Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body

After tea and cakes had been served, Mrs. Bloxby asked how they were getting on. Agatha outlined the little they had found. When she had finished, she said, 'I don't know what's happened to Bill Wong. He usually calls round. I thought that after the death of Sunday he would come to see me. I tried phoning but he is always busy.'

'Oh, I quite forgot to tell you!' exclaimed Mrs. Bloxby. 'He called me on the telephone some time ago, saying that Detective Sergeant Collins watches him like a hawk and Wilkes said he was to give you no help whatsoever because he did not want outsiders meddling in police work.'

'Considering the crimes I've solved for the police in the past, I do think that's a bit thick,' said Agatha. 'I might drive over later and see if he's at home. Have you heard any gossip about Tilly Glossop?'

'Only that she is not very well liked. There are remarkably few newcomers in Odley Cruesis, compared to the other villages, but such as they are complain that she is very rude to them. May Dinwoody and Carrie Brother are quite popular. Miss Brother is considered an eccentric. What makes you think that the death of Mrs. Courtney and the death of Mr. Sunday are connected?'

'It stands to reason,' said Agatha. 'She told Charles she had remembered something. Miriam probably told whoever it was and they decided to kill her.'

'But the killing of Mrs. Courtney was quite elaborate,' said Toni, 'whereas the killing of John Sunday looks more as if someone just stabbed him in a rage.'

Tom gave a laugh. 'It's a good thing I have a solid alibi or I would be number one suspect.' He took a packet of moist disinfectant tissues out of his pocket and began to clean his hands.

Agatha gave a little sigh. There he sat, the epitome of manhood with his handsome face, his strong throat and his strong figure, fussing away like an old woman.

'Where are you staying, Mr. Courtney?' asked Mrs. Bloxby.

'At The George in Mircester.'

'Do you plan to stay long?'

'Just until all the legal business is settled. Pretty nearly finished. I should be off back to the States in a week or two.'

'I heard you have a sister,' said Mrs. Bloxby.

'Yes, Amy. She's leaving all the business side of things to me. Mother left everything equally to the two of us.'

'Her death must have come as a terrible shock to you both.'

'Well, ma'am, it did and then it didn't. Mother had a bad knack of rubbing people up the wrong way.'

'But surely she cannot have been the type of lady to drive anyone to murder!'

'To tell you the truth, I've been racking my brains and cannot really think of anyone,' said Tom ruefully.

Agatha wondered why Roy, usually a chatterbox, was so silent. She looked across at him and saw he had fallen asleep, the spring sunlight bathing his thin face. For the first time, Agatha wondered why he had come on a visit without phoning first. He had done only that before when he was in some sort of trouble.

'Roy!' she said sharply.

'Eh, what?'

'I'm going to drive into Mircester to try to have a word with Bill. Want to come?'

Roy straightened up and rubbed his eyes. 'Right you are.'

'Perhaps we could all meet at my hotel for dinner tonight. Eight o'clock?' said Tom.

'I can't,' said Toni. 'I promised Sharon I'd go to a disco with her.'

'And I, alas, have parish duties,' said Mrs. Bloxby.

'We'd love to,' said Agatha, wondering if she could persuade Roy to stay in for the evening. Tom was a bit fussy, that was all.

On the road to Mircester, Agatha said to Roy, 'Out with it.'

'Out with what?'

'I feel something's bothering you.'

'Oh, that,' said Roy bleakly. 'I suppose it's no big deal. It's just that I've lost all interest in the job.'

'Who are you handling at the moment?'

'Paper Panties.'

'I thought those things went out with the sixties.'

'They want them back and I've got to get the media interested.'

'So? You just do your job as usual. You know what it's like, Roy. Remember all the lousy accounts I had to cope with.'

'I don't get on well with foreigners.'

'What kind of foreigners?'

'Bulgarian. The girls are pretty, the ones they get to model the panties. But the people who run the company treat me like dirt. In fact, they're pretty threatening. In fact, they give me the impression that if they don't get maximum coverage, I'll end up off Westminster Bridge.'

'I'm surprised at your boss taking them on.'

'They sent an English rep to the office to set it up. Very correct, upper-class twit type. I want out of it.'

Agatha furrowed her brow in thought. Then she said, 'Oh, I've got it. Sometime today we'll stop off and get some cheap stationery, put on gloves and send a nice anonymous letter to the vice squad saying it's a front for prostitution and the models are sex slaves.'

'Aggie!'

'Well, think about it. The police will feel compelled to investigate. You tell your boss that the reputation of his firm is in danger and you'll be off the hook.'

'But forensics!' wailed Roy. 'What if we even breathe on the paper!'

'You've been watching too much CSI on television. Have I ever let you down?'

'Well . . .'

'Leave it to me.'

They were in luck. Bill Wong's formidable parents were out shopping. Bill's mother was a Gloucestershire woman and his father was originally from Hong Kong. Agatha thought they were both horrible, but Bill adored his parents.

'You've been avoiding me,' accused Agatha when Bill opened the door to them.

'It's Collins. Wilkes wants me to have nothing to do with you and she watches me all the time.'

'Well, she isn't around now,' said Agatha cheerfully. 'Let us in. We need to talk.'

Bill led them into the lounge. There was a new three-piece suite covered in plastic. 'You'd better get that plastic off before the warm weather comes,' commented Agatha, 'or it'll stick like hell.'

'Oh, it'll keep it clean for a bit,' said Bill. 'What's going on?'

'Miriam Courtney's son has arrived. He wants me to find out who killed his mother.'

'Why now?' asked Bill in his soft Gloucestershire accent. He had a pleasant round face with almond-shaped eyes. 'I mean, he didn't even bother to turn up for the funeral. Neither did his sister.'

'It seems as if Miriam had as little to do with them as possible and they didn't like her one little bit. He's over to supervise the selling of the property. That's why he's suddenly turned up.'

'But you would think he would call on the police first before hiring a private detective.'

'I am very good at my job,' said Agatha.

'But people normally only hire a private detective in such circumstances as a last resort. They question the police first.'

'Have you got anything?' asked Agatha.

'No, and we've tried and tried. It's a very close-knit village. Take the case of John Sunday. He was so unpopular all round that any number of people could have wanted him dead.'

'Tilly Glossop in particular,' said Agatha, and told him Toni's news.

'We've interrogated her several times,' said Bill. 'Saying to someone, 'You'll be sorry,' is hardly a reason to arrest them.'

'And Tom Courtney was definitely in the Cayman Islands?'