Over and Out

by Fenella J Miller

  They were a mile from home when Grey started to growl deep in his throat. Jack wobbled to a halt and she stopped beside him.

  ‘What is it, boy, what can you see ahead of us?’

  Ellie moved closer to Jack and he put his arm around her shoulders. ‘Don’t worry, honey, our dog’s protection enough.’ He shone the tiny pinprick of light from his torch in the direction the dog was looking.

  ‘We never asked exactly where it took place. Do you think it could have been here? Is that what Grey can sense?’

  ‘Do you want to push the bikes the rest of the way or are you happy to continue as we were?’

  ‘The quicker we get home the happier I’ll be so I’ll pedal. I suppose we should be grateful it’s not snowing but quite mild.’

  She swung her leg over the saddle and was about to push off when the dog snarled and launched himself into the darkness.

  *

  A man’s scream of protest shattered the silence, immediately followed by a shout. ‘Get this bloody dog off me. I’ll get the police on you.’

  ‘Grey, leave. Come. Good dog,’ Jack yelled.

  Instantly the snarling stopped and seconds later the dog arrived at his side, wagging his tail. A few moments later an irate man in tweeds and trilby staggered into view. There was no sign of blood but his smart jacket was badly ripped.

  ‘That’s the second time I’ve been attacked by that dog. I’m going to insist that you have it put down. It’s a danger to society.’

  ‘I apologise, sir, but Grey has only been our dog for the past three days and certainly hasn’t attacked you—’

  ‘You are an imbecile, young man. Look – he knocked me over and tore my new jacket. If that’s not a vicious attack, I don’t know what is.’

  Ellie stepped in before he could say something rude. ‘Our dog didn’t bite you but he has obviously caused you some distress and ruined your jacket. We will of course pay to have it repaired or replaced. We sincerely apologise for our dog but you must realise he was doing his job as he thought he was protecting us. Our housekeeper was murdered not far from here, as I’m sure you know.’

  Mentioning Mary was enough to stop his bluster. ‘I accept your apology. I expect my tailor can repair this and I’ll send the bill to you. The Rookery – but I don’t know your name, madam.’

  ‘I am First Officer Reynolds and this is my husband, Squadron Leader Reynolds. And you are?’

  ‘I’m Robert Thackery, I live with my wife at Rose Cottage.’

  He recognised the name immediately as being the husband of one of Mary’s coven. He didn’t have a dog, the public house would be closed today as it was Sunday, so what the hell was he doing wandering about on his own in the dark?

  ‘Good evening, Mr Thackery.’ He indicated they should move off and Ellie responded. The dog stayed inches away from them. When he put his hand on his head, he could feel the animal’s tension and his hackles were still up. For some reason he didn’t like this man and he wanted to know why.

  The cat was inside, having gone in through the half open pantry window. After unlocking the door, he took the dog down to close the chicken coop leaving Ellie to get the kettle on. The blackouts were already drawn as they’d done that before they’d left earlier.

  There’d been no eggs for a couple of days but he was sure that there were half a dozen on the slate shelf.

  ‘Do you want anything to eat? I’m still full from that enormous lunch but I can make you scrambled eggs if you want,’ she asked as he came into the kitchen.

  ‘I’ll have coffee and an extremely large slice of your delicious Victoria sponge. I don’t need anything else.’ He kissed the back of her neck as he walked past. His lips were cold. Her neck deliciously warm and he was tempted to make love to her there and then. Instead he suggested something more mundane.

  ‘I think we should look at what else is in the trunk before Inspector Gardner comes tomorrow.’

  ‘Must we?’ He nodded. ‘Okay, but let’s do it before we have the coffee and cake.’

  She found the old tablecloth she’d used before and together they lifted the trunk and put it on the table.

  ‘Now I’ve got my glasses I’ll be able to help you. Even though there’s nothing wrong with my right eye my brain seems to find it hard to focus when the left eye is giving mixed signals. I suppose I could have worn an eyepatch and looked like a pirate.’

  ‘In which case, if you start on the trunk, I’ll feed the animals. Grey’s happy to eat anything even if it’s vegetarian. I’ll give him the rest of the sprouts and so on, plus gravy and some of the leg meat from the cockerel.’

  Whilst she was doing this in the pantry he called through. ‘I thought it a bit odd that the man was wandering around in the dark, didn’t you?’

  ‘I did.’ There was a rattle and the sound of the dog wolfing down his supper and then she joined him at the table. ‘I wonder why Grey doesn’t like him. He said he’d been attacked twice. The first time might well have been when he was living with Stan and Eliza. I’ll leave her a note tomorrow asking about it.’

  It took an hour to sort through the papers and ledgers but there was nothing else of significance in there. Apart from the one about the trust fund, the rest were historical documents written by Mary’s ancestors.

  ‘I suppose we should refer to her as Lady Mary, but she’ll always be Mary to me.’

  ‘Some of these things are more than two hundred years old. Why did she bring them with her if she didn’t want anything to do with her family?’

  ‘Possibly she wanted to preserve her history and thought that the current members were somehow letting the side down.’

  He didn’t fall sleep immediately despite their passionate lovemaking. Thackery had seemed to be a harmless sort of guy but the reaction of the dog niggled at him. Grey was a gentle giant, and for him to attack someone without provocation seemed out of character. There was nothing he could do about it now but he would mention it to Gardner when he saw him next.

  Eighteen

  Ellie landed the massive Lancaster smoothly and was in the air in the taxi heading for White Waltham within the hour. She was glad she was getting back tonight. There was ample time on the noisy flight for her to think about what had happened over the past week. Had the inspector called in to see Jack or would he wait until they were both at home?

  By the time she’d stacked her flight gear in the locker he was outside waiting for her. ‘Just made it.’ She gave him a quick hug. ‘Did the police come?’

  ‘I got a phone call from one of his minions saying he would be coming around six o’clock this evening.’

  ‘That’s good as we’ll have time to have tea before he arrives.’

  As they left the ferry pool she was shocked to find Grey sitting by the hedge. He charged up to them wagging his tail and whining.

  ‘What are you doing here? Silly dog – you’ll get into trouble if you wander about on your own.’ She fussed him and Jack did the same.

  ‘I did think he might come looking for us. He must have followed our scent as he was shut in first thing. I thought he would be happy to stay with Stan or Eliza as he lived with them for three weeks.’

  The dog trotted along close to the hedge and next to Jack’s bicycle. ‘Look, Eliza’s hanging over the gate.’ She waved and pointed to the dog and Eliza waved back and then vanished.

  ‘At least the cat didn’t come too,’ Jack said as they headed inside.

  Eliza was hovering in the passageway. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Stan’s here. We want to talk to you. Ever so sorry about the dog, he shot off half an hour ago but good as gold up ’til then.’

  The dog padded beside them and wriggled his way under the table in the centre of the kitchen. Something tasty was simmering on the range and two golden pies were cooling on the dresser.

  Stan was in his socks and shifting from foot to foot. There was something definitely up and her heart sunk to her boots.

  ‘Is there any tea in the pot?�
�� Jack said with a smile that helped to lighten the atmosphere.

  ‘You sit down, both of you, I’ll bring it over. There’s chicken and vegetable soup, then a nice slice of chicken pie and bubble and squeak. I made bread-and-butter pudding for afters.’

  Ellie exchanged a glance with Jack. Whatever the two of them had to tell them it must be bad for such a feast to be prepared when all they expected was a simple one course supper.

  ‘What’s wrong? Has something happened to upset you?’

  ‘No, Mrs Reynolds. We should have told you before about the dog. He never settled with us, neither him nor the cat, and we had to lock him in the shed of a night.’ Eliza twisting her hands on her apron. ‘It’s like this, he got out last week, it were the night that poor Mrs Hatfield died.’

  There was a sour taste in Ellie’s mouth.

  ‘Was he out any other night?’

  ‘No, sir, only that time. He came back with a large piece of material in his jaws. We were that terrified he’d hurt someone we never let him out again unless he were on a lead.’

  Ellie’s stomach was churning, her hands were clammy. From somewhere she found her voice. ‘I don’t suppose you still have the material, do you?’

  ‘Stan’s got it in his pocket, ain’t you? Give it over to them, there’s a love.’

  The piece of cloth was a thick tweed, very similar to the jacket that Mr Thackery had been wearing last night. She wasn’t sure if Stan and Eliza had made the connection or were just concerned that they’d handed over a possibly dangerous dog.

  ‘Don’t worry about it, he’s our responsibility now and we’ll apologise to whoever it was and make sure we pay for the damage.’

  ‘That’s all right then. If you don’t mind, we’ll be getting off. I expect that big lummox will come to meet you every day from now on.’

  She and Jack escorted them out and they left unaware that the piece of torn cloth was so important.

  ‘Do you think that man we met last night might have killed Mary?’

  ‘I’m afraid that I do, darling. He could have been out looking for that piece of material.’

  ‘I’ve lost my appetite for the moment. Shall we wait until after the police have been?’

  The dog barked and rushed to the front door. Moments later there was a knock. The inspector had arrived early, thank goodness.

  ‘If you let him in, Jack, I’ll bring the tea and the remainder of the cake to the drawing room. I don’t want to talk about murders and murderers in the kitchen.’ This sounded a silly thing to say in the circumstances but he understood and didn’t quibble.

  She carried the tray in a few minutes later to find the two policemen still on their feet. They had, however, removed their outer garments and placed them neatly over the back of a chair.

  ‘Good evening. Please do sit down.’

  ‘Good evening to you, Mrs Reynolds,’ Inspector Gardner said.

  From their demeanour Jack had obviously not told them anything about the dog and the torn coat. She wasn’t sure if they should wait and see what he had to say, or speak first.

  ‘We’ve looked into Lady Mary’s family. It would seem that her father died when she was a child and her brother, who inherited the title, was killed at the Somme. A distant cousin and his family took over and as the entire estate was entailed, she was no longer welcome.’

  ‘That doesn’t explain why she changed her name and didn’t claim her trust fund.’

  ‘I was coming to that, Mrs Reynolds. Lady Mary was involved in an affair of the heart with a married man. It seems it caused a bit of scandal at the time. There was a witch hunt.’ He smiled wryly. ‘I apologise, no pun intended. The man’s family were making life difficult for them so they moved away and she took the title of Mrs Hatfield.’

  ‘What about the child?’

  ‘He wasn’t adopted as far as we know, as we can’t find any records. I think it possible she might have handed over the baby to Mr Hatfield’s family.’

  Jack helped himself to cake – all the excitement obviously wasn’t spoiling his appetite. She waited for him to tell the policemen their news but he gestured to her to carry on.

  ‘We’ve discovered some information that we think might be important.’ She explained their theory and Jack handed over a piece of material.

  ‘Great Scott! Thackery’s a solicitor’s clerk at the same company that Lady Mary dealt with. He must have known about the legacy to his wife, but I don’t see how he could know her true identity or about the trust fund.’

  Jack finished his mouthful. ‘I seem to recall that it didn’t specify how much money they were being left, just that Mrs Thackery was to receive one fifth of her estate. Maybe he believed she had a fortune as it didn’t state how much money there actually was.’

  ‘I’m afraid, sir, that people have been killed for far less. Nowadays a hundred pounds is a small fortune.’

  ‘Are you going to arrest him immediately?’ Ellie asked.

  ‘He will be invited to accompany us to the station. Once he’s safely in custody we can complete our investigation.’ He put his mug back on the tray and brushed crumbs from his neatly creased trousers. ‘Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. A nasty business and upsetting for both of you.’

  There were handshakes all round and then the two men left, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to return.

  ‘I’ve a horrible feeling we’re going to be called as witnesses when the trial starts.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it now, honey, let’s just be glad Mary has got justice so swiftly. Grey saw what happened – shame he can’t tell us. I think he must have come across that bastard after he’d killed Mary and attacked him.’

  The dog had heard his name being mentioned and thumped his tail noisily on the floor. ‘Good boy, you’re a great dog. I’m going to get you a big bone from the butcher’s next week.’

  ‘He needs a collar with his name on it.’ She came over to fuss the huge animal who flopped onto the floor and rolled on his back in a most undignified way. ‘Mind you, there won’t be two dogs like him, and everyone in the vicinity must be well aware that he lives here with us now.’

  ‘Another thing we’ve got to get is a brush.’ He rubbed the dog’s tummy with his foot. ‘Can’t let you get scruffy, can we old boy?’

  *

  That night as Jack was about to drift off, he was woken by Ellie touching his face. ‘I’ve been wondering if the trust fund will now be divided between the five in her will or if it’s no longer valid because it was written under an assumed name.’

  ‘Go to sleep, darling, not our problem.’

  ‘I can’t sleep. There’s too much to think about.’

  Gently he turned her to face him and kissed her. ‘I can think of one way to take your mind off everything.’

  ‘Twice in one night? I don’t think so, Squadron Leader Reynolds.’

  Eventually they fell asleep, pleasantly exhausted, in each other’s arms. If they didn’t have a baby it certainly wouldn’t be for want of trying.

  April 1944

  Both Jack and Ellie worked non-stop in the run-up to D-Day. The once empty roads all over the south were full of endless convoys of lorries, tanks and bulldozers heading towards the invasion ports. He was asked on more than one occasion to deputise for Frankie as he was needed to fly something somewhere.

  Thackery had been arrested and charged with the murder. His trial had been speedy and he was sentenced to die as it had been premediated murder. The legal blokes were still trying to sort out Mary’s estate, but as far as he was concerned the matter was closed.

  They’d been so busy they hadn’t had time to visit the new arrival. Fiona and George had called the baby Penelope and she must have been three months old now. His brother-in-law had moved his family to a bigger house but still in St Albans.

  The telephone rang on his desk. ‘Reynolds here. How can I help?’

  There was a whirring and clicking and he was connected to Fred. ‘Sorry to dis
turb you, son, but just wanted to check if you’re going to be able to make the christening at the weekend. Mabel and I are just leaving now.’

  ‘We’ve not taken any leave since February and Frankie has agreed we can have three days. Ellie’s doing a priority job but should be back tonight. Our leave starts then so we’ll see you sometime tomorrow.’

  ‘Looking forward to it, Jack my boy, been too long since we saw either of you.’ He didn’t say goodbye and the phone went dead. Neither Mabel nor Fred were comfortable using the telephone. They could have rung him at home as they’d been connected for several weeks now and he wasn’t sure why they hadn’t done so.

  Stan and Eliza were going to stay in the house whilst they were away and look after the animals and chickens. They’d been tickled pink to be asked as their own cottage was just a two up two down.

  His overnight bag was safely stowed under the desk. It would be a bit more complicated when they had to take a change of clothes – now all they needed was a clean shirt and underwear as they always travelled in uniform.

  The only downside of having leave was that his desk would be piled high with things nobody else had dealt with in his absence. He was getting a taxi to Hatfield and Ellie would be waiting for him there. It wasn’t far to St Albans from that pool and he hoped there’d be a bus or something they could catch.

  When he arrived at Hatfield he saw her waving by the admin building and broke into a run. ‘What’s wrong, Ellie? Why the frantic beckoning?’

  ‘We’ve got a lift to St Albans but the driver’s waiting to leave. If you’d been even five minutes later we’d have missed it.’

  The car engine was running and they only just made it. ‘Gosh, thank you for waiting. It’s so kind of you doing this for us.’

  The WAAF engaged the gears before they’d had time to settle on the back seat. ‘Glad to help. Sorry about the rush but I’ve got to take someone else somewhere else and don’t want to keep them waiting.’

  ‘There’s so much more traffic about nowadays. The roads are congested with military vehicles heading for the coast.’ Ellie pushed her bag between her feet as he’d done with his. ‘When I flew over Southampton today the harbour was half full of ships. The invasion must be going to take place fairly soon.’