Murder in Midwinter (32 page)

‘Shall we go up to the Place and see if we can see old Jonathan again?’

‘When, exactly? It’s going to be frantically busy up there the week before Christmas, and I bet you haven’t finished your wrapping yet.’

‘Hmm,’ said Libby, thinking hard. ‘I bet there’s something Harry will need to check for Saturday. I could do that.’

‘Libby, you’ve got the panto to sort out, too,’ said Fran. ‘Leave it.’

‘Oh, all right,’ said Libby grumpily. ‘But you’re to tell me straight away if you think of anything else.’

‘Yes, yes,’ said Fran. ‘Of course I will. Now I’ve got to get on with packing boxes ready for next week.’

Lenny opened the door to Ben and Libby later in the morning. Flo welcomed them in with a steaming cafetiere in one hand and a cigarette in the other. ‘They’ll never stop me,’ she said to Ben in answer to his questioning look. ‘Young Libby’s a different matter.’

Young Libby looked sideways at Ben and cleared her throat.

‘So what’s the problem, then?’ said Flo, when they were settled. ‘Edna Morrison?’

‘Well, yes,’ said Libby, and explained.

Flo snorted. ‘That brother,’ she said. ‘More trouble than ’e’s worth.’

‘Oh, you do know them, then?’ said Libby with relief.

‘I’ve known Edna since ’op pickin’. She’s younger than me, o’ course, but I knew her then. That Eric was always a nuisance.’

‘Is he a drunk?’ asked Ben. ‘That’s what Libby thinks.’

‘Oh, yes. She’s gone over there to make sure he don’t go off on another bender. ’Ow he keeps his job, I don’t know.’ Flo sniffed and poured coffee. ‘She ought to come back ’ome fer Christmas. They’re all having dinner together in Amy’s house, you know.’

‘Amy?’ asked Ben.

‘The warden. They have a lovely time,’ said Flo. ‘Course, I got me family, ’aven’t I?’ She reached across and patted Lenny’s arm. Lenny smirked.

‘So she has got friends, then?’ said Libby. ‘I was worried about her.’

‘And she’s worried about her brother,’ said Flo. ‘Mind you, she could always bring him back here. She’s got a spare room.’

‘What a good idea!’ Libby turned to Ben. ‘I’m sure it’s her brother that’s made her give up the panto. If she brought him back here, she could come back into it.’

‘Not as the Fairy?’ Ben was aghast.

‘No, she wouldn’t want to,’ said Libby. ‘But in the chorus. Like I said last night.’

‘You could ask, I suppose,’ said Ben doubtfully, ‘but I don’t see how you can suggest she bring her brother here. It’s nothing to do with you.’

‘Flo could,’ said Lenny. ‘Couldn’t you, gal?’

Flo nodded. ‘Course. I’ll give ’er a ring when you’ve gone. Let you know later.’

‘Thanks, Flo,’ said Libby, looking as though she would really rather Flo phoned now. ‘I feel really bad about her being stuck down there.’

‘She still does the shop,’ said Lenny. ‘In Steeple Mount.’

‘Oh, the animal rescue place? Yes, she mentioned that,’ said Libby. ‘I’m glad she’s got something in her life except her brother. And she shouldn’t be sleeping on a sofa at her age.’

Flo gave her an old-fashioned look. ‘Course not, gal,’ she said.

It was after Libby had spent an hour at the theatre with Ben sorting out a lighting problem and reluctantly returned home to finish wrapping Christmas presents that Flo called.

‘Difficult, gal,’ she said after a discreet cough. ‘She wanted to bring ’im up ’ere first off but ’e wouldn’t come.’

‘But all he’s got is a sprained ankle and a bump on the head,’ said Libby. ‘Surely he could be left, now.’

‘I told yer, she don’t want ’im goin’ on a bender. Says she’ll think about it and try and make ’im see sense.’

‘Did you tell her about coming into the chorus?’

‘Course I did. Sounded pleased.’

‘Well, that’s all we can do, I suppose,’ said Libby. ‘At least she knows she’s got friends.’

By now, the afternoon was drawing in and Libby had had enough of wrapping. It was nearly all done now, thanks to Balzac being a less interfering cat than Sidney, who had, in fact, finally been released from seclusion in the conservatory and sat glaring at the interloper from the back of the sofa. Libby lit the fire, put the kettle on the Rayburn and took a couple of the newspapers and files to the table in the window, pushing the laptop aside.

She found nothing relevant in either of the newspapers. The files contained mainly postcards, leaflets and the odd letter, some of which were almost undecipherable. Until she found one which looked like a receipt, which read “In respect of goods received the sum of Fifty Pounds. Albert Cooper.” The date was September 1904.

Libby sat back in her chair and stared out of the window. Goods? The diamond necklace? And 1904? Surely the news item about the necklace had been 1903? But Cooper. Laurence’s grandfather? At least here was a link between Dorinda and Laurence, even if there was no link to the Andersons.

She rang Fran, who said she would be round immediately. Libby decided she was probably fed up with packing boxes.

By the time Fran arrived, Libby had drawn the curtains, stoked up the fire and made a fresh pot of tea.

‘This is nice,’ said Fran holding out her hands to the blaze. ‘Just think, this time next week I could be lighting my own fire.’

‘Yes, but you won’t be able to pop round here at the drop of a hat,’ said Libby. ‘And moving in the week between Christmas and New Year won’t be much fun.’

‘I don’t care when it is. Having my own home is just about the best Christmas present I could have.’ Fran moved to the table. ‘So, where’s this receipt, then?’

‘Here.’ Libby handed it over. ‘I’ll get the tea.’

When she came back into the sitting room with two mugs, she found Fran sitting at the table holding the piece of paper in her hand, her head bowed.

‘Fran?’ she said.

Fran looked up. ‘I’m learning,’ she said.

‘How?’ Libby perched on the arm of the armchair.

‘I tried to focus properly on the piece of paper and let my mind go blank. You know I’ve told you most things just appear in my head as if I’ve known them all along?’

Libby nodded.

‘Well, I’ve realised that if I concentrate, I can do it to order. Sometimes, anyway.’

‘OK,’ said Libby, ‘but don’t keep me in suspense. What can you see?’

‘I can’t “see” anything, but I know that this is a receipt given to Dorinda for something very important, something that upset her.’

‘The diamond necklace?’

‘No, it’s something to do with a person.’

‘But it says “goods”,’ said Libby.

Fran shook her head. ‘I’m going to ask Ian about the birth certificate they found in Dorothy’s house. That’s where I found out that his name was Earnest.’

‘Do you think Albert’s name will be on his certificate?’

‘This is dated 1904. He’s hardly likely to have been Laurence’s father in 1946, is he?’

‘I did think that,’ agreed Libby. ‘I thought grandfather.’

‘Yes, that makes sense. I just thought perhaps we could look up Laurence’s father and go from there.’

‘Will you ring Connell now?’ said Libby.

Fran looked at her watch. ‘Isn’t it a bit late?’

‘Policemen don’t keep office hours, do they?’

Fran took out her mobile.

Libby went over to the sofa, where Sidney still loomed on the back, while Balzac sat under the armchair.

Fran was put straight through to Inspector Connell, to her surprise.

‘We’re ahead of you,’ he said, ‘although I don’t know where it’s got us.’

‘What do you mean, you’re ahead of us?’ said Fran. ‘You’ve looked up the parents on the birth certificate?’

‘Yes. Hang on a minute.’ She heard him shuffling papers. ‘Here we are. Father, Colin Cooper, mother Shirley.’

‘Yes, we knew that, we saw it in Richmond, but did you go back any further?’

‘What for? The murder wasn’t done by a ghost.’

‘No, but you were looking for a connection to Bella Morleigh. If Laurence’s grandfather had known Bella’s grandmother, perhaps that’s the connection.’

‘And you think they did?’

‘Oh, I
know
they did,’ said Fran.

‘How?’

‘Libby found a receipt made out to Dorinda by an Albert Cooper.’

There was a moment’s silence.

‘How do you know Albert Cooper is anything to do with Laurence? Cooper’s a very common name.’ Connell sounded irritable.

‘Isn’t it worth checking?’ asked Fran. ‘Have you got any other leads.’

‘Several,’ said Connell sharply. ‘But yes, I’ll get someone to check it. Not that it’ll get us any further.’

‘Colin Cooper,’ Fran told Libby when she’d finished the call. ‘He was Laurence’s father, and he was in the army. I told you that before. Ian’s going to look up his parents.’

‘Blimey!’ said Libby. ‘You
have
got influence. I wonder how long that’ll take?’

Fran stood up and went to the armchair, scooping Balzac from underneath it on to her lap. ‘No idea,’ she said. ‘And I’m getting very fed up with the whole thing. I’ve a good mind to tell Bella we can’t find anything else and wash my hands of it.’

Libby nodded. ‘You’ve done what you were asked to do. We could just relax and forget it.’

Fran raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh yes?’ she said. ‘That’s what you were doing this afternoon, is it? Once you’ve got your teeth into something you never let go.’

Libby felt herself going pink. ‘Oh, all right, I’m nosy. And it is interesting, you’ve got to admit.’

‘I know, but I’d just as soon forget it now. Except when things pop into my head like they did yesterday. But perhaps I could learn to suppress them, just as I’m learning to focus on them?’

Libby looked doubtful. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think you’d have that much control.’

‘Maybe you’re right.’

‘Well, let’s forget it now,’ said Libby. ‘We’ve got panto, moving, wedding – all sorts. Unless something else turns up, we needn’t even think about it.’

Chapter
Twenty-nine

T
HE THURSDAY NIGHT REHEARSAL
was the last before Christmas, and Libby had persuaded Peter, who was the nominal licensee, to open the bar. To her surprise, one of the first people to arrive was Edna.

‘I’m so pleased to see you,’ said Libby, going forward to take her hand. ‘Did you persuade your brother to come and stay with you after all?’

‘Yes, I did,’ said Edna, ‘and I’m so grateful you suggested it.’

‘Well, it was Flo and Lenny, really,’ said Libby. ‘And will you come into the chorus?’

‘I’d love to, if you’re sure you don’t mind.’ Edna was quite pink in the face, although not the alarming colour she had been when Libby last spoke to her. ‘I was really finding the Fairy too much, you know, but I did love being part of it all.’

That’s great,’ said Libby. ‘I’m sure we’ll be able to find you a costume.’

She watched as Edna moved across to join some of the other members of the cast, who were obviously happy to see her.

‘There,’ said Ben, coming up behind her. ‘You’ve done your good deed. Pleased?’

‘Yes, very.’ Libby turned and planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘And now we’d better get started.’

The rehearsal went as well as could be expected, after which Libby gritted her teeth and stood everyone a round of drinks, and Christmas cards were exchanged. Edna went off happily to Maltby Close, the rest of the cast and crew dispersed and Peter invited Ben, Libby and Fran back to have a last “single” drink with him and Harry.

‘Do I have to do anything special?’ Libby asked, as she accepted a glass of champagne. ‘On the day, I mean.’

Harry gave her a look. ‘Apart from holding the rings and the speech, you mean?’

‘Speech?’ Libby’s voice rose in a screech. ‘You never said anything about a speech!’

‘Stop it, Hal,’ said Peter, giving his beloved a poke in the ribs. ‘He’s winding you up, Lib. Unless you’d like to do a speech, of course.’

Libby glowered at them both and took a reviving swallow of champagne.

‘We go in and talk to the registrar first,’ said Harry, ‘then you’re all called in. You come and stand just behind us to the right and hand over the jewellery when commanded.’

‘And that’s all?’

‘And that’s all. Nothing mawkish.’

‘No words of abiding love, then?’ said Ben.

Peter made a face. ‘No.’

‘Tell you what, though,’ said Harry. ‘We’d like Lib to come here and go with us in the car.’

Ben and Libby looked at one another, surprised.

‘Really?’ said Libby.

‘In case we forget something or turn chicken,’ said Peter, grinning at Harry.

‘OK,’ said Libby, pleased. ‘But I’ll get a taxi. I’m not walking the streets of Steeple Martin in my finery.’

‘I’ll drop you off,’ said Ben, amused. ‘It means you’ll have to get ready earlier than you intended, though.’

‘I can manage that,’ said Libby. ‘Thanks for asking me.’

‘Best woman’s got to be good for something,’ said Harry.

Ben and Libby saw Fran to her door. ‘I phoned Bella this evening,’ she said, ‘to bring her up to date.’

‘Did you tell her about Edna’s brother?’ asked Libby.

‘Of course, as it looks as though he might be able to identify the murderer.’

‘If it
is
the murderer,’ said Libby.

‘Oh, it is,’ said Fran. ‘Quite definitely.’

‘And you said there wasn’t any more we could do?’

‘Yes,’ said Fran. ‘I don’t think she minded. She said she’d be down in the New Year and would collect everything from us then.’

Ben and Libby walked slowly back to Allhallow’s Lane.

‘What are you going to do tomorrow?’ asked Ben, as Libby went to put the kettle on the Rayburn.

‘I’m waiting in for my supermarket delivery, then I’m having my hair done. Then I suppose I’ll do whatever I can to get things ready for the kids arriving on Sunday.’

‘You won’t want me around, then,’ said Ben. ‘What about tomorrow evening?’

‘I hadn’t planned anything,’ said Libby, carrying two mugs through to the sitting room.

‘Come up to The Manor and I’ll cook you supper.’

‘Won’t you be in Hetty’s way?’

‘Not if we eat later than six,’ grinned Ben. ‘She’ll be in front of the TV by then.’

‘All right,’ said Libby. ‘I’d like that. Will you see me home afterwards?’