A Small Hill to Die On: A Penny Brannigan Mystery (18 page)

*   *   *

“How’s Chris doing?” Penny asked as she held out a glass of beer to Davies. “He’s holding up,” Davies replied, before taking a grateful sip and then licking his top lip. “What he saw with that woman is not something anyone should have to see, but it was a great thing that he got there in time to save her. A few minutes later and who knows?”

“And do you think it was an attempted suicide?”

“Well, I’m not sure at this point,” he said cautiously. “We haven’t been able to interview her yet as she’s still unconscious, but the doctors are cautiously optimistic she’ll recover.”

“I thought so,” said Penny. “There’s more to it. She didn’t seem the least bit suicidal when we left her.”

She stood in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest. “You look tired. How about something warm and comforting for supper?”

He reached up for her hand. “I’d love that. Exactly what I need.”

“Good. Gwennie’s left some of her leek and potato soup and I’ll do some grilled cheese. And then you can tell me about Dilys.”

While Penny prepared their simple meal, Gareth switched on the television to watch the news. The hanging at the Hall was not mentioned.

Gareth brought in a plate of slices of crusty bread dripping with melted cheese as Penny ladled the soup into bowls. She returned the pot to the kitchen and came back to the table holding a lit candle, which she placed in the centre of the table.

“A little touch of atmosphere.” She smiled.

As they tucked into their meal, Penny grimaced.

“What is it?”

“I just had an image of what poor Dilys must have looked like before Chris got her down.” She shuddered. “I don’t think there can be a more grisly way to take your own life than hanging.” She gave Gareth a meaningful look. “Especially if you didn’t have to.”

“Meaning what?”

“Well, Dilys had a wealth of knowledge of herbs and plants. She would know which ones are poisonous. If she had really wanted to top herself, I don’t think she’d choose hanging. No, she’d go for a toxic dose of something powerful that would be fast. I doubt very much she was trying to kill herself. She was sad about Pawl but not desperately so. Not enough to kill herself, if you know what I mean.”

Gareth nodded. “I do know what you mean.”

Penny looked at him with narrowed eyes.

“Did she leave a suicide note?”

“A note was found, yes.”

“That’s an odd answer. What do you mean?”

“A note was found, or rather, left for us to find, but I don’t think she wrote it.”

“Because?”

“Because when I asked her last night for her brother’s name, she spelled it for me. P-A-W-L. The Welsh way. In the note it was spelled the English way. P-A-U-L.”

Penny sprang from the table and sprinted up the stairs. A few moments later she returned and handed Davies a piece of paper.

“Here. You can compare the handwriting on the suicide note to this. I saw her write this with my own eyes. This is her handwriting.”

Davies read from the scrap of paper in his hand.
Valerian. For sleep. Mix one teaspoon in glass of warm water and take at bedtime.
Do not exceed dosage in one night.

Thirty-six

“So is everybody under arrest, then?” Victoria asked the next morning.

“Mai and her brother will stay in custody in Birmingham,” Penny said. “Apparently he ran the operation and was the brains behind it and she was the banker. She managed the money.”

“And the husband and son?”

“They’re still being questioned, but the police aren’t sure yet about the extent of their involvement and how much they knew, although they had to have known something. They were living in the same house and they aren’t stupid.” The door to the small staff room opened and Rhian, the receptionist, poked her head in.

“Sorry to bother you, Penny,” she said, “but the first client of the day is here for her manicure and Eirlys hasn’t arrived. I’m a bit worried, to be honest. It’s not like her not to let me know she was going to be late. You know how reliable and steady she is. She … oh.” Rhian took a step back and glanced down the hall. “Never mind. It’s all right. Here she is now.” She gave Penny a relieved grin before closing the door.

Penny frowned. “I’d better see to this.”

Victoria stood up. “I have to pay the suppliers today, so I’d best get on.”

“Eirlys? Is everything all right?” Penny stood behind her young manicurist in the supply room and watched as she poured some herbal salts into a small bowl. Keeping her back to Penny, Eirlys walked the few steps to the sink and ran the hot water. She ran a finger under the stream and then filled the bowl. As fragrant steam rose around them, she turned to Penny and placed a shaking hand under the bowl to steady it. But the bowl was hot and she pulled her hand away quickly, with a little gasp. Penny leaped forward. “Here, give that to me.”

She took the bowl and set it on the counter. “Eirlys, look at me.”

Eirlys raised her red, puffy eyes but could not meet Penny’s gaze.

“Look, we can’t keep the customer waiting, so we’ve got about two minutes. Okay?” She covered the bowl with a clean towel.

“Right. Tell me what’s the matter. I want to help.”

“It’s Trefor,” Eirlys said in a low voice. “My brother. He’s in a lot of bother.”

“What kind of bother?”

“He got mixed up with that awful Tyler Tran and he’s done something bad.” Her eyes swam with tears. “I think I know where he was getting that money to buy the video games and things.”

“Tell me, Eirlys,” Penny said softly. “What’s he done?”

Eirlys lowered her gage and then whispered, “He stole those dogs.”

“Do you know this for sure?”

Eirlys shook her head. “Not for absolutely sure, but I think that’s what it is.”

“Right. We need to talk to him. Where is he now?”

“At school.”

“Does he come home for lunch?”

Eirlys nodded.

“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I don’t think you’re in any shape to deliver a professional client experience right now. I want you to go home. Is your mum at home this morning?”

Eirlys nodded.

“Good, because it wouldn’t be right if I talked to Trefor without her permission. You go home and tell her I’ve asked if I can have a word with him at lunchtime. Send me a text and let me know what she says. When you feel better, when you’ve got yourself composed, you come back and we’ll go together to see Trefor at lunchtime.”

Eirlys nodded gratefully.

“Sound like a plan, then?” Eirlys gave a watery smile and started to wipe her eyes with her fingers.

Penny cleared her throat.

“Sorry, Penny, I know you don’t like that. I wasn’t thinking.” Eirlys accepted the tissues Penny handed her.

“Right, you get off home. I’ll explain to your client and do her manicure.”

*   *   *

Just after noon the kitchen door opened, and Eirlys’s younger brother, Trefor, pushed his way into the warm kitchen. He glanced at Penny and gave his mother a quizzical look. She gave him a warm smile.

“Hello, love. Penny’s here and wants a word with you.”

She got up from the table and busied herself warming up a tin of tomato soup and making a ham sandwich. The soft domestic sounds of the refrigerator door opening, a drawer closing, and a loaf of bread being unwrapped made everything seem ordinary and calm.

“What about?” Trefor asked cautiously.

“Trefor, a dog belonging to two very dear friends of mine has gone missing,” Penny began. “They both loved him very much. A little cairn terrier called Robbie. They asked me to help them get their dog back, and I think you might know something.” She reached into her handbag and from between the pages of her diary pulled out the photograph of Robbie the rector had given her, taken at Christmas. It was almost a close-up of his face, and his collar, with a distinctive dog tag, was clearly visible. “Trefor, look at this photo. Have you seen this dog? Do you know what happened to him?”

A look of fear mixed with defiance flashed across his face, but he said nothing. Penny glanced at his mother, who had turned around and, with the small knife she was holding, gestured at her son.

“Trefor,” she said, “we’re waiting.”

The boy shut his eyes and tears leaked from his closed lids.

“Tell me,” said Penny as she signaled to his mother for a tissue. “Tell me what happened.”

“I had to do it, Mum!” he cried. “He said he’d do awful things to Eirlys if I didn’t. And I believed him. He’s mean and he would have done them, I know he would.”

He blew his nose. “He enjoyed taking those dogs. He thought it was fun. He said the best bit was watching the look on people’s faces when they realized their dog was gone. It made him laugh.”

He jumped up from the table and ran to his room. A few moments later, he returned with a small biscuit tin. “Here,” he said, holding it out to Penny. She lifted the lid and saw five dog tags, one of which, in the shape of a bone with a little red Welsh dragon on it, she recognized. She turned it over and ran her finger lightly over the inscription.
ROBBIE.

“Where is Robbie, Trefor? What happened to him? What did you do with him?”

Trefor’s mother placed the sandwich in front of her son and sat down.

“We sold him to a couple,” Trefor said in a low voice. “I don’t know where he is now.” He pushed the sandwich away and buried his face in his fingers. “If I could bring him back, I would.” He snuffled into his hands. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yes, well, you need to try to remember everything you can about this couple,” said Penny. “How did you find them? Where did you meet them? Did you hand over the dog to them?”

“Tyler put an ad on one of those online sites,” said Trefor, “and the couple answered it and said they wanted a dog. So we met them at the cricket ground and handed over the dog.” He shrugged. “I don’t know anything about them. They were old, that’s all.”

“How old are you, Trefor?”

“Fourteen.”

Penny looked at the boy’s mother and raised an eyebrow. To a fourteen-year-old, anyone over thirty would probably be classified as old.

“Right, then. Did you talk to these people? Were they English or Welsh, do you think?”

Trefor brightened. “The man was Welsh. The woman, I’m not sure about her.” He thought for a moment and then raised a finger. “Yes, there was something else. I remember now. The woman, she said to the man, you don’t think the B and B guests will mind another dog, do you?”

“So you think they were staying at a B and B, do you?”

“No, from the way she said it, but I can’t remember her exact words, it sounded like they owned the B and B.”

“Did you watch them leave with the dog?”

“Not really.”

“So you don’t know which direction they drove off in?”

He pinched his lips together and slowly shook his head.

Penny lifted her hands in a vague gesture as if to signal there was nothing more to be said. And then Trefor spoke again.

“I didn’t watch them drive off, but I know where they were going.”

Penny’s head snapped back.

“You do?”

“Yes, the woman said they’d better get back to Betws before the shops closed because she needed ‘milk for the morning.’ That’s what she said. ‘Milk for the morning.’”

Penny stood up. “Well, you’ve been very helpful, Trefor. Thank you.”

Trefor gave his mother an anxious glance and then turned a fearful gaze to Penny.

“Will you be telling your policeman friend about this, then?”

Penny nodded. “Yes, Trefor, I will. We’re going to need his help to get the dog back. But I’ll also tell him how helpful you were. And he may have some questions of his own for you.”

“Will I be going to prison, do you think?”

Penny smiled. “No, I don’t think you will. As long as you don’t go looking for trouble and steer clear of bad lads who will bring you down with them.”

“She’s right about that,” his mother said. “Now eat your sandwich and get ready to go back to school while I see Penny out.”

*   *   *

In Llandudno, DCI Davies replaced the telephone receiver and turned to his sergeant, Bethan Morgan.

“Sergeant, I need you to ring round the B and Bs in Betws and surrounding area. Tell them you’re looking for accommodation but you’re allergic to dogs and there can’t be any dogs on the premises. And then make a list of all the ones that have dogs.”

“So I’m looking for a B and B that doesn’t take dogs.”

“No, you’re looking for all the B and Bs that do have dogs.” He related the information Penny had just learned from Trefor.

“It seems the rector’s dog, Robbie, may have been sold on to a couple operating a B and B in the Betws area. If you can give me a list of the ones with dogs, we’ll try to narrow it down. It’s very likely the couple who bought him didn’t know he’d been stolen, and they’ll be shocked and disappointed when they find out. But our priority is returning him to the Evanses as soon as we can. And the other dogs, to their rightful owners, too.

“You’ll have to follow up with young Trefor and see what you can find out about the other dogs. But for now, let’s concentrate on getting Robbie back.

“So ring round the B and Bs and once you’ve done that, Penny and I’ll be taking a nice drive in the country.”

Thirty-seven

By late afternoon Davies had a list of five bed-and-breakfast establishments in the Betws Y Coed area that kept dogs, and with Penny in the passenger seat of an unmarked police car and Trixxi in the back, they set off to call on them.

The day had started out grey and gloomy with light snow showers bringing some hill fog, but the weather can change quickly in North Wales. Now, with a brisk wind blowing in from the sea and over the mountains and the sky turning the palest of blues, the air was crisp and clear.

“We got the results back on the marijuana seized at the Hall,” Davies said as they passed the turnoff to Ty Brith Hall, “and this might interest you. The plants were B.C. Bud. It’s a particularly potent strain. Almost twenty percent TCP.”

“TCP, that’s the—”

“Part of the plant that gets you high. So we’ve been in touch with the RCMP’s drug squad. Seems your lot is now exporting pot seeds. They’re into marijuana in a big way, actually. There’s a whole town in British Columbia whose economy is based on growing marijuana. They call it cannabiz.”