Curiosity Killed Dolly Kendall (A Butterworth Mystery Book 2)

by Gillian Larkin

  They had been looking in the shop window for a few minutes when something caught Connie’s eye.

  She said to Sable, “I could have sworn I saw someone who looked like Arthur in the reflection of this window. But he had hair, and he wasn’t wearing a suit.”

  They turned around and stared at the man who was walking through the shopping centre.

  Connie said, “It is him! What’s happened to him? And what on earth is he wearing? That T-shirt is far too young for him. And those jeans aren’t doing his skinny legs any favours.”

  Sable said, “He must have got changed in the toilets. My goodness! What a ridiculous wig he’s wearing. What’s he up to?”

  “I don’t know. But should we …?”

  “Follow him? Of course. Keep a discreet distance.”

  They followed Arthur as he walked towards a coffee shop. He waved at a young woman who was sitting there. When he got closer, he leant in and kissed her full on the lips.

  Sable made a retching noise. “That’s disgusting. Kissing in the middle of a shopping centre when there’s food nearby.”

  Connie said, “I thought for a second he was meeting his daughter.”

  “She’s not his daughter. Look at how he’s fawning over her. And look at her batting her eyelashes at him. If she’s not careful, her eyelashes will come flying off. Let’s get closer and listen to them.”

  Connie and Sable sat on a bench a short distance behind Arthur and his female friend.

  Connie said, “We don’t need to be discreet, they’re oblivious to everyone but each other.” She cocked her head. “I can’t make out what they’re saying.”

  “Me neither. This is why we need those listening devices I mentioned earlier. Never mind, we’ll sort that out another time.” Sable stood up, walked to the table directly behind Arthur and sat down.

  Connie quickly did the same. She picked up a menu and raised it in front of her face.

  Sable said, “You don’t need to do that. We could be on fire, and he wouldn’t notice us.” She turned her right ear towards the chatting couple.

  The young woman gushed, “Arthur! I can’t believe you’ve bought me a car. You spoil me.” She giggled.

  Arthur said, “You deserve it, my darling. You might want to look in the glove compartment when you get the car. There’s something sparkly in there.”

  “Not more jewellery! You’ve already bought me so much. You kind, kind man!”

  Arthur chuckled. “There’ll be more coming your way soon. Have you given any more thought to that holiday I mentioned?”

  “Well, yes. But you know how delicate I am. I can only fly that distance if we go first class.”

  “That’s no problem, my sweet. I’ve had quite the bonus this month.”

  Connie glanced at Sable. Sable’s lips were so tightly pressed together that they’d turned white.

  Arthur said to his companion, “Jenny, I’m in the mood for a celebration. Let’s go to a bar and order some champagne.”

  “Oh, Arthur! That would be lovely. Make sure it’s the expensive kind; my tummy can’t cope with cheap fizz.”

  Sable and Connie put their heads down as Arthur and his friend walked past them arm in arm.

  Connie waited for Sable’s reaction.

  Sable’s mouth twisted from side to side and her nostrils flared. She burst out, “I can’t believe it! Arthur Transome! Of all people. The devious rodent. And you drank his coffee!”

  “This might seem like a silly question, and I think I already know the answer, but do you think he’s got something to do with Dolly’s death?”

  “I think he’s got everything to do with her death! I’ve dealt with many dodgy brokers before. It’s easy for them to forge documents to their advantage. If that weasel Arthur Transome thinks he can put one over on us, then he’s got another thing coming.” She stood up. “Come on, Connie. We’ve got some breaking and entering to do.”

  Chapter 12

  As they drove towards Arthur Transome’s office, Connie said, “We don’t really need to break down Arthur’s door, do we?”

  “Yes! I need to vent my anger. That little rat of a man has made fools of us. When I remember those compliments he gave me, I could throw up.”

  “We could ask Bridget to open the door for us. We could use the excuse that we left something behind earlier.”

  “Where’s the fun in that? I want to demolish his door.”

  “It’s not actually his door. It’s Bridget’s, and she’s the one who’d have to organise a replacement once you’d smashed it to smithereens.”

  Sable’s shoulders dropped. “I hate it when you’re sensible. Okay, we’ll go along with your plan.”

  They found Bridget on the phone when they returned to Arthur’s office. She flashed them a smile, held up a hand and carried on with her conversation.

  Connie could see Sable’s hands flexing at her sides and noticed she was sizing up Arthur’s closed door.

  Bridget put a hand over the receiver and said to them, “Hello again. What can I help you with?”

  Connie said, “We left something in Arthur’s office.” She looked into Bridget’s kind eyes and hated the thought of lying to her. But she had to. She carried on, “We caught up with Arthur at the shopping centre. He said we could go in and have a look for it.”

  “Right. The door’s locked but I’ve got a key.” She pulled open a drawer and reached inside. “I might not be here when you come back, so pop the key in here when you’ve finished. I’ll be up and down the stairs for the next hour with deliveries and typing work.” She handed Connie a key and resumed her telephone conversation.

  Connie and Sable walked over to Arthur’s door.

  Sable said, “Let me give it a good kick.”

  “No. If there’s a rubbish bin inside, you can give that a whack.” Connie unlocked the door and stepped through. As soon as Sable entered, Connie closed the door behind them.

  They surveyed the room silently.

  Sable said, “If you were a sneaky, thieving, murdering fraudster, where would you hide your incriminating paperwork?”

  “In the desk?”

  “Too obvious. But let’s try that first.”

  They walked over to Arthur’s desk and began opening the drawers. They took the paperwork out and carefully studied it.

  “I can’t see anything incriminating,” Sable said. “He must have destroyed it.”

  Connie was holding up Arthur’s diary. “Look at this. Look at the places he’s been to over the last four weeks. These are the areas where those letters were posted from.”

  “Aha! That proves it.”

  Connie lowered the book. “It doesn’t prove anything. He’s put the names of clients next to each appointment. He had a reason for being in those places.”

  Sable said, “It’s still something. I’m not giving up until we find solid evidence.”

  They searched through all of Arthur’s desk. Then they went to his filing cabinet.

  Sable looked at the half empty drawers. “He didn’t have many clients.”

  Connie pulled a file out. “This has got Dolly’s name on it.” She opened it. “It’s empty.”

  “He knew we were on to him. He’s probably destroyed all the paperwork he had on Dolly. I wonder what he’s been doing with Dolly’s personal details? The will could be fake, of course. And Dolly’s money could be coming to him. I’ve seen it happen before, and it’s not hard to do. Not if you know how these things work. And the same can be said for an insurance policy. You’d be surprised, and horrified about how easy it is for a third party to claim on a policy.”

  “But where’s the evidence? We need something.”

  “I know.” Sable looked around the office again. “I keep thinking about those other pills that Dolly took. They haven’t been identified yet. When someone fills out a life insurance request, they have to complete a health questionnaire. Arthur could have noticed a particular aspect of Dolly’s health which could be adversely a
ffected by certain medications.”

  “Such as a weak heart?”

  Sable nodded. “Yes. And if he somehow made sure she took certain pills along with the sleeping tablets, she could have died within minutes.”

  “And Arthur could have easily gone to Dolly’s house and removed those unknown pills. Dolly left the back door open in the day. And if Arthur was a regular visitor, the neighbours wouldn’t think anything of it.”

  Sable ran a hand back and forth over her forehead. “But we need evidence to prove this! It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d done this before.” She pulled a chair out and slumped into it. “Connie, what are we going to do? We can’t tell Saffy about this without any substantial evidence.”

  Connie was looking at something in Arthur’s diary. “Just a minute. There’s an entry here from four weeks ago. It says that Dolly was thinking of amending her will. Arthur’s underlined it and penciled in ‘Plan A to commence’. What do you think he meant by that?”

  “Perhaps Plan A is sending letters to Dolly, and then slowly stealing her cats. But how can we prove it?” Sable held up a finger. “His computer! If he typed those letters on his computer, there’ll be a record somewhere, even if he deleted them.”

  Connie said, “His computer isn’t here.”

  “Arghh! He’s thought of everything.”

  Bridget walked into the room. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Connie quickly slipped the diary into her bag.

  Bridget came further into the room. “I don’t suppose you’re still looking for an office?”

  “We are,” Connie replied.

  “What do you think of this one? I could give you a good rate.”

  Sable got to her feet. “But this is Arthur’s office.”

  Bridget said, “He’s just phoned me to give a month’s notice. He’s not coming back at all. He’s organised for a company to take his belongings away.”

  “What?” Sable exclaimed. “Did he say where he was going?”

  “He said he didn’t know yet. He was going to decide when he got to the airport. He said it was time he had some adventures.” Bridget looked closer at Sable. “Are you alright? You’ve gone very white.”

  Sable collapsed back into her chair, put her head in her hands and muttered, “He’s got away with it.”

  Connie placed a hand on Sable’s shoulder and said, “There might be something we can do. But we’ll have to move fast.”

  Chapter 13

  The following morning, Debra looked at her mother and auntie across the kitchen table and said, “Tell me again what happened. I can’t take it in.”

  Connie put a hand over her mouth to cover a yawn.

  Sable said, “I think we could do with yet another cup of tea. I’ll make us a fresh cup.” She stood up and looked at the little girl sitting next to Debra. “Megan, would you like a milkshake? I can make you a strawberry one or a chocolate one.”

  Megan grinned. “Can I have both?”

  “No, you can’t, young lady. Why don’t you come over here and help me?”

  Megan pushed herself off the kitchen chair and skipped over to Sable’s side. Sable pulled a little stool out from a cupboard and placed it next to the work counter. She said to Megan, “Stand on that and do as I say. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Megan’s eyes shone with adoration as she gazed at Sable.

  Connie said to Debra, “You know what’s been happening with us over the last few days, and our visit to Arthur’s office for a second time.”

  “Yes, I’m following that part. It’s what happened after that. How did you know there’d be CCTV footage at the play gym?”

  “Pauline told me about it months ago. There are notices up around the play gym too. She originally put the cameras in to find the culprit who was urinating in the ball pool. It turned out to be little Cameron Baxter. His mum was horrified. Pauline’s also told me before the footage gets backed up to a third party.”

  Debra shook her head. “We’re being filmed all the time, and we’re not aware of it.”

  Connie said, “I’m glad we are in these circumstances. I saw in Arthur’s diary that he planned to meet Dolly at the play gym. It was a few days after she’d phoned him about changing her will, according to his diary. The cameras showed Arthur placing paperwork in front of Dolly. After zooming in, we saw the name of the company on the paperwork.”

  Sable called over, “It was a company who’d gone out of business years ago. They used to deal with life insurance, so it looked liked Arthur was showing Dolly a genuine document. But it was a fake.” She looked down at Megan’s face. “Did you just sneak a piece of chocolate?”

  With chocolate smears at the corners of her mouth, Megan gave Sable a serious look and said, “No.”

  Connie continued, “Arthur also brought out Dolly’s will. Again, it was a false company. Sable’s so annoyed with herself for not spotting that earlier in Arthur’s office.”

  “I am,” Sable confirmed.

  Connie said, “As they talked at the play gym, Dolly became more agitated, and Arthur tried to placate her. This is the fun part. When we contacted Saffy about the recording, she came over to the play gym and brought a man who knows how to read lips. He watched the footage and told us Dolly wanted to cancel everything with Arthur. She was going to take her business elsewhere. For some reason, she had begun to get worried about Arthur and the way he ran his business.”

  “Did Dolly manage to cancel her will and policy after their meeting?” Debra asked.

  “No. Arthur talked her out of it. Dolly told him she wanted to give everything to her daughter when she died. And she wanted to make things right with Bianca. She even had a letter in her bag that she was going to send to Bianca.” A hard look came into Connie’s eyes. “Arthur said he’d drop the letter round to Bianca’s and speak to her on Dolly’s behalf. Obviously, he didn’t. And when Dolly didn’t hear anything, she assumed Bianca didn’t want to make things right between them.”

  “That’s awful,” Debra said. “What did the lip-reading expert say about the last bit of footage? The one recorded a few days before,” she glanced at her daughter who had her back to them, “you know what happened.”

  Connie sighed sadly. “Arthur convinced Dolly to keep her financial situation as it was. He said the cat shelter would be delighted with her bequest. Dolly told him her cats were going missing, but she didn’t mention the letters. Arthur made a show of being concerned about her. He gave her a bottle of tablets to calm her nerves. We zoomed in and saw the name of the tablets. This is where Sable’s expertise comes in.”

  Sable looked over at them. “Yes. I’ve seen that kind of tablets before on a case I dealt with. The tablets are harmless enough unless you have certain health problems.” She looked down at Megan. “I won’t say too much, but Arthur knew about Dolly’s health, and how those tablets would affect her. Which they did. Arthur went to Dolly’s house when she’d, you know, and took the tablets back. Actually, we don’t know yet when Arthur was at Dolly’s that day. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’d forced Dolly to take too many sleeping tablets. He could have even slipped them into a drink.”

  Debra shook her head slowly. “I can’t believe it. All this deception going on in the play gym.”

  Connie said, “Arthur’s been doing this for years. Dolly wasn’t his first victim. He normally waits for people to pass on peacefully, but in this case, Dolly was becoming too curious, and he had to do something about her. Well, the police have got him now. He can explain everything to them.” She sighed again. “Poor Dolly.”

  Debra sighed too. “I’m glad you two looked into this. It would have been awful if Arthur had got away with it.”

  There was a knock at the kitchen door.

  Connie said, “I’ll get it.”

  She opened the door to find a pale-faced Bianca standing there with an excited Tallulah.

  Bianca’s chin wobbled as she said, “I hope you don’t mind me turnin
g up unannounced, but I wanted to say –” Her voice broke.

  Connie opened the door wider. “Come in, come in. Tallulah, Megan’s here.”

  “Yay!” Tallulah ran over to Megan.

  Megan jumped off the stool and flung her arms around Tallulah.

  Connie said, “Why don’t you two go into the living room and play with the dressing-up clothes?”

  The girls screamed with delight and dashed out of the kitchen.

  Sable called after Megan, “I’ll make your milkshake myself then, shall I?”

  Connie turned her attention to Bianca.

  Bianca was trembling, and tears were rolling down her cheeks. She attempted to talk again, “I wanted to say thank you for all you did for Mum. The police have been to see me this morning. I just can’t believe it. Poor Mum. And I’ve been so awful to her.” She broke into a sob.

  Connie put her arms around her and held Bianca as she cried and cried.

  When her crying had stopped, Connie said, “Let’s have a nice cup of tea and a chat. Make yourself at home.”

  “You’re so kind. How can you be so kind after the way I spoke to you?” Bianca said.

  “Never mind that now. Sit yourself down. You can tell us everything that’s on your mind. We’ve got plenty of time to listen to you.” Connie reached into her cardigan pocket and withdrew a packet of tissues. “You might need these.”

  Bianca gave her a small smile and sat next to Debra. Debra placed a hand on Bianca’s arm and gave her a warm smile.

  Bianca said, “I spoke to Mum’s neighbour yesterday. I wanted to know if there were any of Mum’s cats still hanging around. There weren’t, but we’re going to the cat shelter later to retrieve Tallulah’s favourite cat. I think he’s called Blackbeard.”

  Megan suddenly burst into the kitchen wearing black trousers, a stripy black and white top and a mask over her eyes. “Grandma! Look! A new dressing-up outfit. What is it?”

  Connie gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.

  Debra said, “Don’t tell me that’s a burglar’s outfit! Who would buy Megan something like that?”