Three Little Maids(32)

Aiden Ludlam sat upright in his chair and his cup crashed in the saucer. ‘Inspector! She was a child of fifteen! And the majority of our chapel congregation are decent married men, and much older than myself or elderly. I cannot believe that you could suggest such a thing.’

Kent drank up his tea, put his cup back in the saucer and smiled. ‘I wish to point out to you, Mr. Ludlam that Shakespeare’s Juliet was a minor. Fourteen years old, wasn’t she?’

Aiden looked embarrassed. ‘Yes - but really, Kent. I must protest. That bears no comparison whatsoever with the morals and manners of the age we’re living in now. We have our laws that we have to live by if we don’t wish to be taken to court and charged.’

‘Young girls of today are not backward at coming forward, sir. And many are on the pill at fifteen. They are single parents at fourteen and younger.’

‘It is indeed a shameful state of affairs, Inspector.’

And where have you been living all this time, mate? Kent thought, studying the man in front of him. Ludlam was not happy with the way this conversation was going.

‘Are you trying to tell me something, Inspector? That Maureen was not a virgin?’

Kent said nothing but his silence was all that was needed to substantiate everything to the other man.

Aiden exploded, ‘This is a slur on an innocent young girl, Inspector! I hope you will not repeat any of this to her parents to add even more anguish to their suffering.’

‘It will go no further than this room, Mr. Ludlam. I have no wish to say anything of this nature to Mr. and Mrs. Carey that would spoil their own happy memories of their daughter.’

‘They will thank you for your tact, Inspector.’

Turner put down his cup, picked up his notebook and slipped it into his pocket. ‘Thank you, sir.’ He walked over to the door, held it open for Kent.

Kent stood up. ‘Thank you for your time, sir.’ He joined Turner. ‘There’s just one more thing. If I may I enquire for my records. Where you were on Thursday and Friday nights? At home or did you go out at all?’

Aiden smiled. ‘I was at rehearsals, Inspector. Both evenings. I belong to the local Amateur Operatic Company. We perform all the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces and Roger Welbeck was there too. He is also one of our members currently rehearsing the Mikado.’

‘I see. Thank you, sir, for your co-operation.’

‘Not at all. If there’s anything I can do to help solve this case. Ask away. Or phone me.’

Kent came away wondering about his next move. Who were they dealing with next? After reading her diary he was pretty sure that Maureen must have cast her allures far wider than Raymond.

He decided to see Mrs Perkins again. ‘Do you reckon she’ll give us the gen on the men in the chapel congregation, Turner?’

‘If you ask her nicely, guv. As long as you’re not pressing her about Raymond’s doings with Maureen. She must have guessed that he was having a high old time with her.’

‘It seems like she would do anything for that grandson of hers. And that includes lying. So we’ll have to watch how we approach her, Turner.’

Turner grinned. ‘You’re learning, guv. Let’s hope we find her in. She works her tail off cleaning most days. I think you’ll find her at the White Rock Hotel this morning, just finishing the upstairs bedrooms. Ask Mrs Frost if you can speak to her first. It’s a busy time all round for hoteliers.’

*

Mrs Perkins was on her last bedroom. She was coming out of Thora Wilberforce’s door with a duster in one hand and a vacuum cleaner. She stopped abruptly when she saw them, her face drained of colour. ‘Mr. Turner! Inspector! What do you want with me? You’ve come to tell me Raymond’s in trouble again.’

‘Hold on Mrs P. Raymond is at work. As far as we know. The Inspector just wants to ask you just a few questions.’

‘Questions,’ she echoed. ‘What about?’

‘You know more about the chapel goers than anyone else. And as Mrs Sherlborne told me how much you enjoy your romances,’ Kent said with a wide grin. ‘I thought you’d be the ideal person to sum up the romantic potential of the men amongst the chapel goers. This has to be strictly on the QT mind.’

Her face brightened visibly. And she proceeded to enlighten him, very succinctly. Roger Welbeck was a pleasant young man. Hard working. Worried himself sick over his wife. A bit of a lad with the girls, he used to be, but not now.

‘So what about young Maureen? How did he behave towards her, Mrs Perkins?’

She thought carefully for a second or so. ‘O-oh - she was flirty with him when her father’s back was turned. Roger Welbeck seemed really worried for a time. I think she used to wait to corner him when he was around doing some work on the place. Pestered him she did.’ She nodded. ‘She didn’t like being ignored and she used to put Raymond through it too, I can tell you. Mr. Turner. I wasn’t any too happy about that.’