Lois Meade 14 - Suspicion at Seven (7 page)

B
righam was a pretty village, and the Mill House Hotel looked good enough to star in a movie, with the pond in dappled sunlight from the overhanging willow. On an impulse, after Aurora closed up the bakery, Lois decided to take her over for a drink in the hotel bar, where the big windows looked across water meadows. Perhaps they would take Jeems for a walk first, instead of shutting her up in the car.

Aurora was delighted with the suggestion, and, leaving Donald to look after himself, they set off cheerfully, with Jeems straining at the lead.

After a gentle stroll to the river and round by the rushing weir, they came back to the hotel and decided on a cold cider to cool themselves.

“But first the toilet!” said Aurora, heading for the hotel ladies’ room. Lois fetched Jemima’s bowl of water from the back of the van, which she moved into the shade. With Jeems safely on the lead attached to the car, she went back to find a table by the window looking over the meadows.

Finally settled with chilled cider, Aurora said how much she had enjoyed their walk. She lived so near the hotel, but seldom went in for any reason other than to sell bread and supplies for the restaurant.

“Lois, forgive me if I’m wrong,” she continued, “but did you have another reason to come over today? I know your Josie sells bread, and opens up for the papers on Sundays.”

“Her bread is not a patch on yours, I’m afraid,” said Lois.

“No other reason?”

“Perhaps a batch of scones?”

“Don’t avoid the question!” said Aurora, laughing. “I meant some other reason for coming over?”

“Well, I did wonder if my mother had signed up for anything with Donald. You know they manned the stall for him at the show?”

Aurora nodded. “Did you see them?”

“Yes, but they didn’t see me.”

“I think they decided on the spur of the moment to help him out. He had business with a client, he said, so it was a great help. I suppose you didn’t see him?”

Warning lights came up in Lois’s head, and she said no, she didn’t think so.

“I think the client was young and blonde,” said Aurora, her voice in a whisper.

“Ah, well that’s another thing,” said Lois. “I am sure you have nothing to worry about. Shall we have another?”

They sat for some time, chatting about this and that, and neither mentioned Gran and Joan again. They watched the big waterwheel turning slowly round and round, wet and dripping, its buckets spilling out as it moved.

In a pause in the conversation, Lois said that if Aurora didn’t take her eyes off the wheel, she’d never focus properly again. Aurora laughed and was about to turn away, when her eye was caught by something on the wheel. Then she gasped and screamed, yelling, “Stop it! Stop the wheel!”

Slowly appearing from one side was a shoe, and as more people clustered round, shouting, “Stop the bloody wheel, can’t you?” the soaking-wet body of a man in a suit and tie appeared spread-eagled across the top of the wheel.

Complete silence fell, and the wheel turned remorselessly on, spitting out its alien burden as it disappeared from sight.

Aurora crumpled to the floor, her hands covering her eyes, and Lois bent to help her. “It was him, wasn’t it, Lois?” she whispered. “It was Donald?”

Lois could think of nothing to say, except, “Yes, it was.”

T
he lovely sunny morning at Brigham had turned into a horrific nightmare, and when Lois finally reached home, she had brought Aurora with her.

“I couldn’t leave her by herself,” she had said softly to Derek and Gran. “She has completely collapsed.”

“No wonder!” said Gran. “Stretched out on the water-wheel, did you say? For goodness sake, how did he get there? You’d been at the bakery talking to the two of them not more than an hour previously?”

“More like a couple of hours,” Lois said. “We went for a walk before going into the hotel for a drink. Anyway, she’s asleep now, I think. I gave her one of my pills. The police will come knocking soon. I rang Matthew as soon as I could.”

“And Cowgill?” said Derek.

“Of course,” said Lois crossly. “He’ll be coming over this morning to talk to Aurora. I said we’d let him know when she was up and ready to talk. Are you all right, Mum? You’re looking a bit seedy.”

“Naturally! He had become a good friend in a short time. I don’t know what Joan and I will do now.”

“If you mean the jewellery parties, the whole thing will have to be put on hold until Aurora is able to take over. I think she knows all the details, and wouldn’t want people to be left in the lurch.”

“Just as well you and Joan hadn’t got yourselves in too deep,” said Derek, and immediately knew he was in trouble as Gran burst into tears.

“You have no cause to say such things!” she shouted at him through her sobs. “He was straight as a die, poor man.”

“Quite right,” said a weak voice from the doorway. Aurora stood there, still in a borrowed nightie, rubbing her eyes.

“I didn’t dream it, did I?”

Lois went to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “No, I’m afraid not. But there’s no need for you to worry about anything else at the moment. Inspector Cowgill is coming over to talk to you soon, but not until I give him the okay. Would you like some breakfast? Coffee or tea?”

Aurora shook her head. “Not at the moment, thanks Lois. Perhaps I’ll have a shower and get dressed, and then I’ll manage a cup of tea, if that’s all right with you, Mrs. Weedon?”

“Of course, my dear. Why don’t you call me Gran? Everyone else does, and it simplifies things.”

After Aurora had gone upstairs, Lois turned on Derek. “That was the most tactless thing I can think of!” she said. “Poor Aurora and then Gran. Isn’t it time you were off to work? I thought you had to go early this week?”

“Odd as it might seem to you, Lois, I have stayed at home until I was sure the women in my care were all fit to be left, and to offer my help if needed.”

Lois subsided. She crossed the kitchen, and Derek put his arms around her. “Buck up, me duck,” he said, and kissed her gently. “I’m off now, but I’ll be back at lunchtime. The job is over at Fletching, so it won’t take me long.”

Now Gran and Lois were left in the kitchen, and both sat down and stared at the table in silence. Then Gran said in her usual strong voice, “I don’t know, I’m sure.”

“Neither do I,” said Lois. “But I intend to find out. Will you help, Mum? I wouldn’t ask, but you did see quite a bit of him very recently.”

“Of course I will. And I’m sure Joan will, too. We’ll have to own up, won’t we? We had agreed to be jewellery sellers, and had got as far as planning our first party in Fletching. Donald was going to help us all the way, he said.”

“Had you handed over any cash?” Lois stared at her mother, sure that she would be able to detect a lying answer. “Honest?”

“Well, we had paid our membership fee, but there’s a get-out clause. Honest, Lois.”

“Thank God for that. At least we shan’t have to fight to get it back.”

“He said several times that his scheme was all aboveboard, and there was no catch to it. He were a good husband, Lois. Aurora will vouch for that.”

Lois nodded, but she vividly remembered the angry telephone call and the redhead hiding behind a potted palm, not to mention rumours of Donald Black consorting with Sylvia Fountain in full view of his poor wife.

“At least Aurora has a watertight alibi,” Gran continued, unaware of the aptness of the adjective. “She was with you from the time you said goodbye to him at the bakery to when you saw him on the wheel. Oh God, Lois! What a horrible way to die! How did he manage to get onto the wheel?”

“I expect the police will be looking at the wheel. The best we can hope for is that he was drowned in the deep water before the wheel got him.”

“We don’t know exactly how he died, do we?”

“Not yet. We’ll probably know more when Cowgill gets here. I think I’ll ring him now, and tell him to turn up in about an hour’s time. In a way, the sooner Aurora can get through it, the better.”

Aurora seemed quiet and composed when she reappeared and drank her tea. “A small piece of toast would be wonderful, Gran, thank you. I guess the day ahead is going to be a bit gruelling.”

“The inspector will soon be here. I’m sure you’ll find him very sympathetic. He’s not one of those steely detectives you see on the telly. He’s no fool, mind you, and knows instantly if someone is lying to him. But you know him anyway, don’t you, from him being a regular customer an’ that.”

“Talk of the devil,” said Gran. “That’s him coming up the path. I’ll let him in.”

*   *   *

Lois said she would see Cowgill in her office. She would go first, as she was a witness, too, and this would give Aurora time to prepare herself.

“He might as well see us together,” said Aurora. “We both saw exactly the same thing.”

“Police don’t work like that,” said Lois, and went through to welcome the inspector.

Seated in her office, Lois pointed to a chair on the other side of her desk. “You can sit here at my desk when you see Aurora, but for God’s sake, be gentle with her. She has had a terrible shock.”

“Of course. You know you don’t have to tell me, Lois. I feel very sorry for the poor woman. It must have been a nightmare. Anyway, why don’t you start from when you saw him last, in the bakery earlier on. I’ll leave talking to Gran until last.”

C
owgill was very professional as he listened to Lois’s account of yesterday’s events. Lois could hear Jeems barking at a passing farmer’s truck containing two sheepdogs, known as the Enemy, and it did not seem possible that Aurora’s husband, not such a bad chap but for his weakness with the ladies, had been drowned in such distressing circumstances, while peaceful country life was going on as usual.

“Thanks, Lois,” Cowgill said at last. “I’ll be talking to you again, but for now perhaps you’d ask Mrs. Black to come in? She was very distressed when I talked to her yesterday, and I hope she may be feeling stronger today.”

Aurora was pale but collected, and said in a small voice, “Good morning, Inspector.” She sat down and folded her hands in her lap.

Cowgill said all the right things before asking her his first question. “Have you any idea, Mrs. Black, why your husband should be anywhere near the Mill House Hotel yesterday morning?”

She shook her head. “But we do know them all there so well, and we are always running across with extra bread for the restaurant, and things like that.”

“The waterwheel is a magnificent piece of machinery. Was he particularly interested in it? I know that working mill wheels are difficult to find nowadays.”

“Yes, he
was
fascinated by it, Inspector. He belonged to a sort of society of people who are interested in working mills, and so he knew very well how dangerous they could be. Of course, this wheel doesn’t turn machinery anymore, and the hotel people keep it going as an added attraction. I know they were told to take all kinds of safety measures before they opened up the restaurant extension where the wheel can be seen turning. There had been some extra work going on, with those orange-striped cones all round a bit where they had taken the safety grid away. I can only think Donald ignored them, thinking he knew how to avoid the dangers.”

Cowgill nodded. “And the last time you saw him was at home, in company with Mrs. Meade, who had called to see you?”

“Yes, that’s right. And Lois and I were together the whole time from then on until I saw . . . well, until I saw Donald and screamed.”

At this point, she slumped in her chair and closed her eyes, desperately trying to keep calm.

“Very well, Mrs. Black. That will be all for now. Do you plan to go back home today? I shall need to see you again, I’m afraid, as our enquiries proceed, but so long as you let us know if you are going away, that will be fine.”

“Oh, I shall not be able to go away, Inspector. I have to get back to the bakery today. In fact, very soon. The bread won’t wait for me, I’m afraid. The shop will be shut today, but open again tomorrow.”

She almost smiled, and then walked calmly out of the office and back to the kitchen. “The inspector would like to see you now, Gran, if that’s convenient,” she said.

“Huh, or if it’s not, I expect. Right, here goes. Help yourself to anything you fancy, Aurora. Shan’t be long.”

Lois made another cup of tea, and she and Aurora sat at the table in silence for a minute or two. Then Lois drew a deep breath and asked Aurora if she could think of any reason why Donald should have fallen into the water and been taken along by the flow across the wheel.

“Or was he pushed?” Aurora answered with a grim face. “I am sure that’s what the police are thinking. Cowgill almost said it, but then skirted round it. And of course I’ve been thinking it myself. But he had no enemies, Lois. Always kind and charming to everybody. His cheerful personality was not put on, and it worked wonders in the jewellery parties. Only once have I known him to lose his temper with me, and that was when he shouted at you on the telephone! He apologised profusely afterwards.”

“Was it something you said? I hope you don’t think I’m prying, but my head is full of questions, as is yours, I’m sure.”

“I can’t really remember, but I think it was something to do with one of his colleagues. I thought he was trying to cheat Donald, but he wouldn’t listen. He was very loyal to his staff. And that day he had a headache. I should have shut up!”

“Well, don’t worry now. It’ll turn out to have been a tragic accident, I am sure. Now, I am taking you back to the bakery, and I’ll stay in case you feel wobbly.”

“Thanks, Lois. You are such a good friend. Thanks for everything.”

*   *   *

Lois was not pretending when she said her head was full of questions, and some of them related to the previous death in the Mill House Hotel, including the woman who was found strangled with her own necklace. Donald Black had denied all likely connection with his jewellery business, though she had a collection in her bag.

When confronted with a photograph of the woman, he had said that he had never seen her before, and that she could have been one of the sellers recruited by someone else. Lois saw again the redhead under the potted palm. Was he being blackmailed by the murdered woman’s friend? Or was it a romantic assignation? Or only a genuine business meeting, and the redhead one of his own recruits?

“The bread is proving now, Lois, and there is nothing more for us to do. Why don’t you go off home, and then if you don’t mind, we could talk on the telephone this evening. I expect it will all come flooding back—oh God!
Flooding!
Why does everything seem so watery this morning?”

She was in tears again, but sniffed them back and leaned forward to kiss Lois’s cheek. “Off you go now. Safe journey home.”

*   *   *

What a brave woman! Lois put her van into gear and drove slowly away, seeing in her driving mirror that Aurora was still watching and waving. And she was so efficient, as she prepared the dough for the oven! All kneaded by a steady hand, as if being punished for having the effrontery to rise, sometimes overspilling the tins. Perhaps it was a good way of releasing tension? Gran was a great one for vigorous cleaning and polishing, and she would say there was always plenty of tension in the Meade kitchen.

When she arrived home, she found washing blowing in the brisk wind, and Gran and her friend Joan up in the vegetable patch inspecting raspberry canes. Summer was well on the way now, and jam making in the offing. They were probably commiserating with each other over the cancelling of their plans, poor things.

There was a message for Lois in her office. Inspector Cowgill would be grateful if she could spare time to call in at the police station, if she was in town that afternoon. As it happened, she had planned to go in to the New Brooms office to have a couple of hours with Hazel going through paperwork. Hazel was very capable, but liked Lois to check in regularly.

She called his number. “About three? Is that okay? You won’t be off to an important meeting the minute I arrive? I do have to get home to catch up on New Brooms matters. I cancelled my usual staff meeting today, and we’ll be having it tomorrow at lunchtime. Has anything new come up?”

Cowgill said that he would save any developments until she called in. “Take care, now, Lois,” he said. “Having too much on your mind can cause accidents. See you at three.”