Dishing the Dirt

When Doris returned, Agatha asked, “Where do you leave the keys to this cottage?”


“At the foot of the stairs in my handbag,” said Doris. “Oh, Agatha, dear. I’ve got a slip of paper in there with the burglar alarm code.”

“So the bastard has been walking in and out when he felt like it,” said Charles. “He is playing with you because he could have let himself in at night and murdered you.”

Agatha phoned the security firm which had installed the burglar alarm and left a message to come as soon as possible and change the code. She then phoned a locksmith and asked him to change the locks.

*

The police arrived, headed by Bill and Alice, who introduced two technicians.

While the men got to work, they all moved back out to the garden, sheltering under the garden umbrella. Agatha told Bill about how the murderer had gained access to her cottage.

“You should find yourself another cleaner,” said Alice.

“Never!” cried Agatha. “It was an easy mistake. No one is more honest or hardworking than Doris.”

The only thing Asian about Bill were his beautiful almond-shaped eyes, now crinkled up in distress. “Agatha,” he said. “Go away somewhere until all this is over. It’s not safe here for you.”

“What would be the point of that?” said Agatha. “You may never find this murderer who is turning out to be the serial killer of the Cotswolds. I can’t leave my staff. They’re in danger, too.”

Agatha’s phone rang. It was Phil Marshall. “I just dropped in to the office to get another camera and there is a young man here anxious to retain your services. He says he is Justin Nichols and Ruby was his stepmother during a previous marriage.”

“I’d like to see him,” said Agatha, “but I can’t leave here just now.” She told Phil what they had discovered and then said, “Give him directions and tell him to get over here.”

When she rang off, she told Bill about Justin and then turned to Simon. “Did she say anything about being married before?”

“She said she was divorced,” said Simon. “But there may have been another marriage before the last one. I think she kept her married name, Carson, which follows that before that marriage she could have been married to someone called Nichols.”

The technicians came out to the garden to say they had finished their work and it seemed as if Simon had found all the bugs. Bill turned to Simon. “I hope you wore gloves.”

“Yes,” said Simon. “But if you plan on fingerprinting them, I bet our murderer wore gloves as well.”

“We might be able to trace where they were bought. If you don’t mind, Agatha, we’ll stay on until this young man arrives. I’d like to hear what he has to say about Ruby.”

Mrs. Bloxby arrived after the technicians had gone, saying she had been worried about village reports of police cars outside Agatha’s cottage. Agatha told her everything that had happened. Her gentle face creased with worry. “It’s as if someone is playing cat and mouse with you, Mrs. Raisin. But it does eliminate some suspects.”

“Like who?” asked Agatha. “I don’t see Gwen Simple being able to do anything so sophisticated as planting bugs,” said the vicar’s wife. “Miss Bannister is dead. Mrs. Simpson was never a suspect. Mrs. Tweedy is too old and would not have the energy or the technical know-how.”

“My money is still on Gwen Simple,” said Agatha. “She could have hired someone. I cannot believe for a moment she did not know what her murdering son was up to.”

“We’ve had a watch on Gwen Simple for some time,” said Bill. “She’s had no strange callers, only people from the village of Ancombe. She helps out in the church and does a lot of good works.”

“Humph!” snorted Agatha. “Could well be a smokescreen.”

“You’re forgetting her ex,” said Charles. “Davent runs a computer shop.”