Scandal at Six(39)

Justin had spent all weekend ferrying the contents of his bed-sitter to the shop flat, and now looked around with pleasure. It was a really pleasant little place, he realised, once he had arranged things to his liking. The sitting-room windows looked over the rooftops to the village hall and playing fields beyond, and if he leaned to one side through an open window, he could just see the front of Meade House, about a hundred yards up the road. Even as he watched, he saw Lois Meade’s New Brooms van come out and disappear off towards Tresham. If a spy was needed, he would be Robert’s man.

Now for his parents. He would call about visiting, and hope there would be good news about his father.

Meanwhile, Dot Nimmo had arrived at the hall, and after a preliminary chat with Robert Pettison, she had begun work upstairs in the bedrooms.

“I always start at the top and work down,” she had said to him. When he replied that he could think of circumstances where that policy could be very pleasurable, she snapped at him that she was a respectable widow and that was quite enough of that.

As she worked steadily from one room to another, she came across a locked door. She went downstairs and found Pettison in the kitchen.

“Can I have the key for that locked bedroom?” she said.

He shook his head. “No, Dot, I’m afraid that is always locked. Not that I’ve got Miss Havisham shut up in there! No, it’s just that we’ve lost the key. I must get a man to change the lock sometime, but there’s only boxes of books I don’t want in there, so there’s no urgency. Just give it a miss,” he said, and changed the subject. “What time do you have coffee? Would half past ten suit you? Then I have to go down to the zoo to check that all is well.”

“That’s fine by me,” said Dot. “And what about that zoo? You got another person in trouble in there, I heard. My dear old Handy used to say one death could be explained away, but two was careless.”

“I remember Handy well! But in this case there is only one death. My ex-cleaner, Mrs Richardson, fell out with one of my chimp people, but the police are satisfied that there is a good explanation. In the sad case of the keeper attacked by his majesty, the king cobra, my man made a ridiculous error in going into the cobra cage alone and at night when no one else was around.”

“Made the front page, though, didn’t it,” Dot said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get on. If you want a handyman to fix that lock, I can recommend one of my nephews.”

She disappeared upstairs, and Pettison reflected that he would not allow any of Dot Nimmo’s nephews anywhere near the place. A good thing they’d got the mausoleum dealt with straightaway. It would be a disaster if she was confronted with a hanging gorilla and surgical specimens of splayed-out creatures.

By the time Dot had finished her four hours, she was ready for another coffee, and as Pettison had gone out, and had said no need to lock up, as he would be back very shortly, she decided to call in on Margie Turner and see if she had a free lunch hour. They could go to the zoo snack bar and have a gossip. She had not forgotten that Mrs M had expressly forbidden her to do either of these things, and if challenged, would remind her boss that she was in her free time, and could choose whatever she liked to do.

“Yes, okay, Dot. My replacement for the lunch hour should be here in a couple of minutes. You go and get us a seat, and then I’ll join you,” said Margie.

Dot made her way to the snack bar, passing a roomy cage full of brightly plumaged birds making unfamiliar chattering squawks, and then the famous monkey enclosure, where a tiny wizened face looked slyly at her. She quickened her step and found the snack bar, where she ordered a coffee and a sandwich, and sat down to wait for Margie.



*



The line to Justin’s parents was busy every time he tried to ring them, until he had their phone number checked, and was told the receiver must have been left off the hook. Mother was getting really absentminded. The burden of Dad clinging on to life, and not knowing when the end would come, was becoming too much for her.

Now his phone was ringing, and it was his mother. “Justin? Have you tried to get hold of us. Sorry! I left the phone off. Done it several times lately. How are you, dear? Are you coming up to see your father? He’s much the same.”

“Yes, I’ll come very soon. Glad to hear he’s no worse. Now, have you got a pen handy? I’ve moved into a new flat, and I’ll give you the address. I shall get cards printed to send out, but in case you need to know sooner. Ready? Right. The Flat, General Stores, 25 High Street, Long Farnden, Tresham, WZ1 2GB. Yes, that’s right. A new phone number, too, but you can easily ring my mobile. That’s always with me.”