Harriett (32 page)

“
What did she look like?”

Brewster
frowned absently at the floor beneath his boots. “Well, she was
about medium height with brown hair. There was nothing odd about
her, if that is what you are about to ask. I had a barn empty and
she asked if I rented it out. I don’t usually and didn’t want to
rent it to her, if I am honest. I don’t want people coming and
going from my yard at all hours, so I named her a sum that would
shock you out of your boots.” He gave Mark a completely unrepentant
grin and Mark smothered a smile. “To my shock, she handed the money
over on the understanding that I house her horse in the field with
mine. She moved the carriage in within the hour and now, each
month, gives me the money to pay for the rent of the
barn.”

“
Same amount each month?”

Brewster
nodded and named a sum that made Mark whistle.

“
Did you get a name?”

“
Nope. Didn’t ask, don’t care. I told her that if she didn’t
pay the rent, I would sell the blasted carriage, and horse, but she
has turned up each month with the cash as promised.” The man
shrugged.

“
Has she ever used it, as far as you know?”

Brewster
shook his head. “It goes out sometimes but I am a busy man and
don’t pay it that much attention.”

“
Do you not live near the coal yard?” Mark knew that the
nearest house to the coal yard was the general store across the
road but, on a still night, it would be easy to get the carriage
out of the yard without too much noise.

“
There has been the odd day when it has been gone in the
morning when I get there, and stayed out all day. From when I open
up to when I close at the end of the day but not very
often.”

“
You live in Tipton Hollow?”

“
Aye, near the riverside.”

Mark
nodded. “So it is being used, you just don’t know when.”

“
She doesn’t have to report to me.”

“
You haven’t seen it arrive and leave? No sign of any
occupiers, coachmen or anything?” Mark sighed. “I take it that the
woman has a key to the yard?”

“
Aye. That was the proviso for the huge amount of money. I can
secure the coal because I lock it into the sheds at night. She
insisted on having a key in case she needed the carriage for
emergencies. For the amount that she is paying me I can hardly
object, so I gave her a spare. Mr Thomas from the general store
made her a new one for the lock.”

“
I see that Miss Smethwick is one of your regular
customers.”

“
The entire village are my regular customers,” Brewster
replied wryly.

“
I need you to think carefully. Do you think that the woman
who owns the carriage looks like any of the villagers?”

“
A relation to one of them you think?” As sharp as a tack, the
man turned curious eyes on Mark. “You mean like Miss
Smethwick?”

Mark
sighed and wondered if he had just handed over the latest juicy
gossip to the locals and made his job considerably harder. He
studied the dark frown on Brewster’s face as he considered the
possibility, and sighed when the man slowly shook his
head.

“
I didn’t see any resemblance there at all. But I can’t say
for sure if she looked like anyone else. There wasn’t anything
striking about her, that’s for sure. Someone with cash like she has
would stand out, if you know what I mean.”

Mark
did. They could afford to travel in style and would dress far more
finely than most of the villagers. If they blended in, they did so
for a reason.

“
When was the last time you saw the carriage being
used?”

“
About last week, I think. On Sunday, I think. Dropped back at
the yard on my way home from church and noticed it wasn’t
there.”

“
Sunday,” Mark replied wryly, and remembered of his sighting
of the carriage in Great Tipton.

“
Does Miss Smethwick come for her coal on a daily
basis?”

Brewster
sighed and shot Mark a wry look. “Damned woman is unnerving, I
don’t mind admitting it.”

“
How so?”

“
Well, she turns up out of nowhere. Always seems to nose
around the yard and then disappears again just as quickly. There is
something damned odd about her but I can’t quite figure out what it
is.”

Mark
nodded. “Look, this is part of a murder investigation so I am going
to ask you not to repeat what we have discussed tonight with
anyone. I have to tell you that I think the carriage may be linked
to the murders of Minerva Bobbington and Hugo Montague.” He saw
Brewster’s face drop for a moment before outrage filled his face.
“We are investigating, but I need you to play your part. When is
the rent on the barn due again?”

“
End of next week. What do you want me to do?”

“
You will help?”

“
Of course I will. I am not having anyone come into this
village, start to kill off our friends and just sit back and let it
happen, especially out of my own blasted yard. It would kill my
business if I was linked to the murders in any way. Tell me what
you want me to do,” the man demanded in a voice that was as fierce
as the look in his eye.

“
Keep an eye on the carriage and make note of when it goes
out. The next time the woman turns up to pay you, look at her
closely. I need her eye colour, details of any facial features like
moles, scars, that kind of thing. See if you can get a name out of
her as well. I want to put a man in your yard to watch the
carriage, but I need your help to hide him.”

Brewster
nodded enthusiastically. “I have the perfect place for him. It is
out of sight, but he will have a clear view of the main gates and
the carriage. Do you need me to tell you if it is going
out?”

Mark
nodded. “Send a lad to Fred, and he will alert us. For the time
being, I am going to spend a lot of time in the village. Someone
has been threatened, and I plan to ensure that every step is taken
to stop them becoming the third victim. I need your help in this,
Mr Brewster, and then maybe we can protect your business rather
than damage it.”

“
Count me in, sir, and if there is anything else you need from
me, just tell me what to do.”

“
Fred is going to bring a constable to you who will watch the
carriage. Hide him. He will be swapped for someone else when his
shift changes, but there will always be someone in the hiding
place, keeping watch. Right now, don’t challenge anyone who turns
up for the carriage. Let it go because we will follow it. If you
detect anything untoward, or get any further information on the
owner, let me know. If I am not in the tea shop, I will either be
at the Marchington residence, or Great Tipton station. Fred will
know where to find me.”

“
Quite.” Brewster held his grubby hand out to Mark and nodded
his thanks. “I will get word out to the men to watch out for the
blasted thing moving about the village. Between us, we can keep
tabs on it.”

“
It is essential that we don’t alert the woman that we are
suspicious, so please don’t tell anyone who is likely to gossip
about it.”

Brewster
gave him a knowing look. “Don’t you worry about it, the lads and I
can deal with this and the gossips won’t be any the wiser for it.
You mark my words.”

Mark had
no choice really, what was done now, was done. There was no going
back and, if he was honest, he was grateful for the help. It was
damned difficult to monitor the carriage given its position not
only in the village, but in the coal merchant’s yard. The yard
itself was surrounded with a fifteen feet high brick wall. There
was no back entrance and it was damned near impossible to watch
from the outside. There wasn’t even a house opposite that afforded
a clear view down into the yard. Having someone inside was the best
option available. Unfortunately, that also meant that they wouldn’t
be able to get out of the yard to alert anyone if the carriage
started to head out.

Mark
quickly finished his drink and took his leave of the merchant. With
a sigh, he left the pub. He glanced at the closed doors of the coal
merchants. It was early evening but the cold bite of night air
nipped at his cheeks as he headed down the now deserted main
street. A flurry of movement to his left drew his attention and he
watched Babette, huddled in her cloak, scurry down the street. She
was clearly off to church to arrange the flowers.

He was
about to turn away when he realised that she was heading in the
opposite direction to the church and had no flowers with
her.

Curious,
Mark followed.

At the
end of the next street, Berrisford Road, Mark waited and watched
Babette disappear into a house, half way down the street. The
person she intended to see had clearly been waiting for her because
she hadn’t even knocked on the door before a masculine pair of arms
swept her into the house seconds before the door closed.

He
waited for several moments but Babette didn’t re-appear. He
wondered if Harriett knew what was going on. Although he was fairly
certain that Babette’s clandestine activities had nothing to do
with the murders and attempt on Harriett’s life, he suspected that
the latest mystery didn’t bode well for anyone. After all, unless
Babette was having an affair, what likely reason could she possibly
have to visit a solicitor at his home, in the middle of the
evening, and be so secretive about it?

Moreover, the last time he had been to see his solicitor, he
hadn’t been swept into a loving hug on arrival.

Mark
sighed and began to walk home. He had no sooner reached the
outskirts of town than he met with Fred, the village
bobby.

“
Evening.”

“
Evening, sir. I’m just heading off on my nightly rounds,”
Fred replied with a sigh.

“
Is everything alright?” Mark frowned at the despondency in
the man’s voice.

Fred
shook his head. “I don’t know, sir. It is a rum old business and
that’s a fact. I have been living in this village all of my life
and I can tell you, it is about the quietest place on God’s earth.
Nothing much ever happens in Tipton Hollow. Most of my work is
nearer toward Great Tipton. Of late though, with the murders and
the recent spate of thefts, it makes me wonder what the world is
coming to.”

Mark
frowned and studied the village constable cautiously. “Spate of
thefts?” He lifted his brows and waited.

“
I have just come back from Helena Cridlingham’s house on the
outskirts of the village. A couple of weeks ago, she reported that
a fob watch that belonged to her grandfather, and was with his body
at the time of his death, had been stolen.”

“
Stolen? How? When?”

“
Well, from what I can gather, sometime between when his body
was taken from the house by the funeral directors and when it was
returned for laying out prior to the funeral.”

“
It went missing at the funeral directors?”

Fred
nodded. “I’ve been to Mr Bentwhistle, but he denies all knowledge
of ever seeing it. Helena swears blind it was on her grandad’s
body, you see. I have been to see her now to check that she hasn’t
found it. I don’t know,” the man sighed. “It’s a rum
business.”

Mark
frowned and thought about the messages that had come through the
psychic circle. One of the messages mentioned a fob watch being in
a jar. Bentwhistle had told everyone that it hadn’t been found but
someone must have been referring to it being in the funeral
directors somewhere. It couldn’t have been Helena; she hadn’t even
been at the séance. So who? Why? Were they trying to point the
finger at Bentwhistle, or did they know that he was the
thief?

“
Does this Mrs Cridlingham go to séances at all?”

“
Miss Cridlingham?” Fred shook his head. “I can’t see her
being that familiar with anyone to be honest with you. She isn’t
married and has lived with her grandfather for many years,” Fred
replied knowingly. “She is a strange one. Some say that she is a
witch. It is highly unusual for her to report anything to the
police, but she was adamant the watch had been with her grandfather
when he had left the house on the day of his death.”

“
But does she go to séances though?” Mark snapped impatiently
when Fred appeared happy to continue to ramble.

“
Not as far as I am aware, although there are rumours that she
knows more than she lets on,” Fred tapped the side of his nose and
gave Mark a knowing look that was completely ignored.

Mark
mentally shook his head and tried to stop Fred from rambling again.
“So the grandfather went to the funeral parlour for preparation and
examination by the Doctor and had the fob watch on him?”

“
He was returned to the house without the fob watch
apparently.”

“
Thank you for that. Where does this Miss Cridlingham live?”
Mark listened to the direction and nodded. “Tomorrow afternoon,
Detective Isaac and I will pay her a visit.”

Fred
looked astonished. “Do you think it might be linked to the
murders?”

“
I have absolutely no idea just what is going on in this
village at the moment,” Mark sighed. “Or who is involved in what,
but I am going to find out.” He took a couple of steps away before
he reluctantly turned back. The thought of the paperwork that
littered his desk was ruthlessly shoved aside and he studied Fred
thoughtfully.