Tea and Broken Biscuits

by Daphne Neville

  Cautiously, he approached the stone altar and gently lifted the first bag. When he looked inside he gasped. “Two ancient pistols. What on earth are they doing in here?” He held open the bag so that everyone could see inside.

  In the next was a silver platter and in the third, various items of jewellery and two Fabergé eggs.

  “The long lost Liddicott-Treen treasure,” whispered Kitty, “I can’t believe it’s been here right under our noses all this time.”

  “Can’t we tip it all out and look at it properly?” Tommy asked.

  “Oh no,” shrieked Kate, emphatically, “because the fingerprints of the thieves might be on some of the things.”

  “You’re very switched on, young lady,” said Vicar Sam, “and quite right too.”

  Kate beamed.

  “So perhaps the Pentrillick House thieves were locals after all,” reasoned Ian, who had climbed down from the tower on hearing of the find, “I’ve heard several people share that theory.”

  Lottie shook her head. “But if they were, why leave it here all these years?”

  “Perhaps they died in an accident or something like that before they had a chance to retrieve it,” suggested Kitty.

  “No, no, I don’t think the thieves were locals at all,” revealed Hetty, as she drummed her fingers on the front of the choir stalls, “I think they were up-country buggers and this is what the person who attacked Gideon in the vestry was looking for?”

  Chapter Twenty Four

  On Wednesday evening, the drama group gathered in the village hall for the dress rehearsal and there was much excitement backstage as all were aware of the discovery in the church earlier in the day. There was also much relief. Hazel Mitchell having been brought out of the medically induced coma seemed to be making excellent progress and the doctors maintained there was every good reason to suppose that she would make a full recovery.

  “Has Hazel been questioned by the police yet?” Daisy asked.

  Alex shook his head. “Not yet, the doctors forbid it and say she must be left in peace for a few more days.”

  “It’s possible she won’t remember anything of that afternoon anyway,” said Tess, as she painted her nails, “trauma can play havoc with the memory and we don’t even know if she saw the face of her assailant anyway.”

  Hetty pinned up her hair prior to putting on her wig. “I think that with all that’s happened in the last two days I’ll forget my lines tonight. My head’s all in a whirl especially after this morning’s discovery.”

  Marlene chuckled. “This area’s becoming a hotspot for news.”

  Tess replaced the lid on the bottle of nail varnish. “I bet the Liddicott-Treens feel much the same as well now that their valuables have been found. I know for a fact that Tristan never thought they’d see any of it again and he must be astonished by the unusual place in which it was hidden. I know I was and still am.”

  Daisy chortled. “I wouldn’t have looked under the altar in a thousand years.”

  “The discovery clears the Liddicott-Treens’ name as well,” said Chloe, as she powdered her face, “and stamps out all the evil gossip about them having done it for the insurance. Not that I ever believed a word of it.” She cast an accusing glance in Marlene’s direction.

  “But who on earth put it there and why haven’t they recovered it?” Luke asked, “I can’t see anyone abandoning a treasure trove like that.”

  “Perhaps the robber died,” reasoned Tess, “and so he never got the chance to come back and collect it.”

  Hetty nodded. “Kitty suggested that and it is a possibility but I think he’s still very much alive and it was him looking for the stuff when Gideon interrupted his search in the vestry.”

  “Well yes, but surely the person who hid it would know where to look which means he wouldn’t have been searching through the chest in the first place,” laughed Chloe.

  “You’re right,” Daisy agreed, “so it makes no sense. No sense at all.”

  When Bernie emerged from the changing room dressed in dungarees, check shirt, gumboots and a straw hat, all heads turned.

  “Oh my goodness,” smiled Chloe, “you look so comical.”

  “If you think I look funny, wait ‘til you see Sid, he’s had me in stitches.”

  On cue Sid entered the room. He wore the mac found in the charity shop and on his head was the trilby hat. His moustache was heavily waxed and curled at either end. Over his eyes he wore a pair of dark sunglasses and in his hand he held a large magnifying glass.

  “Brilliant,” laughed Daisy, as Sid did a twirl, “you really do look the part. They’ll be no confusion with the audience as to who you are meant to be.”

  “And it’s obvious too that Bernie is the gardener,” giggled Emma.

  “I hope these will be alright,” hissed Marlene, as she slipped on a pair of flat soft leather shoes, “they’re not my usual style but they have rubber soles so I thought they might be quieter for when walking across the stage. I don’t want to clomp around and sound like a herd of elephants.” She winced when she stood up. “They’re a bit tight as I’ve not worn them yet. I hope they won’t cripple me.”

  “Very wise of you,” said Tess, as she blew her nails to dry them, “and they look fine.”

  Hetty put on her wig and Karen brushed the grey curls. “It’s very realistic, if I didn’t know better I’d have thought it was your real hair.”

  Marlene gasped when she saw Vicar Sam dressed in his police sergeant’s uniform. “My, don’t you look handsome? I mean, you’re a handsome man anyway but that outfit knocks socks off your vicar clobber. I have to confess though that I’m a sucker when it comes to uniforms. That’s what attracted me to my Gary.”

  Kitty came backstage. “Are you nearly ready? Because Robert would like to get started.”

  Everyone said they were. “Okay, I’ll tell Robert.”

  “Is Brett here?” Marlene asked Kitty as she turned to leave.

  Kitty nodded. “Yes, he and Alina got here ten minutes ago so you have an audience of eight tonight.”

  “Eight?” Luke Burleigh queried.

  “Yes, Brett, Alina, Robert, Lottie, Maisie, Zac and his two sisters,” counted Kitty on her fingers, “oh, and Gideon and me as well when we’re not playing the piano.”

  “Zac and the girls,” laughed Tess, “how did they sneak in?”

  “Robert said they could come along because they’d be at a loose end otherwise with Hetty, Lottie and Emma all involved with the production,” said Kitty.

  “I was only teasing,” Tess chuckled, “as far as I’m concerned the more the merrier out there tonight as it’ll help get us used to an audience.”

  The opening scene was the drawing room of the hairstylist’s home and the first person to enter was Marlene who played the part of his wife. All was silent as she entered stage right carrying flowers supposedly brought in from the gardens. Half way across the stage she stopped. “Sorry,” she whispered, her cheeks a bright shade of pink, “can I change my silly squeaky shoes and then start again?”

  Vicki and Kate giggled and to her relief Marlene saw that Robert was in fits of laughter too. “Of course you may, off you go,” he chuckled, “We don’t want the audience to think there’s a mouse on the stage.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Just a minute.” Gideon rose from the piano stool and looked up at Marlene. “Would you walk across the stage again, please?”

  “Why?”

  “Please, I do have a reason albeit rather absurd.”

  “Okay.” Marlene slowly walked across the stage clearly embarrassed by her squeaky shoes.

  “That’s it,” gasped Gideon, gripping the piano to steady himself, “that’s the pitch of squeaking noise I heard just before I was attacked in the church.”

  All eyes gazed at Marlene who stood open mouthed. “Well, it wasn’t me. I bought these shoes sometime after your attack. They came from the charity shop. Honest, ask Maisie she served me.”

  Ma
isie nodded. “Yes, it’s true, Gideon. They were amongst the stuff brought in by you, Brett.”

  All eyes turned to Brett.

  Brett looked nonplussed. “Me. Were they? I thought everything I sent was books, household items, garden paraphernalia and stuff like that.”

  “It was apart from those shoes.”

  Faces of the cast who were waiting in the wings peered round the curtains as Brett stood and crossed to the stage his eyes fixed on Marlene’s feet. He scowled, turned and then pointed at Alina who sat motionless, her face a deathly white. “They look like a pair you used to wear, Al. Are they yours?”

  Alina stood as he moved closer. “And musk,” he whispered, “you always used to wear a musky perfume but it’s just occurred to me that of late you’ve moved on to a different fragrance.”

  The entire cast were now on the stage.

  “I…I…” Alina turned and backed away. As she stumbled over a chair, her phone rang. A look of horror crossed her face and she squashed her bag against her chest in an attempt to muffle the sound.

  “That’s it,” shouted Gideon, “that’s the ring tone I heard in the vestry.”

  Everyone gasped.

  “No, no, I,” Alina took to her heels and disappeared through the open door. But Zac was too quick, he dashed after her and caught her by the arm before she reached the pavement.

  It was nearly nine o’clock before the dress rehearsal finally got underway. After Zac had dragged Alina back into the hall, Brett rang the police himself and reported the suspicious behaviour of his girlfriend. Detective Inspector Fox who had just come on duty when they got the call, arrived promptly along with three other police officers. In the hall they found Alina seated in the middle of the room surrounded by a circle of people dressed in strange outfits. Robert explained they were in the hall for the dress rehearsal of a play and then the police officers questioned Brett and several members of the cast. Alina, who refused to say anything, was eventually taken away, tears streaming down her face and clearly in a state of shock. The only words she had spoken were to Brett. “Please forgive me,” she’d said. Three little words that would ring in his ears over and over again.

  Several of the women were tearful too, others were stunned into silence. Nobody quite knew what to say or what to do.

  “I’m sorry,” mumbled Brett, as they heard the police cars drive away, “I should have been more circumspect.”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” sympathised Robert, “None of us would have suspected Alina. Why should we? As far as I can see there’s no motive and she’s not known the area for long anyway.”

  Gideon was nonplussed. “I agree. I mean, why on earth would the likes of Alina have taken the candlesticks? They’re not even fashionable.”

  “That’s probably why she threw them away,” reasoned Marlene, “Great cumbersome things, I wouldn’t want them.”

  “But why take them if you don’t want them,” said Luke, “it doesn’t make any sense.”

  “It certainly doesn’t,” Kitty sat down on the piano stools to ease her shaking limbs.

  Hetty whispered to Lottie, “I can’t get my head round this and even if Alina was the person who attacked Gideon she can’t be responsible for the attempted murder of Hazel.”

  “Or the attack on poor Maisie,” added Lottie.

  “I think under the circumstances it would be best if we called the dress rehearsal off,” sighed Robert, “I’m sure none of you are feeling up to performing.”

  Some were clearly disappointed.

  Brett shook his head emphatically. “No, no, Robert, these people have worked really hard for this moment and they need and deserve this final practice.” He turned to face the performers: “and you know what they say in showbiz, don’t you?”

  They replied in unison, “The show must go on.”

  Brett nodded and forced a smiled. “Yes, it must,” he croaked.

  After the dress rehearsal, Brett walked home alone to Sea View Cottage. Robert had offered to stay with him for a while but Brett thanked him and said that he needed to be alone.

  Inside the cottage, Alina’s things seemed to be everywhere. Her jacket was on a peg in the hallway. Her flip-flops were under a chair. Her iPad lay on the table, two pairs of her earrings were on the mantelpiece beside a bottle of perfume and in a chair by the hearth sat Mr Tubby, a scruffy toy dog which she insisted on bringing to Cornwall because she always kept him close at hand and had done so since she had received him as a present on her sixth birthday. Brett picked up Mr Tubby and carried him into the kitchen where he sat him down on the work surface; he then poured himself a large glass of wine. The house seemed quiet. Eerily quiet and so he took both dog and wine out into the conservatory. A full moon shone through the glass roof casting shadows across the floor. He went outside and into the garden where there was hardly a breath of wind. The sweet scent of honeysuckle filled the still night air and the silence was broken only by the occasional ring of Alina’s wind chimes. With glass in hand he walked to the bottom of the garden and out of the gate which led onto the coastal path. From there he went down the steps and onto the deserted beach. Slowly he walked across the sand to a bench. He sat down and placed Mr Tubby on his lap. He then took a large gulp of wine and watched as the waves tumbled gently onto the sand in the light of the clear, bright moon. He thought of Alina and how she made him laugh with her funny ways and ability to mimic even the most difficult voices and accents. But he had to confess that she had been more subdued of late. She had laughed less and at times had seemed in another world. He put it down to her work. Like so many in the acting profession work was irregular, often stressful and often in short supply. Brett finished the wine and stood the glass beside him on the bench. He leaned back with Mr Tubby clasped tightly in his arms and looked up at moon and the stars. “Why, Alina? Why did you hurt Gideon? Why were you in the church? I don’t understand.”

  Inside the police station, Detective Inspector Fox sat with WPC Jenkins opposite Alina and prepared to question her. She was alone on her side of the table because she refused to have a lawyer present. After telling Alina of her rights, WPC Jenkins switched on a recording machine.

  At first Alina refused to co-operate but after several minutes she realised there was nothing to be achieved by keeping quiet because when all was said and done, she knew that she was guilty.

  “It was not my intension to harm Gideon,” she suddenly whispered, “I just needed to knock him out long enough so that I could retrieve my phone. I’d stupidly left it on the vestry floor, you see, because I panicked and ran off when I heard him call out, ‘Is that you, Kitty?’ Had it not been for the phone I’d have left the church and nothing further would have happened.” She looked down at her hands. “Were it not for the phone no-one else would have got hurt. Gideon would not have been hurt. Hazel Mitchell would not have been hurt and nor would the poor lady in the charity shop.”

  “Are you implying that you were involved with some of the other crimes?”

  Alina nodded. “Yes, all of them.”

  Detective Inspector Fox was taken aback. “All of them?”

  “Yes, as I said, Gideon in the church, Hazel Mitchell at Pentrillick House and poor Maisie in the charity shop.”

  “But why?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “We have all night.”

  “Yes, I suppose so.” Alina glanced towards the window and smiled when she saw the moon. The previous evening she and Brett had walked hand in hand along the beach in the moonlight. How things had changed in the ensuing twenty four hours! She then turned back to answer the question. “It was dusk when I fled from the church having knocked Gideon to the floor and outside I saw a woman standing at the bus stop. She turned when she heard me running and looked me in the eye. Then the bus arrived, she got on it and as it drove away it I realised that if given the opportunity she might be able to identify me although I was certain that no way would she have been able to name me.”

 
“So you decided that you had to silence her?”

  “Yes, I was worried and couldn’t risk being done for GBH or whatever the charge might be. It wouldn’t have been very good for my career, would it?”

  “Perhaps not but how did you know who the woman you saw was?”

  “I’ve a very good memory for faces so I did the obvious thing and went on Facebook. I typed in the names of people I knew through the drama group, hoping that whoever the woman was would be friends with one of them. I struck gold when I typed in Tess Dobson. One of her friends was Hazel Mitchell, a widow who had her occupation down as cook at Pentrillick House.”

  “So what did you do next?”

  Alina frowned. “You know what I did.”

  “Yes, but I want you to tell me.”

  “I suggested to Brett that we went to Pentrillick House to have a look around. He thought it was a lovely idea and so we went up on Easter Monday. Once I’d fathomed out where the kitchen was I told Brett I was going to the loo and left him chatting to someone I wasn’t familiar with. Hazel was in the kitchen and the window was open. It was easy.”

  “And afterwards?”

  “I put the gun back in the small plastic bag I kept it in and then went back to Brett who was still talking so I said I’d wander down to the lake because I wanted to see the swans. He said okay and that he’d join me there shortly. I found a spot where I couldn’t be seen, took the gun from the bag and threw it into the lake. The bag I screwed up and dropped into a litter bin. I then sat down on a bench and waited for Brett. And as I waited I heard the sound of sirens so knew that she had been found and was glad that there was no reason for anyone to suspect me. Of course we weren’t allowed to leave until we’d all been questioned but Brett and I both said we’d heard and seen nothing nor did we know the lady who had been shot.”

  “And Maisie, the lady who worked in the charity shop. Where does she fit into this?”

  “Ah, yes, that was rather unfortunate. You see, it suddenly occurred to me as I watched the Royal wedding, that having thrown my squeaky shoes into the box of stuff Brett had put aside for the charity shop, was rather a silly thing to have done and so I decided to try and get them back. I told Brett I was going shopping because our provisions were getting low; my intention was to call at the charity shop on my way home. However, as I got near to the shop I suddenly remembered that the two women who worked there were members of the drama group and so knew they’d recognise me. I parked in the street and hung around outside for a while wondering what to do and then to my delight I saw one of them leave the shop and walk along the main street. It was a lovely day and so the shop door was open which meant I was able to creep inside undetected. I looked around and saw a stack of pillow cases. I grabbed one and pulled it over Maisie’s head and then forced her onto the floor. Unfortunately she hit her head on a stone urn that was for sale and must have knocked herself out. Next I dropped the catch on the door and turned round the sign to say ‘closed’. Then to make sure she didn’t get free before I’d found the shoes and made my exit, I tied up her arms and legs with scarves. Unfortunately it was all in vain because the shoes weren’t there.”