Dotty Dishes the Dirt by Diane Ezzard

Author:Diane Ezzard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy, female sleuth, amateur detective, British
Publisher: Diane Ezzard
Published: 2019-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Dotty took Winnie for a walk the following day. They had time to digest the news the police told them. It turned out the body dated back to 1955. The good thing was, it put George in the clear for having any connection because he didn’t live in the house back then. Their marital home had belonged to Mavis’s parents, so Mavis would have been living there and been a young girl at the time. Her parents had long since died so that was a dead-end finding out any information that way.

When George and Mavis got married, they rented their own place in London but because they were struggling, and rents were high, they moved in with Mavis’s parents. That was in the early sixties. They had lived there ever since. Mavis’s father died not long after they went to stay. He had been a smoker all his life and his breathing was bad. He couldn’t leave the house towards the end and needed an oxygen mask, so it was a blessing when he passed. Mavis’s mother lived another ten years. It was breast cancer that took her. In those days, no one survived cancer. The wonder drug, Tamoxifen wasn’t on the scene. Mercifully, Mavis’s mum went quickly.

So, who did the bones belong to? Mavis’s parents and Mavis would have lived at the house at the time the bones were buried. They weren’t around now to throw any light on the matter. Dotty paid Audrey another visit.

She walked over to Audrey’s bungalow with Winnie and was surprised to find it in darkness. Audrey hadn’t mentioned going away, but it didn’t look like she was home. Dotty tried the bell several times and was about to go snooping around the back when the next-door neighbour arrived on the scene.

“I haven’t seen her for two days,” the woman with snowy-white hair and folded arms said.

“I’m Dotty, a friend of Mavis’s granddaughter. You know, Audrey’s friend Mavis who is now in a home.”

“Ah yes, Audrey talked about her.”

“Is it unusual for Audrey not to be seen?”

“It is because she is always hanging washing out as long as it isn’t raining. She does a bit at a time. I keep telling her it’s best to get it over with in one fell swoop, but Audrey won’t listen. She fusses around, doing bits here and there. I badger her to slow down because she’s just making more work for herself. I’m Marie, by the way.”

The neighbour liked to talk. She probably didn’t get out much or have many visitors, Dotty thought. Finding someone to listen to her set her off like a clockwork toy. Dotty didn’t think her batteries would die out anytime soon, so she interrupted.

“I’m going to go around the back to see if I can find out anything.”

“Audrey wouldn’t be too keen on us sneaking around. It might make her jump if she catches us out the back.”

“Yes, but after what you’ve said, I’m concerned about her. I think I’ll take a look.

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