The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2407 by Angharad Copyright© 2014 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

We returned home for dinner and Danni regaled them with tales of her scrap with the woman at the football club. Simon was beaming but Julie and Jacquie weren’t quite so impressed, telling her that it was demeaning for women to swap blows on a football pitch. I half agreed with them.

A little later James called to ask if it was convenient to call by a bit later. He arrived just after I’d read a story to the younger girls while Simon and Danni continued telling stories of derring-do. Simon looked suspiciously at James when I took him through to the study and asked Jacquie to make us a pot of tea.

“What did you manage to uncover?”

“A can of worms in both investigations.”

“Oh,” it wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“The police have a special unit for tracing child porn and they apparently had been watching two people at the university.” I felt my tummy flip. “Don’t worry, they weren’t on to you and the plant on your computer, no they were watching two computers, the dean’s and one in the chemistry department. They’ve since arrested someone from there and confiscated his computer.”

I knew nothing of that nor wanted to. “So is the dean guilty?”

“If he isn’t, I’d be very surprised.”

“Oh dear, I was rather hoping he wasn’t.”

“He’s still to be tried, but usually the evidence is pretty damning.”

“If he’s guilty, he’s got it coming.”

“Quite,” agreed my hired sleuth.

“What about Neal?”

“The other one was enigmatic enough, this one is twice as bad.”

“In what way?”

“I haven’t yet discovered anything except rumours.”

“Does that mean no smoke without fire or, Chinese whispers?”

“Possibly a mixture of both.”

“I had feeling you were going to say that.” Julie brought in the tea.

“Jacquie went off to sort out Lizzie, so I brought this through.” I thanked her but waited for her to leave before continuing with James.

“No one seems to have heard him bully or threaten Gloria, which might mean he didn’t or that I haven’t yet asked the right person. Similarly, no one seems to have seen Gloria go off to hang herself, and any cameras in the stairwells don’t seem to have been working that evening.”

“Convenient.”

“Might just be coincidence.”

“I appreciate that. What about the police evidence?”

“A bit woolly or circumstantial, I’d be surprised if they got a conviction on what I’ve seen so far.”

“Could there be further evidence?”

“Oh yeah, but if it’s in psychiatric hospital records it could be difficult to access.”

“You usually manage.”

“GPs have computers which can be hacked, hospitals tend to have written notes which are more difficult to get at.”

“Wouldn’t the prosecution get a court order to see them?”

“That’s fine if they haven’t mysteriously disappeared, which hospital notes do with monotonous regularity.”

“Did he have opportunity?”

“Possibly, but whether he had a motive or no, is another matter.”

“Clear as mud then?”

“’Fraid so.”

“So we don’t know if he accused her of adultery or not?”

“Haven’t yet found anyone who’s prepared to say they heard them arguing.”

“So where did that rumour originate?”

“Search me.”

There was a knock on the door and Simon appeared when I opened it. “Is this a private conspiracy or can anyone join?” For a moment I’m sure I detected jealousy.

“James was giving me a report on a couple of things I asked him to look into.”

“That makes him sound like a scryer or haruspex.”

“What?”

“Well looking into crystal balls or animal guts.”

“I know what scrying is and also about Etruscan haruspices, why did you ask it?”

“I thought the Druids did entrail reading?” suggested Si.

“They may well have done but the term comes from the Etruscans, I believe probably mixed with Latin.”

James looked seriously impressed, however, Simon wasn’t. “She does crosswords,” was his retort.

We included Simon in the discussion but we neither were able to add to the evidence or suggest how we might find ways of doing so. “And these notes have definitely disappeared?”

“Seems like, they got a warrant to see them but they weren’t there,” explained Jim.

“But Neal wouldn’t have been able to organise that, would he?” Simon had a good point.

“What if someone else was involved or even did it?” I interjected.

“Did what though?” asked Simon.

“Drove her to suicide or actually murdered her.”

“Like who and why?”

“How do I know? I count dormice not investigate crime.”

“Does that mean you investigate crime amongst dormice?” Simon was trying to be funny.

“No, more crime against dormice.”

“Touché,” my dozy husband admitted.

“I’ll keep trying for a bit longer, especially on Neal’s case though I doubt I’ll find anything much.”

I had suggested that Phoebe went to visit him while she was off college but she declined feeling too upset to go anywhere near him. Consequently, it was I who called at the police station but his brains were still non-functional, so I was unable to visit or allow him to visit here. On enquiring what would happen next, they couldn’t tell me, except they had opposed bail. The magistrates told us they accepted the police case against bail, and they also feared for his safety, if not his sanity.

Simon enquired if Jason were available, it seemed he wasn’t, so Neal would either have to hire his own defence team or criticise the one the court offered him. That sounded most unlikely.