “But as that is impossible, I’d like a word about that Pettison character.”
“Him what fell downstairs in a drunken stupor with a whiskey glass in his hand?”
“Don’t forget the hot-water bottle,” Cowgill said. “It has not improved his facial features, I’m afraid. Looks very painful. Scalded. He’d just put the boiling water in the bottle. Of course, he should have known never to put boiling water in a rubber hot-water bottle.”
“Don’t waffle, Cowgill!” said Lois. “Can I come in and see you this morning? There’s something I need to ask you. And could we meet at the zoo? I want to look around.”
“Fine. I was going there, anyway. See you at half past ten?”
*
Margie was on the gate when Lois arrived, and as she bought her ticket, she saw Dot Nimmo crossing the drive with a wheelbarrow full of mucky straw.
“Dot! What on earth are you doing? Wait for me. I’m coming in. Thanks, Margie. See you later.”
“Morning, Mrs M. I’m not playing truant. Nothing much to do up at the house, with him being in hospital, so I thought I’d help out down here at the zoo. Did I do wrong?”
“No, absolutely right. But dump your smelly load, and come with me for a minute or two.”
“Where’re we going, then?”
“To the zoo, of course,” said Lois, and marched off into the entrance hall, where there was a souvenir shop and directions to the various enclosures.
“Mrs M, I hope you won’t mind my asking, but why are we joining the gawpers and going round the zoo like a couple of tourists?”
“Because I’m looking for something. Do
you know your way around? Do they have small mammals anywhere?”
“My favourites,” said Dot, and led the way. “Look, Mrs M. Those tiny mice—they’re from the Isle of Wight. Aren’t they dinky? Dear little souls. Then look at these.”
Lois looked. Two grey rats stared at her. “Not too keen on these, Dot. I was hoping to see one particular species. Very rare. Perhaps too rare for this small zoo.”
“What are they called, Mrs M?”
“Baby elephants,” said Lois. “Come on, they’re not here. Let’s go and have a coffee before Cowgill gets here. I’ve arranged to meet him. Lead me to the café, Dot. Coffee’s on expenses.”
*
When Cowgill arrived, he and Lois walked up to the house, where Dot appeared, duster in hand, having got there before them.
“I’ve unlocked, Inspector,” she said. “Mrs M told me you were coming.”
“Right. Well, Mrs Nimmo, I’d be glad if you remember that no one is to be admitted to the house at any time.”
“Except you and Mrs M?” said Dot.
“Perhaps you’d better give me the key,” said Cowgill. “There’ll be no need for you to stay. Perhaps get back to muck spreading! Thank you, Mrs Nimmo, very kind of you to help.”
“I’m paying her, actually,” said Lois, after Dot had gone. “But she’s a very useful person to have around. She misses nothing that goes on.”
“Talking of which, Lois, my dear, what is it you want to ask me?” He walked through to the hall, where there were still signs of Pettison’s fall.
“It’s something my mother said, as a matter of fact. Now, if I asked you about endangered species, would you think I was mad?”
“No, never that, Lois. So what are you going to ask me?”
“Gran said she reckoned there was something funny going on. I am sure there is, and it’s something to do with baby elephants.”
“Now you are mad! There are no elephants here.”