The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3468 by Angharad Copyright© 2024/2025 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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Dinner went well, it might not have David's professionalism, but we were hungry and James arrived as I was dishing up so we all ate a little less of my cooking and more of the new baked loaf. I had to make another for breakfast, but at least we had a few hours for the machine to perform its magic. There is nothing quite like coming into the kitchen where an aroma of new baked bread fills your olfactory senses and gets the stomach juices running, expectant of pure ambrosia, well in my case, fresh bread with some cheese or ham to accompany the butter, or most mornings banana.

Last night with James here, we demolished most of a loaf. Danni ate the remnants as toast, I started the new one and James helped himself to several slices. It was like having Simon home. I have to nag the younger lot and Sarah to eat anything at all, usually cereal. They all did, no wonder we go through a packet or two and gallons of cow juice every week. At least I know they all had something and research has shown how important it is for performance at school or work. If that was the case, James should perform like Superman - the amount he ate. He disappeared shortly afterward saying something about seeing how many favours he could call in. Sara took the youngsters to school and then took herself off to uni, Danni said she was staying to help me with Meems. She had hit a bit of a hiatus with her research. She had come across some snails in her tree root hole and didn't know if they were terrestrial that had fallen in, or aquatic and how had they got there? I told her that I had FSC aidgap identification aids for both types of snail and if she worked through the keys she'd be able to discover what they were and then work out how they got there. She tried to tell me that I was better than her with doing the key thing and I replied that may be the case, but I had to learn how to use them, so why couldn't she? She told me that she had a match that weekend and had trained less than she should because she was helping me. I did point out that moral blackmail was something parents used, not their children. She complained that was unfair. I would help her if she got stuck, but she expects a degree at the end of this, so has to do some work for it, besides Sarah would help when we got back.

We arrived at the hospital and parked the car, we also got a pile of coffees as we entered and gave a couple to the nurses on ICU as we took our places at Meems' bedside and drank our own and then started zapping her. The banter we had begun with stopped as we got into our primary task and I tried to get into Meems' mind to see what she remembered of the accident. Very little was the answer. I scanned her a bit deeper to see if she'd had any trouble with anyone beforehand. That was a bit more successful except I couldn't see the face of the person with whom she argued. I thought I heard her using the name Ben but it wasn't a very strong memory and I began to think it might be of little relevance.

Her nurse was pleased that her bruising was reducing and hoped that she'd be able to have surgery on her leg in a day or two and they were satisfied that she was making progress. She told us that the unconsciousness was a very variable thing and she could come round from the coma anytime, tomorrow or next week. We got the message, they didn't know.

James had been to visit the collision site looking for evidence and surveillance cameras. There were none immediately close but he did discover a ring camera, one of these doorbell things that records motion and send it to a computer. He had to go back to see the owner but hoped it had recorded something, even if it was just the make or colour of the car involved, at least we'd then have something to pursue.

We knew it was a dark car from the girls who saw the incident and possibly some sort of sports utility thing, unfortunately most of the known world owns one. I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole, but then I have my Jaguar and that still suits me and being an estate carries as much as an SUV and probably goes faster if I want to speed, unless one has a Porsche SUV, but I had bad memories of one of those and spending a day or so in a wrecked one after I swerved to avoid a stupid deer. No wonder they get hit on the roads, they have all the awareness of a blind and deaf kitten and we all know how traffic-aware they are - a few levels above teenage males.

James came back with a smug grin, he'd managed to copy the tape of the ring camera thing and told me we were looking for a Kia. Now as they are one of the most popular makes of car these days, that's about as useful as being told it was a car that hit her. The camera records in black and white, so we still didn't know what colour it was, but it was dark. We were told that at the beginning by the girls who witnessed it. They now seemed to think it was deliberate and this we got from the police who thought the same.

James had been to the university to speak with her colleagues who though that Meems was virtually a paragon and were amazed that she had been hit by a car. They thought it must be mistaken identity as she was not the sort to engage in confrontation., or it must be an accident. We decided it wasn't. The police had been to all the garages asking about anyone wanting to repair a damaged dark colour Kia. James spoke with the police deciding not to cover old ground and visit garages the police had. Then he asked about garages who might repair the car and keep it secret for a price. He got the same names from a couple of bodywork garages who told him of a garage that may do such a job for a price. He went to check it out as surreptitiously as someone driving around in a Porsche could be.

He thought he saw something so was going back after dinner and probably midnight, when he hoped things would be quieter. It hadn't occurred to him that the garage might still be working and he called the copper in charge of the case. He agreed with James it was most unlike a garage to burn the midnight oil and sent a detective to meet with him and they could then see what was going on. Fortunately it was Detective sergeant Oliver who James vaguely knew and they chatted for a few minutes before they tried to gain access to the building.

DS Oliver banged on the door with the flat of his hand calling, "Open up, police." It went very quiet when he did, so the voices they had heard earlier went silent. He pounded the door again and again nothing. They pretended to leave and copper actually drove off going around in a big circle to park just down the road. As he did so the door creaked open and face looked about and then the door opened wider. James hid in the shadows and wasn't seen. He heard a car start up and realised too late that they were taking the damaged car somewhere else, in which case any trace of Meems, left on the part of it that hit her would be destroyed. He was just about to run into the workshop and shout at the two men when the car came reversing at speed out of the doorway and he had to jump to avoid becoming a second victim. However, DS Oliver drove his car to block them and although they hit his car, they had to stop and James and he collared them.

They were already in trouble for trying to evade arrest and damaging Oliver's car, when the car they were repairing turned out to be a dark blue Kia, the trouble seemed to deepen. They were arrested and the car was seized for forensic analysis. The two tried to say that they didn't know who owned it trying to make believe that it was a cash deal. It may have been but most garages require a name and address which could of course be checked against the licence plate. The police had it in moments. The owner was Mr Benjamin Shiner, who lived down near the university and whose occupation was listed as university lecturer. However he wasn't at home when they knocked at his door at two o'clock. His wife was and made known her displeasure, James apologised but said they were looking at a most unpleasant incident which could turn into a murder investigation if the injured person died. It wasn't likely but when you add the threat of accessory to murder to possible charges most people sing like canaries, certainly Sid and Joe the couple of garage owners did when the possible charges were told them.

Next day, James was out and about seeing what Meem's colleagues knew of Ben Shiner and Cathy was relating how things were progressing to Simon, who while they talked did a credit check on Shiner. It appeared he had money troubles and owed rather a lot to a company which was thought to be a front for money laundering and organised crime. Later, James also spoke to Simon, who was paying the bill, and breathed loudly. "Shit, that's all we need. So how is Meems involved?"

"That's what I'm paying you for, so find out," Simon was curt and rang off with James phoning DS Oliver and telling him Simon's news. Once again the exclamation of scatological involvement was repeated only this time by the detective. He knew his boss would be annoyed that they had no idea of this when they'd begun their investigation into what looked like a possible accidental hit and run but was deepening every time they looked at it and which DS Oliver said looked like a deliberate event. It appeared more so by the day.

Cathy and Danni went to the hospital and Meems was still unconscious but was reacting to external stimuli, which the nurse said was positive and a good indicator of recovery. They continued with the healing and bringing in cups of coffee from the cafe at the hospital. The nurses were really pleased to get it.

"We think we know who hit you and drove off, Meems. It was Ben Shiner who has now gone into hiding as he knows the police are looking for him. And it looks as if they found your DNA on the nearside front wing of the car. So we think we have the right man." Meems started to react to this news by moving slightly in the bed. The injured leg was strapped and awaiting her to be well enough for an operation to repair the fracture and she groan as she moved it in the bed. a nurse heard her as she did so and came to see what was going on. Cathy told her what she had said to Meems and the effect it produced, the nurse asked her to leave and sent for the doctor in charge of her case.

They were early back home and Cathy was considering going into the office when Danni shot off to Bournemouth for a training session but unsure if she wanted to play that weekend, except she knew that she was paid to do so therefore giving her whole attention to it, so much so that she didn't see the figure hiding in the bushes by Cathy's car at the house.