Albert did the genealogy math in his head. ‘Yes, that’s right – great aunt. But she has a big enough hold over Shannon to stop her coming to work?’
Rita nodded. Meredith moved away to serve another customer, but Albert managed to hold Rita’s attention just a little longer because this line of enquiry was interesting. It was all about the dynamics of the workplace and there had to be something in the background to explain what was going on. ‘Why has April been tolerated for so long if she is such a bully?’
Rita glanced left and right as if worried she might be overheard, then leaned forward to tell him, ‘The rumour is that she had dirt on the previous owner. April has been working here since the seventies. Of course, when Mr Clement bought the place ten years ago, he didn’t know what she was like or he would have got shot of her straight away. Now it’s a little late to fire her unless someone could prove she was doing something worthy of being fired. She’ll argue that trying to take over was in the best interest of the business.’
Albert wasn’t sure what to make of that and he was beginning to hold up the queue of people wanting to place an order or pay for goods from the display cabinet. He asked for a breakfast plate and a pot of tea for himself, plus a clanger to share between the two dogs. Task complete, he retired to a table in the corner where he could rest and watch.
Using his time wisely, Albert placed a call to Victor. He would either be awake, and able to answer, or still asleep, in which case Albert believed his phone would most likely be switched to silent and would therefore not disturb him.
It rang only once before Victor’s voice echoed in Albert’s ear. ‘Is that you, Albert?’
‘Good morning, Victor. How are you feeling?’
‘I’m told I have you to thank for being able to feel anything. You and Rex, I guess. Did you really fight off the two men who attacked me?’ Victor’s voice carried a sense of disbelief, as well it should if he thought Albert had given the two miscreants what for.
Albert snorted a small laugh through his nose. ‘Rex and Hans saw them off. I hid around the corner and called the police.’
‘And one of them was killed when he ran into traffic. Is that right?’ Victor asked.
Albert spent a minute regaling the baker with the story from his viewpoint. When he was done, he asked. ‘Did they give you any indication why they wanted you?’ This was the key question so far as Albert was concerned. Why on Earth would anyone want to kidnap a baker from Biggleswade? The answer had to be the key to the whole escapade and the reason why Joel Clement was dead. Was the owner mixed up in drugs? Did he borrow money from the mob to buy the café in the first place?
Victor’s reply told him nothing. ‘The one who spoke asked if I knew how to make a clanger. He made me promise that I could bake and had me list the ingredients and tell him how to make one. There were two of them, but I only ever saw that one. The other chap was positioned behind me the whole time and when they were satisfied that I could make a clanger, he hit me over the head from behind. I didn’t see it coming, but I have quite a dent in my skull now.
They wanted him because he could cook? It beggared belief. ‘Did they say anything else?’ Albert begged, wondering if the blow to his head might have scrambled Victor’s brain.
‘No, that was it. Can I make a clanger? It made me wonder if they were the same people who took Joel. He couldn’t cook at all.’
Of course, Victor wouldn’t yet know the police had found Joel’s fingerprints and DNA in the van. Albert’s thoughts were drifting though, what if they had taken Joel assuming he could bake. He was the owner after all. It could then follow that he proved of no use and they killed him before returning to get someone who could bake.
Proved of no use. The sentence echoed in his head and produced a new question: of no use for what?
‘Albert are you still there?’ asked Victor when the silence stretched out far enough.
‘Yes, Victor, sorry,’ he apologised. ‘Are you aware of anyone interested in starting a rival clanger company or of any reason why someone might want to know how to bake a perfect clanger?’
‘A rival clanger firm? I hardly think so. There isn’t enough demand for them. It’s been in decline for years. There used to be dozens of places making and selling them right across the county a few decades ago. Now there is just us. The original and best,’ he boasted proudly.
Across the café, Albert could see Meredith approaching with a tray. Steam rose from his breakfast and from the spout of the small pot of tea. It made his stomach gurgle with anticipation. He needed to wrap up the call now, but he wasn’t quite out of questions.
‘Have the police seen you yet?’
‘No. Will they come here? I’d really rather leave if I’m allowed.’
Albert didn’t know the answer to that particular question though he felt sure DS Craig had said something about it earlier. Worried, not for the first time, that his memory was getting spotty, Albert said, ‘I know they will want a statement and will have a list of questions to ask you. You could go to them instead of waiting. The sooner DS Craig can corroborate what he’s been told with your version of events, the
