Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon - M. C. Beaton [63]
He eased closer to the house and parted the branches of a laurel bush. Both women were standing in the living room. There were no curtains at the window. He was to wonder later why the significance of that small detail didn’t mean more to him at the time. They were talking seriously. He wished he could hear what they were saying. Then they both rose and came out of the house and got into Mabel’s car. He hurried back to where he had left his motorbike. Agatha and Phil had told him how Mabel had spotted them following her to the cinema. He’d need to be careful.
He shrank into the bushes by his motorbike as Mabel’s car roared past. He got on his bike and followed after waiting impatiently. There were two roads out of the village. One led to Carsely and the other to the Fosse. He dared not get close enough to see which one they took and opted for the Fosse.
Sure enough, when he reached the top of the road and swung out onto the Fosse, he could see Mabel’s car ahead in front of two others. He followed at a careful distance. Mabel swung off before the place where Jessica’s body had been found. He realized she was taking Joyce home. Sure enough, she dropped Joyce at her house and then drove off again.
Phil phoned Mabel later that evening. “We didn’t make another arrangement,” he said. “I would like to see you again.”
“How nice,” said Mabel. “I’m pretty tied up this week. What about next Tuesday? We could have lunch.”
“Excellent,” said Phil. “I’ll pick you up at twelve-thirty and take you somewhere nice.”
Bill Wong called on Agatha that evening. She told him about the missing engagement ring. Bill gave an exclamation of annoyance. “You should have told me right away. Wait until I phone this information in.”
Agatha waited until he had finished. “I haven’t seen the pathology report,” said Bill. “We’ll need to ask the pathologist if there was any sign of a chain being ripped from her neck. We’ll also need to send men back out to the murder site to comb the area and look for that ring. Then we’ll need to check all the jewellers in case someone tried to sell it.”
“What did Mabel say when confronted about that diploma?”
“She insists that all she learned were the basic skills of computing and the college bears that out. She said that when we first asked her and she said that she knew nothing about computers, she thought they meant was she expert in computing.”
“Sounds like a load of cobblers,” said Agatha cynically. “There’s someone at the door. Wait a minute.”
She came back followed by Harry. “Bill, Harry’s been following Joyce. He says that earlier today she took a cab to Mabel’s, the two women talked and then Mabel ran Joyce home.”
“Interesting,” said Bill. “But maybe innocent. After all, Mabel would know Joyce from the business.”
“But why would she want to talk to the girl her husband had been having an affair with?”
“I’m sure she’ll have some perfectly innocent explanation.”
“That one always has some perfectly innocent explanation.”
“What I’m interested in,” said Harry, “is that milk bottle. The missing one. Say Joyce popped it in her handbag. I’m sure the police didn’t search it. Or maybe there was somewhere in her little office where she hid it.”
“The police searched everywhere.”
“If only I could get inside that office and have a look around,” said Harry.
“Don’t!” ordered Bill. “I’ve had enough of your unorthodox methods.”
“Jealousy,” said Agatha suddenly. “And blackmail. Have you found that teller who took the deposit yet?”
“Yes, she said a rather scruffy man deposited the money on both occasions.”
“What about the security tapes at the bank?”
“We were too late getting to them. The ones for the dates of the deposits had been reused.”