Episode 12 - Mrs Silver

Tuesday morning was even more chaotic than usual at the cottage. Gloria had been concerned about her appearance at the shop the previous day, but she was frantic on Tuesday morning, pestering Cleo for something new to wear (though Gloria was a head shorter and double Cleo’s girth),

“You have to wear an overall so why the fuss, Mother?” Cleo sighed.

“Because I need to look respectable under the overall,” Gloria argued.

Robert was thankful to get away to the wholesaler’s for more steaks, after Gloria’s presence had resulted in an unprecedented number of T-bones and other US cuts finding happy eaters.

Gloria was proud that she had stood all day without complaining.

Cleo woke unwillingly to the first day after walking out on Gary at HQ. How could she deal with the gaping hole that had now opened between her and Gary? Could she ask Romano for advice? The restauranteur knew Gary as well as anybody and was a sympathetic listener.

Relieved that her mother had not changed her mind about working for Robert, Cleo finished off what was left of the coffee in the pot and the last of the toast. A supreme effort to get a move on got her to her office earlier than usual. The business waiting to be dealt with would distract her from her misery, she hoped.

Would Gary get in touch? Should she? Could they meet at Romano’s just to talk? Cleo was still trying to decide when Mrs Silver turned up.

***

"Miss Hartley, I mean it this time," she said.

Cleo was surprised to see her again.

"Mean what, Mrs Silver? I thought you were giving your husband a second chance. We had closed the investigation, remember?"

Cleo invited Mrs Silver to sit down.

“I’ll make some coffee, Mrs Silver,” she said.

“No need, Miss Hartley.”

“Every need,” said Cleo. “I’m dying for a coup.”

She got the espresso machine going in the utility room and then sat down at her desk and switched on her computer.

"Tell me what has happened and then we'll put our heads together again, Mrs Silver."

"Thanks."

"But I can tell you now that if you've already made up your mind, it's a lawyer you need, not a private detective. Has something terrible happened?"

"Not exactly terrible, but if I can present some damning evidence, it will get me a faster divorce, won't it?"

"It might."

"You see, Mr Silver fired the secretary he was having an affair with and now there's a new one. He promised he'd hire someone old and fat, but he hasn't."

"Men seldom employ a fat old secretary. It makes a bad impression on colleagues, Mrs Silver. They start asking themselves where and why  her of all people: was his judgment was faulty or his eyesight failing? No manager can live with that kind of speculation."

"So a pretty young secretary is more or less obligatory?"

"You could put it like that."

"Well, I'm not putting up with it."

"Weren't you his secretary before you got married, Mrs Silver?"

"Yes, but that was different. His first wife didn't understand him."

Cleo didn't think there was any point in dragging the meeting out, so she told Mrs Silver that she would send Colin again. He was a good looking guy and very competent investigator. Colin would look into Mr Silver's new extramural activity. Colin could be trying to buy himself a new car and with his oodles of charm would certainly find a way of getting a good look at the new rival for Mrs Silver's affections.

***

Cleo thought that Mr Silver, who owned and managed the only big automobile salon in the region, was probably an incurable Casanova. It was possible that Colin would get a glimpse of some kind of intimate contact between the two suspects and ease the passage of Mrs Silver’s divorce that was, if possible, to end with huge amounts of alimony and the house they lived in.

***

"We'll get onto it right away and I'll let you know as soon as I have some information."

Mrs Silver got up. She looked relieved.

"Thank you so much, Miss Hartley. I'll look forward to hearing from you. The coffee was really good.”

Mrs Silver had not told Cleo that she was seeing someone she'd met at the bistro and would like to be free for the new romance. Cleo wondered why Mrs Silver was in such a hurry after cancelling her first attempt to rid herself of her marriage. A little investigating might be called for. Cleo was all for women getting rid of husbands they could not live with, but she was not enamoured of deceitful clients.

***

Delilah had turned things round at the bistro that had been a pub for half a century or more. The regulars now included younger people, and had a good reputation as the right place to hang out if you were looking for romance. Delilah saw, but was unlikely to report on the goings-on of any of her customers, however. It would give her a bad reputation and drive the drinkers and eaters away.

Mrs Silver had decided that Miss Hartley did not need to know that she was no longer interested in Mr Silver, except for what she could extract as a price for her divorce. Her new affair must remain a secret. Her clandestine affair must not attract any attention and thus reduce her status from victim to sinner, but Mrs Silver was also realistic. Mr Silver went to a pub in Middlethumpton and hob-knobbed with old school mates. She would not bump into him at Delilah’s bistro.

***

Left to document the latest in the Silver case, Cleo sent Colin a text to call back immediately for new instructions. She thought Mrs Silver should not be too hasty about getting a divorce, but on the other hand, if she was as miserable as she had looked half an hour previously, it might be her only solution.

As yet Cleo was only building on a hunch about the game being played by Mrs Silver, but she had a suspicious nature. Cleo wondered if Delilah knew anything, but before she could ring her, her own phone rang.

***

"I'll be with you in half an hour," said Gary.

He now sounded so panic-stricken that Cleo wondered if something really dramatic had happened since the previous evening.

“I thought we had stopped being an item, now I have such stiff competition.”

“In half an hour, Cleo,” he repeated, ignoring Cleo’s reply.

To get back on keel, she would ring Delilah while she was waiting for Gary. Delilah had been delighted to see Gloria again, not least because Gloria had a good repertoire of Gospel and Country and Western songs and it would be no trouble at all to organize a karaoke evening at short notice.

"Why don’t you bring Gloria for supper this evening?” she suggested. “The bistro is closed, but Mitch is cooking! We'll plan a gig for her."

"Well, why not," said Cleo." Saves cooking, too! I need cheering up. I've had Mrs Silver here again moaning about her marriage."

"Silver? I know her. She's here quite regularly these days. Carrying on with a pal of Mitch's. I'm just glad she didn't set her sights on Mitch. But he says he doesn't fancy women who smoke."

"Carrying on?"

"Liz Silver is a dark horse, Cleo. I'm just waiting for her to bump into that chump of a husband of hers when he turns up with a woman in tow."

"You don’t say. Mrs Silver told me he frequented a pub in Middlethumpton.”

“He used to, Cleo. He’s carrying on elsewhere now, but occasionally he drops in here and always with some woman or other in tow. I gather from Mrs Silver that she wants a divorce, but one that leaves her provided for."

“Did Mrs Silver tell you that?”

"She thinks she’s onto a good thing with Rich, that’s Mitch’s friend. I hope the hubby does not turn up here. I don't want a brawl on my pitch. I'm just sorry for their kiddies."

"Well, I'm glad you told me about Mrs Silver's social life. It's an entirely new aspect of her case."

Cleo was gratified that her hunch has been on the mark.

"Don't tell her I told you."

"Of course not. I suspected as much. I wonder why she didn't tell me herself, Delilah." !I told you she’s dark horse.”

***

So that really was Mrs Silver's strategy. She should have asked her straight out. Too many other things on her mind. Like Jay and the Kellys and … Gary.

Gary parked outside Cleo's office and rushed in.

"If Dorothy Price were here, she would tell you to spill the beans, Gary, and not prevaricate like you did yesterday. What's going on? What's the matter with you?"

Cleo was as blunt as Gary was reticent. He had wanted to tell her what was really on his mind, but now he was there he could not bring himself to do so straightaway. He sat down heavily and drummed his fingers on Cleo’s desk. He would resort to shop talk. Cleo did not seem receptive for a declaration of his love.

"The Burton case is at a standstill, that's all."

"You didn't come all the way here just to tell me that."

"The investigation is a week old, the forensics have done all they can and come up with precisely nothing useful, and my only suspects are as thick as thieves and unlikely to change their story."

"Have you struck Hatherton off the list?"

After a long silence, Gary admitted something that Cleo thought only happened in books.

"Roger told me to drop both Hatherton and the Burton case. Binding instructions."

"I don't believe it," Cleo gasped. "Surely you misunderstood."

"No, I'm sure I didn't. That phone call during the interview with Hatherton said it all.”

"So the Burton case is being shelved unsolved and Hatherton can run free."

"That's the size of it."

“Did Roger Stone decide all that?"

“As far as I know.”

“And you are simply going to move on."

"Yep."

"Without finding out why?"

"I think I know why."

“And that is?”

“They are all working for the Foreign Office, Cleo. My friend Roger Stone doesn’t even trust me enough to take me into his confidence.”

“He may be protecting you, Gary.”

“More likely himself.”

"Do you think Shirley Temple had a hand in all this? Surely she doesn't have that kind of influence."

"She might have. She's bunking up with Stone now and Stone told me she has knowledge she could use against him having searched through his briefcase while he was out of the room."

"Wasn’t she devoted to you?"

“I told you that yesterday. You’re a step behind, Cleo. She has shifted her devotions to someone providing her with better prospects, that someone being Roger."

"I thought the police force was run on different lines."

"And I could be wrong. Let's leave it at that, Cleo."

"But I'm to continue where you left off the Burton case. Is that it?"

"Yep."

In words of one syllable, Gary was admitting defeat. Was he glad he had an excuse to drop the case? Was he afraid of something he could not define? What sort of power did Shirley Temple wield? And what sort of power did Superintendent Stone wield that made it possible for him to disrupt an ongoing investigation?

“But you’ll work unofficially and stay in the background, I hope.”

“Can you think of a better solution?”

“No. And now tell me what else is troubling you,” said Cleo,” but I’ll get us some coffee first.”

Cleo swept into the utility room to put the espresso machine on. She was shocked at what Gary had told her. So it had come to this? A big guy like Gary at Police Headquarters was relying on a tin pot private detective to find a killer.

Gary followed her and rinsed the two coffee mugs left over from a previous meeting.

"You don't have to take the case on, Cleo. I thought that maybe Colin Peck…"

"Colin works for me, Gary. He has a contract and does what I tell him. That's what we agreed."

"But I know you need the work, and if we can find the killer, it will be good for your reputation."

"We?"

"As I said, I’ll help, but I need to be invisible," said Gary. “Any idea how we could start?”

"I think we should investigate Shirley and Roger," said Cleo. “But tell me what else is bothering you, Gary.”

“It’s you, Cleo!”

“Me?”

“I’m trying not to want to be with you and it’s getting harder every day.”

Cleo went to Gary and put her arms round him.

“I’m sorry I was awful yesterday, Gary.”

“I thought you would refuse to see me today, so now I’m just glad to be here and not feel rejected.”

Cleo was shocked. Had she been so callous?

“I’ll say this to comfort you and then you must forget it, Gary.”

“And that is…?

“I love you both.”

“You don’t love Robert,” said Gary.

“In a way I do and he needs me.”

“I don’t think he does.”

“I see more of you than I do of Robert when we are working. I sleep with you and I only sleep alongside Robert.”

“I am trying to do without you, Cleo.”

“But you don’t need to do without me. I’ll be around to help you and talk to you.”

“But you won’t sleep with me, Cleo.”

“I don’t know.”

“Find out, please.”

“Is that what our relationship is about, Gary? We are friends and colleagues and will always be. Can’t you accept that?

“I’ll give you two years, Cleo. By then I want to be the only man in your life.”

“OK. Let’s leave it at that then, shall we?”

***

Cleo could not believe she had held that conversation. They stood side by side drinking their coffee and looking out of the utility room window at the courtyard below. Gary took Cleo’s free hand and planted a kiss on it. Cleo turned to Gary and kissed him full on the mouth.

“No more romantic talk, Gary. It makes me dizzy.”

“Is the door locked?”

“I always lock it when you come.”

***

Hours later, the lovers got round to leaving off their tryst.

***

“I need information if I’m to take Roger on,” Cleo said as Gary served them espressos. “Tell me about him. What kind of a marriage does he have? What does his wife do? Does she know he is leading a double life if he is mixed up in international crime."

"Eleanor acts out the good wife. She plays up the loyalty and expect Roger to conform, but she has affairs on the side. I believe Mrs Stone is also a crack shot. I think she’s Swiss and became British when she married Roger. She also brought her parents over, and they were soon well-established since her father is a banker and was appointed a managerial position at the Swiss bank in London.

“So why do they live in Middlethumpton, of all places?”

“Eleanor’s mother had a school pen-pal here. They liked it and stayed. I suppose her father commuted to London until he retired.”

“So they are affluent, respectable and charmingly foreign,” said Cleo.

“Eleanor spends all Roger’s salary being something spectacular in local jet set society. She was a winter sports biathlete in her youth. Not someone to get on the wrong side of. The only pot shots she takes now are fortunately on the golf course."

“How did she meet Roger?”

“I think she was a socialite who met Roger at a party. Gorgeous women are often invited to parties where the men are in the majority and few of them have women accompanying them. Hostesses keep those men amused.”

“So she probably chose Roger and slept with him to finalize the deal.”

“That’s how it works. Most of these socialites are looking for adequate husbands.”

“When they marry high-flyers they don't realise that their husbands work non-stop to further their careers and inevitably cultivate extramarital relations," said Cleo. “But I don’t think there’s much of an emotional component to those marriages. They are financial contracts.”

"You could be right, Cleo. Mrs Stone is very forceful - and still very good-looking. But it was tit for tat in their case, as far as I gather. Roger was also neglected. That’s why he got mixed up with a string of other women in the first place.”

“But Shirley will have manipulated him. That’s also a feature of men who are attractive mainly for their money and status. Women have ways and means that are unknown quantities to men. What about the Foreign Office? Where does that come in?"

"That is the only reason I can think of for dropping the case."

"Do you think one or other of those guys is spying?"

"Possibly."

"So Hatherton might be a double agent," said Cleo.

"I can think how his profession might be useful. Travelling around might lead to smuggling top secret documents, Cleo. Industrial espionage and possibly a bit of politics thrown in for good measure."

"Surely you don’t think I can investigate anything like that?"

"Not in so many words."

"In how many, then, Gary?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"I need to have all the information on the case, Gary. And I mean all!"

"Colin can look closely at what Roger Stone and his devoted wife do in their mutual free time," said Gary. "One thing Roger doesn't do every night is go home to his wife."

"She probably wouldn’t be there if he did,” sad Cleo. Didn’t you tell me once that Mrs Stone has a penchant for young lads. But the same things happens to men. Shirley is half Roger’s age. As men get older their female companions tend to get younger."

“I can’t imagine that happening to me,” said Gary.

Cleo thought it would be useful to find out where Stone’s money came from, since he was probably paid for whatever he did in his other identity.

“We can’t investigate Roger’s bank account. He would find out, Cleo. It’s too much of a risk. But the standard of living he and his wife have cannot be supported by his salary.”

“Then he has other sources of income, or maybe even Mrs Stone does,” said Cleo. “I think you are mistaken to believe that Roger spent all his money on Eleanor; his salary, maybe, but he might have other income Eleanor does not know about.”

“We’re speculating, Cleo.”

“But that’s the way we will have start investigation,” said Cleo. “I won’t tell Robert anything about our work on this case. It would be a help if you could let me also have all the findings on the Burton case that you have. He may be the missing link. That may be why he is dead.”

"There isn't much that you don’t already know. I'll mail you the full pathologist reports and a transcript of the interviews so far…"

"…and anything involving that top floor mogul," Cleo added.

"That's my problem, not yours."

"Your problems are my problems, Gary. We are in this together."

"Touché!"

Cleo thought how easy he was to like, this guy who was not really tough enough for his job.

"So what are you going to do instead?" Cleo asked. "Twiddle your thumbs?"

"I'm hoping to break up a gang of money-launderers in Middlethumpton," Gary told Cleo. "About as amateurish as it gets. Money-washing via a launderette and dry cleaner’s. Sounds like someone's comic routine. No murder or anything. Just trade in badly forged banknotes. It's hard to believe that anyone falls for them, but people do. Who knows, I might come up with something relevant to the Burton case by accident. Or I'll just get my suits cleaned one by one. If you have anything that needs dry-cleaning, I’ll take it with me, pay with a large banknote and hope to get some forged ones back."

“Will that catch the forgers?”

“I might get them for passing forged banknotes, and then follow the trail back to the printer.”

"Money-laundering in a one horse town like Middlethumpton sounds ridiculous."

"That's what the crooks think, too, Cleo. They come in droves not just to launder money, but thinking they are beyond the range of investigators."

"Innocuous is not an apt description of guys who will stop at nothing."

"What I meant was that it's all predictable. Their methods are the same everywhere. The constabularies are too short-staffed to cope with it all."

"But surely Hatherton is not mixed up in the Middlethumpton mafia?"

"No evidence of that, but Burton might have been. That would help our case."

"I'll get Colin onto Hatherton right away. He can cope with that and the Stone family. Colin seems to inspire trust in people. I'm not sure if that's positive or negative, but it gets results."

"I'll pay you, Cleo. We'll make it official. You are looking into the lives of the female associates of the crooks involved in the money-laundering. That’s legitimate because Roger has personally shifted me into that area."

“A homicide squad is wasted on that, Gary. And you in particular.”

“Not if it means we can work together, Cleo.”

“I’ll go with that."

"I'll mail you a list and photos ahead of our next meeting."

"You'll need a new mail address, Gary. One that only we know about. I don't know how clever the IT guys are at HQ, but Julie has a photography blog and can organize a halfway secure mail address from there."

"Can you sort that out, Cleo?"

"Sure."

"I'd better go now. If pressed, I'll tell them at HQ that you have kindly agreed to help in the money-laundering case. Going round launderettes etc. Gossiping like women at launderettes do. No subterfuge apart from the Burton murder."

“Dorothy will love it all. I’ve been trying to think up something harmless for her to attend to. She keeps on asking what’s next.”

“It isn’t harmless, Cleo. If those gangsters smell a rat they’ll …”

“Swing the cat,” said Cleo, to rhyme with Gary’s phrasing.

That made them both laugh. Quite unintentionally, they kissed again.

“We must not do that,” said Cleo.

“But you wanted to,” said Gary.

“I’m going to marry Robert.”

“Your decision, Cleo. You’ll regret it.”

“You don't mind being female for the mail address do you, Gary?"

"Not at all. Call me Doris Morris. He was a transvestite stripper I once saw at a nightclub! Did his, or rather her act at provincial venues, but he or she wears drag privately and is running a chip-shop somewhere on the North Wales coast these days."

"OK Doris. Get the chip-pan on and keep in touch!"

"Will do."

Gary made for the door, gnawing at the bagel offered to him.

"I could eat 10 of these," he said.

“Don’t go. I’ve just thought of something.”

“I’m all ears.”

“How well known was Burton as a diamond cutter?"

"I’ve no idea."

***

Cleo laughed all day about Gary's choice of email pseudonym. At dinner that evening she revealed to Robert her new role in the Burton case and he also howled with laughter at the name Gary had chosen for himself. A quick phone-call to Julie soon resulted in a suitable mail address. Julie suggested getting a blog going about the fictitious Doris. She would have fun editing it.

"I'll have to find the real Doris first and ask her if she minds."

"Goodness. Don't say there's a real Doris!"

"Sure. Somewhere in Wales. Apparently running a chip shop."

***

Cleo felt that business was picking up, but she hardly dared to admit to herself, and certainly not to Robert that she had no idea what was going to happen next in the search for Burton's murderer or Roger Stone’s summary dismissal of Gary from connection with that case, and Hatherton’s function whatsoever. Looking for Doris Morris would be a nice break from cops and robbers.

"Can we drive to North Wales at the weekend, Robert?"

"For a breath of fresh air?"

"That, too. Is that a yes?"

"If you insist…"

"Great!"

"…but don't invite Gary to come along. I don't think I could stand another Sunday entertaining your pet cop."