Fire When Ready (Manor House Mystery) (20 page)

She felt a little nervous jump of her pulse. "Such as the three musketeers, for instance?"

He shook his head. "No, most of us believe they're just a public nuisance. I'm talking about someone much more dangerous."

She shifted uncomfortably on her seat. "Well, Jessie could have been quite wrong, of course. Then again—" She suddenly remembered something Zora had said, and caught her breath.

"What? What are you thinking?"

She turned to find his piercing gaze directed at her. "Zora told me that Jessie was expecting a big raise. But the factory had been open only a few weeks. Who would give a cleaning lady a raise after such a short time?"

"Maybe she threatened to quit and McNally couldn't find anyone else to clean his office, so he offered her a raise to stay on."

"That's possible." Elizabeth considered the idea.

"Okay, so now what's going on in that busy mind of yours?"

"I was just wondering," Elizabeth said slowly, "if Jessie told anyone else about the rumors."

Earl looked puzzled. "I don't follow you."

"What if the big raise she was expecting was actually
someone paying her to keep quiet about the rumors she heard?"

He stared at her, a frown creasing his forehead. "You mean blackmail?"

"Yes." Caught up in her excitement, she grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Supposing we've been concentrating on the wrong victim? What if someone were trying to get rid of Jesse Bandini, and it was Douglas McNally who was in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"It's possible, I guess." He shook his head. "That doesn't explain what McNally was doing there so late that night. If the rumors about the weapons are true, I'd be more ready to believe that McNally was conducting some kind of illegal dealing and something went wrong. Maybe he was the one Jessie was blackmailing."

"Ray Muggins told me that he thought Mr. McNally went to the factory that night to make sure Captain Carbunkle wasn't sleeping on the job. Suppose he saw something he wasn't supposed to see. Maybe someone attacking Jessie, for instance. Wouldn't the killer have to get rid of him, too?"

"I guess so." His brow wrinkled in concentration. "Though how are you're going to prove that?"

"Perhaps by finding some evidence of the theft and who might be behind it. No one has searched the factory as yet. At least we know what we're looking for."

"Well, I guess we're not going to find out anything sitting here." He climbed out, then came around the bonnet to help her to the ground. "I'm just glad you asked me to come along with you this afternoon. I don't like the idea of you poking around here on your own."

"I'm glad you're here, too." She shivered, telling herself
it was the cold wind that chilled her. After all, it was broad daylight. Nothing alarming could happen to them, surely.

She followed Earl to the gate, which had been left unlocked. Apparently the constables had not deemed it necessary to safeguard the building now that it was in ruins.

It was the first time she'd seen the factory since the fire. Staring at the blackened walls and the huge, gaping hole in the roof, she felt sickened at the thought of those two helpless people, trapped inside the office while the deadly smoke filled the room.

Earl had reached the steps at the far end of the building, which seemed to have escaped most of the damage. He tried the door, but this time met with resistance. "Locked," he said briefly.

"Oh, dear." Elizabeth stared at the door as if she could will it to open. "We'll have to find another way in."

Earl glanced up at the shattered roof. "I don't think you should be going in there, anyway. What's left of the roof doesn't look too stable. It could collapse at any time."

Elizabeth nervously followed his gaze. "It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to search for the key. After all, there's not too many places a man would keep his keys while he's working."

"Well, if you insist, then I'll go in alone. You can wait for me in the Jeep."

"I'd rather go in with you than wait out here alone." She glanced around, her sense of uneasiness growing. "It feels so eerie here now that the factory is deserted."

Earl grinned. "You're not expecting to see Martin's ghosts, by any chance?"

She shuddered. "Heavens, I sincerely hope not."

"Come on, then, let's see if we can get in the other door."

Again she followed him as he marched to the other end of the building. This end had been severely damaged by the flames and the water administered by the firemen. The steps to the door were charred, but they held as Earl tested each one with his weight.

He reached the door and shoved his shoulder against it. It flew open, and a cloud of ash billowed out into the clean, crisp air. The dreadful odor of burned materials almost overwhelmed Elizabeth as she followed Earl inside.

Surrounded by blackened beams, she picked her way carefully across the charred floor, mindful of his warning to watch her step.

"Do you know where the office is?" Earl asked.

She pointed down the shattered hallway. "Mr. McNally took me there when he gave me a tour of the factory. It's down there on the left."

With a wary glance above his head, Earl proceeded down the hallway, with Elizabeth close on his heels. A few yards further he halted, and she almost bumped into him. "This must be it," he said.

Peering around him, she saw a door hanging drunkenly from one set of hinges. Beyond it, she could just see the corner of a desk, and file cabinets against the wall.

"Yes, it is!" She nudged him forward and followed him into the room. "It hardly looks burned at all. There's more water damage in here than anything." She glanced at the floor, where the force of the firemen's water hoses had swept papers, books, files, and boxes to the floor. She shuddered, thinking of Douglas McNally and Jessie Bandini. "Let's start looking," she said in a low voice.

"Good idea. Then we can get out of here. I'll take the desk." He stepped over the mess and started hunting through the clutter on the desk. A pile of soaked ledgers disintegrated
when he picked them up. "We'll never be able to read these," he said, his voice tinged with disgust.

"Are there any keys laying around?" Elizabeth asked, stepping gingerly across the floor to the file cabinets.

"Nope, can't see any keys here," he said, as he stacked the soggy papers in a tray.

"Try the drawers," Elizabeth suggested. She approached a file cabinet and went up on her toes to look on top of it. She could see nothing but a thick layer of dust.

Behind her, she heard Earl opening and shutting drawers. "This one's locked," he muttered. "I don't think we're going to get it open."

"Can you force it open?" Elizabeth began picking her way toward him. Her path took her close to the window, which had miraculously remained intact. She glanced outside, noticing that the sun had disappeared behind some heavy clouds. The storm was moving in fast.

"I don't think we're going to find any keys," she said slowly. "Mr. McNally and Jessie must have heard the explosion. They would have gone to investigate if they could."

"Unless the smoke got to them before they could get out."

"But it must have taken some time for the smoke to reach this end of the building. According to Wally, it took him several minutes to get out of the building. He actually saw the roof collapse after he got outside. There should have been plenty of time for Mr. McNally and Jessie to leave the office. If not the building."

He looked at her. "It does look as if someone locked them in here so they couldn't get out."

"Then why didn't they leave by the window?"

He gave her a long stare. "Because they couldn't."

"Right." She made her way back to the window and looked out. "I'm convinced someone knocked them both
out, then locked them in the office, hoping they wouldn't wake up in time to get out."

"It's possible, I guess. But I don't see how we're ever going to know for sure what really happened. It's all guesswork." He grunted, and she turned to see him prying the lock on the drawer with a paper knife.

"That must have been quite a sight, the roof caving in . . ." She broke off, staring hard at the window.

Behind her, she heard Earl exclaim, "Ah, got it!" There was a short pause, then he added, "But no keys."

"It doesn't matter," Elizabeth said quietly. "I think I know—"

Her words were cut off by a loud pop, followed by the sound of splintering glass. Stupidly she stared at the round hole in the window above her head. She could swear it wasn't there a moment ago. It had little lines spreading out from it like a jagged spider's web.

"Elizabeth!"

Something hit her in the back and she went down, stunned by the weight of Earl's body on top of her. Her breath knocked out of her, all she could do was whimper.

Earl eased his weight off her back, but still hovered over her. "Stay down," he ordered. "And don't move. That's an order."

Fighting to get her breath back, she was forming the words in her mind to tell him she didn't take orders from anyone. Not even him. But then he said something that swept the words away in a haze of shock.

"Someone's shooting at us," he said grimly. "We've got to get out of here."

"You going out with Joe again tonight?" Polly stared at Sadie. "This must be getting serious."

Sadie laughed. "Don't be daft. I wouldn't get serious over no Yank. You know better than that." She flopped down on her bed next to Polly. "Anyway, what brings you to my humble abode in the middle of the afternoon?"

Polly gazed at the calendar on the wall. It had a picture of the ocean on it, with palm trees on a long, sandy beach. "This is a nice room," she said, trying to imagine what it would be like to lie on a beach like that with someone. Like Sam.

"Yeah, I like it." Sadie gazed around in satisfaction. "Much better than the room I had in London. I was lucky to have this, though. When I was after the job here, Lady Elizabeth wanted me to have one of the cottages. I told her I'd rather live here. I don't think she would have agreed, though, if I hadn't told her about being bombed out of me home in London."

Polly looked at her, awed by the thought of actually talking to someone who had been bombed out. "That must have been awful," she said.

"Yeah, it was." Sadie's smile faded. "There was glass and bits of wood and plaster everywhere. Dust you wouldn't believe. I nearly choked to death before I crawled out of there."

"Wonder you weren't killed." Although she tried, Polly just couldn't picture what it must have been like. "I bet you were glad to get out of London."

"I was." Sadie sighed. "Though sometimes I miss it. There was always so much to do in London. Down here there's nothing except the pub and the pictures. That's why I go out with Joe. He's good company. Someone to spend time with. Even if he is as slow as a blinking snail."

"Better than having hands like an octopus," Polly said. She wasn't going to admit it to Sadie, but she really envied her friend. She missed the attention Sam used to pay her.

"What about Ray, then?" Sadie gave her a sly look. "How's he with his hands?"

Polly picked at the little knots of wool in the blanket beneath her. "He's all right. At least he stops when I tell him to."

Sadie lowered her head to look Polly in the face. "You don't sound very happy."

"I'm not." Relieved to get it out, Polly's words tumbled out in a rush. "I just don't want to be with him, that's all. I mean, he's nice and all, but he's not . . ." She let her voice trail off.

"He's not Sam," Sadie said, sounding a little impatient. "Polly, you've got to get over Sam. You're never going to have any fun in life if you're always pining over him. One day you'll want to get married and have kids and—"

"I wasn't going to say Sam," Polly said, butting in. "I know I've got to forget him. It's going to take time, that's all. Right now I don't feel like going out with anyone. Especially Ray Muggins. He bores me to death. Always talking about London, he is, and all the stuff he did when he was there. Keeps talking about all the girlfriends he had. I don't know why he stays down here if he likes the city so much. I wish he'd go back."

The last words had come out a little more fiercely than she'd meant. Sadie patted her on the shoulder. " 'Ere, 'ere. Don't go on like that. Why don't you break up with him if you don't want to go out with him anymore?"

Polly swallowed past the lump that had formed in her throat. "I think I will. I'll tell him tonight." She peeked up at Sadie. "I don't suppose you'd come with me, would you?"

Sadie frowned. "You afraid of him?"

Polly smiled nervously. "I dunno. I never broke up with someone before. I don't know what he'll say."

"Tell you what." Sadie got up from the bed and bent at the waist to peer in the dressing table mirror. "Tell Ray you want to go to the Tudor Arms tonight, and I'll get Joe to take me down there. You can break up with Ray, and me and Joe will be there to take you home."

Polly leapt to her feet and threw her arms around her friend. "Oh, thank you, Sadie. Thanks so much. I didn't know what I was going to do if he threw a fit. I'll feel so much better if you and Joe are there. I'll go and ring him right now."

"That's settled, then." Sadie grinned at her friend. "By tonight you'll be a free woman again."

Polly smiled. She felt as if a load had been lifted from her shoulders. A free woman. That sounded good. That sounded really, really good.

CHAPTER

14

"Who do you think it is?" Elizabeth whispered.

"I don't know." Earl cautiously raised his shoulders to peer over the windowsill. "But I sure aim to find out. Do you know anyone who owns a gun?"

"Some of the farmers might have a shotgun, but otherwise I know of no one in the village who would have one. This isn't America, you know. There are pretty strict rules about who owns a gun. Even the constables don't have one."

"That was no shotgun. That was a rifle, by the look of that bullet embedded in the wall."

"Military?"

He glanced down at her. "Could be."

"Stolen from here, perhaps?"