CHAPTER 25

About the time Tolly walked into the sitting room the phone on the desk in Mary Crimp’s small office near the kitchen rang. The bell high on the wall at the end of the servant’s corridor also rang. A clanging that seemed to go on forever. Mary sprinted to the office and waited a second to catch her breath before picking up the receiver. 

“The Manor House. Housekeeper speaking,” 

“Mary, it’s Claude Durand. How’s everything there?” 

“Oh, Mr Durand, hello,” Mary said. “Yes, everything’s fine here.” 

“Good, good. Thought I’d just check. I expect you’re up to date with things?” 

“Yes, sir. Mrs Grant has cleaned the entire kitchen. It’s spotless, absolutely spotless. It’s just so shiny. I’ve spring cleaned. Used a whole tin of polish.” 

“Excellent. I expect there’s not so much to do now?” 

“Not so much but we’ll find things I’m sure.” 

“I’ve been thinking. While we’re away, how about you and Mrs Grant take a small holiday? Somewhere not too far. Somewhere you can relax. I know you work so hard. I thought of Brighton. What do you say?” 

“That would be nice, of course, but I don’t think I can afford it.” 

“Don’t worry about that, I’m paying. I want you two to have a break for a few days. I’ve booked you into a hotel near the seafront from tomorrow until Thursday. It’s quite a nice place. Two rooms next to each other. Bed, breakfast and evening meal.” 

“I don’t know, sir. Are you sure?” 

“Positive. It’s the perfect time. All your work’s done and we’re away. Go and ask Mrs Grant and I’ll hang on.” Claude heard the phone rattle as it landed on the desk and could just make out muffled words. 

The phone bonked and he heard, “Mrs Grant said thank you very much and yes please.” What she actually said was, We might as well get all we can out of the rich bastard. 

“Perfect. Now, take down the address of the hotel… got that… good. Right, upstairs in my bedside drawer there’s an envelope. There’s one hundred pounds in it. Take out fifty and that’s your spending money.” 

“Oh no, sir, that’s far too much. I can’t take all of that. It's more than a month’s wages.” 

“Nonsense, you’ve earned it. You do such a good job for us. Twenty-five pounds each. Treat it as a bonus for all your hard work.” 

“Thank you, sir. Thank you so much,” said Mary. 

“Make sure you go tomorrow. You don’t want to miss having a good time, do you. Then I’ll see you in about two weeks.” 

As Mary hung up she was thinking, That’s really odd. He’s a good employer right enough but paying for a holiday… Well, I suppose it’s not a bad thing. After all, we do work hard for him.   

 

If there was any shock Tolly recovered very quickly. He dodged past Mavis with his hand outstretched, “Dexter my old mate. Good to see you. So glad you could make the trip.” He looked at Dexter and flicked his eyes at Mavis shaking his head. 

Dexter took the hint, took Tolly’s hand and pulled him close. Hugged him tightly and slapped him on the back, “I knew you’d be surprised,” he smiled. “Look, Mavis, he’s so pleased to see me.” 

Mavis was smiling as well, happy to see two old friends reunited, “Would you like some tea, Tolly… I’ll go and make it. Leave you two to chat. I expect you'll have a lot to talk about.” 

Unable to contain a small laugh, Dexter said, “We have Mavis. We’ve so much to talk about, haven’t we Tolly my old matey? Come on,” and he slapped Tolly on the back, “get yourself sat down and tell me all your news.” 

Tolly sat on the sofa opposite Dexter in an armchair. He glanced down the hall. Saw the back of Mavis disappearing into the kitchen. Glanced again to make sure, then said, “No trouble with Mavis in the house.” Then added, “Please.” 

“No problem with that. the lovely old bird. I’d not want to upset her.” 

“Thanks for that… So, how did you find me?” 

“Not so easy. Dee heard you tell Gloria Dubonnet you lived south of the river in Wandsworth. I’ve spent two days trawling through all the pubs, cafes, shops and digs around here. Ran into Mavis outside your local shop. Nattering on the street corner. She mentioned you and that was it… Now, you’ve got something of mine and I want it back.” 

“Not strictly yours though, is it? All that dosh in a beezer. It’s nicked for sure. Where did you get so much cash from?” 

“You’ve not worked that out yet.” said Dexter, “A bright fella like you… The safe in the boarding house, of course. I stole it in the night. That trick with the brick. That’s mine. My case had a brick in it when I arrived so it would look heavy. I left the brick in Dee’s room when I stole the cash. Anyway, I need it back and not just because I stole it in the first place.” 

“Okay, so what’s the story and who’s Dee anyway?” 

“Dee is Gloria Dubonnet’s daughter. You didn’t know that?” 

“Nope. Knew about the daughter, of course. Saw her around the place but can’t remember hearing her name spoken. No one could miss her though, could they? A good-looking girl for sure. But I didn’t know her name. Now it starts to make a bit of sense. You and her, you’re…” 

“Now you’re catching on.” 

“You and her stole the money?” 

“Yup. Inside job so to speak. She got the safe’s combination and I did the rest.” 

“That makes sense all right. Easy work then. Why would she steal from her mother though?” 

“Because her mother controls her. You saw how it is there. That woman dominates the place and that includes Dee. She wanted out.” 

“And you were going to run away together… Touching.” Tolly glanced down the hall and held his finger to his mouth as Mavis came in with a tray. 

“Here you are boys, tea and cake. Made this morning for afternoon tea before we go to the movies. Now, I’ll leave you two to catch up. Will you be coming with us to the movies, Dexter?” 

“Maybe,” he replied. And Mavis smiled a ‘hope so’ smile in his direction. 

Tolly watched her leave and grinned at Dexter, “Guess what. She likes you… The movies, eh. What do you think? Do you want to come with us? We’re going to see Rear Window.” 

“Like I said, maybe. First though, the money.” 

“There’s a lot there and I don’t notice you getting violent. Why should I give it back? You stole it then I stole it. Fair do’s in my book. We can fight about it if you want.” 

“That’s not my style, Tolly. I’m not a knife in the back sort of man.” 

“That’s nice to know…” 

“I’d prefer you just gave it back. There’s a very good reason.” 

“I can’t think of any good reasons to give back that kind of cash.” 

“Dee and that’s about as good a reason as there is. Her mother has found out we took it and she wants it back.” 

“That’s a bit careless, isn’t it. Why not just grab the girl and skedaddle.” 

“I would, believe me, but Gloria has threatened the cook and Dee protects him. She won’t leave unless the cook is safe.” 

“Who cares about a cook? Let him take care of himself.” 

“That’s the thing though. He can’t. He’s not all that capable and Dee has been defending him for years.” 

“So, this Dee Dubonnet…” 

“Not Dubonnet, Donovan. She kept her father’s name.”  

The mention of Donavan made Tolly go quiet. He looked at Dexter. He liked him. Dexter was not being pushy. He suspected that if it came to it Dexter could put up a pretty good show. Good enough for Tolly not to want to bet on the outcome. No, there was something there. Something going on that Tolly did not understand. He decided to string it out. 

“Unfortunately, I don’t have it. I took it to Cap. It’s at his place.” 

“And just who is this Cap?” 

“My captain. We went through the war together. We’re partners.” 

“I’ve a pretty good idea in what.” 

“I bet you can… You’ll have to come and meet him. We’ll talk about it together. I’m sure there’s a solution we can work out.” 

“When?” 

“Tomorrow. In the morning. Until then there’s nothing I can do. Come here for ten and we’ll go from there.” 

“Can I trust you’ll be here?” 

“What do you think? Of course I will. I’m not running out on Mavis… So, when was the last time you went to the flicks?” 

“I can’t remember.” 

“A long time ago then. Come this evening. Like I said Mavis likes you. It’ll make her day.” 

Dexter thought for a few seconds. Did he trust Tolly? He thought he did and besides, he had nothing else to do until he spoke to Cap. So, he said, “Okay. Sounds like a bit of fun… By the way, is that a new suit?” 

“It sure is. I bought it today. Snappy, eh?” 

“Must of cost a bit.” 

“Yup. My luck came in and I had a bit of spare.” 

“From a suitcase maybe?” 

“Not just any old suitcase though, was it?” said Tolly showing all of his teeth.