Sewer Mayhem Read online

  Sam nodded, trying to shake herself loose.

  ‘Do you use many organic products there?’ Colleen looked at Sam, as if begging her to answer.

  ‘Well, we try to use as many local organic products as we can get,’ Sam said, trying to create some space between her and Colleen. ‘Why do you want to know?’

  ‘I’m just interested.’ Colleen pointed up Milbury Hill. ‘I live on the other side of the hill on Langston Road. Do you want to come to my house for a cup of tea? Then we can talk some more about organic food and products.’

  Emily put her arm in between Sam and Colleen. The woman’s eyes were positively bulging. What kind of weirdo behaviour was this?

  ‘Sam needs to go back to the restaurant to work her shift,’ Emily said. ‘So perhaps some other time.’

  Colleen’s face fell. ‘Oh. Okay.’ She waved her hand and started trudging up the hill.

  ‘Thanks for getting rid of her, Em,’ Sam said and shuddered. ‘She’s scary.’

  ‘Scary?’ Emily said, watching Colleen going up the path. ‘Crazy more like.’

  * * *

  Paddy

  Okay, maybe Leo’s obsession about food was laughable at times, but at least he was able to find us nice things to eat.

  We were having dinner in the front room of the old building and sat huddled around an open bag of chips and a half-eaten hamburger that Leo had dragged in from the car park.

  ‘Isn’t it amazing that the two-leggeds leave so much food about?’ Leo said, licking some tomato ketchup from his whiskers. ‘It either must be very easy for them to forage in their shops, or they have tiny stomachs that are easily filled.’

  Gus’ earrings jingled as he nodded his head. ‘That could be true, but if you had a tiny stomach, wouldn’t you forage for less food in the first place? Seems like a waste of time.’

  ‘Have you seen the size of these two-leggeds?’ Leo said. ‘They are so big that their brains assume they need a lot of food, not knowing that their stomachs are tiny.’

  Gus stared at Leo. ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.’

  ‘Why?’ Leo glared at his brother. ‘We are much smaller, so our brains are closer to our stomachs and therefore our brains know how big they are. But a two-legged’s stomach might be that far away from its brain that they simply don’t know.

  We now all stared at Leo, unable to reply.

  ‘I’m just saying,’ Leo said, taking a huge bite out of the hamburger.

  ‘Whatever way you look at it, two-leggeds are complex creatures,’ Gus said and he pondered his words for a bit. He looked at Daisy, who next to him nibbled on her chips. After what happened in the sewer today, he had put a protective tail around her back.

  ‘You must eat some more, Daisy,’ he said, pushing a few extra chips her way. ‘Keep your strength up.’

  Leo nodded and gave her some of his chips as well. ‘There’s more where that came from, so don’t worry.’

  Daisy smiled and started licking her paws clean. ‘Thanks, guys, but I’ve actually had more than enough to eat. I’m feeling much better after that nice nap this afternoon.’

  She watched us eat for a bit.

  ‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘Don’t you think it’s better if I go and get the Rat Squad instead of one of you guys? After all, my brother is more likely to listen to me than some strange rats he’s never seen before. I’m sure he’ll come, especially after I tell him about what happened today.’

  Gus stared at Daisy, his eyes wide. ‘But you can’t go down into the sewer any more. It’s far too dangerous!’

  ‘I’ll take the long route around,’ she said, determination in her eyes. ‘I’m certain I’ll be able to find the right way to Ratville from here.’

  ‘One of us should come with you,’ Vinnie said, but Daisy shook her head.

  ‘No, I’ll be fine. I love travelling. It’ll be an adventure.’

  ‘Have you ever been outside the sewers?’ I said, feeling that she made a bit too light of the journey.

  Daisy shrugged. ‘About half of Ratville is above ground and I’m out of the sewers now.’

  ‘But between here and there the streets will be full of dangers.’ Vinnie looked at her. ‘I don’t want to scare you, but there will be two-leggeds and cars. Dogs and cats.’

  ‘As long as I don’t run into the Three Bambini I’ll be fine, believe me!’

  ‘Isn’t she great?’ Gus looked at Daisy, his eyes beaming. He grabbed her paw and stroked it. I wasn’t sure which Gus scared me more, the one high on love, or the one smitten by glittery things.

  Leo rolled his eyes and threw a chip at Gus’ head. ‘Stop it, that’s disgusting.’

  A movement near the hole in the wall caught my eye. Suddenly, Dino stood in the middle of the room. He stared at us, eyes wide in surprise. We stared back at him, frozen on the spot.

  Dino looked around. ‘So this is where your new digs are?’ He swaggered towards us. ‘I’ll be sure to tell Victor about this.’

  Then his eyes fell on Gus and his ears widened. ‘What are you wearing? That looks just like the ring I found this—’

  An ear-piercing shriek made us all jump. Daisy ran towards Dino, fur all on end, a dangerous glint in her eyes. She’d grabbed a pawful of chips and now wildly flung them at the Bambini’s head.

  Dino, startled, shrank back from her, until his rear-end bumped into the wall.

  ‘Stop throwing things at me,’ he said, then flinched as a rather pointed chip hit him square in the eye. ‘Ouch!’

  Rubbing his eye with his paw he turned around and raced back through the hole.

  By now the rest of us had also started moving and in a bit of a panic we chased Dino down the pipes.

  ‘Get out of here!’ Leo shrieked and bit Dino in his tail. This spurred the large rat on to even greater haste and he disappeared around a corner.

  Out of breath, we made our way back to the old building. Daisy sat guarding the hole, holding a chip in the air.

  ‘Is he gone?’ she said, eyes wide.

  ‘For now.’

  We collapsed near the remains of our dinner.

  ‘I think I should leave for Ratville as soon as possible,’ Daisy said. She threw a nervous glance at the hole. ‘Now that Dino knows where we are, it’s only a matter of time that he will come back with his brothers.’

  I nodded. A sense of urgency overwhelmed me. ‘Specially now that Dino has seen that there is more treasure than just one ring.’

  Daisy got up. ‘I’m going.’ She gave us a little smile and a wave. ‘Good luck guarding the fort! I’ll get back as soon as I can.’

  We waved as Gus followed her to the back door to see her off.

  I looked round the front room and sighed. ‘If we want to keep this old building as our home, we’d better get ready to defend it.’

  Vinnie nodded. ‘And don’t forget that even if the Three Bambini only come looking for the treasure, there is a big chance they’d want to take over this place for their headquarters.’

  ‘I hadn’t even thought of that yet.’ I gritted my teeth. ‘There’s no way that we’re gonna let that happen a second time!’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ‘Look,’ Abe said, pointing at a printout of a bank statement. ‘It’s here, here and here again, and so on for a number of years.’ He looked from Jacob to Dave. ‘What do you think it could mean?’

  Jacob took the piece of paper and studied it, his reading glasses on the tip of his nose. ‘Where did you find this again?’

  ‘It was in the accounts of Field’s Watches & Clocks.’ Abe sat back on the couch. ‘We always go through people’s accounts after they have been murdered, that’s a matter of routine. So I thought why not check the shop accounts as well? That’s when I found those discrepancies.’

  Dave’s wife Judith came into the living room and looked at the pile of papers on her coffee table. ‘Are you gents interested in some apple pie and something to wash it down with?’

&
nbsp; ‘Oh, thanks, Judith,’ Dave said. ‘Would you? That’s nice of you.’

  ‘No problem. Coffee and pie coming up.’

  ‘So apparently, there has been money flowing to the shop accounts on a regular basis, but it’s unclear where it came from?’ Jacob said, handing Abe the statement back.

  ‘Yes,’ Abe said. ‘It seems to come from nowhere and is always labelled “gift”. There is no record of corresponding sales of products.’

  ‘When did it start?’ Dave said.

  ‘About five years before Nate took over the shop from his father.’

  ‘And did it continue after he took over?’

  Abe shook his head. ‘To be precise, it stopped about a year before he did.’

  ‘So we can assume it had nothing to do with Nate.’ Jacob plucked at the sleeve of his lab coat. ‘But the question of course is, does it have to do with his murder?’

  ‘From what I can see the shop wasn’t doing very well before Nate took over,’ Abe said. ‘I’d like to have the accounts checked by a forensic accountant to be sure, but it seems that the modernisation Nate implemented, actually saved the shop from going bankrupt.’

  Judith came in with the coffee and apple pie. She winked at Jacob as she handed him his pie. ‘Big day for you tomorrow.’

  Jacob turned red.

  ‘Have you asked Kenneth Field about this?’ he asked, ignoring Judith as she walked out of the living room with a sly smile.

  ‘No,’ Abe said shaking his head. ‘I’ve only just come across it this afternoon and thought I’d ask you guys for some advice first.’

  Dave studied the bank statement again. ‘The money does indeed appear out of nowhere. It was actually deposited in cash at the bank by Kenneth himself. So where did he get it?’

  ‘Perhaps he had a cash-in-hand job on the side to raise funds?’ Jacob said.

  ‘Or perhaps he had a benefactor who wanted to remain anonymous?’ Abe said. ‘It definitely raises questions and I’m going to ask Kenneth about it in the morning.’

  ‘That’s the best you can do,’ Dave said, taking a large forkful of apple pie.

  ‘Does McDermott already know about the money?’ Jacob said.

  ‘No, I haven’t told him yet.’ He stirred his coffee, then tapped the spoon on the rim of the cup. ‘I want to be sure about what it is and if it can have something to do with the murder before I wake the sleeping giant. Besides, McDermott has doubled his efforts of finding the burglar. He’s still the main suspect according to the inspector.’

  ‘Silly man.’ Jacob shook his head. ‘If Nate had been murdered in the middle of the night, I might be inclined to agree. But he wasn’t. A burglar simply wouldn’t be so stupid to burgle a shop in broad daylight in a busy street.’ He took a sip of his coffee.

  ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you, Abe,’ Jacob continued. ‘Isn’t there a CCTV camera on the top of Woolaston Road?’

  Both Abe and Dave nodded.

  ‘There is one,’ Abe said. ‘It actually points down at the shops and it should have given us a good view, but it has been broken for a number of months. And the council budget being stretched as it is, it hasn’t been repaired yet.’

  ‘Tell me about it,’ Dave said. ‘I’m beginning to think there never will be enough money to do any of the things that will make Milbury safer. Or sanitary sound.’ He shrugged. ‘Don’t tell Peggy this, but I don’t think anything will happen soon about her sewer smell.’

  ‘She’s going to have your head on a plate if nothing happens,’ Jacob said.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Speaking of Peggy.’ Abe turned to Jacob. ‘I’ve heard you have a date with her tomorrow.’

  Jacob turned red once more. ‘Why can’t people leave this alone? It’s not a date.’

  ‘Are you wearing that?’ Dave said, eyeing the lab coat, smirking.

  ‘Don’t you start,’ Jacob said. ‘I’ve had an earful off your niece about that already.’ He got up. ‘I need to go and check on one of my experiments, so I’ll say goodnight.’

  ‘Better be careful McDermott doesn’t catch you,’ Dave said. ‘Emily told me that he’s threatened you with jail if you do.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Jacob said. ‘I know how to stay clear of that grumpy old man.’

  * * *

  It was still a bit light when Jacob left Dave’s house. He wasn’t in a very good mood. What with everybody making fun of him about Peggy and McDermott breathing down his neck, he had the feeling he was a stranger in his own neighbourhood.

  He looked up at the disappearing light, then started walking at a fast pace. Perhaps he could just make it to Mrs Jenkins’ garden before it got dark, to check on the nest of the leafcutter bee he had discovered the day before. He’d never seen up close how the industrious little insect made a nest and he’d been fascinated so far.

  Making his way down the narrow passage to Mrs Jenkins’ back garden, he soon found more evidence of the bee’s work. Perfect circular holes had been cut out of the shrub leaves. He studied them, then scribbled some notes in his notebook.

  Looking up, he saw Mrs Jenkins glaring at him from her kitchen window. Surely she wasn’t angry at him? He’d been coming to her garden for years. He waved at her, but this time she didn’t wave back. Never mind. He would have a word with her tomorrow about that interesting bee.

  He made his way out of her garden and down Milbury Road. It was now almost dark. He crossed Woolaston road and turned into Upper Tile Street.

  Suddenly he heard voices in the silence of the evening. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but the sound came from a little bit further down the alleyway next to Dave’s office.

  Standing on the corner, he peered into the narrow little semi-street. Curiosity killed the cat, his mother would say if she saw him like this.

  A few lamp posts lined the alleyway, but the one nearest to Jacob didn’t work. A little further beyond it he saw the silhouettes of two people backlit by the next lamp post. Was that Spencer and Colleen? Jacob tiptoed a few feet into the alleyway, trying to hide his not inconsiderable bulk behind a grey wheelie bin. Yes, it was. What could it be that they were talking about? Colleen’s interest in other people seemed so far to have focussed itself around the Bandoni family. So why the sudden interest in Spencer? How did she even know him? She was a stranger to Milbury, wasn’t she?

  Still not being able to hear what they were talking about, Jacob moved forward to the next wheelie bin and squatted down. His knees creaked, reminding him that he should leave this sort of escapade to Emily.

  Spencer gesticulated with his arms in a way that indicated distress, but something Colleen said shut him up.

  Jacob leaned forward, his ears straining to catch something. He didn’t notice that the wheelie bin rolled a few inches forwards and bumped into some empty bottles. The clattering of glass as they fell over made all three of them jump.

  Jacob quickly pulled out his notebook and looked at the sky, his heart thumping in his throat.

  ‘Ah, look at that little bat,’ he said in a voice loud enough to be overheard, keeping his fingers crossed they would simply think him weird. He felt Spencer’s and Colleen’s eyes on him.

  ‘Anyway,’ came Spencer’s voice. ‘That’s another way you can use ribbons and bows, makes for a nice change, don’t you think?’

  ‘It does indeed, Mr Peacock. Thank you,’ Colleen said. She turned away from Spencer and walked in Jacob’s direction.

  ‘Mr Hicks,’ she said as she passed him and then disappeared around the corner into Upper Tile Street.

  Jacob turned to see that Spencer had walked off down the alleyway in the other direction. Bows and ribbons indeed!

  * * *

  Like this afternoon, Ricky stood in the middle of Posh Nosh Delicatessen, but this time everything was quiet and dark. The only light that came into the shop shone in through the large display windows. It had taken him a good half hour to search the shop from top to bottom, but he hadn’t had any luck. His
loot wasn’t here.

  He let his eyes go past the now mostly empty shelves. He had been so sure after he had overheard the conversation between the warden and the woman from the shop. All that talk about the sewers. That couldn’t be a coincidence. She had to be in on the conspiracy as well. Ricky sighed deeply and looked at the mess he had created. That would serve her right for double-crossing him!

  The scratches on his hands and face burned. Those blasted rats in the sewers had really hit their mark. The first time he had entered the sewers, he hadn’t seen any rats and now all of a sudden those vicious creatures were everywhere. What did that mean? Were the rats in on it as well? No, that was rubbish of course. His head was spinning. What was he supposed to do now? He had no more leads, nowhere else to look for his precious loot.

  A lone car drove by on Woolaston Road. Ricky ducked down. Maybe he should lie low for a little while, see how things developed. It wouldn’t surprise him if Mr Hicks was on to him. That man just kept popping up everywhere he went and had started to look at him funny. That was dangerous, specially as he was friends with the warden and that nitwit cop.

  Anyway, Ricky thought, if he lied low for a bit, he could finally catch up on some sleep. He deserved that. Besides, didn’t his mother always say that everything looked brighter after a good night’s sleep?

  He was making his way to the back of the shop, when his eye fell on to a cardboard box with luxury bars of chocolates. His mother loved chocolate. Maybe taking her some would take her mind off the fur coat for a bit. Ricky smiled. And of course it would puzzle the warden when something was stolen this time. Throw him off the scent…

  With the box under his arm, Ricky left the way he came in, through the back door.

  * * *

  Paddy

  It took us all evening, but after a thorough search of all the empty rooms, we’d found quite a number of items that were left behind by the former owners of the old building that we could use for defence in case of an attack by the Mob.