It was awful to think anyone could be capable of such pointless acts of vandalism.
‘Sorry to ask, but do you think Richard might be capable of something like this?’ Randy asked.
The question nearly made Olive choke on the piece of bacon she was chewing. ‘I blooming well hope not. I brought him up better than that. I know he wasn’t very keen on my involvement in this place at first, but he’d never do anything so stupid it would risk his job or his business. And it’s surprised me, but I think he’s rather proud of this place and my involvement with it now.’ It was sad they were having to consider who out of their acquaintances might be responsible. ‘What about Matron? She was the one dragging the police here trying to get us closed.’
Matron seemed to have taken the whole opening of The Gin Shack as a personal affront. Shoving nappies down a loo was a level of desperate Olive couldn’t quite envisage her stooping to, but someone had, so why not her?
‘Reporting her to the police might have put her back up enough for her to want to retaliate.’
‘Someone would have seen her, though, wouldn’t they? It must have happened during opening hours?’ Having been asleep for a large part of the evening, Olive had missed out on the comings and goings in the bar.
‘It was so busy, it could have been anyone. It might have been one of those journalists just wanting to add to their story,’ Tony said. His bacon sandwich remained mostly uneaten on his plate. The whole affair was obviously messing with his appetite.
‘We can just check, though, can’t we?’ Aiden said, a cheeky smirk on his face.
‘Chance would be a fine thing. I never thought we’d have a need for CCTV and the old one is out of action. It covers the till, but it might have caught something. They’d have to pass that way to get to the disabled toilet.’
‘What about the newspaper photographers?’ Veronica said, having polished off her breakfast. ‘Or selfies. Everyone is taking so many pictures these days. If we asked people to send them to us, maybe we’d catch someone that way?’
‘Don’t even need to do that,’ Noah said. Getting up from his chair he went and grabbed something from behind the bar. When he returned he placed a small laptop on the table.
‘What have you boys been up to?’ Tony’s puzzled expression matched everyone else’s.
‘I didn’t know if it’d worked so I needed to check, but we were submitting the sign work for one of our college projects. Part of the assignment involved the design being multipurpose. We figured, as the old camera wasn’t working, we’d try and fit some in behind the toilet signs. It was just to fit the project brief and give the place some protection when it was closed and no one was here. We never thought it would actually end up recording a toilet crime.’ Noah grinned again. No wonder the two boys had been quiet, knowing they were about to be the heroes of the hour.
‘Do you know who’s done it then? Have you watched it already?’ Tony said.
‘I wanted to check it had downloaded like it’s supposed to. I haven’t watched it all the way through.’
‘Why didn’t you say earlier?’ Esme asked.
Noah shrugged. ‘I was hungry.’
It made Olive smile. Typical teenager with his priorities in the right place. Breakfast required before solving a crime. ‘Can we get on and watch it then?’ It was fantastic they had some concrete proof as to who was to blame rather than tossing names into the mix with no real inkling as to why anyone would do such a thing.
‘It’s twenty-four-hour footage, so it might take a while. I’ll just set it to fast forward and yell when you see anything interesting happening.’
The screen was too small for them all to be huddled round, but somehow they managed, although the fact Tony had rediscovered his appetite meant Olive occasionally had her view obscured by a bacon sandwich.
There were large portions of recording where nothing was happening. It was when The Gin Shack was closed and no one was about, but they decided to view it in case this had somehow happened out of hours. There were any number of possibilities. But there weren’t any intruders and they didn’t see anyone on-screen until Tony arrived and they were having their morning meeting.
It was weird seeing herself on-screen and their morning antics from a different angle. They already knew what had happened that morning. The accusations, the arguments. Noah had switched the viewing to normal time now there was activity on the screen, but there didn’t seem to be much point watching it when they’d all been there.
But then it happened.
Matron walked over to the door, laid a hand on it, pushed it open, put her head round the door, went inside and then returned to the bar. It was barely two seconds, but she’d definitely been inside the disabled toilets.
‘Knew it was her,’ Veronica said.
‘Hang on a second,’ Randy said. ‘That doesn’t prove anything other than she needed the toilet and went to the wrong one.’
‘It’s not like she heads to the ladies loo afterwards, though,’ Tony said, as they continued watching the footage. They’d all been too preoccupied with making sure the police knew they weren’t breaking the law to notice Matron skipping off to the loo.
‘She’s having a recce, though. Checking it out, isn’t she? She must have done it. Show this to the police and she’ll be in trouble.’ TJ was closing the case already.
‘Randy’s right,’ Olive found herself saying. ‘She wasn’t in there long enough to do any of the things to block the sink or toilet. And she doesn’t have anything with her to block it with. Unfortunately, it doesn’t prove it was her. Let’s carry on watching.’
It would be wrong to assume it was her, especially as she might just have wanted a widdle, then never got the chance. But as with everything regarding that woman, Olive’s senses were on high alert and she knew she wouldn’t be at all surprised if they saw her carrying out a follow-up trip.
When that was over, Noah fast forwarded the video again. The only thing missing was popcorn with everyone fixated on the screen, their jaws open, waiting for the answer to the question of who committed the crime.
For another lengthy period there was nothing other than customers and staff milling around near the bar, with none of them frequenting the disabled toilet. Just when Olive was beginning to think maybe there wouldn’t be any more visits to the toilet, Mavis from the rejected wine club went to use the loo.
Noah paused it on her image. ‘Who’s that then? Do you think she could have done it?’
‘She’s one of the ladies from Oakley West.’ Randy filled the Salter family in. ‘But I wouldn’t have thought it was her. I mean, why would she? What do you two think?’
Veronica shrugged her shoulders.
Olive wasn’t any closer to knowing. ‘I don’t know her very well. All I know is she started the wine club and it never took off, but I don’t think she’d then come along and sabotage our gin club. She seemed happy about it doing so well. But, then…’ It wasn’t anything. It probably wasn’t even worth mentioning.
‘What?’ Tony said.
‘Well, she was here on opening night. The gin menu won’t change until Tuesday so I’m surprised she’s visited again so soon. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but I guess it is a bit strange.’
‘Unless she really likes gin,’ Esme said.
‘Nothing wrong with that,’ Tony added. ‘Fast forward it. Let’s see how long she was in there.’
Noah did as asked and the frozen image moved back into life. It was over five minutes before Mavis came out again.
‘So, we know she was in there long enough to have carried out the acts of vandalism.’
‘She doesn’t exactly look like the vandalising kind, Dad,’ Aiden said.
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover. Your mother would have never married me if that was how this family operated.’
‘Surely she would have reported it if something was wrong, though? And it would have started leaking alr
eady if it was Matron. Although I’m not sure we’d see puddles forming with the angle of the video,’ Randy said. They were all turning into regular detectives.
‘We need to watch it until I turn up. That’s the only way you’ll know we haven’t missed anyone going in.’ Olive wondered if Mavis really could be the culprit. Perhaps it was jealousy, and jealousy could do funny things to a person and make them hate in a way that was totally unnecessary and unbounded.
Noah whizzed the film forward again and, just when Olive thought Mavis was going to be the only person under suspicion, another suspect lined themselves up. For a minute, Noah fast forwarded and rewound to get the best still frame of the person entering the disabled loo.
When he turned the screen, at first Olive didn’t recognise the young woman. She was familiar, but not all at the same time. Then it hit.
‘It’s Melanie, isn’t it?’
With her hair done up, make-up on and in fancy, non-work clothes she wasn’t recognisable as the Oakley West activities coordinator, but it was definitely her.
Randy’s expression was as disbelieving as her own. ‘It couldn’t be her, could it? I mean, she’s the one who’s been helping us.’
Olive didn’t know what to believe any more. ‘I’m not aware she had any need to use the disabled toilet. She doesn’t at Oakley West.’
Noah fast forwarded the rest of the footage and, after more frames with nothing going on other than around the bar area, it wasn’t long before Olive’s figure appeared, checking out what was going on.
So the list of suspects was short, and it seemed the obvious person wasn’t to blame. But was their activities coordinator, one of the people who’d been so heavily involved with getting The Gin Shack ready and making sure the trio of friends had the freedom to help, really capable of such an act? Wouldn’t that be defeating the object?
‘We need to show this to the police and let them work out what’s gone on. They’re sending someone over to check for fingerprints later, although they’re not that hopeful, what with it being a public toilet.’
‘Don’t show them straight away,’ Randy said. ‘No one involved knew this footage was being taken. They won’t have a clue everyone going in and out of the toilet was being recorded. I think it’s time we moved back to Oakley West in light of the flood. Give us twenty-four hours to investigate. Let’s see if we can find out why anyone would want to sabotage The Gin Shack. We might have more luck than the police at getting to the bottom of this. And there’s no way anyone’s going to stop us after all we’ve done to get this place started.’
Olive wasn’t sure if she had detective instincts in her blood. But she was pretty sure she could find some if it meant saving The Gin Shack from whatever danger it was in. Because whoever had done this would undoubtedly sink to even lower depths to stop them if that was their intention.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The problem with having volunteered to investigate was that none of them had the first clue where to start.
Oakley West was unchanged in the short time they’d been away and the locks to their rooms hadn’t been altered or their goods carted out. It was eerily like nothing had even happened. Once again, Matron ignored their presence by not making an appearance and instead they were left with twenty-four short hours, with little idea what to do with them.
It was hard to imagine what they could possibly stumble across that would present any concrete evidence. Maybe there would be the remaining nappies in a bin somewhere. Or perhaps they’d find a diary documenting the plot for revenge and the reasons behind it. Both were highly unlikely, but they had to hope something that obvious would fall into their laps.
As meeting in private places hadn’t served them well in the past, they’d divided out their suspects to investigate individually and were communicating via a group chat on Messenger. It really was a revelation to Olive that they were able to have a three-way chat, but she was trying not to let the startling advances in technology distract her from the task in hand. Her target was Matron. Arguably the most difficult person to find anything on, seeing as she was holed up in her office, but Olive would do her best.
Haven’t found any evidence of nappies or wrappers in the outside bins.
The message pinged up from Randy. He really was going very military in his approach and Olive was certain he would leave no stone unturned. She’d been joking about checking bins, but it was good they had been checked. She was just glad she hadn’t ended up doing it. She wouldn’t be surprised if, when they rendezvoused, he was wearing war paint and camouflage clothing.
Mavis is at the games club. I’m going to check her room.
Veronica’s next manoeuvre popped up and it made Olive’s heart beat in her throat. It was all becoming very real and a mite scary. What if Veronica got caught? What if she got trapped?
Olive took a breath and sat on the edge of her bed. This was not the time to become irrationally scared of the unknown. They were trying to find out who had put nappies down a bog. It was hardly the height of criminal activity.
I’m going to call Richard to see what he knows about the police coming to see Matron.
Olive added her contribution to their active investigations, although hers seemed a little less dynamic than the other two, but it made sense for that to be the first thing she did.
It didn’t take long for Olive to update her son on the antics since he’d left the previous day.
‘I’m glad you’re back at Oakley West, but it’s not exactly in the best set of circumstances. Are you sure you’re okay?’
Olive honestly wasn’t sure whether she was or not. She was beginning to wonder if it was all really worth it, but then that was how whoever had done this wanted them to feel. They were trying to win, and it was odd to feel defeated when she’d not even been aware they’d been entering a battle. If they could find out why whoever had done it wanted The Gin Shack to close, hopefully it would all be over and the bar would run smoothly again. Which reminded Olive why she was talking to Richard in the first place. ‘What did the police say about Matron?’
‘They didn’t have any concerns. She was able to show them the unopened bottle and there have been no reports of other thefts. She shouldn’t have taken it off you and claimed it was in line with my wishes when it wasn’t, but given what happened at the beach hut, the police didn’t think she was unwise in her actions.’
‘Oh.’ It was oddly disappointing to find Matron had done nothing wrong. Olive was certain Matron had at least opened the bottle to sample. ‘So, nothing?’
‘They’re not following anything up. Why? Do you think this blocked-toilet incident is something to do with her?’
Olive wasn’t sure what to tell Richard. He was so on the side of the law, he’d soon be telling her off if he knew they were deliberately keeping information to themselves to allow a little time for their own investigations. ‘I think it’s someone from Oakley West.’
‘You know it is, or is this your sixth sense playing up again?’
Olive couldn’t really answer without giving the game away over the CCTV footage. ‘Definitely maybe.’
‘You worry me, Mother. Do you think you’re in any kind of danger?’
‘Nooooooo. Nooooo, of course not. Am I?’ Olive was asking herself as much as her son. What possible harm could come to her in retirement quarters? She’d like to think none, but then she still wasn’t able to get her head round why anyone would want to put a stop to a bar serving nothing other than delicious gins. It was the equivalent of an evening in heaven in her book. Why would anyone want to ruin that?
‘I really do hope not. Look, I have put a complaint in with the management company that owns Oakley West like you requested. Maybe I should take a few days off and put pressure on them to chase it up, not that anything will happen if the police weren’t worried. I’ll call Tony to see if he minds me staying there. That way I can give him a hand sorting out the damage and hopefully we’ll get
to the bottom of who’s done this.’
Olive squeezed her face up all at once. She squished her mouth up to stop the smile forming and her eyes to stop the tears. It was idiotic to feel euphoric and upset all at the same time. But she was suddenly aware that she was scared about not knowing what was going on and, for once, her son wasn’t ringing someone to sort the problem out on his behalf. He was coming to her aid and that meant more than any gin bar ever could. ‘That would be good.’ Olive managed to unsqueeze her face enough to squeak those words out and it was soon arranged that Richard would return in the morning.
She spent a sobering few moments on the edge of her bed taking in how much her son’s actions meant. She didn’t ever like to feel she needed the support of anyone. Independence ran through her veins like a life force, but there were times, like now, when it couldn’t be more welcome. Deciding she didn’t feel safe at Oakley West, then having her temporary accommodation flooded, forcing her to return to a place where she didn’t feel entirely secure, was enough to unsettle the sturdiest of characters.
I’m going to check out the library. Melanie often has lunch in there.
Randy had messaged. He was definitely going for a no-stone-unturned approach. More worrying, though, was the lack of messages from Veronica. Olive wasn’t sure how long she’d been on the phone, but it must have been at least twenty minutes. Surely that was long enough to poke around someone’s room.
Are you okay, Veronica? Richard said the police have no concerns and apparently Matron managed to produce the unopened bottle of gin.
Olive wanted to go on about how Richard was going to come to their aid tomorrow, but there weren’t many hours left in the day and they needed to find out whatever they could in the time they had left.
All okay here. Just checking through the litter in her bin.
It was a relief to get a fairly instant message from Veronica. The problem with splitting up meant none of them were playing lookout for the others, so the chances of getting caught were higher. And why they were all so obsessed with checking bins was beyond her, but it’s what the cops did on telly, so it was as good a strategy as any.
The Gin Shack on the Beach Page 19