The Christmas Catastrophe by Cecilia Peartree

Author:Cecilia Peartree
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cats, scotland, quirky, scottish, mysteries, fugitives

Mr Donaldson. A local builder.

There must be other builders in and around Pitkirtly. But Rosie hadn’t seen this particular one for a day or two. Precisely how long was that?

‘When did you last see this man exactly?’

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Rosie shook her head impatiently. ‘What day is it today? Saturday? Must have been some time in the middle of the week. Wednesday, maybe. That doesn’t matter.’

‘Perhaps not,’ said Amaryllis. ‘Does he live there too? Is there a house as well as the yard?’

‘Yes, of course. He bought that field next to us from the farmer and before we knew where we were he’d got planning permission to build a house in the far corner and then he’d fenced off half the field as well to store all his vans and trucks and everything. There’s been quite a lot of noise and upset. He and his wife live there – I haven’t seen her either, but then she was just about to go into hospital for something or other. Just a routine thing, she said.’

‘Into hospital?’

This was getting worse by the minute. Perhaps she shouldn’t ask any more questions. But Rosie must know the man’s name. And what about the part that involved the Council? Was it really as bad as it had sounded at first?

‘This thing with the Council,’ she said cautiously. ‘How did it happen?’

‘That was his fault too. We think so, anyway. He must’ve complained to them. They’d never have thought of looking at our security and everything otherwise.’

‘Is there any chance you can just get on with the work you need to do even with Jennifer out of action?’

‘I don’t know – she’s always dealt with repairs and so on. Because it was her project all along.’

Amaryllis thought this over. Before combining her own business with that of Jennifer, Rosie had been solely responsible for maintaining her cat boarding kennels, and had fought off men running a local protection racket in her time. There was no reason for her not to organise repairs or upgrades herself here. She probably just lacked a bit of confidence. Perhaps that obstacle could be overcome.

‘Don’t say anything to Uncle Dave about all this,’ Rosie warned her. ‘I don’t want him worrying about me.’

‘I won’t… Let me give you a hand with the dogs you’ve got here, and then I’d better be getting on home. I haven’t seen any sign of Leonora here either.’

‘The dogs have probably scared her away,’ said Rosie.

It looked as if she might slide into a morass of self-hatred again over that, so Amaryllis persuaded her to get back on her feet and complete a circuit of Pitkirtly Island with the dogs before sending her off back to the kennels with an assurance that she would think about their multiple problems and find a way of helping somehow.

It was only after they had parted company and Amaryllis was trudging back the way she had come that she realised she had forgotten to ask Rosie the name of the builder who had apparently been behind all their problems.

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