Anything for a Quiet Life by Michael Gilbert

Author:Michael Gilbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Anything for a Quiet Life
ISBN: 9780755132126
Publisher: House of Stratus
Published: 2013-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

It was twelve o’clock on the following day and the Admiral, who had been attending morning service at St Michael’s Church, was surprised to find a police car outside his gate. It was Superintendent Queen, and he looked happy.

“We’ve nicked ’em,” he said. “Had a tip-off on the telephone yesterday afternoon. Went round and found all the stuff stolen from the estate, in a sack, hidden under that man Golding’s caravan. The owners have identified every bit of it. We’ve had an emergency meeting of the Watch Committee. No opposition this time. A unanimous recommendation. No licence for Mr Bailey next year. I fancy we’ve seen the last of him.”

“What did Golding say about it?”

“Said it was a frame-up, naturally. But couldn’t suggest who did the framing. It’ll take more than a bit of fast talking to get him out of this one.”

“Excellent,” said the Admiral. A suspicion of the truth was forming in his mind. Too faint as yet to make consecutive sense. Certainly too faint to be expressed to the Superintendent.

As he consumed his solitary Sunday luncheon the picture sharpened and gained definition. Small items were added to other small items, until what had started as suspicion approached certainty.

He was clearing away the dishes when there was a knock on the door. It was the two boys.

Colin, taking the lead as usual, said, “We’ve come to say goodbye. Our holiday’s over. We’ve been ordered to go back and cheer up Dad.”

“I’m sure you will,” said the Admiral.

“It’s been a super holiday,” said David. “We’ll be coming back next year, I hope.”

“One thing you won’t find here, I’m certain, is Bailey’s Circus.”

The boys looked at each other. The faintest flicker of a smile crossed David’s face. Colin was impassive.

The Admiral said, “And when did you learn the Morse code?”

There was a moment of complete silence. Then both boys burst out laughing.

David said, “I told you he’d cotton on to it.” And to the Admiral, “How did you spot it? Were you able to read the flashes?”

“I’ve been reading Morse code since I was a midshipman. Was it you with the pram?”

“It was,” said David, “and I nearly had a fit when I saw you behind me in the queue. I was glad we’d put the make-up on pretty thick.”

“And in the pram, I take it, you had the stuff you’d lifted from Mrs Garibaldi and the others.”

“That bit wasn’t much fun,” said Colin. “We knew the houses were empty, because we knew who lived in them and we’d seen them go out. But all the time we were thinking, suppose someone’s been left behind. There was actually a dog in one, but luckily it was one we’d made friends with.”

“I was scared stiff,” said David. “We just nipped in, picked up the first things we could lay our hands on and nipped out again.”

“I see,” said the Admiral. The boys looked at him anxiously.

“And the second part of your plan, which you also carried out successfully, was to leave the stuff under Golding’s caravan.

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