‘And today, I was a tiler. Tyler the tiler! What’s your name?’
‘Bailey.’
‘Um – that could mean one of your ancestors – way back in the Middle Ages – was a bailiff on a farm – a farm manager. Or he might’ve lived near the castle bailey.’
‘You’ve got some weird stuff in your head,’ Chris said.
Rob heard voices outside the next morning. Chris must have found someone else to help with the tiles, he thought. His arms and shoulders were sore after his exertions the previous day and his head was sore after three pints of beer on nothing more than a couple of packets of crisps. It was mid morning before he gathered the strength to stagger to the kitchen for coffee. He did not go outside to speak to Chris. He did not have the energy to make conversation. And he was not sure whether, without the work or the beer, he and Chris would have anything to say to each other.
Chapter Three
On Monday, Rob stayed at home to work on his thesis. His own lunch contrasted unfavourably with the quantities of food provided for harvest workers for a week on one farm.
31 cheeses, 50 lb. of butter, 82 lb. of beef, two flitches of bacon, salt, honey, pears, vegetables, wheat, malt and hops for brewing. Half a pound of cloves and mace, two pounds of prunes, half a pound of sugar.
The ringing of the phone surprised him; he hastily swallowed his mouthful of bread and cheese and lifted the handset.
‘Hallo, it’s me.’
‘Chris?’
The boss, Chris said, had fixed up a job miles away, in the next county.
‘Some new shopping centre development just starting. We’re knocking down some old garages and workshops.’
‘That’s good, isn’t it? I mean there’ll be work there for a long time, won’t there?’
‘Yeah, but as long as I’m here, I can’t do anything at the house in the evenings. I’m either stuck in this B&B he’s put us in, or spending all my time driving backwards and forwards. And a fortune in petrol. Anyway, I’ve fixed up with a bloke to finish the roof this week, so don’t worry if you see him around. And if it’s OK with you, I’ll give you my mobile number, just in case there’s any problems at the house.’ He reeled off the number, and Rob wrote it down in his all-purpose notebook.
The bloke duly came and laid the new tiles on the roof. Rob saw him working, but there was never an opportunity to speak. Very early on the Friday morning he was awoken by a noise which proved to be two men with a lorry removing the scaffolding. Since the lorry had a company name and telephone number which was listed in the phone book, Rob assumed they were not thieves making away with the scaffolding.
Emily was not at the class that evening. Rob was relieved at first; he had not yet looked at the writing she had asked him to transcribe. The relief turned to concern when it emerged she had not contacted any of her friends among the other students to let them know she would be absent. She rarely missed a class, and always sent her apologies when she did. Rob knew Emily had no relatives living locally. He decided he would call and see her, in case she was ill and needed anything.
He was still getting to know the new members of the class and finding out what they were hoping to learn about their families.
‘My grandmother always said her family were the rightful owners of some land in London,’ one man said. ‘They were cheated out of it. She always said we’d be rich if we could prove it was ours.’
‘Family legends often have a grain of truth in them,’ Rob said diplomatically. ‘But they become distorted over time. They shouldn’t ever be accepted at face value. There are no short cuts in historical research. Don’t accept what Aunt Jane tells you as fact. Always look for documentary evidence to confirm it. We have to follow the evidence. We can’t base our research on assumptions.’
On Saturday morning Rob set out to walk the couple of miles to Emily’s home on the outskirts of Wynderbury. As he closed his front door, he saw Chris’s old white van parked outside, but no sign of Chris; he must be working inside the house, Rob thought. It was a chilly morning; he covered the distance to Emily’s house briskly, weaving through crowds of Saturday shoppers and cutting through backstreets. As he turned the corner into Emily’s street of neat nineteen-thirties semis, Rob was thinking hopefully of coffee and homemade cakes.
Emily’s front door was opened by a young woman in a smart business suit, her dark hair sleekly styled.
‘Oh – um – I’ve come to see Emily – Miss Finch,’ Rob said, taken by surprise.
‘Who are you?’ asked the young woman – demanded was more the word for it, Rob thought.
‘Rob Tyler. I’m – a friend.’ His actual relationship with Emily was too complicated to explain on the doorstep. The young woman looked him up and down and seemed to decide he was harmless.
‘I’m Claire Leighton. Emily’s my great aunt. Did you want something in particular?’
‘No – well, yes. Emily wasn’t where she was supposed to be yesterday evening. Some of us were concerned. I’d thought I’d call and see if she was all right. Knowing she doesn’t have any family nearby, I mean.’
Rob’s concern was growing. The great-niece’s visit must have been unexpected, or Emily would have let someone know. She was not dressed for a weekend visit to an elderly relative, more as if she had been called away from work unexpectedly.
‘Is Emily ill?’ he asked directly.
‘No, not exactly. I suppose you’d better come in.’ She held the door wider, ushering him into the hall. ‘She’s in hospital. Wynderbury and District. The house was broken into. Auntie Emily came home unexpectedly and found them here. They knocked her down and ran.’
‘That’s awful. Was she very badly hurt?’
‘She’s shocked and bruised, they say. They kept her in because she banged her head, because of her age and because she lives alone. She should be home in a day or two.’
‘When did it happen?’
‘Thursday. We didn’t know straight away. She phoned my sister first – she lives nearest – and Laura called me at the office yesterday afternoon. I came straight down.’
‘What about your – father, is it?’ Rob knew that Emily’s nearest relatives were a nephew and his wife who lived in another town in the county.
‘Away in Spain. We’ve let him know, of course, but there’s nothing he can do.’
‘Did they take anything?’
‘We don’t know. Nothing obvious is missing, but we won’t know for sure until Auntie Emily comes home and can check her bits and pieces. They don’t seem to have gone upstairs. Probably Auntie Emily coming home scared them off before they had time. The only thing they seem to have gone for is that damn shopping trolley of hers – the stuff’s all over the floor in the dining room.’
‘Can I do anything?’ Rob asked out of politeness rather than because he thought there would be anything. Claire Leighton did not look as if she needed help from anyone. However, she said,
‘Yes, there is something. Auntie Emily wants a few things. You could take them to the hospital, if you wouldn’t mind.’
‘Yes, I’d be glad to.’
Claire handed him a small suitcase which was standing in the hall.
‘Laura had already left to visit her when she rang this morning and I can’t leave the house. The bastards broke the back door getting in. The police got it boarded up. I’m trying to get someone to come and fix it properly, but all I’m getting is answering machines, or promises that someone will call back. That’s no good. Auntie Emily can’t come back here until the house is properly secure.’
Rob saw the Yellow Pages lying open next to the telephone on the hall table.
‘I might be able to help with that,’ he said. ‘Can I – ?’ He gestured to the telephone.
‘Go ahead.’ Claire stepped back, leaning against the wall, arms folded, watching him. Rob took his notebook from his pocket and leafed through it, looking for the mobile number Chris had given him. He would have hesitated to ask a favour for himself, bu
t for Emily it was different. Chris answered promptly.
‘Chris? Rob Tyler, from Gladstone Street. Can you do me a favour?’ He explained the situation. Chris briefly expressed his opinion of bastards who beat up old ladies in their own homes, then said,
‘I’m at Rollins, the builders’ merchants. They’re getting some stuff together for me. I’ll have to wait for that, pay for it, get it back to the house and unload. Where do you want me to come?’
Rob told him.
‘Yeah, I know it. Soon as I can, OK?’
‘Thanks. I owe you one.’
‘No problem. Call it quits for last week, and for keeping an eye on the house when I’m not there.’
Rob ended the call and turned to Claire.
‘He’ll be round as soon as he can.’
Claire looked as if she’d believe it when she saw it, but only said,
‘What’s his name?’
‘Chris Bailey. You don’t want me to wait – ?’
‘No, that’s all right. I’ve got things to do, phone calls to make. ’
Rob found himself outside the house with the suitcase, the door shut firmly behind him. The hospital was on the opposite side of town. He stopped on the way to snatch a quick lunch and buy a bunch of flowers. He did not know what Emily liked, but felt unable to go empty handed.
Emily had a side room to herself. She was sitting in a chair beside her bed, a young woman – Rob assumed it was the other great niece – beside her. Rob was shocked at his first sight of Emily. Her face was bruised and swollen and her normally neatly dressed hair looked as if it had not been washed or combed for several days. However, she seemed very pleased to see him. Introductions were made. Laura Leighton was fairer, plumper, less well dressed and less self assured than her sister. She said to Rob,
‘If you’re Auntie’s friend, perhaps you can persuade her. She shouldn’t go home when they let her out of here. She should stay with me or Claire.’
‘We’ve already talked about this,’ Emily said. ‘Where would you put me, in that tiny flat of yours?’
‘I could sleep on the sofa.’
‘I wouldn’t hear of it, when you have to go out to work every day.’
Laura was a teacher, Rob vaguely remembered, in a town about thirty miles away. He did not know what Claire’s job was. All he knew, from Emily, was that she had a law degree and worked for some big company in London. Emily had said that Claire had always been considered the clever one in the family, and was very successful at what she did.
‘And anyway,’ Emily went on, ‘You won’t want me there when your boyfriend comes to visit!’
Laura looked uncomfortable at the reference to her personal affairs. Emily continued,
‘And Claire works such long hours, if I went to stay with her, I’d be on my own most of the time, with nothing to do. No, I’m going home, where I’ll have all my own things around me.’
‘Then I’ll take some time off and come and stay with you,’ said Laura, a stubborn expression on her face.
‘In termtime? Your headmaster won’t like that, will he?’
‘You shouldn’t be on your own.’
‘I won’t be on my own. I have plenty of friends who’ll look after me. And now Rob’s here to keep me company, there’s no need for you to stay. You’ve given up so much of your time. Laura was here even before visiting started,’ she added to Rob. ‘So she spent a long time just waiting before she could come in.’ She turned back to Laura. ‘I know how much preparation and paperwork you have to do at weekends. You mustn’t give up any more time for me.’
‘But I want to,’ Laura said obstinately. Rob stood rather awkwardly to one side. He did not think Laura was helping Emily, but did not see how he could intervene.
‘I expect Rob and I will talk about family history. You’ll be bored,’ Emily said.
‘No I won’t!’
‘Yes you will. I know you only pretend to be interested out of politeness. So off you go now and enjoy the rest of your weekend.’
Laura looked sulky, but she stood, gathered her belongings, and kissed Emily goodbye. In order to be sure she actually left, Rob escorted her to the lift, keeping up a steady stream of assurances that Emily would be all right and ignoring her continuing protestations and backward looks. He saw the doors close on her and returned to Emily feeling exhausted from this short encounter. Emily must be tougher than she looked if she could survive hours of Laura Leighton on top of being burgled and beaten up, and still appear cheerful.
‘She means well,’ Emily said, as Rob sat down in the chair vacated by Laura. ‘But she has always taken things too much to heart. I remember when she was in her first job, here in Wynderbury. It was a school on the Greenway, do you know it?’
Rob knew of the Greenway estate, regarded as a blot on the otherwise pleasant city of Wynderbury.
‘She used to be so upset at some of the things the children went through – broken homes and so on. I’m glad she isn’t working there any more. And now she’s got this boyfriend – it’s silly to say boyfriend, Laura’s nearly thirty. She’s the older one, you know, although Claire always seems more – anyway, I suppose Laura’s friend must be over thirty, so boyfriend isn’t right, but man friend doesn’t sound right either, does it? Well, what I meant to say was that none of us have met him yet, I don’t think she’s known him very long, but it seems to be serious.’
Such a long speech seemed to tire Emily out. She leaned back in the chair and briefly closed her eyes. Rob thought she seemed much smaller than when he had last seen her.
‘Shall I leave you to rest?’ he said.
‘No, please stay and talk to me. How did you know I was here? Did I miss anything interesting at the class yesterday?’
Rob explained that he had been to the house and met Claire. He indicated the small case that he had put down beside the bed.
‘But what happened, exactly?’ he asked. ‘If it won’t upset you to talk about it, that is. Have the police been to see you?’
‘Yes, they came yesterday morning. But I don’t think I was much help. Everything happened so quickly, I really don’t remember much. Laura said the concussion has probably made me muddled, and I should just try to forget about it.’
‘Concussion? I didn’t know you’d been knocked out.’
‘Yes. Only for a moment or two, I think. Anyway, Laura said probably the police wouldn’t catch anyone, so I wouldn’t have to identify anyone, or go to court and swear to anything.’
Rob thought Laura was probably right about that.
‘I fell when they pushed past me,’ Emily went on. ‘Did I say there were two of them?’
‘Why don’t you start at the beginning?’
‘Well, it was Thursday evening. I was going to the Garden History class, you know.’
Rob did know. Emily was as much a permanent fixture at the Garden History class as she was at the Family History class.
‘I set out, and I’d got as far as the bus stop, when I remembered I’d promised to lend someone a book. I was early, so I thought I’d have time to go back for it and catch the next bus.’
Emily had let herself in, gone to the dining room at the back of the house to get the book, and surprised the housebreakers there.
‘Two of them, quite young men. Boys, even, I think. I haven’t got anything worth stealing, you know. One or two bits of my mother’s jewellery, and I suppose the dvd player and things like that. I know people will take anything when they want money for drugs. But I can’t imagine why they were turning out my family history. Just throwing everything all over the floor! All the photographs, and the letters my father wrote to my mother when he was in the army, and all the documents I’ve collected over the years – ’
Emily’s voice shook, and a couple of tears spilled over and trickled down her cheeks. Rob patted her hand and handed her the box of tissues from the bedside table and poured her a glass of water. Emily blew her nose, dabbed her eyes, sipped some water, and continued.
‘I was so surprised. I mean, you don’t expect to go into your house and find burglars there, do you? I must have made some noise, or called out, or something, because one of them looked up and saw me. He said something to the other one, and they just pushed past me and ran out. That’s when I fell. I must have hit my head as I went down. Anyway, when I came to I was able to get to the phone and dial 999.’
‘What did they look like? Would you know them again?’
‘I really didn’t see them. One was quite tall, I think, and the other one was smaller. They were wearing those tops with hoods that boys wear, and they both had the hoods up. I didn’t see their faces.’
‘One of them spoke, you said.’
‘Yes. The police asked me what he sad and what his voice was like. I really can’t remember – it all happened so fast!’
Emily was becoming distressed again. Rob reassured her, and offered to help her sort out the family history when she was well enough. She thanked him.
‘But I don’t understand why they were going through it. It’s very valuable to me, but it’s not worth anything to anyone else.’
‘Perhaps it’s just that people have seen how important it is to you, so they thought you might keep something valuable in there,’ Rob suggested. He did not think it was very likely himself, but it was the best he could come up with.
Chapter Four
Rob found Chris working on his house in Gladstone Street that evening. He had fixed the door at Emily’s house to Claire Leighton’s satisfaction.
‘Though she watched me the whole time as if she thought I was going to make off with the family silver or something. Then the other one arrived and there was a lot of argy bargy about her wanting to go and tidy up the back room and the Claire girl not letting her. Something about leaving it for Auntie because she knew where everything went and getting upset if stuff was put back wrong.’
They ended up next door at Rob’s house with a couple of takeaway meals. Chris pointed out repairs that were needed and improvements that could be made.
The Plantagenet Mystery Page 3