“Was Joe there that night as well?”
“No; at least if he was I didn’t see him, but of course I wasn’t looking for him, either. Bob and I were looking out for someone pushing drugs.”
“You can’t prove any of this, Ralph. It’s all conjecture apart from what Megan told us about Minton giving her some money, and he’d just deny that.”
“Yes, that’s true, but if the police asked around, someone may have seen him in The Bell the night Seth was killed,” said Ralph. “I suspect that Joe and his pal have hidden their spoils away until the dust settles a bit before they try to shift it on to the gold market or fence it in some way. It’s easily done nowadays.”
“So what do we do now? What about Minton’s friend who found the treasure with him? I wonder if he’d be prepared to talk? Or do you think he’s in on it as well?”
“Minton said that he went back to Australia. No; I think it’s all about our man Joe. I wonder what he’d say if I just confront him with what Megan told us about the money. The element of surprise might catch him off guard.”
“Look Ralph, if this Minton character really did have something to do with Seth Raine’s death, he could be dangerous. Why don’t you just give that Inspector over at Barnstaple a call and let him take it from there. We’re on holiday and it’s a nice summer day. And you’ve already been warned off for interfering in one murder enquiry.”
“But Fred Bishop’s been arrested and James Bradley’s a free man,” said Ralph. “And none of that would have happened without our help.”
“You were just lucky that those hooligans didn’t kill you; you said that Fred Bishop had a shotgun. Ralph, you’ve got to speak to that Inspector. You know you would if it was your friend Inspector Linham we were talking about.”
“You’re right. I’ll give Inspector Fletcher a calI right after we pick up the car, but it’ll be a bit awkward talking to Minton after what we’ve said about him.”
“Let’s just get your car and go back to the cottage,” Katie said. Why don’t you do that while I go and buy a few postcards. I might even find a few of those old risqué ones with the fat ladies on the beach with their tiny husbands.”
Ralph paid for their coffees and dodged the low slung bell over the door of the café as they left.
“I’ll meet you down at the church, Ralph. I noticed some parking places by that low wall. And don’t do anything silly; remember, you promised to leave it to Inspector Fletcher.” She waved as Ralph walked back up the hill to the garage.
***
Ralph was surprised to see his car parked on the garage forecourt. He looked inside and there was a note on the driver’s seat saying:
Cleaned out dirt in brake drums. No charge.
He saw that the key was in the ignition. Even in a quiet place like Lynton that presented an open invitation for an opportunist thief or a casual joy rider to steal the car, he muttered. He toyed with the thought of just driving away and simply calling the Inspector as Katie had advised. But he was annoyed that Joe had literally abandoned his car in the street. Looking around, he saw a ‘CLOSED’ sign on the garage door, but Ralph wasn’t happy to just drive off without saying anything; and he still had what Megan had said about Joe Minton in his mind. That was his first mistake; the second was when he opened the side door to the garage.
_____________________
Chapter 11
Ralph stepped carefully over the threshold. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the comparative gloom of the garage after the bright sunlight outside in the street. Inside it was as silent as a church, and apart from the cloying smell of oil and gasoline that replaced the aroma of spent incense, it seemed as safe. He saw Minton standing next to a table. Behind him, Ralph could see that the door to a large old fashioned safe hung open. The table was covered in silver objects. Ralph stumbled as he bumped into a car door that was obviously waiting to be re-fitted. Cardboard boxes of various sizes were strewn across the floor and it looked as though Minton was searching for one large enough to accommodate the platter. He was so engrossed in what he was doing that Ralph had taken two or three steps before he was discovered.
Joe looked up and dropped what appeared to be a large oval serving platter of the type that the waiters had used in the dining hall at his college at Cambridge.
“What the hell. You can’t come in ‘ere,” he shouted. “We’re closed,” he said as he pulled a cloth over the pieces on the table as he tried to kick the safe door shut.
“You left my car out on the street,” Ralph said accusingly. As he heard the words he realised how stupid he sounded.
Joe half turned. “Sorry, mate, but I was keepin’ an eye on it. I saw you comin’ up the street. Anyhow, I fixed it so it don’t make that scraping sound no more; bit of dirt got in the brake drum. No charge.”
Ralph watched as Joe tried to pull the cloth further over what was on the table. He also seemed agitated, almost desperate was the word that Ralph remembered thinking at the time.
“That’s part of that hoard from Sherracombe,” Ralph said. “You were meant to turn everything in, you know.”
“What? No, just some old hubcaps. I got them re-plated. It’s
