Rosie's Diamond: Chapters 36 to 40

THE story so far: Forensic tests have proved that Mark McKay was shot by the hundred year old American pistol, but give no hint as to who fired it.

THE story so far: Forensic tests have proved that Mark McKay was shot by the hundred year old American pistol, but give no hint as to who fired it.Terence Cragge, the gangster who had scared off Rosemary's brother Vic, is spotted in Wulfrum which further provokes Bill Allington's suspicions that Rod van der Velde is somehow involved with all that is going on. In South Africa, Charlie Randle was called to a house that had been ransacked and finds that it was once owned by van der Velde. Nothing was taken but whoever had broken in was certainly looking for something.

Chapter Thirty Six

It was just less than a week later when Bill picked up the telephone to hear Jennie's voice.

"Is that Sergeant Allington?"

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good. I was calling to let you know that we've got our dates for coming to London, there's actually four of us."

"That's great, tell me."

He picked up a pen and as she gave him details of the day, the time and the flight number. He wrote them down twice, one for his pocket and one for his desk. He had a habit of making notes on pieces of paper and then forgetting where he had put them. He didn't want that to happen this time.

He assured her that he would be at the airport to pick her up and that he would run all four of them to their hotel.

"Charlie's coming as well so you'll be able to discuss your problems with him and that reminds me, he wants a word with you. If we don't speak again, I'll see you in a fortnight."

"Looking forward to it."

"Me too."

She put him through to Charlie.

" Bill, how are you?" he asked not waiting for an answer," I've got something that may interest you. I was recently called to a friend's house that, while he was away, was broken into and ransacked. Strange thing was that nothing was taken. It wasn't ransacked in the strict sense of the word but everything that could possibly have anything hidden behind it had been moved – furniture, appliances, pictures, absolutely everything. The only room that really was ransacked was the library and that was a mess. Not only had all the books been thrown on the floor but the shelving had been ripped down."

"Sounds strange but what has it got to do with me?"

"I was coming to that. The house where my friend lives was once owned by Roderick Van der Velde."

Bill's mind was now working overtime.

"And you thought it possible that this break in could be related to what happened over here to Mrs. Van der Velde?"

"Stranger things have happened."

"I know. There's nothing we've come up with that would suggest any connection, but I'll certainly bear it in mind and we can talk about it in a couple of weeks time."

"We sure can. I gather your picking us up at the airport. I appreciate it."

"No problem."

"By the way Bill, just to fill you in, Jennie looks as good as she sounds so you won't be disappointed."

"That's not the . . ."

"Until you're blue in the face you couldn't convince me."

There was no point in protesting further.

"Well all right then, maybe just a bit."

"Yeah, sure Bill. See you at the airport."

He was pleased to hear that Jennie was all he had expected but then doubts started to fill his head as to whether he would be what she expected.

Chapter Thirty Seven

After Michael and Ruth had departed for Chelmsford Vic suggested, as it was Connie's day off, that he, Gerald and Rosemary go into Wulfrum to the Silver Cross restaurant rather than mess up Connie's immaculate looking kitchen.

Vic made the booking and was specific that they be seated by seven o'clock. The receptionist assured him that it would not be a problem.

Gerald arrived at the Manor at around six fifteen. He had insisted that he drive. Rosemary was ready about five minutes later. Vic was ready well before Gerald arrived.

They pulled into the Silver Cross car park at ten minutes to seven and as Vic had insisted, were seated by seven.

They were looking indecisively through the menu when Vic's cell phone rang. "Excuse me a moment," he said, standing up and stepping over to the reception area. Taking the phone out he said, "Thank you Michael, you're timing is perfect. I take it you both got back ok?"

"That's good, well I'll go back and tell them that I have to leave and we'll see how they get on. Speak to you soon."

With a huge smile on his face he put the phone away and asked the receptionist to order him a taxi. "Don't worry," he said, "the other two will be staying."

He quickly removed the smile and went back to Rosemary and Gerald. "I'm sorry guys, but I'm going to have to leave you. That call was from a business associate and I need to refer to some paperwork I have back at the house. Don't worry, you two enjoy your meal and I'll see you back at the Manor. I've booked a taxi already, so I'll wait in reception."

With that he turned and left them not giving either of them the chance to protest, although by the look in Gerald's eye he could tell that he had more than a suspicion as to what had just happened.

He was pleased that the taxi didn't keep him waiting long just in case Rosemary had tried to talk him out of going. The fact that she didn't left him with mixed feelings but, despite that, he was delighted that his plan had worked.

As the taxi turned in towards the closed gates he thought he saw a shadow cross from behind the bushes at the right-hand side of the gate, over the road behind the taxi. As it was dark he wasn't sure.

"Did you see that?" he asked the driver.

"See what?"

Obviously he hadn't.

"Probably just my imagination. It's okay here, I'll walk up to the house."

"Thanks, guv," the driver said in a way that showed he was well pleased with the tip.

As the car turned around to return to the town he followed the headlights as they shone down the opposite side of the road but saw nothing. Shrugging his shoulders he opened the gates and locked them behind him as he scrunched his way up to the house.

All the way up the driveway he had an uneasy feeling, as if he was being watched, but it was only a feeling. There was nothing positive to back it up in any way. However, when he got inside he checked all the doors and windows just to reassure himself. He quickly dismissed it as his imagination. After all, all the times he had, as a child, had his foot hanging out of the bed it had never once been grabbed by the monster that lived underneath it.

With a wry smile he went into the lounge, turned on the television and settled down to wait for Rosemary and Gerald.

Vic woke with a start as he heard a door slam and voices in the hallway. He was quickly at ease as he recognised the voices.

The lounge door opened.

"Vic, did we wake you?" she asked.

"No, I was only dozing."

Looking at his watch he realized that he had been dozing for nearly two hours. It was nearly midnight.

"How was the meal?" He made a point of looking at his watch again.

"Very good," said Gerald. "Afterwards I took Rosemary to the Rising Moon to meet my sister and brother-in-law."

"Ah."

"Yes, Gerald owns the pub and also the Ploughman's Arms. His sister Pru is charming as is her husband Mike. You must come for a drink with us the next time we go."

Us, the next time . . . progress at last, he thought, but merely replied by saying, "I'd love to."

"A bit of a coincidence," she continued. "The first time I've been in the bar and Mike was telling us that on Saturday night he had a couple of guys from South Africa in having a few drinks."

Vic's hackles rose. Again there was nothing tangible, it was just had a gut instinct.

"Whereabouts were they from?"

"Mike didn't actually speak to them he just heard their accents."

"Was that the first time he had seen them?"

"As far as I know. Why?"

"No reason, just curiosity. I was thinking how much of a coincidence it would have been had you known either of them."

"Not much chance of that."

"No, I suppose not. Anyway, you two sit down and I'll make some coffee."

He really couldn't shake the nagging feeling that all was not well. Sadly South African's turning up in Wulfrum was probably no more than a coincidence, but still a little disturbing. He decided that in the morning he would make an excuse to go into Wulfrum and speak to the police officers, if only to put his own mind at ease.

Vic had coffee with Rosemary and Gerald and then, yawning profusely, expressed his tiredness and retired, leaving them alone.

He had no idea what time they had sat up until, but it had been long enough for Rosemary to be still in bed when he got up the next morning. Connie was already working away so he told her that he was popping into town for a couple of hours and to tell Rosemary that he would be back around eleven. With Rosemary still in bed he had no reason to make any excuses about why he was going into town. He took Rosemary's car knowing that she had no trips planned for the day.

As he drove out of the gate and turned into the road towards Wulfrum he stopped and got out of the car. He wanted to check the area where he thought he had seen something the previous evening. There was nothing anywhere except one footprint and it was such that it could have been there for some time. It told him nothing. None the wiser he got back into the car and drove on.

Approaching the entrance to the police station car park he indicated his intent to turn in and saw that the car in front of him was doing the same. There were several parking places and he pulled in next to the other car. Both men got out of their cars together.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Are you a police officer?"

"Yes I am."

"I need to speak to a Sergeant Allington. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction?"

"You already are."

"What?"

The policeman held out his hand. "Pointed in the right direction. I'm Bill Allington."

"Sergeant, I'm pleased to meet you. I've heard a little about you from my sister. I'm Vic Bannerman."

He took the policeman's hand and was impressed with the strength of his grip.

"Vic Bannerman?" Allington did not know the name.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My sister is Rosemary Van der Velde."

"I see," he said, releasing his grip. "What can I do for you?"

"There are a few things that I would like to discuss with you. They may be of some interest to you and they may not, but I think that you should know."

Allington nodded and at the same time said, "Come on in, we'll go up to the canteen. It'll be more comfortable up there."

People will think I've got shares in the canteen, the number of people I've bought coffee for lately he mused.

They went up to the back door of the station and Allington entered the required number on the keypad and as the buzz signified that he had put in the correct number, he pushed the door open. The buzz continued several seconds after the door had closed.

Allington fixed them up with two coffees and a fried egg sandwich each and they sat down. "I wasn't aware that Mrs. Van der Velde had a brother."

"In a way she hasn't had one for twenty odd years."

"How's that?"

"It's that long since the last time we saw each other."

"Oh, what happened?"

"The answer to that has a lot to do with why I've come to see you. I was warned off by Rosemary's husband. He sent the heavies over and they really meant business."

Allington listened intently as had the others he had recounted his story to. The only difference was that he did not ask Vic to show him his back. He would have, but there were quite a few people in the canteen at the time.

"You did the right thing, Mr. Bannerman."

"No need to be so formal, the name's Vic."

"Fine Vic, I'm Bill. Under the circumstances I would have done exactly the same. From what I have recently found out about your brother-in-law," Vic raised his eyebrows – that was the first time that that reference had ever been made – "any threat that he made would definitely have been carried out. There is no doubt about that."

"Yes, that was the impression that I got."

"So what did you want to see me about today?"

"Since I read in the paper about what happened at Rosemary's all these things that I have just told you came flooding back and in the back of my mind was the niggling thought that, could what happened be in any way related to Rod or his illegal business in South Africa?

Then last night I got a taxi back from town and as it pulled into the gateway I thought that I saw a shadowy figure run over the road behind the car. When I looked around this morning on the way to see you, I found a footprint, but to me it didn't look that fresh. Then when Rosemary got home last night, she had been for a drink with Gerald, you know, from The Gables."

"Yes, I know Mr. Arding. We have spoken on a couple of occasions."

"Well, he owns the Rising Moon and his sister and brother-in-law run it for him. They were talking to him and he told them that he had recently had a couple of South African men drinking in the bar. I know that it may be nothing but in light of all that has happened I thought that you should know."

"As you say, it may be nothing but I will look into it. To be honest, we've nothing else to go on."

"Right, Bill, I won't hang around. I'd like to try and get back before Rosemary gets up. I don't want to concern her with this."

Allington looked at his watch.

"She's usually well up by now, it's just that she had a late night last night."

"Uh, oh no, that wasn't what I was thinking. I have a meeting later on and I was wondering if I would have time to call round to the Rising Moon before that. I don't think so though. If anything turns up I'll keep you informed and I would ask you to keep your eyes open and let me know if anything – anything – no matter how inconsequential it seems, comes to light."

Allington showed him out to the car park and he drove off, arriving back at the Manor a good ten minutes before Rosemary appeared, which meant that no explanations were necessary.

Chapter Thirty Eight

Martin McKay had appeared in court and had been remanded pending further inquiries. It was apparent that he had no idea what had happened to his brother. He had admitted that they had intended burglarising the Manor. That much was obvious, so he could do little other than admit it. He had heard or seen nothing.

He had mentioned the bikers that they had fallen foul with over the game of pool, but the police had traced them and had eliminated them from their inquiries.

Bill Allington had been in court and had recognised everyone in the courtroom except for one man. The man had a notebook and pen and he had assumed that he was a reporter. Now he wished he had asked him who he was.

Chapter Thirty Nine

"My, my, someone's fairly glowing."

"Don't you start on me, I've got a bone to pick with you anyway. You arranged to leave us alone last night didn't you, and if my guess is right, you had help from Michael Curzon."

"Me? I think you're doing me a huge injustice."

"I don't think so," she said, prodding him playfully in the chest.

"All right then," he retaliated, "tell me that you would have preferred me to have stayed and that you have no intention of arranging another date with Gerald."

"It wasn't a date."

"So you haven't arranged another one then?" he persisted.

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You have," he said triumphantly. "I knew damn well, when? Come on you've got to tell me."

"Gerald has some business to attend to in Chelmsford this afternoon and we may stay there for the evening."

"May? I guess I'll see you on Tuesday morning."

She smiled.

"Seriously though Rosie, I'm pleased for you. Gerald is the sort of guy I would have picked for you myself."

"Slow down Vic, Gerald and I are merely friends."

Yeah," he said with disbelief, "I can see the friendship in your eyes when you look at each other."

He looked hard at her. "And blushing only confirms the friendship."

"I'm not blushing."

"Perhaps it's just the sunlight through the window, come on, it's me you're talking to."

"All right, so I do like him, but it's been a very long time and I don't want to rush."

"Don't take too long, you're not as young as you used to be," he joked.

"Get out of here while you can still walk."

He put his arms in front of him in mock protection. "I'll get Connie to put on some breakfast," he said running out of the room.

She sat down. He's right, she thought, I really am falling for Gerald. Last night had flown by, they had chatted and laughed and joked. Even when they got back to the house, Gerald had acted like a perfect gentleman. She hadn't been able to avoid the feeling that she had been there before, but while she had never considered for one second that Rod had had a sinister side, she knew for a fact that Gerald had not.

Thinking about it she knew that he felt the same way too, as Vic had said. It was in his eyes which meant that he could see it in her eyes too.

When Gerald had left, just after one-thirty, she had reached up and kissed him gently on the check. That was it, that was all, but it had felt perfectly natural. Gerald had squeezed her hand and left. She had stood leaning with her back to the closed door for several seconds, with a stupid schoolgirl expression on her face.

Yes, I really am falling for this man. Vic had made her think and now she was no longer able to deny it. Rod would turn in his grave but in the light of all she now knew about him, that no longer seemed to matter as much.

Chapter Forty

Allington's meeting lasted about an hour. It was the boring monthly internal meeting with regard to the organisation of the station. He considered it a total waste of time, but the Chief Inspector came from a background of such meetings and firmly believed that they were a good thing. Both he and Groves had to attend.

After the meeting he went straight round to see Mike and Prudence Beck at the Rising Moon. He had used the pub himself a few times and through his job had met them on a couple of occasions, so no introductions would be necessary.

It was almost three o'clock when he got there and the majority of the lunch-time customers had left. When he entered the bar there were only five people left and Mike was alone behind the bar. All the empty tables had been cleared and wiped down. He looked because he remembered it was that way the last time he had been there.

As he approached the bar Mike looked up and instantly recognised him. "Hello, Sergeant, business or pleasure? Pleasure, I hope."

"Business, Mike, but don't worry, it's not about you or the pub. I just wanted to ask you about a couple of customers you had in a few nights ago."

"Sure, do you want a drink?"

"Thanks, just a small glass of diet coke. I've got to go back to the station later."

Mike nodded and put the coke in front of him as he sat down on one of the bar stools. "You were saying?"

"Yes, a while ago I believe you had two guys in with South African accents?"

"That's right, they sat over there for about an hour, had a couple of beers each."

"Anything odd about them?"

"Apart from being strangers, they seemed to stop talking whenever anyone went near them to clean tables, but that's not really unusual. People often come in for private chats. But that's all, there was nothing odd apart from the accents."

"Can you describe them?"

Mike frowned. "One of them had his back to me and I didn't really see him at all, but the other one was a well-set man, about forty-five to fifty, with dark hair that was starting to recede at the temple. He had a moustache that seemed to hide a small scar. The both wore suits and ties. That's about all I can tell you."

Allington had a second sip from his glass, thanked Mike and left. He sat in his car with a thoughtful look on his face. The description Mike had given him fitted the man he had seen in the courtroom. Could it be yet another coincidence? After a while coincidences become too many to be just mere coincidences. With that thought in mind, he drove back to the station to run it all past Groves. He thought about driving up to the Manor to look at the footprint Vic had mentioned but it would have meant very little to him, so he decided to get someone experienced to take a look at it.

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