Cherringham--Mystery at the Manor Read Free Page A

talk.”
    But Riley stuck his snout in the door, and looked left and right.
    “Er, Jack — maybe Riley needs a walk first.”
    “Right. Okay … walk the dog, then the kettle. Going to be a bit mushy out there.”
    Jack reached to the side of the open door, grabbed Riley’s leash, and clipped it to the dog’s collar before pulling on his boots. The dog led the way out to the meadow that sprawled from the riverfront, away from the barges and boats.
    Jack soon let Riley run free through the meadow. An occasional gull swooped down, and dog and bird almost seemed to be playing a game of tag.
    Stayed up reading? Jack thought …
    True, he loved to get lost in his history books but last night, there was too much Brooklyn, too much Katherine, too many memories floating around to get lost in his new history of Stalingrad.
    But now the morning air felt good, clearing cobwebs.
    And seeing Sarah? Always good. Although she had two devoted parents right in the village, Jack felt something he could only describe as fatherly concern for her. Raising a family on your own was always tough …
    As Riley dashed, Jack turned to Sarah.
    “So your friend says that the old man never went up to this room. And yet, a fire breaks out and up he goes? Or maybe … he was already there?”
    “Yes.”
    “Maybe he was already up there?”
    “Possible. But why? In the middle of the night …”
    “Right.” He looked away. Riley had stopped, his nose pointed straight into the air at the taunting gull. A lot of thoughts swirled in Jack’s head. He had dealt with a lot of suspicious fires in his days in New York. Some were simply fires — things happen — and some weren’t.
    He turned back to Sarah.
    “What do you think?” she said.
    “I’m guessing you’re asking me if I want to play detective again?”
    “Well, not sure if ‘play’ is the right word, after all, I’ve seen all those plaques and commendations — you must have done something for them.”
    He held up a hand, laughing. “Okay. Well, on first glance what you’re telling me is interesting. Still — it could be nothing. Old people do odd things — for lots of reasons. Maybe he thought he was going downstairs.”
    “And maybe he knew exactly where he was going.”
    “You are the suspicious one, aren’t you?” He took a breath. “I like that.”
    “If you’d seen the show put on by his family …”
    “The ne’er-do-well offspring, hmm?”
    “Accusations flying, all of them looking relieved that their dad was in the ground.”
    Jack nodded. “Okay. I’m … in . Or rather, we’re in. A team, yes?”
    “Of course. Though I need to do a bit of work — just blew the whole morning and I have a highlands resort waiting on a layout for their brochure and website. But after that …”
    “And I need that cup of tea.”
    “Where do we start?”
    “You know … some people will talk to us, some people won’t. And since this is a fire matter, how about we start with your Fire Department … and the Fire Chief? That what you call them here?”
    She laughed at the question. “It’s called the Fire and Rescue Service, and we have a Chief Fire Officer Barnes.”
    “There you go. Not so different. Let’s have a chat with him — if he will chat. When can you be free?”
    “Half-two, three …”
    He grinned. Slowly, the expressions here were becoming normal. Half-two.
    “ Great. Saw the fire station out towards the school …”
    “Brand new, almost.”
    “Meet you there not at half-two but, say … two-thirty?”
    And now Sarah grinned.
    ***
    Sarah saw Chief Fire Officer Barnes standing outside the station as his men washed a bright red fire engine lined with yellow stripes.
    She looked at her watch. Half-two, and no Jack.
    Then she heard his Austin Healy take the corner near the station, the engine’s low rumble more distinctive than even its vintage sports car profile.
    She popped the door as Jack parked across the street and twisted and turned his way out