Tea and Broken Biscuits

by Daphne Neville

  When Debbie arrived at Primrose Cottage she found the sisters ready and waiting; list of suspects on the sitting room table and biscuits on a plate.

  “I’ll make the coffee,” insisted Lottie, as Debbie took a seat, “but don’t start without me. Talk about the weather or something.”

  Hetty sat down opposite Debbie. “Lovely day again.”

  “Yes, it’s warm work walking up Long Lane in this heat.”

  “Mustn’t grumble though because we know when it does start to rain it’ll never stop.”

  “Very true. The scent of the lilac in your front garden is gorgeous. I could smell it before I even got to the gate.”

  “Yes, and for that reason I took several cuttings from it last year. They’ve all rooted so if you’d like one you’re more than welcome.”

  “That would be fantastic, thank you. I love lilac because it reminds me of when I was young.”

  Lottie called from the kitchen. “Coming now, so pull out a chair for me.”

  “Thank goodness,” laughed Hetty, as she did as her sister asked, “I’m itching to get on with things.”

  “Right,” said Debbie, once Lottie was seated and they all had mugs of coffee, “have you found anything out?”

  “Yes and no,” stated Hetty, “but first can you tell us all you know about Marlene and Gary?”

  Debbie wrinkled her nose. “Well, there’s not a great deal to tell because I’ve never had much to do with them. I know Marlene works at the village school as a dinner lady and they have two teenage children but then you probably know that anyway.”

  Hetty nodded. “Yes, we do. How about Gary?”

  “Gideon chatted with him when we first moved in because they both come from Lancashire so they talked a bit about places they both knew when they were kids. To be honest we never really see much of them. They don’t go to church and we don’t go to the pub or at least Gideon doesn’t. I’ve been once or twice now thanks to you two.”

  “We believe Gary was in the army,” said Lottie as she took a biscuit from the plate.

  “That’s right, he was until about five years ago and that’s when he, Marlene and the children moved down here. It might be more than five years but they were here well before us anyway.”

  “Any idea what job he had in the army?” Hetty was thinking guns.

  “I don’t know nor do I know his rank. He likes cooking though but that doesn’t mean that’s what he did.”

  “So what does he do now?” Hetty asked.

  “He works in a builders merchants but I don’t know where.”

  “Hmm, nothing dodgy about that then,” conceded Hetty.

  “But we don’t think Gary is the dodgy one, do we?” said Debbie, “and we don’t know for sure that the Andrew who Marlene was talking to last night was Andrew Banks.”

  “Oh, it’ll be him for sure,” maintained Hetty, “I have a gut feeling. And remember having seen the red Fiesta down by the boating lake means we have every reason now to believe that he’s the chap Marlene goes off with on Tuesday.”

  “And probably other nights as well,” Lottie added.

  “Maybe,” agreed Debbie, “So what have you two discovered?”

  “Well, we went to the pub last night after you rang hoping to see Tess because she’s a mine of information, and as luck would have it she was there working.”

  “I didn’t know Tess worked in the pub,” said Debbie, “I thought she worked in Taffeta’s Tea Shoppe.”

  “She does both, three days in the tea shop and a couple of nights in the pub.”

  “I see, so it must be at her places of work that she gets all her information.”

  “Yes, most of it,” Lottie agreed, “which is very handy and of course she’s also a close neighbour of Cynthia who works as a tour guide at Pentrillick House.”

  Debbie noticed a frown on Hetty’s face. “Sorry, Hetty. I interrupted you, please continue.”

  “Right, well anyway, when we got to the pub we asked Tess what she knew about Andrew Banks and apparently, daft I know, but he works in a bank and it’s also rumoured that he’s involved in some illicit activity.”

  Debbie looked nonplussed. “What do you mean by illicit activity?”

  “That’s what we need to find out,” said Hetty, “but it’ll no doubt involve money because he seems to be fixated by it.”

  “I see. So that’s why Hazel’s children don’t like him. They’ve heard rumours of his reputation.”

  Lottie nodded. “Spot on.”

  “But where does Marlene come into this?” Debbie asked.

  Lottie shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose she’s just his fancy piece.”

  Debbie smiled. “Or maybe she’s an accomplice.”

  “Wow, yes,” grinned Hetty, “I bet she is. I suggest we take a trip into Helston and watch Andrew Bank’s house for a while because at the moment we only know he drives a red Ford Fiesta and works in a bank but have no idea what he looks like. Once we’ve seen him and probably even get a picture of him on our phones we can look into his activities more closely.”

  “When is Gideon next working, Debbie?” Lottie asked.

  “Not until Monday morning.”

  “That’s only a few days away so we’ll go to Helston on Monday then.”

  Debbie frowned. “But even if we find out more about this Andrew chap who appears to meet up with Marlene on bingo nights, what can be the connection with him and the attack on my Gideon? Not to mention the attempted murder of Hazel.”

  “Well we know that Andrew is a bit of a playboy and he no doubt has several women he strings along. So the connection is that both Marlene and Hazel are/were his women and I reckon he took a shot at Hazel to shut her up because she’d sussed out some of his illegal or dodgy doings.”

  “Reasonable theory, but why attack Gideon?” Debbie was clearly confused.

  “Perhaps there is no connection,” suggested Lottie, “and Gideon’s attack was because he disturbed a robbery and Hazel’s attack was to shut her up.”

  “In which case,” sighed Debbie, “at the moment we suspect Andrew Banks of attempting to murder Hazel but the person who attacked Gideon is unknown.”

  “Correct.” Hetty saw Debbie was frowning. “What’s bothering you, Debbie?”

  “The car,” she replied. “If Andrew Banks is bit of a playboy why does he drive a modest car like a Fiesta?”

  “Hmm, good point,” gasped Lottie, “that doesn’t seem logical, Het.”

  “He must have two cars,” reasoned Hetty, “remember the Fiesta was parked out on the tarmac so I expect he’ll have a posh car in the garage. Probably a Porsche or whatever flashy blokes drive.”

  “Well whatever, we still have plenty of investigating to do,” said Lottie, “although I expect the police will have checked out Andrew Banks and cleared him of suspicion as regards Hazel’s assault because her children are sure to have told them about their mother’s liaison with him and their suspicions of him being a crook.”

  “Good point,” agreed Hetty, “In which case he must have a false alibi for when Hazel was shot at or have hired a hitman.”

  “Hitmen are usually good shots, aren’t they?” giggled Debbie.

  Lottie suddenly burst into peals of laughter. “That’s a good point, Debbie,” She looked at her sister, “Oh, Het, whatever would our parents say if they could hear us talking about hitmen and murder?”

  Hetty smiled. “Remembering Mum’s inquisitive nature - she’d be right behind us. She had a suspicious mind and was often right with her theories regarding the antics of our neighbours.”

  “Ah,” said Debbie, “I see where you get it from then.”

  Chapter Twenty

  On Saturday the nineteenth of May, despite the fact it was a glorious sunny day, many of the ladies in the village chose to be indoors watching their television sets for the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Hetty and Lottie watched it with Kitty and Debbie while Kitty’s husband, Tommy cut the grass and clea
ned the windows at their home in Blackberry Way. Gideon was working at Pentrillick House.

  In the afternoon, Hetty took Albert for a walk through the village, past the Pentrillick Hotel and out into the open countryside. When they reached the signpost pointing to a hamlet named Little Trenwyn they turned round and made their way back. As they passed Sea View Cottage, Alina pulled up in Brett’s car.

  “Beautiful day,” said the actress as she took two bags of shopping from the boot of the car, “they were very lucky for the wedding.”

  “Yes, they were. Very lucky indeed. Windsor looked beautiful this morning which is a great advert for this country.”

  Alina laughed. “Yes, but we’ll not tell anyone that it’s often wet and windy here.”

  “And not to mention cold,” Hetty shuddered, “I hope we don’t have another winter like the last one for a while.”

  “Well, if we do I’ll get Brett to whisk me away in search of the sun.” She closed the boot.

  “Alright for some,” chuckled Hetty as she continued along the pavement.

  As Hetty neared the post office she stopped and looked in the window where a notice informed people that tickets for Murder at Mulberry Hall were available inside the shop. She felt a pang of pride and with a huge smile on her face continued along the road with a spring in her step. As she passed the fish and chip shop she sniffed the air but the temptation to go inside was overcome when she heard the wailing of sirens in the distance. The smile on her face faded and a frown took its place; the spring in her step came to an abrupt halt. She paused and listened. The noise was very close and then it stopped. Hetty resumed her walk at a much quicker pace and as she went round a bend in the main street she saw two police cars were pulled up on the road outside the charity shop along with an ambulance. Her quickened pace became a trot. On the pavement Daisy sat on a ledge beneath the shop window. Her face was white and she was being comforted by two paramedics while the door of the shop was being forced open by two police officers.

  “Daisy, what’s wrong?” Hetty felt her eyes watering.

  “I only popped out for a while to get some milk so we could have a cup of tea. I suppose I was gone for about fifteen minutes. It would’ve been less but I saw Tess and so we had a bit of a natter.” Daisy jumped at the sound of breaking glass, “When I got back the shop door was locked and the ‘closed’ sign was up. It made no sense so I rang Maisie to see where she was and ask why she’d locked up. She didn’t answer so I looked in through the door and could just make out her feet sticking out from under the coat rack.” Daisy burst into tears.

  “What! Oh, my goodness, I hope she’s alright?” As the police officers opened the door and ran inside, Hetty sat down on the pavement before her legs gave way. The paramedics went in after the police and a policewoman took their place beside Daisy.

  Hetty took Daisy’s hand and looked at the woman police officer. “Can you please go and find out if she’s alive?”

  The police officer nodded. “Okay, you two wait here.”

  When she came out she forced a smile but her eyes looked sombre. “Yes, she is alive but unconscious and I can’t say more than that.”

  “We understand,” whispered Hetty, “thank you.”

  Daisy dried her eyes.

  “So what on earth can have happened?” Hetty wondered.

  “Well she can’t have had an accident because if she had the shop door wouldn’t have been locked, would it?”

  “Oh my God, I hadn’t thought of that. It looks like she’s been attacked then.” Hetty felt sick.

  “Yes, it does,” sniffed Daisy, “but who could have done such a thing?”

  Hetty stayed with Daisy until her husband arrived; she then walked home. She was still shaking when she arrived back at Primrose Cottage and told her sister what had happened.

  “I’m really confused now, Lottie, really I am. What on earth is going on?”

  “I wish I knew. It makes no sense. Shall I ring Debbie and tell her?”

  “Not for a while. I want to sit quietly and think. You know, see if I can fathom it out.”

  On Sunday after church the sisters learned from Kitty that Maisie was making good progress and was due to be discharged from hospital on Monday morning.

  “Thank God,” sighed Hetty.

  “So what exactly happened?” Lottie asked.

  Kitty shrugged her shoulders. “Goodness knows. Daisy said she had been tied up with scarves and had a pillowcase over her head.”

  “What!” Hetty gasped.

  “But that’s dreadful,” said Lottie.

  “I know. It’s thought she was getting things ready for their afternoon tea because the box of broken biscuits given to them by Vicar Sam’s mother, lay on the floor beside her along with a box of teabags.”

  “So someone must have crept up behind her,” reasoned Lottie.

  “Looks that way, yes.”

  “Was anything taken?” Hetty asked.

  “Not from the till,” replied Kitty.

  “But something must have been taken from the shop or why would anyone have gone to such lengths?”

  “I don’t know,” conceded Kitty, “and Daisy is still too shaken to have a thorough look. Tommy went down to see if he could see anything obvious that was missing, but only working the odd day there he’s not as familiar with the stock as Daisy and Maisie. Personally I think theft is highly unlikely. I mean security in the shop is pretty lax so unless an item targeted is very large it wouldn’t be difficult to slip it into a bag.”

  “Yes, you’re quite right there,” Hetty agreed.

  “So had any dodgy looking people been in the shop that day?” Lottie asked. “You know, someone acting in a furtive manner or something like that?”

  “Well, no. In fact what with the Royal wedding and the lovely weather, Daisy said they’d had a very quiet day and the last customer to have been in was Lucy Lacey and that was just after lunch.”

  “Lucy,” repeated Lottie, “I wonder what she wanted.”

  Kitty laughed. “Nothing sinister. Apparently she wanted a new dress because she’s going somewhere special. Daisy said she tried one on that took her fancy and it looked lovely so she bought it and left the shop in very high spirits.”

  Early on Monday morning, as pre-arranged, Hetty and Lottie picked up Debbie from St Mary’s Avenue after Gideon had gone to work and the three of them then drove into Helston. They parked in the car park and then sauntered along the road, all with fingers crossed that they would see Andrew Banks. As they approached his house Lottie pointed to his red Fiesta parked in the driveway. Automatically they slowed their pace and when they reached his gate, Hetty removed her left shoe on pretence of having a stone in it. To their amazement right on cue, a man emerged from the house whistling tunelessly and walked towards the car. Lottie quickly took out her phone and pretended to take a picture of Debbie who pouted and posed to make it seem realistic.

  “Got him,” she whispered, as Hetty replaced her shoe. “Let’s move on quick.”

  They walked swiftly along the road conscious that Andrew Banks was about to pull out from his driveway. To their delight they had the added bonus of him driving past them.

  “I can’t believe we were that lucky,” laughed Hetty, as the car disappeared from view, “It was all so simple.”

  “Show us the picture?” gabbled Debbie, excitedly, “I want to see what he looks like as I only got a glimpse.”

  They all huddled around Lottie’s phone.

  “He doesn’t look like a ladies’ man,” sighed Lottie, clearly disappointed, “In fact he looks very ordinary.”

  “Well, I suppose he’s off to work at the bank or something like that,” opined Hetty, “so he wouldn’t want to look like a playboy, would he?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  Hetty put on her reading glasses to take a closer look. “How old do you reckon he is?”

  “I’d say in his forties,” said Debbie. Lottie agreed.

  “So th
at makes him younger than Hazel,” calculated Hetty, “because she’s fifty three.”

  “Hence the playboy label,” reasoned Lottie.

  “I would have thought toy boy would have been more apt,” suggested Hetty.

  Debbie shook her head. “No, anything goes now and quite rightly too. Age should never be a factor in a relationship.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right,” Lottie returned the phone to her handbag. “Come on, let’s go home and discuss it further with a nice cup of tea.”

  In the evening, Hetty and Lottie went to the play rehearsal. They arrived early because they were determined not to miss anything Marlene might say or do. But to their dismay she seemed concerned only with playing her part and not once mentioned anything other than the performance which was just a week away.

  On Tuesday evening Hetty, Lottie and Debbie all went to bingo and although they saw Marlene picked up outside the post office as usual, they were unable to learn any more than they already knew.

  “How can we further our investigations?” Lottie asked, as they sat in the Crown and Anchor after bingo.

  “Perhaps we ought to forget trying to pin Hazel’s attempted murder on Andrew Banks for a while and focus on the attacks on Gideon and Maisie instead,” suggested Hetty.

  Debbie nodded. “I’d certainly like to know who was responsible for hurting my Gideon. The police haven’t any idea because there are no clues.”

  “But they know the mysterious fragrance was musk now,” Lottie reminded her.

  “Yes, but unfortunately it’s not a great deal of help.”

  “No, I suppose not but at least there’s a motive for your Gideon’s attack,” stated Hetty, “unlike the peculiar incident at the charity shop. I can’t for the life of me see what that was all about. I mean, no money was taken from the shop till so robbery wasn’t the reason nor had Maisie got into an argument with a customer or anything like that and according to Daisy the shop was very quiet on Saturday because of the Royal wedding and the lovely weather and no-one was in there when she popped out to the village store for milk anyway.”