Twenty minutes later, after Winky and his visitor had finished their business, the other cat made his exit through the window.
“What was that all about, Winky?”
“That’s Carl the Coach.”
“What did he want?”
“He’s my life coach.”
“You have a life coach? Since when?”
“I’ve been with him for a couple of months now.”
“And how’s it going?”
“Fantastically well. Anyway, I can’t hang around here, chatting all day. Places to meet, people to go. Later.”
And with that, he too disappeared out of the window.
Chapter 5
I was still thinking about Winky and his life coach when Mrs V popped her head around the door.
“Jill, Mr Edwards is here to see you.”
“Mr Edwards?”
She walked in and closed the door behind her.
“Don’t you remember? I told you last Friday that he’d made an appointment for today. Didn’t you put it in your diary?”
I took my diary from the drawer and opened it at today’s page. It was blank.
“Err, Mr Edwards. Yes, I have him down here.” Mrs V tried to sneak a look, but I was too quick for her, and snapped the diary closed. “Send him in, please.”
Mr Edwards was eighty-two, but he certainly didn’t dress like an octogenarian. He was wearing trainers, jeans and a bomber jacket, and looked as though he’d just come from an audition for Grease.
“Mr Edwards, do have a seat.”
“Please call me Rusty. Everyone does, on account of my hair.” He ran his fingers through what was left of his white hair.
“Right? Okay, Rusty it is, and I’m Jill. What can I do for you today?”
“I want you to prove to everyone that I haven’t lost my marbles.”
Judging by what I’d seen and heard so far, that might be a tall order.
“That’s quite an unusual request, Rusty. Could you perhaps elaborate a little?”
“Certainly. It all started last Wednesday. I was in my reading room, which is at the rear of the house. I go there whenever I’m in the mood for a cigar. The late Mrs Edwards didn’t approve of my smoking, so she banished me to the reading room. Even though I lost poor Edith a couple of years ago, I still go in there to smoke.” He chuckled. “Just in case her ghost is watching me. Anyway, I was in the reading room, looking through my binoculars when—”
“Sorry to interrupt, Rusty, but did you just say binoculars?”
“That’s right. My property backs onto Wash Green Park. Do you know it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s only a small park. I like to look at the wildlife, particularly the squirrels. I do love a good squirrel, don’t you?”
“Err, yeah. I guess.”
“I was watching one particular squirrel, as it ran up the side of a tree, when I noticed movement in one of the properties on the opposite side of the park. A man and a woman were standing next to the window. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, and I was just about to look away when I saw her shoot him.”
“She shot him? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. She held out a gun and let him have it. The poor guy didn’t stand a chance.”
“What did you do?”
“Called the police of course, but they didn’t take me seriously at first.”
“Why ever not? You’d just witnessed a shooting. Possibly a murder.”
“I’ve had a few issues previously with the local police.”
“What kind of issues?”
“There was the incident with the roundabout.”
“Roundabout?”
“Some kids were pushing it in an anti-clockwise direction.”
“I see. Err, actually, no I don’t see. What’s wrong with that?”
“Everyone knows that roundabouts should turn clockwise.”
“Right. Any other incidents?”
“There were the pigeons.”
“What about them?”
“They were taking bread that was clearly intended for the ducks.”
“And you contacted the police about that?”
“Naturally.”
“When you contacted them about the shooting, what happened?”
“They did eventually send someone, but the officer who called to see me seemed more interested in why I was using binoculars to look into other people’s houses. I told him about the squirrels, but I’m not sure he believed me. Anyway, to cut a long story short, he did eventually go over to the property.”
“What did he find?”
“According to the policeman, the couple who live there were both alive and well, and they denied any knowledge of the incident that I’d witnessed.”
“What happened next?”
“Nothing. As far as the police were concerned, no crime had been committed, so that was an end to it. That was bad enough, but they as good as insinuated that I was a sandwich short of a—err—”
“Picnic?”
“I couldn’t just now, thanks. I have a lot on today.”
“No, I meant—never mind. You were saying that the police had made certain insinuations?”
“Yes. That I was a crazy old man, and even some kind of Peeping Tom, spying on my neighbours.”
“That’s awful.”
“It certainly is. I will not simply stand by and allow my reputation to be besmirched in that way, which is where you come in, young lady.”
“What exactly is it you want from me?”
“The only way to clear my name is to prove that I did in fact see what I reported.”
“The shooting?”
“Correct. Are you up for the challenge?”
“Sure, but I’m going to need a lot more information from you.”
“Of course. Why don’t we continue this discussion at my
