The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike) Part 1675 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

I made Simon take the doll’s clothes back off the line a couple of hours later. He did with good grace and Meems was pleased. I watched while she redressed her dollies. Of course they’d all been bathed and dried and covered in talc, so we had to wipe them over with a damp cloth and dry them again. I tried to explain dollies don’t actually need to have cream on their bums or talc on their bodies, that it only applied to real babies because their skin was very sensitive.

“But I don’t want my dowwies getting nappy wash.”

“I can assure you they won’t.”

She huffed and puffed about that as if she didn’t believe me. “You do believe me, don’t you?”

“I s’pose,” she sighed.

“I wouldn’t lie to you, sweetheart.”

“No, awwight, Mummy, I bweeve you.” She came and gave me a hug before redressing her dolls.

“Are those the outfits we made for them?” I asked astonished she was still using them. She seemed to have almost as many clothes for her dolls as Julie had for herself–and Julie buys something every week.

“Yes, Mummy, I wike them because you made them.” That made me feel ten foot tall, although the phone ringing brought me back to reality.

It was Jason, “Hi, Cathy, looking at his arguments, he’s acknowledging that his client might have started things but you overreacted in causing sufficient injury to require hospital treatment.”

“Only because he started it, and one of them did suggest he was going to kill me and had a knife to emphasise the point.”

“The law deal with what is reasonable.”

“When Simon appeared and flattened both of them, I thought it was very reasonable, because before that, I thought I was going to die.”

“And you’ve been stabbed before–so that adds to your suffering. Okay, I think I’ve got his mark, I wonder who he’ll have represent him?”

“Of course, he’s just a solicitor, isn’t he?”

“He’ll be instructing someone though, these slime balls usually work together.”

“Won’t it be costing his clients quite a lot of money to pursue this action?”

“No, they’ll see you as the fatted calf and take their cut from any damages arising.”

“Eh? But we’re the injured parties.”

“I know, Cathy, but he has to prove excessive use of force and the tape of one of his clients handling a knife tends to predicate against them. If it goes to jury, it could cost a great deal of money.”

“Okay, so we might be able to pay, but what if we win?”

“We’ll be awarded damages which you’ll never collect. I’ll move that counsel in accepting this case should be asked to contribute to our costs. It rarely works but It shows what I think of their legal team.”

“Thanks, Jason, I’ll wait to hear what you have to say a little later.”

He rang off and I had barely put the handset down when it rang again. This time it was James. “Cathy, you do introduce me to some interesting forms of pond life.”

“I do?”

“Your solicitor chap, not a nice person to meet on a dark night. He appears to own some very dodgy property which he lets to rather poor families, gets them to run up large debts and then–and this alleged–he gets them to act as pushers or prostitutes to pay off their debts. The cops have been watching him for ages but he hasn’t made a false move once. They know what’s going on but can do nothing until he gives them an excuse to go after him.”

“Pity we can’t help them.”

“Who says we can’t?”

“James, remember the first priority is to keep Simon and me out of gaol or from paying them damages or costs.”

“I know that, Cathy, but I’ve got a lead I’m following up tonight which might help achieve both.”

“You take care–this bloke seems very unsavoury and nasty to me.”

“Yes, Auntie Cathy, I’ll take care and eat all my greens and wash my neck and...”

“Okay, you’ve made your point.”

“D’you think I’m getting more subtle in my old age?”

“Try ironic.”

He laughed, “Okay, Mrs Cameron, I shall ironically go where no man has gone before.”

“You sound like the starfish Enterprise.”

“No they boldly go, I ironically go.”

“Well go on then, I’m paying for this.”

“Yes, boss, on my way, boss.” He put the phone down and I wished him a safe mission. I had a funny feeling that he was being led into a trap. I went and found Simon, who was snoozing in the chair and explained my worries to him.

He phoned James but his mobile was switched off. “We have no idea where he was headed, do we?”

“No, darling, we don’t, except I have a feeling it’s in Portsmouth.”

“Yeah, but where?”

“If he rents dodgy property it’s probably old stuff, so not on any of the council estates,” I ventured. “Hang on, I’ve an idea.” I picked up the phone and rang Andy Bond.

“Well, well, I didn’t think you were talking to us anymore.”

“Come off it, Andy, I know you have a difficult job to do and that it doesn’t always go as you’d like it.”

“So what d’you want?”

“Without you asking any questions, could you answer one or two for me?”

“I might, what are they?”

“I had a visit from a sleaze-ball, first class, a Jeremy Kite.”

“You do have friends in low places.”

“Yeah, well, reliable information tells me he has fingers in all sorts of dirty pies.”

“I’m not going to contradict you.”

“Thanks, Andy–now I also hear he has lots of property which he rents out to poorer clients.”

“Yeah, so far so good.”

“Are his current clients also his tenants?” I had sudden inspiration.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“But you could deny it.”

“I can’t do that either.”

“Thanks, Andy.”

“What for?”

“Not telling me anything.”

“Be careful dealing with Mr Kite, you’ve already met some of his client’s children.”

“Ugh, they really should be taken out of the gene pool.”

“I won’t disagree with you, Cathy, but remind you, don’t mess with him–he has a very nasty reputation to uphold.”

“I won’t, officer.” He laughed and I rang off. We checked the addresses in the papers we’d been served and sure enough, the streets were pretty grotty addresses down by Fratton Park, the Portsmouth FC ground.

“I wonder if James would take his Porsche down there, it would stand out like a sore thumb,” I mused to Simon.

“So would your Jag, better take the Mondeo.” He picked up the keys, “C’mon, let’s see if we can find him.”

I pulled on my darkest sunglasses and changed into jeans and sweatshirt, with a jacket to put on top if I needed it. I also got the wheel brace out of the boot and put it in the footwell.

“Isn’t that carrying an offensive weapon, missus?” asked Si as I pulled on my seat belt.

“Not at all, if we should need to change a wheel, I like to have it easy to locate.”

“In an empty boot, wasn’t that pretty easy to locate.”

“Definitely not, I might go shopping.”

“Cathy, it’s Easter Sunday, nowhere is open.”

“The corner shop is.”

“I give up, where are we going?”

I told him and he fired up the engine and I clicked the gates open.