Scandal at Six(24)

Now Lois sat in her office, sorting out the schedules for the midday meeting of New Brooms. All the girls would be present, and Andrew, part-time interior decorator, part-time cleaner when required. Looking at her watch, she saw that there were ten minutes clear until the team turned up. She dialled Cowgill’s private number, and was irritated to see that his message service was switched on.

“Ring me, please, as soon as poss. Thanks,” she said.

The doorbell rang, and she heard Gran hurrying to get to the door before anyone else. “Come on in, girls,” she said. “And one boy, Andrew! You look cold, all of you. Hot coffee any good?”

“Thanks, Gran. We’ll have it after the meeting as usual. Where’s Dot?” Lois added, and Hazel said she had seen her rushing past the office window, so guessed she would be a little late.

“Not like Dot,” Lois said, and began the business of the meeting. Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang again, and Gran ushered in a red-faced Dot. “Sorry, Mrs M. Trouble with the car. My nephew’s lent me his spare. Enormous great thing, a black BMW with dark windows. Like driving a hearse. Anyway, what have I missed?”

“Nothing important. We’re going through the schedules. Now, here’s yours, but there will be a possible change. We have a new client, and I’d like you to take it on. There are a few things to finalise, but then I’ll arrange to introduce you. We were to go in today, but there’s been a drama there, so we will go tomorrow.”

“What kind of a drama?” said Dot, frowning.

“A nasty accident, to be blunt.”

Before Lois could elaborate, Dot said, “Oh my Gawd! Not the zoo? I reckon you take your life in your hands working there. My friend’s on the gate. Oh no, Mrs M, it’s not Margie Turner, is it? They wouldn’t give the name on the telly news.”

After that, the whole story had to be discussed, and Lois assured Dot that she would only go there to work if it was considered 100 percent safe.

“Don’t you worry about that, Mrs M,” Dot said, intrigued in spite of her first fears. “My nephew’s a mate of old Pettison. I’ll get the dirt from him when I take the hearse back. You fix it up for tomorrow, and we’ll go and have a snoop,” she added. Her face had resumed its normal colour, and her eyes twinkled with excitement. “Now then, what’s next?” she said.



*



When the team had gone, Lois looked to see if Cowgill had answered her. The red light was winking, and she played a message that was short and to the point. “Need to see you. Please ring back.”

She tried at once to call him, and this time he picked up his receiver. “Ah, Lois. I’d like you to meet me at the Cameroon Hall zoo at three o’clock this afternoon. I’ll be there with Chris, and I’ll warn the gate that you’re there with my permission. Needless to say, the zoo is closed today.”

So why did he want me to be there? Lois was reluctant for two reasons. She did not like being ordered about by Cowgill. She was not an employee of the police service, and had never received a penny for her help on previous cases. If this was a case? The one thing she needed to know for certain, however, was the name of the victim, and the best way of finding out was to meet Cowgill as instructed.

After lunch and a thinking walk with Jemima across the fields, Lois set off for Tresham and the zoo. As she approached the main gates, she saw that they were closed, and a policeman stood by.

“Mrs Meade?” he said, opening the gates. “Drive up to the house, please. The zoo is out of bounds at the moment. Inspector Cowgill is expecting you.”

The driveway was now becoming familiar to Lois, and she coasted along, turning over in her mind what Pettison had said to her when she was last here. He had agreed to everything she had stipulated, and made it quite clear that hanky-panky was not in his line. Was he gay? She thought not. Not from the way he looked at her legs! But then that might mean nothing. By now she had reached the house, and drove round the back to park. Cowgill, as if by magic, appeared at the side of her car, and opened the door for her.

“Ah, good. Come with me,” he said, and led her into a sitting room, which obviously at some time had done duty as a family library. There were books everywhere, and he moved a couple of piles so that she could sit down.

“Now, Lois, I want your word that you will abandon all thoughts of sending any of your cleaners to this house.”

“I’ll think about it,” said Lois. “Why the urgency? You could have told me that over the phone.”

“Because of one very important fact. The victim—you probably know by now—was Pettison’s former cleaner. The cause of the attack in the chimps cage is more or less known. The woman trespassed. She had gone into the cage to speak to a keeper, and the sight of an angry old chimp could have given her a heart attack. She certainly collapsed, and was bitten, but only a little. The woman was confirmed as Mrs Richardson, until very recently employed as a cleaner by Robert Pettison at Cameroon Hall.”