Found Guilty at Five (2 page)

T
WO

T
HE CHURCH WAS FULL BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE, AND ALL
heads turned as the organist broke off the umpteenth repeat of Pachelbel’s Canon and launched into a spirited rendering of Handel’s “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.”

Lois felt the dreaded tears welling up as she watched her daughter, who was so like herself, with long dark hair and greenish gold eyes, pace slowly as rehearsed, up to the chancel steps, held steady by Derek’s strong, reliable arm. Then Matthew took her symbolically from her father, and Derek stepped back.

“All well?” whispered Lois.

Derek nodded. “Fine,” he replied, “in spite of dog Jeems deciding to jump into the limo with me and Josie.”

“So what did you do?”

“Brought her with us,” said Derek. “Gran tied her up outside the church.”

“Hush!” said Gran in a stage whisper from the pew behind them.

The service proceeded, with the occasional yelp from Lois’s dog Jemima outside the church, and then it was time for signing the register, whilst the choir sang an anthem. Jamie had volunteered to practise this with the choir and to play the tricky accompaniment. As they reached the triumphant final notes, light footsteps were heard at the open door, and a small, slim girl with short black hair slipped quietly into the back pew.

Lois watched as Jamie stood up from the organ seat. As he looked towards the back of the church, she saw a big smile cross his face and knew that it was directed towards the latecomer. Then there was a scuffle and low growling, and she looked round in alarm. Jeems had slipped her collar, and was struggling in the arms of the unfamiliar girl. With minimum fuss and holding on tightly to the small white dog, she left the church and a peaceful quiet was restored.

The ceremony carried on in good order, with loud applause for the magical words “I now pronounce you man and wife,” and soon it was time for endless photographs outside the church door. Lois had noted that it was exactly five minutes to eleven when the sun finally shone from behind retreating clouds. Relations, friends and villagers, stationed beside the low churchyard wall, joined in the general hubbub of congratulations and jollity.

At last Lois was able to corner Jamie and ask him about the girl who had so courageously thwarted Jeems’s break for freedom. He smiled. “It’s Akiko, my friend who plays marvellous music on the cello. I asked her to come, and she was sad that she had a concert last evening. But she made it! Early train from London, and a taxi all the way here from Tresham. But as usual there was a holdup on the ring road, and that’s why she was late.”

“Nice of her to make the effort,” said Lois. “Must be a good friend, eh?”

A voice from behind them reminded them that Gran, who had just finished making sure she appeared in every family group photograph, had also had a hand in the Jeems debacle.

“I told you that collar was too loose, but you never listen to me, Lois,” she said. “And now, Jamie, who is this nice girl? Says she’s a friend of yours.”

“This is Akiko,” said Jamie, putting out his hand to introduce the girl, who nodded to Gran with a shy smile. “Akiko is from Japan,” he added, “and I thought she might like to see an English wedding. This is my mum, and this is Mrs. Weedon, my gran.” He grinned at his mother, and said, “Mum, this is Akiko Nakamasa, my colleague. She’s a whiz on the cello.”

As neither Lois nor Gran knew anything about the cello, there was a short pause. Then Gran, seldom lost for words, said she was sure it made a really nice noise, and had Akiko ever had a number one in the charts?

Lois surreptitiously stood lightly on Gran’s toe and said, “Oh look, here’s Mrs. Tollervey-Jones. Bless her heart, she’s walking well now. Hi, Mrs. T-J!” she called, and the dignified figure, soberly dressed in navy blue, relieved by a frilly white shirt, smiled broadly.

“Morning, Lois, and Mrs. Weedon—how are you?”

So the introductions were made all round, and Lois explained to Akiko that Mrs. T-J’s family had lived at the hall for generations, but she was now settled in a charming stone house with thatched roof, five hundred years old, in the centre of the village.

“I used to play the violin, my dear,” the old lady said to Akiko. “Not much good, I’m afraid. Piano is really my instrument. You must bring Akiko along to tea, Jamie, and we could play together. My sight-reading is still quite useful. Now, let me see, Nakamasa is an unfamiliar name. I spent some time in the East in my youth, but I’ve forgotten so much! And do you come from a village like this, Akiko?”

Akiko’s smile faded. “No,” she replied firmly, and did not elaborate. “I shall be pleased to see your lovely house,” she said. “Do you have time to take me, Jamie?”

Lois had seen the change in Akiko’s expression, and wondered why. As they joined the group throwing confetti at the church gate, she noted that Akiko slipped her hand under Jamie’s arm, and hoped there were no problems looming. Just got one safely off my hands with no worries, and only one to go, she reflected. Jamie, her youngest, had always been special, and as she said later to Derek, she did hope he was not going to take up with a foreigner reluctant to talk about her home. Derek had answered abruptly that not everyone had forgotten the Nips.

*   *   *

A
T THE RECEPTION IN THE NEWLY RESTORED VILLAGE HALL,
there was relief all round that the ceremony had taken place without a hitch. Lois tried hard to dissuade Derek from filling his glass too often, and when it was time for him to make a speech, he stood up without swaying and delivered his warm and funny lines with no trouble.

The best man, a police colleague, thanked the bridesmaids with genuine warmth, and finally they all settled down to eating and drinking. In due course there was dancing to old favourites for the more mature guests and later on, when the oldies had retired, the young set leapt about to thumping music from Tresham’s finest young band.

When most of the guests had gone, and Josie and Matthew were on their way to a brief island honeymoon, Lois collapsed on to a chair and gave a satisfied sigh.

“Happy now, Lois?” It was Inspector Cowgill, present as uncle of the bridegroom and a distinguished guest.

She looked at him, frowning. “Of course I’m happy. And why shouldn’t I be?”

He smiled, and patted her shoulder. “No reason at all. Young love is so charming, isn’t it. And given a chance, we oldies are quite good at it, too.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, give it a rest, Cowgill,” she said, standing up. Then she looked at his crestfallen face and relented. “Sorry, Hunter. Didn’t mean to snap; I’m really tired now. See you soon, eh?”

He nodded. “I’ll be in touch,” he said. “I’ll give you a ring. Still happy to go ferretin’?”

Before she could reply, Derek appeared and shook Cowgill firmly by the hand. “Off home, are you, sir?” he said. After all, the man
was
a policeman. “Thanks for coming. Now, Lois, we’re off to bed. All the rest can be done in the morning. G’night all,” he added expansively, and taking Lois’s hand, he led her away.

T
HREE

A
FTER
J
OSIE AND
M
ATTHEW LEFT FOR THEIR HONEYMOON,
Jamie had come to his mother and said quietly that Akiko had agreed to stay overnight in Farnden, if they could find her a bed for the night. Their house was full, except for a tiny maid’s room up in the attic, which Lois tentatively offered. Akiko had accepted gratefully, saying that to sleep high up in such a lovely house would be a treat.

“Her English is very good, considering,” Gran now said, as she presided over a breakfast pan full of bacon, mushrooms, eggs and tomatoes. “How come, Jamie?”

Akiko had not yet appeared from her eyrie, and Jamie answered that her father had given her a very good education and she was fluent in several languages.

“She don’t speak Northamptonshire,” said Gran. “But I suppose she’s a nice enough girl, for a foreigner.”

Derek raised his eyes to heaven and said, “No need to refer to her like that, Gran. She’s a guest and a friend of our Jamie. Now, who’s for coffee and who’s for tea?”

At this point, Akiko put her head round the kitchen door. “Good morning, everyone. Am I too late? Your lovely bed was so comfortable, I had a really good sleep.”

“No mice, I hope,” said Gran. “They have races up there sometimes. I can hear them in the ceiling of my room. Now, I expect you’d like something different from our English breakfast?”

Akiko smiled sweetly. “I am sure whatever you cook, Mrs. Weedon, will be delicious. Thank you very much for allowing me to stay.”

Jamie was looking daggers at Gran, who refused to lift her eyes from her frying pan.

“We were wondering, Jamie,” said Derek, “if you and Akiko would give us a taste of the music you play together. We’ve got a piano, but no cello, I’m afraid . . .”

“Oh, no problem, Mr. Meade,” Akiko said with a big smile. “Jamie has mine safely in his car, which is alarmed in case of burglars! It is very difficult to know how to keep a valuable instrument safe, but we decided this is best, whilst we are travelling together.”

Lois wondered about Jamie giving so much of his time as an accompanist, when he was now much in demand as a soloist. Still, he must know his own mind. He was a fully grown adult, and had already come a long way in his career. Over the last year or two, he had introduced them to a number of nice girlfriends with whom he had light and casual relationships. This one was not likely to be any different, was it?

“Perhaps you could give us a tune after lunch, then?” she said. “I can’t guarantee your father won’t doze off. But no offence meant. He always does on a Sunday.”

“What are you doing this morning, son?” Derek asked kindly. He was warming to the neat features and good manners of Jamie’s colleague. “Why don’t you show Akiko our lovely countryside? And there’s something on in the hall park this morning. Dog show, I think.”

Akiko clapped her hands and said she loved dogs, and could they take Jeems to the show and enter her into the dog-with-the-waggiest-tail class? “I used to have a dog at home, but she cannot travel with me, obviously.”

“I should think not!” said Gran. “Dogs should have their freedom. I don’t approve of them being shut up in flats, an’ that.”

With this imbalance of conversation, Gran on one side with snide remarks, and everyone else being as nice as possible to Akiko, breakfast proceeded. The rain had returned in the night, but now everywhere was glittering in the sun, and Jamie and Akiko left Meade House with Jeems on a lead, promising to be back in time for lunch.

*   *   *

F
ARNDEN
H
ALL WAS A PLEASANT STATELY HOME JUST OUTSIDE
the village, with parkland and farms attached. Geoffrey Norrington and his wife Melanie had bought the whole package, including farms and a private chapel, from Mrs. Tollervey-Jones, and Norrington had plans for it all, but had the sense not to try changing everything at once. But one thing he did straightaway. He opened the park and house to the public and set up a shop in the private chapel selling Farnden Hall souvenirs and gifts.

“But shouldn’t we concentrate on furnishing the hall first?” Melanie had objected. “We don’t want to show people around empty rooms.”

“We can use that,” her husband had answered enthusiastically. “Hold a competition. Charge people to make suggestions for each room—the main rooms, that is—and give a prize to the best. You and I could judge. Special prize for best child’s entry?”

“And what else are we going to put in the shop? Packets of grass seed from the tennis court?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of suppliers of bits and bobs. Think how many royal wedding souvenirs were on offer in no time at all.”

Melanie had shrugged. Geoffrey made his living thinking up good fund-raising ideas. Some of them were less than kosher, but most had been successful and had enabled them to move from a nearby modern villa to the grandeur of Farnden Hall.

The dog show had not been Geoffrey’s inspiration. The local branch of Dogs for the Disabled had approached him with a request to help with their fund-raising activities, and knowing how the British love their dogs, he had seen a good opportunity for publicity. When Melanie had asked him how he thought the estate would benefit from a charity dog show, he pointed out that large numbers of people could be expected. The whole thing was relatively easy to organise and would be fun, as well as doing a good turn to disabled people.

“And will you present prizes to the dogs?”

“Of course,” Norrington had replied. “I am giving special bones and half a dozen tins of minced kangaroo to the dogs. I’ve got a mate in the dog food business. He’s happy to do it for the publicity. Won’t cost me a penny.”

“Sounds good. You’d better think of other friends who need publicity.” Melanie’s voice had been sour. Being chatelaine of Farnden Hall was not turning out to be as she had imagined it at all. “Maybe in a year or two, once we’ve settled?”

“Year or two? I’ve already made plans for an autumn horticultural show, and by then we should have the children’s play area up and running.”

Now that the dog show was in progress, Melanie had cheered up, meeting new people and feeling very much the lady of the manor. As she and Norrington mingled with the good-sized crowd, she said, “Do you think Mrs. T-J will come?”

Geoffrey shook his head. “No chance. Wouldn’t be seen dead here, now the hall belongs to us. But I mean to show her that this estate can be made to pay its way. Patronising old besom! She’ll wish she’d never sold it to us by the time I’ve shown her the way.”

“She’s still president of the village Women’s Institute. I had thought of joining. Do you think she’ll blackball me?”

“Of course not. And there’s plenty of WI members you know already. Lois Meade for one, and her mother. And Floss, who comes to clean here from New Brooms, and loads of others. You go, gel, and take no notice of Mrs. T-J. And look, I was wrong—there she is, hobnobbing with the judges.”

*   *   *

W
HEN
J
AMIE AND
A
KIKO ARRIVED AT THE HALL GATES, HE WAS
not pleased to be asked to pay an entrance fee. He had grown up in Long Farnden and was used to running around the park at will. Not that Mrs. T-J had welcomed village children, but in her time it had been possible to keep out of her way and still have great games around the old barns and clumps of trees.

“I hardly recognise the place,” he said to Akiko. “And it seems only yesterday that Mum told me that Norrington had bought the Farnden Hall estate, lock, stock and barrel.”

“It is a big estate?”

“Quite big, for this part of the world. There are much bigger ones, especially in Scotland. I shall take you to see one or two when we play in Edinburgh next year.”

“I have been to Glasgow several times, to meet my father. He has a house there. But I would like to see some wild countryside. It is all very tidy here.”

“You wait till you see the Highlands of Scotland!” Jamie led Akiko and Jeems up to the show ring, where owners were already parading their dogs. The present class was for Best Terrier, and an assortment of small dogs obediently trotted round at their owners’ heels. One dog, however, was twice the size of the others, and Akiko pointed this out.

“Is it in the wrong class, do you think? It does not look like a terrier.”

A man standing next to them at the ringside tapped Akiko on the arm. “It’s a Black Russian Terrier,” he said “Marvellous dogs. Giant schnauzers crossed with Airedales, mostly.”

“Thank you,” she said courteously.

The man came closer, and suggested that perhaps she herself was in the wrong class—where did she come from? “From the land of Nippon?” he guessed.

Not much of a chat-up line, thought Jamie. The man’s smile was knowing, and Jamie was not surprised when Akiko responded sharply. “Please go away,” she replied, and the man raised his eyebrows, muttering that he was only being polite. Jamie decided to say nothing, and walked after her, noting that this was the second time today she had shown reluctance to answer personal questions. Perhaps she had been warned by her family to be wary of strangers? He would think of a tactful way of asking her.

“Jamie! How nice to see you and Akiko again so soon!” It was Mrs. Tollervey-Jones, who was marching energetically around the showground, telling everybody that the new owner was ruining the place, but never mind, each to his own. She wished him well, she said, though nobody believed her.

“So when are you coming to play for me?” she said to Jamie. “This evening? I can give you a scratch supper if you like. Not much of a cook, I’m afraid. Used to being cooked for! But I am learning, and New Brooms’ cleaning lady comes and does a big bake once a week. An excellent service your mother provides, Jamie. Have you told Akiko about this? And, of course, your talented ma has another side to her activities. Private investigator, Akiko, that’s what she is. Do you understand that phrase?”

“Perfectly, thank you,” Akiko said. “‘Detective’ is another name for it?”

“And I am the latest recruit to her team, my dear. A non-cleaning, investigating member of New Brooms, at your service.”

“Akiko has no need of a private investigator at the moment,” said Jamie, laughing. “Have no fear, Jamie’s here!”

Akiko was not smiling. “Please, although my English is good, I do not always understand what is said. Like the man and the Russian Terrier. He was not being pleasant, I thought. Forgive me if I got it wrong.” She would be very delighted, she said sweetly, to accept Mrs. T-J’s invitation, if Jamie felt it would be convenient for his family.

“Good-o,” said Mrs. T-J. “Stone House, six-thirty? Will that suit? Look forward very much to seeing you then.”

“A nice lady,” said Akiko, as they watched Mrs. T-J stride off towards the judges’ tent.

“So are we staying another night in Long Farnden? Happy up in the attic?”

“Very happy. I feel safe up there. Comfortable and safe. Now, is it time to enter Jeems into the Waggiest Tail class?”