by Adele Abbott
“I’ve already told Brent that he isn’t.”
“Tell him you made a mistake—that you forgot you had two cats.”
“That would make me look stupid.”
“And your point is?”
“I’m not going to pretend he’s my cat, but I think I know how to save him.”
“You’re a little diamond. Haven’t I always said so?”
My phone rang.
“Can I speak to Phil Goodyear?” It was a man’s voice. One I didn’t recognise.
“Who?”
“My name is Ormerod Longcastle. I represent Mrs Georgina Bradley. She’s asked me to contact the P.I. she hired to investigate her former husband’s murder. She gave me this number, and the name Phil Goodyear. Are you Mr Goodyear’s secretary?”
“It isn’t Phil, it’s Jill. And it isn’t Goodyear, it’s Gooder. That’s me: Jill Gooder.”
“You’re a woman.”
There were no flies on this guy. “Can I help you Mr Shortcastle?”
“Long. It’s Longcastle. She’d like to speak to you. I’ve told her I don’t think that’s a good idea, but she insists.”
“When?”
“This morning. She’s being held at Longdale Prison. Do you know it?”
“Yes, I’ve been there before.”
“Oh?”
“To interview someone.”
“Of course. Can you get there for eleven?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll meet you there, then. I’ve told Mrs Bradley that I want to be present at your meeting. I trust that will be acceptable to you?”
“No problem. I’ll see you there, Ormer—err—”
“Rod.”
“Okay, Rod. I’ll see you there.”
“Hey, where do you think you’re off to?” Winky called after me as I headed for the door.
“I have to interview someone in prison.”
“What about Micky.”
“He’ll have to wait.”
“What if they take him to the shelter while you’re out? Do you really want that on your conscience?”
“Oh, alright then. I’ll get Micky first.”
I was still trying to figure out how to rescue Micky The Mill when my phone rang again. Probably Roddy and his long castle.
“What now?”
“It’s Scott Bassett. Did I call at a bad time?”
“Hi. Sorry, things are a bit hectic right now.”
“I was just wondering if Barry would be free to do another commercial tomorrow? This one is for Barkies. Have you heard of them?”
“They’re Barry’s favourite treat.”
“Really? That’s good. Will he be able to make it? The pay is the same as last time.”
“Definitely. What time do you need us?”
“Eleven-thirty. I’ll text you over the details.”
“Okay. Great.”
Winky was glaring at me. “While you’re busy gassing on the phone, Micky might be on his way to death row.”
“Shut it. I’m doing the best I can. And anyway, I’m going to need your help.”
“Sure. What do you want me to do?”
“I’m going to make myself invisible. As soon as I’ve done that, I want you to screech as loud as you can.”
“Why?”
“I need you to get Mrs V in here.”
“Why?”
“There’s no time for twenty questions. Just do it. And you’d better make it loud because Mrs V is pretty hard of hearing. Okay?”
“No worries. I’ve got this.”
As soon as I was invisible, Winky let rip like I’d never heard him before. Moments later, Mrs V came through the door.
“Jill? What’s going on in—” She glanced around. “I could have sworn she was in here.” She glared at Winky. “What’s all that noise about? Put a sock in it or I’ll feed you one of mine.”
That was my cue to slip out of my office. I grabbed Mrs V’s coat on my way past her desk, and then once I was out in the corridor, I cast the ‘ageing’ spell and reversed the ‘invisible’ spell.
“Hello, there,” the receptionist at I-Sweat greeted me. “You must have seen our new ad.”
“I don’t know what you mean, dear,” I said in my old lady voice.
“The promotion we’re running for senior citizens. I didn’t think the ads ran until next week. Have you brought some clothes to change into?”
“No, I—err—”
“Not to worry. I can still give you a tour of the gym.” She came from behind the desk, but suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. When I followed her gaze, I realised why. After casting the ‘ageing’ spell, I’d thrown on Mrs V’s coat, but I was still wearing my high heels.
“I’m not actually here for the seniors’ gym, dear.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve lost my cat. He’s grey and rather thin. I wondered if he might have found his way in here?”
“Yes, he has. He’s in the office. I’ll go and fetch him for you.”
“Thank you, dear.”
She glanced again at my footwear, and then disappeared through the door behind her. Moments later, she reappeared, carrying Micky.
“There you go. It’s a good thing you came to get him. We were going to take him to the cat shelter later today.”
“Thank you, dear.” I took the cat from her. “Who’s been a naughty boy?”
“Who are you?” Micky hissed.
“Shut up,” I whispered.
“Sorry?” The receptionist looked puzzled.
“Take no notice of me, dear. I live alone so I often talk to him, don’t I, Micky?”
“Never seen you before.” He eyed me suspiciously.
“I’d better get him back home. Thanks for your help, dear.”
Once I was back in the corridor, I reversed the ‘ageing’ spell and headed back to the office.
“Jill?” Mrs V looked even more puzzled than the I-Sweat receptionist had. “Why do you have—?”
“You’re probably wondering why I have this cat.”
“Actually, I was wondering why you have my coat on.”
Oh bum!
“I—err—it’s a funny story. You’ll laugh when I tell you. I was looking through my office window when I saw this little rascal running back and forth across the road. He was nearly run over a couple of times, so I thought I’d better go and rescue him. I was just about to go downstairs when it occurred to me it would be chilly out. I didn’t want to waste time going back for my coat, so I grabbed yours instead. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Err, no, that’s okay. I didn’t see you take it, though.”
“You were busy looking at the horseshoes. Would you mind holding him for a moment, please?” I passed Micky to her. “Just while I slip off your coat.”
She pulled a sour face, and held the cat at arm’s length.
After hanging up her coat, I took Micky back and hurried through to my office.
“Micky!” Winky yelled. “What have I told you about getting out of the gym on time?”
“Sorry, Winky. I was trying to beat my endurance personal best.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“It won’t happen again.” Mickey turned to me. “How did you do that? Back at the gym, you looked a hundred years old, but now you look quite hot.”
“Thank you, kind sir.”
“Don’t go telling her that,” Winky said. “She’ll be unbearable. You can put him down now.”
As soon as I put Micky down, he hurried over to the open window. “I’ll get going then. Thanks, Winky. Thanks, Sexy.”
“Sexy?” Winky laughed.
“What’s funny about that?”
“He wouldn’t think you were sexy if he saw you picking your nose.”
“I do not pick my nose.”
***
I arrived at Longdale prison ten minutes early, so I made a call to Aunt Lucy.
“It’s Jill. I had a phone call from Pooch First ea
rlier. They have another commercial lined up for Barry tomorrow at eleven-thirty. Can you make sure he doesn’t get dirty in the morning because I won’t have time to take him to the groomers.”
“No problem. I’m taking him to the park this afternoon because I’ve arranged to meet Dolly and Babs, but I’ll keep him in tomorrow.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you then.”
A few minutes later, a red Jag pulled up next to my car. I knew it was Longcastle—he had solicitor written all over him.
“Ms Goodyear?”
“It’s Gooder. Nice to meet you, Rod.”
“It’s Ormerod.”
“How’s Georgina holding up?”
“She wasn’t very good when I left her yesterday. The truth is, Ms Goodyear, things don’t look very good for her. I’ll most likely be advising her to take a plea.”
“Isn’t that a little premature?”
“When you’ve been at this as long as I have, you get a nose for it.”
He’d certainly got a nose for it. It was at least two sizes too big for his face.
Georgina Bradley looked terrible, as though she hadn’t slept for a week; the prison garb didn’t help.
“I’d like to speak to Jill alone, Mr Longcastle.”
“I think I should be present.”
“I said I’d like to speak to her alone.”
“Very well.” He snorted.
“Where did you find him?” I asked, once he’d left the room.
“He was appointed for me. I’m going to sack him and get someone else at the first opportunity. Thanks for coming to see me.”
“No problem.”
“I didn’t kill Thomas. He’d already jumped when I got on the roof.”
“What were you doing at the Nexler?”
“I got a call to say Thomas wanted to see me urgently, so I jumped straight in the car. When I got to his office, there was a note on his desk, saying he’d gone up onto the roof for a cigarette. I went straight up there, but there was no sign of him. That’s when I heard screams coming from down on the street. When I looked over the edge—” She hesitated. “He must have jumped just a few minutes before I got there. I rushed down as quickly as I could, but they wouldn’t let me get anywhere near him. Everything’s a bit of a blur after that.”
“When did they arrest you?”
“Ruth put me in a taxi and sent me home. I was lying on the bed when they came to the door. It must have been about six o’clock. I assumed they’d come to ask me to identify the body, but they arrested me.”
“On what grounds?”
“They knew I’d been on the roof at around the same time as Thomas. They say someone in one of the buildings opposite saw a woman push him, but I swear I didn’t do it, Jill. I know I said I was going to leave him, but I would never have done anything like this.”
“I believe you. What happened to the note that Thomas left on his desk?”
“I left it there. I don’t know what to do, Jill, that’s why I asked Longcastle to contact you. Do you think you can find out what really happened?”
“Yes, don’t worry. Everything is going to be okay.”
Back outside, Longcastle was on his phone. When he spotted me, he ended the call.
“I’d like you to brief me on what was said, Ms Goodyear.”
“No need. Mrs Bradley asked me to give you a message, Rod.”
“It’s Ormerod. What’s that?”
“You’re a waste of space and you’re fired.”
“What? I’ve never been so insulted.”
“I find that very hard to believe.”
He huffed, puffed and then stormed away.
I was just about to get into my car when my phone rang.
“Is that Jill Jackson?”
“Who? Err—yeah, Jill Jackson speaking.” I’d almost blown it. Jackson was the name I’d left on Homer Range’s answerphone.
“This is Homer Range. I got your message about the Spookberry.”
“Thanks for calling back, Mr Range. I’m looking for someone who can supply large quantities of Spookberry, and I was given your name by Bobby and Billy Blue. Can you help?”
“I certainly can.”
“Great. In that case, perhaps we could meet at my country house just outside Washbridge if that suits?”
“Absolutely. Just tell me where and when.”
Chapter 19
It was Friday and another big payday for yours truly, courtesy of my wonderful, darling Barry. Six-hundred pounds just to sit around for an hour or so while he did his thing. It didn’t get much better than that.
What? Of course Barry would get his fair share of the rewards. He could keep all of the Barkies they gave him today. I can’t say fairer than that, can I?
First though, I was going to call in at the Nexler Building, to see the concierge, Lucas Broad.
“Morning, Jill. If you were intending to go up to West Star’s offices, there’s no one up there. They’ve closed for the rest of the week out of respect after what happened on Wednesday. I assume you heard?”
“About Thomas? Yes. In fact, I went to see Georgina Bradley in Longdale prison yesterday.”
“I can’t believe she did it. She always seemed such a nice lady.”
“I’m not sure she did. That’s why I’m here this morning. Would you have time to take me through the CCTV footage for Wednesday.”
“Sure. I’ll ask Joe to take over here, and we can go to the control room.”
“I’m not sure how useful this is going to be,” he said, once we were in front of the computer. “You do realise there are no cameras on the roof, don’t you?”
“I didn’t. That’s a bit of a blow.”
“There’s coverage of Georgina arriving at the building, and then again when she got out of the lift on the top floor. Wait, I’ll show you.” He tapped the controls until he had the required footage on screen. “There, that’s when she came into the building. And that’s when she reached the top floor.”
“Is there footage of her going through the door that leads to the roof?”
“No. There isn’t a camera there either, but there is footage of her when she comes back downstairs. Wait, I’ll just find it for you. There it is.”
I leaned forward to get a better look. The expression on Georgina’s face was one of horror. Either she’d been traumatised by what she’d just seen, or she was an amazing actor.
“Okay, Lucas, thanks.”
“While you’re here, do you want to take a quick look at the CCTV coverage from the day Stephen Bradley was murdered?”
“I’m not sure there’s much point now.”
“It’ll only take a few minutes if I whizz through to the important bits.”
“Okay, why not?”
He slipped the DVD into the computer, and pressed fast-forward. After a couple of minutes, he slowed it down to normal speed. “That’s where Ruth Foot leaves the building.”
“Okay.”
Fast-forward again.
“That’s Thomas Bradley leaving.”
“Right.”
“And that’s Stephen on his way to the toilet.”
“I take it that’s after Thomas had left?”
“Correct. There’s nothing else to see really.” He pressed fast-forward again.
“Hold on. Who’s that?” I pointed to a figure, wearing a blue tabard, walking towards the entrance to the building.
“That’s the cleaner.”
“I thought she hadn’t come in that night.”
“She came in but was sent away again. Watch.”
The woman, who had her back to the camera, entered the building. Fifteen minutes later, she came back out, and disappeared off-camera.
“I don’t understand. Who told her that she wasn’t required?”
“I assume Stephen Bradley must have. He was the only one left in the office.”
“Could I borrow this DVD?”
“Sure.”
I didn’t want to say any
thing to Lucas, but the CCTV footage didn’t match up with what Josey Wilde had told me. Or maybe I’d just misunderstood. To clarify matters, I called her, but she was in a meeting, so I asked if they’d get her to call me back as soon as she was free.
***
It was time to collect Barry, my little money-making machine. When I arrived at Aunt Lucy’s, she was packing stuff into boxes.
“You look busy.”
“I’m packing things ready for the move.”
“That won’t be for weeks yet, will it?”
“No, but I thought I could make a start with some bits and pieces we won’t be needing before then.”
“Is Barry upstairs?”
“He is, but there’s a slight problem.”
“Don’t tell me you let him get dirty again.”
“No. He’s lovely and clean.”
“What’s wrong then?”
“I think it would be better if he told you himself.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, so I hurried upstairs.
“Are you ready to go and shoot another commercial, boy?”
“Don’t want to go.”
“What? Why not? I thought you liked being a supermodel.”
“Don’t want to do it anymore.”
“Tell me why.”
“Just don’t.”
“Oh, for goodness sake.” Hamlet sighed. “Apparently, his lady friend doesn’t like him appearing on TV.”
“Is that true, Barry?”
He nodded.
“Why not?”
“She says I’ll get lots of admirers, and then I won’t want to be her boyfriend anymore. It’s not true. I would never leave Babs, but she said if I don’t give up the modelling, she’ll dump me.”
“Don’t worry about her. There are plenty more dogs in the sea.”
“Not like Babs. I don’t want to lose her.”
“Why not just do this one. It’s for Barkies. They’re your favourite.”
“Not doing it.”
“I could step in for him,” Hamlet volunteered. “Just look at this magnificent profile.” He turned side on.
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think that’s going to work.”