Page 60 of Sun, Sea & Strawberry Shortcake
I shake my head. ‘No. You didn’t. Most people confrontedwith that life or death situation – including me, by the way – would have beenfrozen to the spot, terrified to act in case a tragedy happened. But you...you charged in with your lion impersonation and totally knocked it out of thepark.’
‘Thanks.’ He looks sheepishly pleased.
‘How come you were there, on the spot, at just the righttime?’
‘Ah, well, I’d parked my car round the corner and I justhappened to be walking along the lane and I saw what I thought was a young girlbeing abducted by a stranger in a costume. At first, I thought it was part ofall the summer solstice shenanigans going on here. But I couldn’t be sure. So Idecided to follow them, just in case.’
‘I’m so glad you did.’
‘Are they okay now, by the way?’
‘I think so.’
‘Oh, I forgot. Our plague doctor friend dropped these on theway down.’ He holds out his hand. On his palm lies a set of keys with the nameof the holiday charity on the keyring. And on the back is the name of aproperty.
I stare at them. ‘They’re the keys to Clifftop House! Theplague doctor must have stolen them somehow.’
‘You’ve lost me.’
‘My friend up there, Bee, whose daughter you rescued, hasbeen a victim of a campaign of terror, and now we know who the villain is.Someone in a spooky plague doctor costume.’
‘But we don’t actuallyknowwho the villain is atall,’ he points out. ‘Because of the disguise.’
‘True. We don’t. Anyway, Bee’s been accused of stealing anecklace from Clifftop House, which means she might lose her job. And I alreadysuspected it was someone in a plague doctor costume who’d broken in and stolenthe jewellery, just to incriminate Bee. And now, seeing those keys theydropped, I realise I was right. We wondered how the thief managed to get into aproperty that was as secure as a prison. Well, now we know. They had a key.’
He nods slowly, thinking about this. ‘How the hell do wefind them? They’ll have gone to ground by now. Probably destroyed the costume.’
I groan. ‘That’s true. I’m too exhausted right now to thinkstraight.’
‘I know the feeling.’
I look at him curiously. ‘So how do you know that the luckyperson with the inheritance is here, in the village? And why have you beenparked in that particular spot in the lane all week?’
His eyes light up. ‘Ah, well, it’s a bit of a long story.You see, what happened was –’
‘Hang on,’ I interrupt, as my eye lands on somethingstrange. ‘What’sshedoing here? And more to the point, what the hell isshe up to?’
Mitch looks over. ‘Who?’
‘It’s Norma,’ I murmur, turning away slightly so my face isobscured. ‘She’s a colleague of Bee’s.’
‘She seems to be looking for something.’
‘I know.’ Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Normascours the ground where the path emerges from the woods, totally oblivious tothe fact that she’s being watched. Clearly unable to find what she’s lookingfor, she disappears into the woods, presumably carrying on her search in there.
My heart starts beating very fast. ‘Oh, my God. She’slooking for the keys she dropped!’ I stare at Mitch.
His eyes widen. ‘You think it’s her?’
‘Well, she’s got a grudge against Bee, so she definitely hasa motive for trying to frighten her and Jodie away from the village.’
‘Here she comes,’ he mutters, turning away.
I do the same, not wanting to be recognised. ‘She doesn’tlook pleased. I’m going to follow her.’ She’s walking slowly along the promenade,still looking down as if she might spot what she’s looking for.
Mitch nudges me. ‘It’s the police. Did you call them?’
I glance round and sure enough, getting out of their car aretwo policemen in uniform. ‘I did call them. But I really need to follow Normaand see what she does next. She might lead me to the plague doctor costume...’
