Tuesday cont.
If Cleo had not felt committed to keeping the partnbership going
whatever it cost, she could have put an end to what was becoming a farce.
Gary’s only explanation later was that she had been in denial.
Robert had included porterhouse steaks in Cleo's order
although she hadn’t ordered any. No T-bone, however. Was that symbolic of their
estrangement? T-bone steaks had been frequently on the menu that she and Robert
had grilled and eaten together when their appetite for them far exceeded the
appetite they had for one another. In the end, their passion for good food had
replaced any vestige of passion.
***
On reflection, Cleo thought it might have been her mother's
influence on a level of 'you can't have chosen the wrong man again' that was
responsible for her attitude. Gloria had not known for certain about Cleo's
affair with Gary. She thought that Cleo might have been trying to improve her
marriage by having PeggySue and that everything would turn out hunky-dory.
***
Chris had to call off his date. He was terribly sorry, but
another corpse had cropped up, this time from the drugs squad.
At seven, Gary arrived with his guest.
Frank Cook was tall. He walked with a slight stoop, as though
he was always trying to avoid ceilings and door frames. He was taller than
Gary, who was much taller than many of
his colleagues. Gary wondered about Frank’s chances of remaining unrecognized since
he was an imposing figure.
Frank was grateful for the invitation and had brought Cleo a
bunch of mauve asters that he presented to her with a flourish and a bow. He
spoke good English with a gutteral Swiss lilt.
“Nice to meet you, Mr Cook. I’m Cleo.”
Dorothy arrived a little later. Frank was devastated that he
had not brought two bunches of asters. Dorothy was flattered, but not fooled.
***
“What do you actually do, Mr Cook?” she asked even before
they had finished their aperitif, although Cleo had warned her to stay on safe
ground.
“I spy on people, Miss Price.”
“I’m Dorothy.”
“I’m Frank. What do YOU do, Dorothy?”
Dorothy did not wait to be asked twice. She told Frank most
of what had kept her busy up to her return to Upper Grumpsfield and most
importantly, that she had found her metier here because it was here that she
had started detective work.
“That is interesting, Dorothy,” Frank said. “Couldn’t we use
her in our missing vicar case, Gary?”
Gary swallowed hard. Wasn’t that exactly what he didn’t want
to happen?
“You should also ask Cleo,” said Dorothy. “She runs our
detective agency and we do a roaring trade…”
“…. in missing dogs and marriage guidance,” Gary interrupted,
furious with Dorothy for mentioning the agency at all. “Hired by the locals,”
he added for good measure.
***
Cleo was horrified. Was this the same guy as the one she had
slept with an few hours earlier? She would put the record straight immediately.
“I should point out, Frank, that we have been warned off the
Grisham case and we don’t know why,” said Cleo. “My husband is irate because he
thinks Dorothy and I will go ahead anyway.”
***
Cleo gave Gary one of her daggers-drawn looks. He’d had to contend
with them before and they had usually heralded an investigative triumph by her
agency.
“And he’s right!” Cleo finished. “More gravy, Frank?”
The meal was turning into a battle of wits. Frank was not
really aware of the extent of it, but he could tell that there was disarray on
the subject of detective work.
“I’ll certainly find you plenty to do, Madamoiselles,” said
Frank, earning himself a polite if crooked smile from Gary. The look Gary gave
Dorothy was neither polite nor smiling. He could have throttled her.
“Don’t worry, Gary. I’ll make sure we don’t get into danger
and I’ll bring my pistol along in case we do,” said Dorothy.
Frank looked at Dorothy with admiration and a good portion
of respect. What a lady!
“It’s licensed, of course, and I’ve been getting shooting
practise at the police shooting range,” she added.
Gary again looked disapproving. There was no stopping
Dorothy once she got going.
***
Cleo was delighted that Dorothy had thwarted Gary’s and
Roger’s fears about the Hartley Agency getting involved. They had an ally in
Frank and would make good use of him.
However, Gary was not resigned to the situation. He would
take Frank aside at the first opportunity and tell him exactly what he thought
of encouraging the two private sleuths to get mixed up in the Grisham case. He
also wanted to know if Frank had been told anything he should know.
***
But Gary could not wait for that opportune moment. He told
Frank in front of the two sleuths that they had been instructed by his boss to
keep clear of the case.
“That definitely makes a difference,” said Frank.
“How?” said Dorothy.
“Well, if a Chief of Police said to keep off the case, that’s
what you do, Mademoiselles.”
Gary was gratified. He hoped Frank would be good to work
with. He had never had an assistant on that level before.
***
“Who is, or rather was Mr Grisham?” Dorothy nevertheless
asked.
“Grisham was a lawyer involved in defending some of the guys
exporting formulae from a UK chemical company to the Far East. All Grisham’s
team have been liquidated. He was the last. He had been struck off the register
when it transpired that he was a double agent. That did not please either side
of the debate. Grisham, who had a different name when he was a double agent,
retired with his wife to this area, naïve enough to think that he would be
safe. But he wasn’t, as events have proved.”
Why hadn’t Roger Stone told him that, thought Gary.
“Is that all?” he asked Frank.
“Isn’t it enough?” retorted Frank.
Cleo and Dorothy had been listening carefully to Frank’s
account. They both thought independently that it could not be the whole story.
It was a rag to a bull to regale them with such an incomplete account.
“I don’t suppose you know what Grisham’s name was before he
changed it, do you?” Cleo asked.
“You don’t need to know, Cleo,” said Gary.
“I’ll be the judge of that, Gary.”
***
Frank felt a little embarrassed, but he knew he would have
to tell Cleo because she was the kind of lady who would keep on asking or would
go to unreliable sources to find out. He was not sure he wanted to be on the
wrong side of her, either. Cleo was one of those women with both beauty and
brains. He could understand why Gary was her willing slave and probably unable
to stop her doing her own thing. Frank tried to avoid such women whenever
possible.
“Jack Coster,” he said.
“Sounds more like someone out of a gangster movie,” said
Dorothy.
“I think he modelled his career on prohibition lawyers,”
said Frank.
“Thanks for telling us, Frank,” said Cleo “I was just being
curious about the name,” the latter comment being for Gary, who looked
warningly at Cleo before changing the subject.
***
“Do you play bridge, Frank?” he asked. “We have a perfect
quartet here if you would be so good as to partner my wife.”
“I’m not so keen on Bridge,” Frank replied. “Would you like
to learn Skat? That’s what we play where I come from.”
“And where is that, Frank?” Dorothy asked.
“Basle, or Basel depending on whether you are on the Swiss
or German side,” he said.
“And which side are you on?” Dorothy asked.
“I’m Swiss born, but I have an office in Basel, that’s on
the German side of the Rhine. I live in Swiss Cottage London now. That sounds
like a coincidence, and it is,” said Frank. “I don’t see much of my London
base.”
“I’d like to learn Skat,” Dorothy announced.
“The food was marvellous, Cleo,” said Frank, hoping to score
at least one point on her scale of pros and cons.
“I have my ex-husband to thank for any cooking skills I
might have,” said Cleo, wanting to get her own back at Gary. “He was a
brilliant cook and a good teacher.”
***
Frank was only too aware of the animosity that seemed to
have sprung up. He would do his best to calm things down. In his opinion the
situation was volatile, but that was because he did not realize that little
tiffs were all part of the special relationship treasured by the trio – well,
at least the ladies treasured it, not least because they usually got the upper
hand.
***
“OK, folks, let me teach you Skat. I’ll ask you to sample my
Swiss cooking when I’ve found somewhere to live. I just happen to have a pack
of Skat cards in my pocket. Let’s get going, shall we?”
To Gary’s intense relief, Cleo and Dorothy did not mention
either Grisham or Parsnip for the rest of the evening. It didn’t take them long
to get the hang of Skat. Gary lagged behind for a bit, but eventually they were
able to play a decent round or two and Frank was glad he had found someone
willing to play his favourite card game.
***
At about eleven, Frank announced that he would go back to
his hotel and get some sleep. He arranged to meet Gary next morning at HQ.
The children had gone to bed peacefully, but PeggySue got up
again just as Frank was leaving.
“See to her, will you Gary? I’ll walk home with Dorothy. I
need some fresh air,” said Cleo.
***
It would have been churlish of Gary to prevent that, though
he knew perfectly well that the two sleuths wanted to discuss the Grisham case
and decide how to move forward. He could not control them all the time and he
was sure that Cleo and Dorothy were eager to get a few steps ahead of him. Now
Frank was in on the case, they had two professionals to impress with their
amateur, but nevertheless effective strategies.
***
“Let’s keep to the arrangement for tomorrow, Dorothy,” said
Cleo, as soon as they were walking up the road. “I ve changed my mind about
taking PeggySue anywhere that would enrage Gary should we meet any kind of
risky situation. Gloria can take her to nursery school as usual.”
“You’re right, Cleo. It would also cramp our style.”
“I didn’t want to put it that way, but it would make it
difficult to move fast.”
“You make it all sound very intriguing, Cleo.”
“It may be a wild goose chase, but at least we are doing something,”
said Cleo.
By now they had reached Dorothy’s garden gate.
“Bring your pistol, however, Dorothy. Better safe than
sorry.”
***
“OK. Spill the beans,” said Gary, when Cleo got back to the
cottage.
“What beans?”
“The ones you have been plotting with Dorothy.”
“We are walking to Lower Grumpsfield.”
“I wonder why. Isn’t that where Mrs Grisham lives?
“We are going to try coffee at the new coffee bar, that’s
all.”
“Pull the other one.”
“On Sunday the Crumbs are reopening old Mrs Garner’s cake
shop opposite the supermarket. We want to compare the two.”
***
Gary was a bit contrite.
“Sorry if I overstepped the mark earlier, Cleo.”
“Which mark, Gary? Frank got the impression we were on the
point of separation, I’m sure.”
“I’ll sort him out tomorrow.”
“Do that. If we have to work with him we’d better make sure
he knows how we really feel.”
“We?”
“HQ and the agency, of course.”
I can’t stop you if you’ve made up your mind, can I Cleo?”
“No. That’s why I’m going to marry you. That’s why I love
you to distraction. That’s why…”
“Point taken. The girls are asöeep and it’s time to turn in.
Are we agreed on that?”
“I think we need one of those big hugs, Gary. I know you’re
a specialist in them.”
“Don’t have any with Frank, Cleo, or I might get jealous.”
“Don’t YOU have any with Frank, Gary. Didn’t you notice that
he was more interested in Dorothy than me? Gays like older women. They feel
safer with them. They only pretend to want women in their beds.”
“Not another.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I’m not telling, Cleo.”
“If you mean Chris, don’t bother. I know all about him.”
On that they went to bed. Explanations were left at the
door.
Some actions don’t need words.
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