Silver Guilt (6 page)

‘Quite,' Morris said. ‘I'll go and get you something.'

I scrubbed my cheeks with a nasty damp tissue. ‘And while you're at it you can check on that Wedgwood lid!'

So the soft cop went off, leaving me with the hard cop. The silence between us grew uncomfortable. It was broken only when Morris returned, carrying a tray. Coffee for three, cake for three, and a prawn sandwich.

I nodded my thanks. I was really cross to see how much my hand shook as I tried to unpeel the wrapper. Eventually Farfrae reached across and helped.

As I ate, Morris gave me quite a nice smile. ‘I checked on that Wedgwood. You were right. Tell me, are you a divvy?'

My mouth was full, so I had a moment to work out the answer that would cause me least grief. ‘Sometimes,' I said at last. ‘It isn't something I can turn on or off, like a tap. And it doesn't work with humans,' I added with a sad smile, ‘or I wouldn't have had you down as thieves.' And I might have had better luck with boyfriends.

‘Did you divvy this?' Farfrae asked, tapping the silverware.

Drat. ‘I told you, the rest of the stuff in the room was tat. As soon as I cleaned a corner with my sleeve I knew I was on to something.'

‘Would you walk round with one of us and see if you get any vibrations?' he continued.

Double drat. ‘Not like a convict between two warders, I wouldn't. These dealers are way out of my league, but I wouldn't want news to get back to my mates.'

‘Fair enough.'

Now he was stuck into his cake, I saw my chance. ‘Why did you come to the fair?' I asked. ‘You didn't know this would be on sale, did you?' For the first time I touched the dish, now wrapped in an evidence bag.

‘Where would you expect to see stolen antiques? At an antiques fair.' He had quite a nice smile. ‘Even one as carefully vetted as this. So my colleague and I just had a look round – and found that.'

‘Silly question: are you sure it's been stolen? Might there not be another one around?'

‘There might. But it seems a bit of a coincidence, doesn't it?' Farfrae chipped in.

‘Life's full of coincidences. But if you want to take it away I shall need a receipt for it, you know. To show my father.'

He nodded. ‘Standard procedure. You know we'll have to talk to his lordship.'

My first thought was that I'd love to be a fly on the wall. How would Farfrae deal with champagne and Pot Noodles? Not to mention
Countdown
? But what wasn't such a funny prospect was the police taking into custody every single item in the hoard. It'd reduce my income, and really harm Lord Elham's – might drive him to do more forging for Titus Oates. What if he kept his forgery gear at the Hall? I felt sick at the thought. The minute I was shut of the fuzz, I'd better phone him. And Oates, come to think of it. Or would that make me an accessory? Or worse, someone perverting the course of justice, like people who get rid of murderers' weapons and bloody clothes?

‘He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer,' I said cautiously. ‘He'll probably not have the faintest clue what's going on.'

‘I take it his condition isn't hereditary,' Farfrae said with a mocking smile.

I ignored it. ‘Part of his condition is that he's a fully paid up alcoholic. And his diet's crap.'

‘And the other part of “his condition”?' This time his voice dripped with sarcasm. Which I also ignored.

‘Probably does owe something to inbreeding. And a rotten upbringing.' I'd better not mention I thought his sense of right and wrong had been amputated and that he was blessed with an enormous amount of low cunning. Maybe I should give him something else to chew on. ‘The press will have a field day if you turn up and arrest the old guy. Especially if they get a photo of him being taken away. He looks like an advert for Oxfam. Before, not after.'

‘If he's a common thief—'

‘Who does the plate belong to? When was it stolen?'

‘It was part of a haul from a house in Kensington. Armed robbery. Last September.'

So he wouldn't see my genuine sigh of relief, I shook my head in the theatrical way Griff sometimes uses. ‘You're on to a loser there, then, Mr Farfrae. He's not left Bossingham Hall except with me for the last year.'

But what I didn't say was that someone might have been to see him.

T
o do them justice, both officers walked back with me to Nella's stand. She was far from pleased to see any of us, and who could blame her? Farfrae told her that he was sure the whole thing had been a mistake on their part, and that as far as they were concerned I was in the clear.

‘Certainly no slur attaches to you and your business. Or hers,' he added firmly.

‘So the dish wasn't stolen?' she asked sharply.

‘If it was, we are not of the opinion that Ms Townend was in any way involved.'

‘But you are quite sure I wasn't? In that case you may take yourself over to all my colleagues and tell them so. I do not want my business ruined.' As they trailed off, like a pair caught poaching, she turned to me. ‘As for you, miss, you can take your things and go. You've done enough damage for one day.' She reached behind her table and thrust my bag and coat at me.

I stood my ground, my hands clenched behind me so I wouldn't hit her, the insolent old cow. ‘I can't. I can't, not just like that.'

‘And why not?'

‘Because all my stuff's locked in your house.' I tried to keep my voice down, but didn't quite succeed.

She stared at me, as if her till had spoken. ‘Go and wait at the railway station. I'll drop your case off when I've finished here.'

The only words that came were the words of the playground. They came loudly, too. ‘That's not fair!' But I didn't stamp my foot.

‘It's all you deserve. We close here at six. I should be back at the station by – say, eight.'

‘I've done nothing wrong! I do not deserve to be treated this way.' I wasn't getting anywhere, so I made myself think of another approach. ‘For goodness' sake, my Griff's your brother's lover – what's this going to do to their relationship?'

‘You should have thought of that before you tried to palm stolen goods off on me.'

‘She's just told you she didn't,' said a voice.

I spun round, hoping it was one of the police officers. But it was a young man I didn't know from Adam, except he was more warmly dressed. I flashed him a smile.

‘Ask the policemen!' I said.

‘They are irrelevant. If you work in this business you will know that trust is paramount. I can no longer trust you, and worse still my clients may no longer trust me. I'll see you at eight.' She turned her back on me, and addressed herself to her mobile phone.

‘At least let her pick up her things from your house,' the young man said, with the plausible sort of smile young men give grandmothers to win them round when they've been up to something. ‘I'll run her over there. Piers Hamlyn.' He put out a nicely manicured hand.

She ignored him. And it.

‘I'd say yes please, but I don't even know the address,' I said, hating myself for sounding defeated, but suspecting, deep down, that whatever I said, I might have considered behaving much as she had done – my suitcase apart, of course. It must be something I'd picked up from my father's genes. ‘Or have a key, of course. Excuse me!'

I thought I saw Farfrae in the distance, and dropping everything, hurtled after him. As it turned out, it was Morris I cannoned into.

Forgetting to lower my voice, I let rip. ‘Thanks to you, I've lost my job. I've been sacked like that.' I clicked my fingers. ‘I'd go home, but all my things are at Nella's house. What am I to do?' I used a lot of other words too.

‘Let's go and talk to her.' Quite kindly, he took my arm above the elbow to turn me round.

Furiously, I shook him off. ‘It looks as if you're bloody arresting me.'

‘Sorry.' He raised both hands as if in surrender and fell into step beside me.

Sadly, my dishy young would-be saviour had disappeared, but someone had put my coat and bag in a neat pile out of the way of people's feet. Somehow I didn't think it was Nella. I picked them up.

‘You again.' Though it wasn't clear if it was me or Morris she was speaking to.

‘I gather there's a problem with Ms Townend's property, Lady Petronella.'

‘I told her, I'd bring her case to the station.'

He pulled himself up, and said, very formally but very reasonably, ‘You will appreciate we can't just leave a vulnerable young woman unattended on the station for nearly two hours.'

‘She'd manage.'

Now his voice was sharp. ‘If we drive her to your house then she won't have to. Let us know when you're ready to leave and we'll follow you.' I wouldn't have argued with his tone, and, after a moment, neither did she. ‘We'll meet you here at six fifteen, then. Another coffee, Lina?'

I nodded, hardly caring. And then I cared a great deal. ‘I'm fine. And I can take a taxi to Nella's.'

‘Why?'

‘Why? What if you're not the police? Or if you're bent? You wouldn't be the first,' I said bitterly.

Farfrae appeared from nowhere. ‘I've been checking your role in that book scam, Ms Townend. And I can see why you wouldn't trust police officers, especially those in plain clothes. Now, there's a police office on the complex: the officers there could confirm we are who we say we are.'

‘They won't be able to prove you're not bent, though.'

‘I'm afraid you'll just have to take that on trust.'

‘You're creating another scene,' Nella declared. ‘Just go, the lot of you, for God's sake.'

‘I'd better have my book, then,' I said, suddenly remembering it.

‘What book?'

‘The one on silverware. I showed you.'

‘Wasn't it with your other things?' She sounded genuinely puzzled.

I shook out my coat and opened my bag. ‘It's not here now.'

Morris asked, ‘Where did you leave it?'

I pointed. ‘In that cupboard down there.'

‘Are you implying I've kept it?' She flushed brick red.

Morris eased past her and bent to open it. There was nothing inside but Nella's bag and an empty paper coffee mug. ‘Is there anywhere else it might be?'

‘Why don't you just accuse me outright of stealing the bloody thing? You're halfway to ruining my business – you might as well finish the job!'

What would Griff say? I breathed very carefully, as if I could hear his words.

‘She's right,' I managed to say at last. ‘All this attention is very bad. Let's forget it. If you find it, Nella, you can give it to me later.' I walked quickly away, taking Morris by the arm as if he were Griff, needing to be led from the temptation of the bar to the solace of the coffee stall.

We duly tailed Nella back to her house, but she would not let us in.

The officers were inclined to be stroppy, but I pointed out we were a good deal warmer in their car, even though what had started as a sudden shower was fast becoming a sleet storm.

‘You're very forbearing,' Farfrae said.

‘There's going to be a hell of a lot – sorry, it's not seven yet, is it? There's going to be a lot of bridge building to do,' I said. ‘Her brother and my dear Griff are partners in the other sense. Hey, what's she doing?' I was suddenly a good deal less forbearing, as the front door opened and my case was shoved out, open and spilling the contents. I dived for them, gathering them willy-nilly and dumping the lot on the back seat.

‘Everything there?' Morris asked, as I shook out soaking garments, and tried to fold them.

‘Yes. I think so. No! No, my teddy's not here!' Precious Tim, a gift from Griff. I suddenly found myself doing what I'd wanted to do for the past five hours – bursting into tears.

Farfrae's thumps on her door would have wakened the dead, but she didn't open. Six foot two of him had to fold itself down so he could yell through the letter box. We all waited in silence.

Then an upper window opened, and Tim came hurtling out. She might have aimed him at the deepest puddle.

‘Not a nice lady,' Morris muttered, swathing him in a duster he dug out from a door pocket. ‘Anything else still missing?

I stowed Tim in my case. ‘Only my book on silver. But that's something that can be replaced.'

I finally reached Bredeham on the last train. Other passengers were cannier than me, and made sure they grabbed all the taxis. No buses, of course, not at this time of night. I'd have to walk. Pity it was pitch dark. One of the local councillors had an obsession with light pollution, and refused to admit street lights to the village. But I'd got a little torch and it would only take fifteen minutes to reach our cottage. And there I'd find Griff. I trudged on. At last I could see the porch light he'd left on. I almost ran towards it. Not because I'd been afraid – there wasn't another soul about – but I wanted to be loved better.

I froze. There was a car parked outside, and it was Aidan's. I hadn't quite depended on getting my three penn'orth in first, but I was really daunted by the thought of confronting them both. I knew who Aidan would believe, didn't I?

I sheltered under a tree and pondered. It was a bit of a step to our caravan, parked in a friendly farmer's field, but I'd be warm and dry there. More or less, anyway. And I could phone Griff to tell him I was safe. I certainly had to do that. And soon. The only reason I'd not called before was to spare him an evening of worry. I'd been stupid, hadn't I? Nella would certainly have got on to Aidan the minute she was shut of me, and Aidan – well, it was clear what he'd done. I checked my mobile. Yes, there was just enough signal. I dialled.

‘Griff? I just thought I'd let you know I'm back.'