As it was, they left Guildford at six o’clock and returned to the Hog’s Back Hotel.
* * *
A colleague, about to depart for his home, looked in on George Simmonds, who was clearing his desk in his Whitehall office.
‘Finch hasn’t turned up again today?’
‘I think Mrs Finch persuaded him to take a further day’s leave of absence.’
‘Must be the weather.’
‘If it’s like this again tomorrow, I’ll take a day off myself,’ said George Simmonds.
‘Well, things are all quiet on the Western Front.’
‘Simmering, old man, simmering.’
‘Goodnight, I’m off to enjoy some simmering braised steak.’
‘Goodnight,’ said George Simmonds, who had no worries on his mind concerning Edwin Finch taking a second day off.
Well, in this particular Whitehall department, no-one was strictly employed on an unimaginative nine-to-five basis.
‘Oh, Mr Adams.’ Miss Jordan came out of reception as Boots and his party entered the hotel.
‘Something to tell me?’ enquired Boots.
‘Oh, crikey, have you, Miss Jordan?’ asked Rosie.
‘Just that Captain Arnold hoped you’d be back before now,’ said Miss Jordan. ‘He wanted to see you. He’s out now, but will be back about nine. He hopes to see you then.’
‘We’ll wait, certainly,’ said Boots, ‘and have dinner.’
‘Did you have any luck in Guildford?’ asked Miss Jordan.
‘Rosie found a point-duty policeman who saw the car yesterday, and was able to tell her it contained four people, three men and a woman,’ said Boots.
‘One of the men could have been your stepfather?’
‘Could have been, yes,’ said Boots.
‘Had to be, old sport,’ said Polly, ‘and that’s not wishful thinking.’
‘Did Captain Arnold mention what he wanted to see me about?’ asked Boots of Miss Jordan. ‘Something he’d forgotten to tell me?’
‘He didn’t say, Mr Adams,’ said Miss Jordan.
‘Well, I wish he’d left a note for us,’ said Chinese Lady. ‘Still, you’re very kind, Miss Jordan, I must say.’
‘I’m only too pleased to be as helpful as possible,’ said the receptionist. ‘Did you go to the police in Guildford?’
‘We’re giving things a little while longer,’ said Boots.
‘Can we go to our rooms?’ asked Chinese Lady. ‘I’d like to freshen up before dinner.’
‘I’m in favour of that,’ said Polly.
‘Aren’t we all?’ said Rosie, who was inwardly dying for Boots to come up trumps, to discover something that would mean restoring Grandpa to Grandma. It was the most awful crisis the family had ever faced, and she was sure everyone, all her aunts and uncles, were expecting Boots to perform miracles. She had once asked Uncle Sammy why he sometimes had a soppy look on his face when he was listening to her father. Well, Rosie, said Uncle Sammy, it’s not a soppy look, it’s the look I get when I feel I’m listening to the One Above. Rosie, not at all put out, said oh, yes, Uncle Sammy, I’ve heard about Daddy starting life as Lord Muck, so I suppose it’s only natural for him to have been promoted.
They left Miss Jordan and went upstairs to their rooms.
* * *
Cassie, round at Freddy’s that evening on the instinctive grounds that if she didn’t keep a permanent eye on him he might make some other girl his best mate, informed him that Mrs Harper had said yes, two parrots probably would fight if you put them in a cage together.
‘I’d bet on them peckin’ each other to death,’ said Sally, Freddy’s sister, who worked in one of the Adams’ ladies’ shops.
‘So if I bought another parrot, I’d ’ave to buy another cage as well,’ said Cassie. ‘Of course, if I bought the parrot, I expect Freddy might buy the cage, then we could call it our parrot, couldn’t we, Freddy?’
‘I don’t know what’s ’appening to me lately,’ said Freddy, ‘I’m gettin’ so ’ard of ’earing I think I’m what they call deaf.’
‘Clever, you mean,’ said Sally.
‘You could always go to a doctor, Freddy,’ said Cassie.
‘Well, lovey, about parrots and cages,’ said Mrs Brown, ‘Freddy’s savin’ up to buy himself something for’is bike.’
‘Yes, a new dynamo for his lamp,’ said Mr Brown.
‘Oh, is he really?’ said Cassie. ‘Is it to lighten ’is darkness more when I’m ridin’ with ’im?’
‘What else?’ said Sally.
‘Freddy spends a lot of what he keeps of his wages on clothes,’ said Mrs Brown, fondly proud that her younger son always looked nice. ‘He likes bein’ a credit to us.’
Mr Brown coughed. Sally rolled her eyes. Freddy grinned.
‘Yes, you do dress nice, Freddy,’ said Cassie.
‘I’m goin’ to sell him a pretty Sunday frock when he comes to the shop,’ said Sally.
‘Oh, she’s not, is she, Freddy?’ said Cassie, alarmed.
‘With some sisters, yer know, Cassie, it’s a boon to be ’ard of ’earing,’ said Freddy. ‘Otherwise, you go off yer chump before you’re ten.’
‘Freddy, I’ll always be beside you if you ever get mental deficient,’ said Cassie with heart-warming loyalty. ‘Mrs ’Arper told me this mornin’ that her ’usband’s ’ealth is a bit deficient. He’s in bed, poor man, and ’is brother ’as got the sack, and Mrs ’Arper said they might ’ave to go back to ’Oxton.’
‘If that means we wouldn’t ’ave to go and talk to ’er potty parrot any more, I might come over all grateful,’ said Freddy. ‘Like a bike ride, Cassie?’
‘Love it,’ said Cassie. Away they went a little later, Cassie perched sideways on the carrier. ‘Freddy, do yer like me better as yer girlfriend than as yer best mate?’
‘What’s that you said?’ asked Freddy loudly.
‘Freddy, I can’t shout, not now we’re out on your bike,’ protested Cassie, ‘and why do I ’ave to?’
‘I keep goin’ deaf, that’s why,’ said Freddy.
‘Hello, is that you, Emily?’ asked Rachel over the phone.
‘Yes, who’s that?’ asked Emily.
‘Rachel. Is Boots there?’
‘No, he’s out, he’s away for a bit,’ said Emily.
‘Oh, yes, Sammy said he was out on specialized business,’ said Rachel. ‘I called in at the offices this afternoon to talk to Boots, and as he wasn’t in, I thought I’d phone him this evening.’
‘Is it important?’ asked Emily, who could only think of one thing that was important at the moment. She’d heard from Boots again, but not to any cheerful extent.
‘Oh, it’s just a little job I’m doing for him,’ said Rachel.
‘Oh, yes, I think I know about it,’ said Emily, ‘I’ll tell him to get in touch with you soon as he’s home.’
‘Thanks,’ said Rachel. ‘Tell him it’s all been a pleasure. Love to Rosie and Tim.’
‘Love to your two,’ said Emily. Rachel had two little girls, and a professional nursemaid.
‘Bye, love,’ said Rachel, hanging up. She was intrigued by the possible sale of the scrap metal business, by Boots’s opposition to it, and by the little part Boots had asked her to play.
As far as Sammy was concerned at the moment, the subject was out of his mind. He was giving it no thought whatever.
Chapter Eighteen
THEY HAD HAD dinner and were in the residents’ lounge. Only four other people were present, playing whist at a table in the far corner. Polly, having attended a college for young ladies before the war, was able to associate the further strain of waiting for Captain Arnold again with Pelion piled on Ossa. Rosie, because of family forthrightness, said Captain Arnold seemed an acceptable gentleman, but was a bit of a dirty stop-out. Chinese Lady, still showing fortitude, said she didn’t like to hear Rosie using dubious words. I could use some myself, said Polly, a source of strength from the moment she had offered to drive Boots to G
uildford. Rosie said I know it’s not being much of a lady to call Captain Arnold a dirty stop-out, Nana, but Miss Jordan said he’d be back by nine and it’s now gone half-past and it’s fraying my ladylike nerves. That raised a faint smile in Boots.
‘I share your feelings, Rosie,’ said Polly, ‘and I’m not sure we can always afford to be ladylike, so where’s the dirty stop-out got to?’
‘Oh, dear, Miss Simms, I don’t like us givin’ in to common language,’ said Chinese Lady.
‘It’s a jolly old help sometimes, Mrs Finch,’ said Polly, and Boots thought it extraordinary how well Polly got on with his mother. Chinese Lady not only admired Polly for doing her bit so courageously during the war, she also liked her. The liking was mutual.
‘I think we can let it go, old girl, as long as Rosie and Polly don’t start throwing things,’ he said. ‘I could swear a bit myself.’
‘Not in French, I hope,’ said Chinese Lady. ‘Boots picked up some very disreputable French words in the war, Miss Simms, which grieved me a bit as I never brought him up to be Frenchified.’
Polly, thinking of the language she’d heard the men of the trenches use, wanted to smile.
‘Penny for them, Aunt Polly,’ said Rosie.
Polly, wearing her new dress, a very sleek and silky creation of violet blue, said, ‘I’m thinking, Rosie, of how much time we seem to have spent looking for the invisible.’
‘Lord ’elp us,’ said Chinese Lady, eyes showing strain, ‘I don’t want to think that Edwin’s turned invisible.’
‘Ah, there you all are.’ Captain Arnold had suddenly materialized. ‘Miss Jordan said you were in here. Good evening, ladies. Mr Adams? Pleasure to see you again. I’ll join you, shall I?’ He pulled up a chair and sat down with them. ‘I understand from Miss Jordan, who’s hovering about in case you need her, that you’ve had a fairly blank day in Guildford. The bounders probably drove straight through the city.’
‘Did you have something to tell us?’ asked Chinese Lady.
‘Something you’ve remembered?’ said Rosie. ‘Is that what you mean?’
‘No, not at all,’ said Captain Arnold. ‘I rarely let details slip my memory.’
‘But didn’t you tell Miss Jordan you wanted to see us?’ asked Boots.
‘I did, old man, and I do,’ said the healthy-looking Captain. ‘A guest who checked out this afternoon, a lawyer by the name of Osborne, approached me a little while before he left.’
‘Oh, he had something to tell?’ said Rosie.
Captain Arnold recounted the conversation. Mr Osborne had learned of yesterday’s odd incident, and of the fact that Captain Arnold had offered the only clue, namely the hurried exit of a certain car. It seemed that Mr Osborne was in his room earlier. He was standing at his window, using its light to examine a very old will on behalf of a client. He noticed an attractively coloured car arrive. Two men and a woman alighted and looked around. They did not, however, make any move to enter the hotel, but got back into the car after less than a minute. The car stayed there, and he thought they were probably awaiting the arrival of friends. He moved from the window and five minutes later went down to enjoy a light tea. He gave the car and its occupants no further thought.
‘I’m sorry, old sport,’ said Polly, ‘but where does that get us?’
‘It tells us that at that stage, there were two men and a woman,’ said Boots. ‘Later, when the car was driving through Guildford, there were three men and a woman according to a traffic bobby. I’d say it confirms our suspicions, Captain Arnold, but doesn’t give us any idea of how to get on their tail.’
‘Well, old fellow,’ said Captain Arnold, ‘you’ve a description of the car, and Mr Osborne was able to give me descriptions of the two men and the woman. Both men were tall and well-built, both were wearing caps and not hats, and what Mr Osborne thought were ordinary grey serge suits. The woman was wearing a brown costume and a brown hat. He thought the men were in their thirties, the woman in her late twenties. Would your mother perhaps recognize these as descriptions of people with whom her husband was acquainted?’
‘I’m afraid I wouldn’t,’ said Chinese Lady.
‘Is he in business?’ asked Captain Arnold.
‘Grandpa’s a civil servant,’ said Rosie.
‘Is he now,’ said Captain Arnold, and rubbed his chin. He obviously thought the people described did not look like civil service acquaintances.
‘If they were people he knew, that would explain why they were able to get him to join them in their car,’ said Polly. ‘While he waited for you, Mrs Finch.’
‘Damn good shot, Miss Simms,’ said Captain Arnold, ‘bang on target, I’ll wager.’
‘Except that when my stepfather found himself being driven away before my mother had appeared, he’d have been raising hell when the car passed yours,’ said Boots. ‘He’d have done everything he could to attract your attention.’
‘Yes, he would,’ said Rosie, ‘he’d have been furious with those people.’
‘Yet I wouldn’t discount the possibility that he knew them, and that you’re right, Polly, in thinking it the reason why he joined them in their car,’ said Boots. His stepfather probably knew all kinds of people, dubious and otherwise, none of whom he would have thought of bringing home to meet Chinese Lady. ‘What’s suspicious is the act of allowing them to drive him away. If I know your grandpa, Rosie, he’d have had the back door of the car open before it began to pass Captain Arnold’s.’
‘Edwin never had suspicious acquaintances,’ said Chinese Lady, fidgeting and frowning.
‘Well,’ said Captain Arnold, ‘Mr Osborne’s exact description of the woman’s hat was brown with two green feathers, Mrs Finch. Would you have met any lady acquaintance of your husband who had a hat like that?’
‘Beg your pardon?’ said Chinese Lady.
‘Sounds frightfully old-fashioned,’ said Polly.
Boots sat up. Something had clicked.
‘Can we be clear about that, Captain Arnold?’ he said. ‘Mr Osborne definitely referred to a brown hat with two green feathers in it?’
‘He was definite about it to me,’ said Captain Arnold.
‘But you didn’t notice the feathers yourself when you caught your glimpse of the woman beside the driver?’
‘My glance was too brief,’ said Captain Arnold, ‘and in any case, old fellow, I imagine the feathers would have been touching the roof of the car.’
‘It’s not possible,’ said Boots. The comment was reflective, spoken to himself. His mind began to work overtime, drawing for him a picture of Cassie riding in his car with him in King and Queen Street and suddenly pointing out to him a lady who had a parrot, a lady called Mrs Harper who, with her husband and brother-in-law, had taken up occupation, according to Cassie, of the house that had once been the home of the witch-like Mrs Chivers and daughter Elsie. The picture, becoming clearer while Rosie gazed at him with the eyes of a girl who was closer to his mind than even his wife was, took in the hat Mrs Harper had been wearing, a brown one with two feathers. It was the kind of hat some cockney women would stick with however old-fashioned it was. But could he seriously consider the possibility that the woman in the car was Mrs Harper? What were the odds against two women owning identical hats? Then there was the brown costume. Mrs Harper had been wearing one of that colour when he saw her in King and Queen Street, coming from the market. Could a coincidence of that kind, identical hats and costumes, be credible?
‘Daddy?’ said Rosie, a little excitement showing.
‘I’m thinking, poppet.’
‘Daddy, you’re on to something.’ Rosie’s blue eyes were alight with the hope that he was going to perform his miracle.
‘Share your thoughts, Boots old scout,’ said Polly.
There was something else to think about, something that Cassie had said about Mrs Harper, the woman who had a talking parrot. Boots fastened on to it and its peculiar factor, feeling it could be made relevant if he gave it enough thought.
‘We’re going home,’ he said.
‘What, now?’ said Chinese Lady. ‘But it’s gone ten o’clock.’
‘The answer’s not here,’ said Boots, ‘nor in Guildford. It’s nearer home. Well, that’s my feeling now and I’m sticking with it until events blow it apart, which I hope they won’t. Captain Arnold, thanks very much for everything, a pleasure to have met you and to have had so much help from you.’
‘You’re able to get on the track of the bounders?’ said Captain Arnold.
‘We’re able to get on the track of a hopeful conclusion,’ said Boots.
‘Well, tell us, for God’s sake,’ said Polly.
‘I’ll talk on the way,’ said Boots, ‘and I’d like us to be on our way as soon as I’ve settled our bill.’
‘Oh, golly, Daddy, you’re the One Above all right,’ said Rosie, eyes shining.
‘Rosie, Rosie, that’s nearly blasphemy,’ said Chinese Lady in shock.
‘Nearer our God art thou, Boots,’ said Polly, close to laughter despite the traumatic nature of events and the fact that they were now going to ride on the back of what he’d referred to only as a hopeful conclusion.
‘I don’t like anyone saying such things,’ said Chinese Lady. All the same, she was a new woman. Boots, to her way of thinking, knew where to find Edwin. She’d talk to him afterwards about letting himself be called the One Above. When all was said and done, he was a music hall comedian most of the time. Still, he wasn’t her only oldest son for nothing, he was the most thinking one in the family.
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