CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“What the
devil are they playing at?” Winter growled.
“Why don’t you just honk your horn for them to wait and we can go and ask
them,” was Carol Brady’s tart response. “Sometimes, Freddy, I wonder about
you…” she added darkly. She wished now that she hadn’t let him persuade her to
leave her own car parked in a side street near the harbour. At least, then,
she’d have some sense of being in control. As it was, she was now dependant on
dear Freddy’s whims or ‘hunches’ as he preferred to call them. Whatever, she
never quite trusted them and this one, in particular, struck her as being more
than a little wide of the mark.
Winter shook his head. “No, there’s something wrong. Why are the two
women sitting in the car on their own? And, look, see how Cutler is walking
just ahead of Colin Fox, almost as if Fox…”
“Has a gun?” Carol was plainly startled. She hadn’t anticipated any real
danger. “Oh, really Freddy, as if…Why would Colin Fox have a gun, for heaven’s
sake, let alone point it at anyone…” Yet, the more closely she watched the
scene unfolding some yards ahead, the less far-fetched the detective’s theory
struck her. “Whatever Max Cutler is or has been up to, it can’t be so bad as to
warrant having a gun pointed at him, surely? Besides, Nina and Pip would
realize what was happening. They wouldn’t just sit there and let Max be forced
into a car at gunpoint, surely? No, Freddy, the whole idea is preposterous. So
Colin Fox has one hand in his coat pocket, so what? It doesn’t mean he has a gun.”
“It doesn’t mean he hasn’t either,” said Winter with the same flawed
logic that always infuriated Carol, but to which she never had a ready answer.
“As for the women...Well, what would you have them do? If I’m right, they’ll want to keep an eye on
things and save their precious Max if they can. If I’m wrong, why should they
do anything but enjoy a cosy chat while they wait? It’s my guess,” he added, “that whatever deep
water our friend Max Cutler has got himself into, Colin Fox hasn’t exactly been
keeping his feet dry either.” Even as he spoke, he recalled that Fox was listed
in Cutler’s mobile phone directory.
They watched as the two men climbed into the car, Max in the driving
seat, and quickly drove off. Winter promptly turned the ignition in the blue
Volvo and set off in pursuit while taking care to keep a discreet
distance.
“They seem to be heading for Canterbury,” Carol murmured, unable to
prevent a note of alarm creeping in as she spoke. “Oh, I do hope I’m wrong!”
she wailed.
“The B&B, I agree.” It was spoken as a barely coherent grunt. The
same thought had entered Winter’s head and refused to budge. “Maybe our Max
left something behind that Colin Fox needs to make sure he collects…”
“Whatever Cutler is mixed up in, why should Colin be involved except as
Nina’s brother?” Carol insisted. Winter told her about the mobile. “What, you
have Cutler’s phone? Oh, really Freddy, you might have said. Not that it proves
a thing of course. Why shouldn’t he have Colin’s Fox’s number?”
“True,” Winter conceded, “but why on earth should he? I never got the
impression they were pals, did you?
Besides, if you’re shacking up with a bloke’s sister, you’re hardly
likely to be bending his ear much, wouldn’t you say? In my experience, put brothers and their
sister’s boyfriends together and you might as well light a match to a leaking
oil can.”
“Except Nina’s no oil can,” retorted Carol.
“She’s
rich, famous, beautiful…well, more rich and famous then most of us and
definitely beautiful…what’s that if it isn’t an oil can begging for a match?”
Carol seethed in silence, not least because she could think of no
suitable response to Freddy’s unlikely metaphor.
………………………………
“Max!”
Cessy Pearce could not conceal her delight upon opening the front door of the
B&B and finding him waiting on the doorstep. She glanced quickly at his
companions. “Oh, it’s you!” she exclaimed, recognizing Pip instantly. To Colin
Fox she paid little attention, her gaze coming to rest on Nina. “Oh, it’s you!”
She gave a little squeal of pleasure. “My sister and I are great fans of
yours,” she told Nina, “We never miss an episode of April Showers.”
“I
must look a mess.” Nina forced a laugh.
“Not
at all,” Cessy assured her. “If anything, you look even prettier without all
that make-up.” Nina immediately warmed to the woman and gave her a broad smile
that was, for once, not in the least contrived. “Do come in all of you. Who’d
have thought it? Nina Fox in our sitting room!” She showed them into the room
where Margaret sat in her wheelchair, watching the door expectantly.
“Cessy...”
Max Cutler sounded anxious, “...have you let my room yet? It’s just that I
think I may have left something there.”
“Let
your room?” Cessy seemed momentarily nonplussed.
It
was Margaret who answered. “No, we haven’t let your room,” she said smiling
although her expression struck Nina as a bit odd.
“Would
you mind if I go and take a look?”
“By
all means, do. The door is not locked. ”
“Oh,
but Mrs Farmer will have cleaned and stripped the bed,” declared Cessy. “She’s
very conscientious and thorough. I’m sure if she’d found anything you left
behind she’d have given it to Margaret or myself for safekeeping.”
“All
the same…” Max wore what struck Nina, yet again, as the strangest expression.
“Max
must take a look for himself sister,” said Margaret Pearce in a tone that
brooked no argument.
“Thanks.
I’ll only be a jiffy.” Max was out of the door before anyone could say another
word.
“I’ll
come with you,” said Colin Fox somewhat belatedly and made as if to follow, but
Margaret had eased forward slightly so that now her wheelchair was blocking the
door.
“Oh,
I’m so sorry!” Margaret was quick to apologize. “I’m afraid these things have a
mind of their own sometimes.” She laughed, and the sound struck Nina as
somewhat incongruous from such a dour looking woman. Everyone politely tittered
except Cessy who continued to look a shade bewildered. Margaret shifted to one
side. “There you are…” she told Fox, who paused in the doorway.
“What
room?” he snapped at Margaret.
“Number
eleven,” she replied evenly, not in the least bit ruffled by his tone.
“Oh,
but…” Cessy started to say, but changed her mind and turned to the others,
smiling if still visibly flummoxed. “Do sit down everyone. I’ll go and make
some tea.”
“That
would be wonderful,” said Nina, thinking how delightfully dippy the able-bodied
sister was and selecting one of four hard chairs at a small mahogany table to
avoid sitting next to Pip. The latter, for her part, had slipped off her shoes
and was sprawling comfortably on the sofa.
“Do
take my armchair,” Cessy told her, “It’s so much more comfortable.”
“I’m
fine, thanks,” Nina assured her.
“Oh,
well, in that case…I’ll go and put the kettle on shall I? I think we have some
of your chocolate cake left too…” she added, giving her sister another peculiar
look.
“No
chocolate cake for me,” Nina laughed, “I’m on a diet.”
“Nonsense,”
said Margaret, “You don’t want to be all skin and bone, do you? That’s the
trouble with the younger generation today, obsessed with good looks and not a
clue how to keep them. Eat sensibly and the rest will take care of itself,” she
told Nina, “A slice of chocolate cake won’t upset the applecart unless the
applecart is already top heavy,” she declared. “It’s a poor thing if we can’t
treat ourselves from time to time,” she added with a mischievous twinkle in
each eye.
“You’ve
convinced me.” Nina laughed, warming to the other woman just as she had warmed
to the sister.
“That
goes for me too,” said Pip.
“Splendid!”
Cessy Pearce disappeared into the kitchen.
“Excuse
me just a moment,” said Margaret and followed her sister. “Can you manage on
your own, dear?” she asked. “There are six of us, after all.”
“Of
course I can manage,” Cessy told her. Suddenly, she lowered her voice
dramatically and whispered, “Why do you think Max asked if we’d let his room?
He knows we never let the spare room”
“You
guess is as good as mine,” Margaret whispered back, “but I suspect he was
trying to tell us that all is not as it looks. I wouldn’t trust that Fox man an
inch. Something is wrong, sister, but all we can do for now is play it by ear.
Now, if you’re sure you can manage, I’ll get back to our guests.”
“I
dare say you’re right,” Cessy agreed and was much relieved to have Margaret
confirm her own vague suspicions, “but isn’t it exciting,” she added with a
little squeal. “Imagine, you and I having tea with Nina Fox! Who’d ever have
thought it?”
Margaret
merely nodded and returned to the sitting room.
Meanwhile,
upstairs, Max had wasted no time locking the door to room number eleven. Both
sisters being a little deaf, their voices were inclined to carry so he’d heard
Margaret tell Fox the room number. In actual fact, it was not his room at all
but one conveniently next to Margaret’s bedroom at the rear of the house.
Silently blessing his godmother for her astuteness, he had already flung open
the window and was clambering on to the windowsill when Fox tried the door.
“Open up, Max!” Fox demanded.
“Just
give me a mo,” Max called out with feigned cheerfulness before edging his way
along a narrow ledge to the adjacent room.
It
took only moments to recover the box. Margaret had shown him a space beneath a
loose floorboard by the bed, partially concealed by a blue silk eiderdown
hanging down. “No one will look here,” she had told him with a wicked smile.
“An old lady’s bedroom is sacrosanct.”
“Not
to some people,” he had wanted to say but refrained rather than risk worrying
his godmother needlessly. In addition,
he was inclined to think that, on the whole, she probably had a point. Besides,
where else could he hide the damn thing? He doubted, too, whether the police
would find it there. After all, Steve Williams hadn’t.
Better to think positive and stay optimistic.
Now, eagerly retrieving the red box, Max was he was glad he had done just that.
Grabbing
a shoulder bag that lay on a padded seat in front of the dressing table, Max
wasted no time emptying its contents on to the bed and cramming the box into it
before sliding the leather strap over his head. Retrieving some car keys from
amongst the clutter on the bed, he returned to the window, looked out and
judged he could reach a drainpipe a couple of feet or so away.
Below,
parked nearby, Winter and Carol were astonished to observe Max Cutler emerge
from an upstairs window, tread precariously along a windowsill and then
stretch, leap, and grab hold of a drainpipe. Both legs thrashing in the air
before gaining a firmer hold, he proceeded to shin down it with monkey-like
agility and speed. Once on the ground, he dashed across the forecourt to a
somewhat forlorn looking mini that looked as though it could use a spray job,
fumbled with some keys, tumbled into the driving seat and had driven before
Winter or Carol had quite caught their breaths.
“Well,”
demanded Carol, “aren’t we going to follow him?”
“Let’s
see what happens here first.”
“And
let Max get away after all it’s taken us to track him down? Oh, really Freddy,
if you aren’t just the limit!”
“Keep
your hair on, woman,” said Winter without taking his eyes of the B&B’s
forecourt. “Max has to be feeling pretty panicky to do what he’s just done,
right? You wouldn’t catch me shinning down any drainpipe from that height, I
can tell you.”
“So?”
“So
where else does anyone go when they’re desperate?”
“Suppose
you tell me,” said Carol with mounting exasperation.
“Back
home to mum, of course. What I want to know is whether our friend Colin Fox has
the same idea.”
At
that instant, Fox came running out of the house, Nina in hot pursuit.
……………………………….
It
hadn’t taken Colin Fox long to realize something was up. Reluctant to break the
door down and draw attention to the fact, he returned downstairs. “Do you have
a spare key to room eleven?”
“Well,
yes, but…” stammered Cessy.
“May
I have it?”
“Oh,
but…”
“Give
it to him, sister. The keys are in my room, as you know.”
“But
your tea will get cold,” mumbled Cessy.
“Never
mind the damn tea. Let’s find that key…now… shall we?” already accompanying a
bemused Cessy upstairs.
“I’m
sorry,” Nina told Margaret.
The
older woman was remarkably reassuring, “Don’t apologize, my dear. If you ask
me, men get away with far too much because we women are forever apologizing for
them.” Even so, Nina scrambled to her feet and ran out of the room after her
brother and Cessy.
Margaret
turned to Pip. “Will you have some more chocolate cake, my dear?” Pip nodded
and eagerly helped herself. Whatever all the fuss was about, she wasn’t
particularly interested. She had only fleetingly considered going after Nin
before deciding that Nina could take care of herself. As for that brother of
hers, she didn’t care for him much at all. Max, now, he was something else. But
while she couldn’t deny he was good in bed, she had only slept with him to get
at Nina, after all. No way could Max compete with another delicious slice of
chocolate cake.
Colin
Fox burst into room 11 and ran to the open window in time to see Cutler running
across the forecourt below. “Damn!” he swore and ran out of the room, taking
the stairs two at a time. “Stay there!” he shouted at Nina, who ignored him. He
had already turned the Peugeot’s ignition when she slid into the passenger seat
beside him and slammed the door. “I told you to stay put!” he yelled, glaring
at his sister. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, sis,” he
added warningly.
“I
want to catch up with Max every bit as much as you do,” retorted Nina and
continued fastening her safety belt.
“Suit
yourself, you always do” growled Fox and drove off after Cutler who was already
out of sight.
“He
could be anywhere,” Nina was quick to point out.
“Where
he is hardly matters,” Fox muttered, “It’s where he’s going that interests me.”
“Oh?
Psychic now, are you?”
“Isn’t
it obvious?” Fox put it to her impatiently, “The man’s at his wit’s end. Where
else would he run but back to mummy?”
Nina
bit her lip and said nothing. It was true, and she did want to catch up with
Max if only to ask him what the devil he thought he was playing at. Had he sent
those silly letters, she wondered for the umpteenth time? Clearly, though, her
brother had his own agenda. She had never seen him look so angry, determined...
and, yes, malicious. Her head swimming again, she half closed her eyes, wryly
reflecting on Cessy Pearce’s comment about her appearance. A glance in the rear
view mirror only confirmed that she looked a frightful mess. It had been so
sweet of the old dear to say otherwise. Making a mental note to return to the
B&B and give the sisters her autograph just as soon as she could find the
time, she let a weight on her eyelids got the better of her surrendered to a
tidal wave of nervous exhaustion.
Seeing
that his sister had dozed off, Colin Fox pursed his lips in annoyance and
wondered how on earth he was going to explain away his relationship with
Cutler, especially if events came to a head, as was looking increasingly
likely, and Max had to be eliminated. True, she hadn’t pressed him again about
the gun, but it was only a matter of time. “Shit!” he swore aloud, but softly
so as not disturb Nina. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be at all. He blamed
that fool, Steve Williams. It shouldn’t have proven too hard to make ‘Gypsy’
reveal where she kept the letters. He’d had no brief to kill her. She was,
after all, a useful link in Wiseman’s chain whereas Cutler…. He was easily
expendable, to say the least.
Fox
grimaced. There had to be more than a few letters at stake here, surely, he
reasoned? Wiseman had more sense than to jeopardise a profitable operation for
the sake of family pride, surely? Who
gives a toss if a guy swings both ways, for heaven’s sake? Swerving to avoid a dog that ran across the
road just ahead, he gritted his teeth and swore again. “Sod Wiseman and his
weakness for pretty men like Max Cutler! Sod Cutler too,” he hissed and swung
the wheel to make a violent right turn that jolted Nina wide-awake.
Nina
winced involuntarily. Her brother’s expression was nothing short of demoniacal.
Again she was reminded of their father as she recalled, vividly, seeing much
the same look on Frank Fox’s face years ago when, time and time again, he would
raise his fist to their mother. How can I
have forgotten and let that brute back into my life? Worse, could it be
that Colin had inherited their father’s temper?
And what was the gun all about? What the hell is going on? Whatever, Max
had better watch out. A shiver ran down
her spine and she began to feel afraid, very afraid, for both men.
In
spite of everything, it didn’t occur to Nina that she should also be afraid,
very afraid, for herself.
To be continued on Monday
