“He’s lost his no claims bonus,” said James as they sat down in front of the tv to watch the news after tea.
“I should help with the dishes,” said Mary, standing up.
“No need to,” smiled Myrtle. “We have a dish washer. That has made a total mess of that car,” she added. “What happened to it.”
“I hope it isn’t a fault,” said Mary. “We’ve got a car like that. It’s only just back from a recall.”
“What was wrong with it?” asked James. “I hadn’t heard of any recalls lately.”
“I don’t know, James said he’d sort it out,” sighed Mary.
“Maybe this one hadn’t had the recall,” said Myrtle.
“It does look very familiar,” said Mary, sitting down.
“They’ll make lots of cars that model and that colour,” said James.
“But only one with that number plate,” said Mary, going very pale.
“Are you sure that’s the number?” asked Myrtle.
“I’d remember it anywhere,” said Mary. “There was something about it that stuck in my mind.”
“Try ringing him,” suggested James. “He may not have been in the car. Someone might have stolen it.”
“It was parked outside a prison,” said Mary. “They aren’t exactly short on security there.”
“True,” said James. “But there are a lot of thieves there.”
“Mostly behind bars,” said Mary, fishing out her phone and ringing James senior.
“This number is not on the network,” the mobile said.
“What the hell does that mean?” asked Mary.
“He might have his phone turned off,” suggested James. “Myrtle,” he added as she picked up her mobile phone.
“I’ll go in the kitchen for this,” she told James.
“What should I do?” James asked following her.
“You’re a Doctor and she’s in shock,” Myrtle replied. “I would’ve thought you’d have a better idea as to what to do than me.”
“And what are you going to do?” James asked.
“I’m ringing security to see what they know about it,” Myrtle replied.
“Like they’ll know anything, this is at the other end of the country,” said James.
“They have their sources,” said Myrtle.
“And they’re going to tell you anything,” James added.
“I am a Fairy Godmother,” said Myrtle. “They will tell me everything they know.”
“Or else?” asked James.
“I’ll set Mother on to them,” Myrtle smiled.
“That should work,” sighed James, heading back to see his Mother.
“I should do the dishes,” Mary said. “It was so good of you to feed me, but I don’t want to be an imposition.”
“It’s OK,” smiled James. “We have a dishwasher.”
“But, I want to help,” Mary said as the twins began to cry.
“Sounds like they need a change,” said James. “Myrtle is on the phone, so if I do one, will you do the other?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done a nappy,” said Mary.
“I’m sure it will come back to you,” laughed James.
The twins were asleep and the dirty nappies sorted out when Myrtle joined them in the living room.
“James was right, it didn’t take long to remember how to change a nappy,” smiled Mary.
“What did they say?” asked James.
“I contacted security,” Myrtle explained to Mary. “To see what they knew about the car on the news.”
“It was him, wasn’t it?” Mary asked.
“So sorry,” said Myrtle.
“Am I supposed to identify his body or something?” Mary asked.
“Normally, yes, but there was a bomb,” said Myrtle, trying to think of the best way to say it. “They were wondering if you could give them a DNA sample, hairs from a brush or something like that.”
“I shouldn’t have left him,” Mary sighed.
“Then you’d both be dead,” said Myrtle.
“But he was alone,” said Mary. “No one should die alone.”
“There were two people in the car,” said Myrtle. “It seems one of the prison officers left with him, he was driving the car.”
“James wouldn’t let a stranger drive his car,” said Mary. “There’s something fishy about this, about that prison officer,” she added as Myrtle’s phone rang.
“Hello, this is security,” said the voice. “I rang the prison to ask after the person who is thought to have been in the car with your father-in-law.”
“What did they tell you?” asked Myrtle.
“That the officer took your father-in-law to his car and drove him away at 4pm. Another officer went to check on the prisoner Peggy Brown, shortly after this time. She was found dead in the interview room,” said the person from security.
“How did she die?” asked Myrtle.
“It would appear that she had been stabbed,” came the reply. “But the weapon was not to be found.”
“There was nothing wrong with her when I left the room,” said Mary. “There was a prison officer with us all the time.”
“No one is saying you did this,” said Myrtle.
“If the prison officer died in the car with James, then there is no one to say that I didn’t,” said Mary.
“That is true,” said the person from security. “However, there was a CCTV camera in the room and that shows that Peggy Brown was alive when your mother-in-law left the room. It also shows the prison officer coming back into the room and pushing Peggy Brown to a part of the room not covered by the camera and leaving shortly afterwards. As that is the place she was found, it is assumed that he killed her and then took your father-in-law to his car which was rigged to blow up when put into fifth gear.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” said James. “Why would the prison officer get into a car which he knows has a bomb in it?”
“Perhaps he didn’t know about the bomb,” said Myrtle.
“Why would anyone want to kill us?” asked Mary.
“They may have thought that you knew too much,” suggested the person from security.
“The prison officer seemed to know a lot more than I would have thought he should,” said Mary. “He knew what had happened to the people who were supposed to be given baby James.”
“Was there any CCTV footage of the car park?” asked Myrtle.
“Yes, it showed the car arriving and leaving,” said the security person.
“But no one going to it in between?” asked Myrtle.
“What are you getting at?” asked James.
“I was just wondering if the bomb was planted in the car whilst they were at the prison,” said Myrtle.
“It must have been, or they wouldn’t have got there,” snapped James.
“You said the bomb went off when the car was put into fifth gear?” asked Mary.
“According to the insurance company, the onboard computer sends data on the driving to them so they can assess the ability and safety of the driver,” said the security person. “The data stopped when the car was put into fifth gear and that coincides with the time it was blown up.”
“Your Father was a very cautious driver, he rarely used fifth gear and he was driving especially slowly, I think he hoped that I’d change my mind about the visit,” sighed Mary.
“So the prison officer probably didn’t know about it, or he wouldn’t have used fifth gear,” said Myrtle.
“I think we had better increase the security for your rooms till the person who planted the bomb has been arrested,” said the person from security. “I shall sort that out now and let you know of any further developments.”
“Thank-you,” said Myrtle.
“If you could provide us with a DNA sample,” security added.
“He didn’t clear out the loose hair from his hair brush this morning,” said Mary.
“If we could have the brush, that would be helpful,” security replied.
“We’ll get it to you straight away,” said Myrtle.
By Janice Nye © 2021
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