Conflicted Innocence Page 17

  “So where could it be?” he asked.

  “We don’t know anything other than it was wrapped in a dress and disposed of in the cab office.”

  “Surely it would have been discovered long before now?”

  “You would think so, but do you have any objection to us doing a quick search of the cab office?”

  “Of course not—I’ll even help. I’d like nothing more than to solve what happened to Damien.”

  “If you like, we could take you with us now and drop you back here on our way home.”

  “Today?” His hand flew to his throat in panic.

  “No time like the present.”

  “Oh, but...I need to inform Brenda, she’s my helper, and she comes every day to do some job or other.”

  “Would you prefer if we go without you and just give you a call later.”

  “Would you? No. No, Damien was my friend and, if somebody I know is responsible for killing him, I want to help get them locked up. I’ll come with you. Now where on earth are my good shoes?”

  We left Alan to get organised and waited for him by the Jeep.

  “I’ve just phoned Chris to warn him we’re on our way,” Alan called, as he appeared at the front door.

  “I hope he doesn’t start searching,” James whispered to me.

  “To be honest, I bet he’s already had a good look around after we told him earlier.”

  Chris met us in the front office and James’ suspicions proved to be spot on. Several ancient, dusty boxes were in the middle of the room, and Jeannie’s desk was even more cluttered than usual.

  “Anything?” Alan asked.

  “Nothing yet. We’ve pulled this lot out from under the desk. What exactly are we looking for?”

  James, more than a little pissed off, took the reins. “I’ll take over from here, if you don’t mind.”

  The cab office comprised of the two offices we’d already seen, a large bathroom, and two storage cupboards. The cupboards were piled high with all sorts of junk—old printers, vacuum cleaners, and a large plastic container containing what looked like lost property. We pulled everything out methodically but still came up with a big, fat nothing.

  Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. “Is there a bay?”

  “A bay?” Chris asked, shaking his head.

  “Yes. It was something she shouted to me as I was leaving—try the bay, she said.”

  Alan dropped a pile of stuff back into the box he was searching and banged the heel of his hand on his forehead. “Of course! Follow me.”

  We all walked outside and around the back of the building through a fenced off yard to an old workshop.

  “This used to be part of the same building before I bought the business. Harold used to employ mechanics to maintain all our own vehicles but he closed it down soon after Damien died. A short while later, he modernised the building and completely separated this off. As far as I’m aware, he still owns it and leases it to the roading department of the local council.”

  The earlier butterflies returned with a vengeance. “Harold Turpin still owns this part of the building?” I asked.

  “As far as I’m aware, yes. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me earlier,” Alan said.

  “Can I help you?” A middle aged man with long grey hair, a handlebar moustache and dressed in orange overalls, appeared at the top of the stairs towards the back of the workshop.

  “Hi Eric,” Alan called.

  “Alan? Well, I’ll be damned. It’s been yonks since I’ve seen you.” Eric hurried towards us and hugged his old friend warmly.

  Alan introduced us and went on to explain what we were doing there.

  “You know this building used to be part of the cab office, don’t you?” he asked.

  “Yeah—well before my time, but I did hear about it. You thinking of expanding again?”

  “Oh, God no. The only thing you’ll find me expanding is my waistline.”

  We all gave a token laugh. Clearly everyone felt the same as I did and just wanted to find out if we could look for the gun.

  “No, it used to be a mechanics bay.”

  Mechanics bay! I thought my heart would explode in my chest if I got much more excited.

  “Yeah, that’s right. The old boards are still here for the pit.” Eric gestured to the centre of the floor.

  “Do you mind?” James asked, motioning for Eric show us.

  “Of course.”

  We all stepped inside the cool, dusty workshop. Shelves lined either side of the room filled with street signs and cones and lots of other miscellaneous stuff.

  A few steps in, the sound of his feet changed, and Eric swiped his boot in the dirt to reveal a large rectangular area of boards.

  “What’s this all about?” Eric asked, suddenly curious.

  “We have reason to believe this pit may hold historic evidence to a homicide,” James said.

  “Oh shit!” Eric jumped off the boards as though they were suddenly electrified.

  “I wonder if we can take a closer look underneath there, or would you like us to contact the police first?”

  “Nah, it should be okay to take a quick peek.”

  “Great. Do you have a spade by any chance?” James took off his lightweight, beige jacket and handed it to me.

  “All our guys are out, and they keep the tools in the vans,” Alan said.

  “I’ve got one, I think,” Chris said, rushing back towards the cab office. Moments later, he returned with a shovel and handed it to James.

  “Better than nothing. Thanks, mate.” James took it and began scraping away the surface dust, revealing a wooden area approximately three-feet wide and six-feet long.

  Between them, James and Chris lifted several of the boards and stacked them neatly against the shelves.

  I held my breath, not really knowing what to expect.

  There was a gap of approximately five inches under the boards, but the pit had been filled with all kinds of rubbish and building rubble from bricks to empty cement bags.

  “It will be at least six-feet deep.” Alan stroked his chin, a concerned expression on his face.

  “I think I need to contact my boss.” Eric appeared concerned.

  “Good idea,” James said. “And I should go and report it to the police. We could potentially ruin any evidence if we start digging around in that lot.”

  Chapter 29

  At first, we were treated like a couple of crackpots at the police station, until one of the officers, PC Yates, who appeared to be in his twenties. He sporting a teeny bit of bum-fluff on his chin, and had the brightest green eyes I’d ever seen. He said he’d read some of James’ books.

  “I’ll go, Sarge,” he said to his boss.

  “Well, don’t go upsetting the council. Check out the pit only, and get back to us if anything surfaces.” He raised his eyebrows at his colleague and then at both of us in turn.

  “Dickhead!” I said under my breath.

  James dug me in the ribs. “Thanks so much, sir. I appreciate the assistance,” he said, backing out of the cramped reception area.

  “Kiss arse!” I hissed at him.

  PC Yates walked us out the front of the building.

  “Okay, I’ll just get my car and meet you there in ten.”

  We found Eric and Alan still standing beside and peering into the pit. Eric seemed relieved to have a police officer on site, clearly wanting someone else in charge if anything went wrong.

  “Did you speak to your boss?” I asked.

  “Yes. They said we could dig out the pit so long as it was loose rubble. To dig up the concrete would be a different story as they would need to contact the owner of the property.”

  “Fair enough,” James said. “Did Chris take that shovel? Best we make a start.”

  Just then a council van pulled up and two burly young blokes, dressed in florescent yellow overalls, got out.

  “Just in the nick of time,” Eric said, beckoning them over. “We need to dig a
ll this crap out of the pit, guys. Do you mind?”

  The larger of the two, a bearded hulk of a man, sighed and glanced at his lanky mate, clearly not thrilled to have another job added to their day’s work.

  “Don’t worry about it, mate. I’ll do it.” James began taking his jacket off once again.

  “Nah, you’re not dressed for it. We’ll do it, won’t we Dave?” The smaller guy said.

  “Cost you a pint,” Dave said.

  “I’ll buy you a six-pack each if we get to the bottom of that thing in the next hour,” James said.

  “You’re on.”

  Without further ado, the lads got stuck in, and with the right equipment, were making inroads in no time. They piled the rubble up at the side of the pit for ease of shoving it back in again afterwards.

  “So what are we looking for?” Dave asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his overall sleeve.

  “Something that could contain a weapon wrapped in a dress,” James said.

  Dave continued digging, suddenly a little more interested.

  There was all sorts of crap down the pit—boxes of paperwork, tyres, a brittle old hose snaking through everything and loads of bricks. When the younger guy pulled out an ancient looking toolbox, my heart missed a beat.

  James pounced on the rusty old box and used a screwdriver that Eric passed him to pry open the lid. We all took a sharp intake of breath as we waited for the lid to flip open.

  I could have cried when I saw it was empty, aside from a pack of naughty playing cards and a few crappy old tools.

  James slung the toolbox back onto the pile and the lads got back to work.

  As they got closer to the bottom of the pit, they pulled out three oil drums and scraped the remaining dirt out.

  “Nothing. Will we still get our beer?” Dave asked.

  “Course you will, so long as it all goes back the way it was,” James confirmed.

  “Hang on,” Eric interrupted. “We don’t really need to put it all back in there—it’s a load of old rubbish and needs biffing. Shove it all in the skip out back, and I’ll match the beer.”

  “Come on,” James said to me. “We may as well go and grab a coffee and pick up payment for these thirsty young men.”

  Deflated, I followed him towards the car.

  PC Yates came too. “Never mind. It was always going to be a longshot,” he said.

  “I know, but wouldn’t it have been great to solve such a historic case?”

  “There’s still a chance it could be there somewhere. Maybe I’ll put the case to my sarge and see if he’ll support us in a full search.”

  “Would you do that?” James asked, suddenly a little excited again.

  I didn’t hear his answer over the shouts coming from the workshop.

  Dave ran towards us. “You might wanna look at this, mate.”

  We raced back inside, eager to know what had got the moody and morose man so excited.

  The younger man had one of the oil drums on its side and had crowbarred the lid off. The contents had spewed out, one of them being an old British Rail holdall.

  James looked to the policeman who stepped forward and unbuckled the top of the bag before peering inside. He gasped, opening the flap further for us all to get a good look at the contents.

  A pale blue, floral fabric lay scrunched in the bottom and was covered in a murky brown stain.

  “Is that...?”

  “Looks like blood to me. I’m going to have to call this in. Seems your old lady was telling the truth after all.

  Chapter 30

  I sat on the edge of my seat all the way home, jabbering incessantly about how we’d solved a historic murder in little over three days.

  James kept chuckling at me, his deep dimples a permanent fixture on his face, and I couldn’t wait to get him home and devour him. There was no greater aphrodisiac than adrenaline, I discovered.

  We went straight to pick up Grace, who was already fast asleep in her pushchair by the time we arrived, a little after seven.

  “Aw, I so wanted to nibble on her cute little chin,” I said, pouting.

  “She is such a sweet little thing,” Candice said, much more gushy than usual. “She proper belly-laughed when I popped a paper bag earlier.”

  Lydia even seemed different—much calmer and happier.

  “We’re going to the cottage tomorrow,” she said. “I told Lee we need to decide what to do with it, and seeing as we’ve decided to stay here, there’s no reason to keep it.”

  “Good for you!” I said, almost exploding to tell her my news.

  “What?” She laughed at my flapping hands.

  “We solved the murder! The wife did it.”

  “What murder? You mean, the ancient one James is writing about?”

  I nodded, my grin so wide my face almost split in two.

  “And the police know?” She smiled, sharing my excitement.

  “Yes. They haven’t made any arrests yet, of course. They need to do their own investigation, but we found the murder weapon, and I got a confession off the wife. It’s only a matter of time before it’s all over the news, I’m sure.”

  “Well done, you!” Lydia jumped to her feet and hugged me.

  “Thanks. I’m totally stoked.”

  James and Lee appeared in the doorway.

  “Are my two favourite ladies ready?” James asked.

  I nodded. “Thanks once again for having Grace, Lydia. We owe you big time.”

  “Oh nonsense. It was my pleasure. She’s such a darling. And congratulations, James. What a result!”

  “I know! I have my very own Miss Marple.” James slid his arm around my waist and pulled me to him.

  “Gerroff!” I laughed, batting his chest playfully. “You silly bugger.”

  We walked to the front door, James pushing Grace. “Oh, Lee, did James tell you I won’t be able to work tomorrow? I’ll have to organise childcare.”

  “Of course. But by all accounts, you won’t be working for me anyway.”

  “I won’t?” I gasped, wide-eyed, wondering what the hell I’d done wrong this time.

  “No, you won’t,” James piped up from the garden path. “You’re much too good a detective to waste your time in boring property rentals—no offence, pal.”

  “None taken, buddy.” Lee laughed.

  “So, does that mean there’s a vacancy?” Lydia said, pointing, not very discreetly, at her sister.

  Lee glanced at his wife’s excited face and shrugged. “I guess so. On a trial period, mind.”

  Candice screamed and hugged her sister, jumping on the spot.

  “Have a great day tomorrow, guys,” I called, as James and I headed up the path.

  We could still hear Candice’s squeals as the door closed behind us.

  We laughed.

  “Hey, you.” I scowled.

  “What?”

  “How do you know I didn’t want to learn all about the exciting life of property rentals?”

  “I—I don’t. But I just thought you’d enjoy working with me. You know, James and Geri—private detectives.”

  “How about Geri and James—Private Eyes?”

  He laughed. “Still needs a little fine tuning, but yeah, you get the picture.”

  I changed Grace into her pyjamas and tucked her into bed without a peep. Then, I called through to the local Indian restaurant for a takeaway and jumped in the shower while awaiting their delivery.

  We snuggled on the sofa after eating, both exhausted from the last few days.

  “Lydia seemed in great spirits today,” I said. “I’ve never seen her like that before.”

  “I know. Lee told me she’s been struggling a bit, but she seems to be getting back to her usual self to me. He actually thanked me for trusting her to look after Grace.”

  “Did he?”

  “Yeah. He said they’ve both really enjoyed spending time with her, and it’s given Lydia a real spring in her step.”

  I thought abou
t the wishy-washy woman Lydia had been just a short time ago, to now. It was true—Lydia glowed from within and her smile, that used to be dead behind the eyes, now lit up her whole face.

  “She deserves to be happy. I can’t imagine how she’s coped up to now. But I’m glad if Grace can help her deal with it and get her life back on track.”

  “You’re an amazing woman, you know?” James pulled me into his arms and kissed me, hard.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” I groaned, straddling him.

  “Hmmm, I quite like this new wanton and aggressive side to you,” he said, teasing my lips with his delicious tongue.

  “Get used to it, lover—this is just the beginning.

  *

  I tossed and turned, unable to get a wink of sleep.

  James slept soundly spooned behind me, and he groaned every time I kicked off the duvet, then again when I pulled it back on.

  The events of the past few days were going around and around in my mind as though on a loop, but something niggled at me—something just outside of my consciousness.

  I woke three hours later with a banging headache as though I’d been out on the town all night.

  “You okay, babe?” James asked, placing a cup of tea beside the bed.

  “Oh, gosh. I didn’t even hear you get up.”

  “That’s okay, you’re obviously exhausted. I would leave you longer, but I need to get to work. I’ve heaps to type up after yesterday, and my star detective has a prior engagement.”

  I groaned and pulled the pillow over my face. “Don’t remind me.” I had an appointment to see the nursery manager, but now I thought it would just be easier to go elsewhere.

  “Don’t even think about it,” James said, as though reading my mind.

  “But...”

  “No. If you don’t deal with this head on it could happen again. They are supposed to work on behalf of you—the parent. They were out of order the other day.”

  I threw the duvet to one side, jumped out of bed and slipped into my fluffy, pink slippers. “Okay.”

  “Grace is downstairs decorating the highchair with marmite and toast as we speak. I’ll leave you to clean her up, shall I?”

  “Gee, thanks.” I laughed.

  I followed him down the stairs, and moments later Grace and I waved him off from the front step. Lee’s car wasn’t in its usual place so I figured they must have left already.