Blue Moon Investigations series Boxed Set 1

by steve higgs

  The front door was locked for the first time since I had arrived, thankfully the key to my room had the second key for the front door on the same ring. I had been carrying it with me since I arrived so was able to let us both in.

  Upstairs, at least the room was unmolested, but the dogs were gone along with their leads and Mum was still not answering her phone. Mum wasn’t in the room and there was no note from her. I gave up on calling her and rang Roberta.

  She answered on the third ring. ‘Hi, Tempest.’ there was a slightly sexy purr to her voice, like she was thinking private thoughts about naked romping and I had just interrupted them. ‘What are you up to right now?’

  ‘Sorry, Roberta. I have a bit of an emergency and I need your help.’

  She switched to her serious voice. ‘What do you need me to do?’

  ‘My Mother has gone missing. She left us a mysterious note saying that she was off to follow your Aunt.’ I needed to tell Roberta a little more now. ‘Roberta, your Aunt might be mixed up in the ghost thing.’

  ‘Rubbish, Tempest.’

  ‘Not just her, Roberta. I think several of the residents are. The business owners and council.’ I held back from saying I thought her Mum might be at the apex of the conspiracy.

  ‘Tempest, do you have any evidence at all?’ she demanded.

  ‘Not yet. Not a damned thing.’

  She was quiet for a moment as if thinking. I gave her the moment but then had to press her. ‘Roberta, my Mum is missing. Let’s assume I am wrong about everything; she has still followed your Aunt somewhere. Where might she be?’

  ‘Where might my Aunt be at this time on a Thursday? I have no idea, Tempest. Somewhere in Cawsand.’

  ‘Help me narrow it down, Roberta. Your Aunt owns a couple of businesses. What are they? I need to start looking in places where she might be, and I could do with your help before she gets herself into trouble.’ I had pleading in my voice.

  ‘Okay, Tempest. Let’s work together, I am sure we can find your Mum.’ Roberta outlined three places we should start looking and said that she would go to go to one now as it was near her house. If there was no one there she would come to us as we checked out two other places near the shore. If we struck out at all three, we would meet and discuss where else we could look.

  We disconnected. ‘Ready?’ I asked Dad. He had changed into dry gear but had on much the same rugged outdoor clothing as before. Wondering what we would be heading into I wanted to put on my combat gear and armour. It was at home though where it belonged, so I settled for grey jeans and a pair of walking boots plus a dark sweater over the top. We were basically going to be sneaking around the village looking in windows for murdering conspirators. Bright clothing would not be appropriate for the task.

  I left Mum a note on the bed and task done the pair of us rushed out, down the stairs and out into the street. In the ten minutes we had been inside the cloud bank had crept in and blackened out the little natural light that might remain at this time of day. It was getting foggy too. This close to the shore the weather conditions could change suddenly. I knew that, but this had been threatening most of the day and had finally arrived.

  The conditions were irrelevant. The fog might penetrate our clothes if we are out in it for long enough but that would not matter and could not be allowed to delay or deter us. The first place Roberta had advised we look was a warehouse just out of town. It was less than a mile away, but even at a fast pace it would take us a good ten minutes to get there as the streets prevented anything like a direct route. It was an old canning factory, if Roberta’s information was correct, from back when they used to land huge amounts of sardines here. It had long since been closed but looking through the windows it was clear that some of the machinery was still there. It was tucked into the cliff side and well hidden behind overgrown foliage and trees. It would have made a great place for secret conspiracy meetings – the co-conspirators could slip away in the dark and find their way there using the moonlight. No one from the village below would be able to see them.

  We had approached slowly and with caution in case this was where Mum had followed Tilda to. If this was as deep as I thought it might be, they could even have a guard outside looking out for intruders. There was no one though and it became quickly clear that no one had been here for days or perhaps weeks.

  We turned around and headed back towards the village.

  I checked my watch: 1815hrs. My stomach gave a rumble that was audible enough for my Dad to hear. Neither one of us made any comment. It had been four hours since we left Mum this afternoon to check out spots along the coastline. Out fruitless search had left Mum exposed. I could not be sure at what time she had set off as my phone had recorded when I received the message not when it was sent but I had to assume that she had been missing for the best part of four hours now. It was not a welcome calculation.

  My mental musings were interrupted by a light coming from ahead of us. We had just reached the edge of the village again, stepping off the dirt path that led to the sardine factory and back onto the road where the two met there were now houses before us.

  Blocking our path were three skeletal pirates brandishing cutlasses and somehow pulling off a bored expression with their grinning skulls.