I FOUND MR. SUNDUR’S SHOP EASILY enough, on the next street over from where I’d been walking. I went inside before I could change my mind and found that I seemed to have stumbled upon the shop during a slow period, which suited me fine. There were no other customers and the man behind the counter seemed more competent than the one who’d waited on me before.
“Good morning, miss. Can I be of assistance?”
“I was looking for Mr. Sundur.”
“And you’ve found me. That must mean there is something I can assist you with. What were you looking for?”
He seemed ready enough to help when he thought I was in the shop for a pound of sugar or some tinned tomatoes. I hoped it would last when I started asking questions. “I had a couple of question about your arrangement with Mr. Reynolds.”
“Mr. Reynolds? My only arrangement with him is business. He’s one of my suppliers.”
“Of Mrs. Quimby’s Quality Tinned Goods, yes. I wanted to ask about that.”
Mr. Sundur didn’t seem to know how to respond to my request. He stared at me for a moment, clearly trying to figure out who I was and why I was in his shop asking questions about his business. “If you’re selling something, I’m well set with my current products.”
“You heard of Mr. Hoyt’s death in Eybry?”
“Yes, most tragic. He was my old supplier. I was going to go to the memorial and pay my respects to his wife, but my clerk called off, and I couldn’t leave the shop unattended for that long. A job offer from Mrs. Quimby’s, ironically enough.”
That did seem to be a coincidence and I filed it away to think about later. “Well, I’m acquainted with the family.” That wasn’t too much of a stretch. After all, I had found Mr. Hoyt’s body; that suggested some relationship. “There were a couple of points that came up in the investigation that were confusing, and I was hoping you could clear them up for me.” That sounded too formal, but Mr. Sundur didn’t seem to notice. Or he was so confused by my visit that any more confusion simply didn’t register.
“I’m not sure I can...”
“It just the matter of your arrangement with Mr. Reynolds. He seems to have been giving you a discount, and I was wondering how that came about. Did he offer it, or did you ask...”
Mr. Sundur looked genuinely surprised by the question. “A discount from Mrs. Quimby’s Quality Tinned Goods? They’re such cut-rate products, I never thought to ask. I only stock them because the company is somewhat local, and I like to be seen to support the local economy. It never really seemed worth the effort to ask. Not many people buy them here. I have some tinned peas that have been on the shelf since February.”
And I would not be eating anything with peas until I left the area. “So Mr. Reynolds wasn’t giving you an extra discount?”
“No, nothing beyond what I was getting from Mr. Hoyt, which I think was their standard for the area. They do give the local shops a better price than they give in, say, Yorkshire or London. Supporting the local economy themselves and all that. And I think they want to be sure everyplace around here stocks them. It would look a bit odd if they couldn’t sell in their own backyard, as it were.”
“So if someone told me they had seen paperwork saying you were given a discount?”
“Then they were mistaken or lying. I pay the standard rate in the area, same as the shops in Eybry and Upper Slaughter. In fact, I know Mr. Burton in Eybry, and we’ve had the same rate for years.”
So it wasn’t some long-standing arrangement that Mr. Burton hadn’t known about. Something had been wrong with the ledgers. The question was what. I managed a smile for Mr. Sundur. “Then that explains the confusion. Someone got the wrong end of things. Thank you for clearing it up.”
“Of course. You say you know the family? Then would you pass on my condolences to Mrs. Hoyt?”
“I will the next time I see her,” which probably wouldn’t be for ages, “but I think she would appreciate it if you sent a little something over.”
“Yes, I suppose a bit of something would go well. There’s some new Madeira cake that came in. She could feed it to anyone who calls on her. That might be the thing. Thank you, Miss...”
I ignored the implied desire for an introduction. “You’ve been most helpful. I won’t take up any more of your time.” I hurried for the door before I had to make up any other excuses for my presence.
Outside of the shop, I turned my steps towards the police station. Inspector Wainwright needed to know what I had just found out. It finally all made sense. Mrs. Hoyt had thought Mr. Hoyt’s extra money had come from her husband gambling or embezzling from the pub, but he was actually blackmailing Mr. Reynolds. He’d seen the discounts listed in the receipt books and had seen something Mr. Burton hadn’t, or something Mr. Burton hadn’t understood was wrong about them.
Mr. Reynolds must have been telling the main office he’d given Mr. Sundur a discount when he hadn’t, then pocketed the difference. I wondered how many places on his route he’d told the main office were getting discounts. One wouldn’t have been worth it, I wouldn’t think. So Mr. Hoyt would have started blackmailing him and either done something that pushed Mr. Reynolds over the edge or the pressure of it simply became too much and Mr. Reynolds murdered him. I wondered if he’d actually paid Mr. Burton out of his own pocket as he’d said, or if he’d simply wanted to throw me off. His own pocket, most likely, otherwise why hadn’t he simply added him to the discount list when he’d started asking about it?
Perhaps the main office had begun to get irritated at the number of discounts he’d told them he’d offered, and he didn’t want to trigger any sort of audit of his books. It would be worth giving Mr. Burton a bit out of his own pocket to keep him from asking too many questions. The money paid to Mr. Burton might even have been part of the money he had been paying to Mr. Hoyt; it had started after the murder, and that was when Mr. Reynolds would have been desperate to keep his motive secret. It must have seemed like a small price to pay to keep Mr. Burton quiet.
So why move the body? He’d been seen in town, but that was for his work, surely it wouldn’t have been any more suspicious than anyone else being there. Unless he wasn’t supposed to be there. I hadn’t asked Mr. Burton if he’d been expecting Mr. Reynolds. Perhaps he hadn’t been and the visit had merely been to create an alibi. Or perhaps he overdid it, just as he had with his lies about the staddle stones. If he knew the rumors about Mrs. Hoyt and Mr. Elliott, moving the body into his shop would have seemed like a good way to point suspicion somewhere else. And then everyone began panicking and moving the body all over Eybry and eventually to Oakwood Cottage.
“Miss Pengear, what a surprise.”
For a moment, I thought I’d been too deep in my thoughts and my mind was playing tricks on me. I held onto that hope for another moment, but I doubted my eyes were playing the same trick on me. “Mr. Reynolds. Hello.”
“When I called at Oakwood Cottage to find out how you were feeling after the memorial yesterday, Mrs. Albright said you’d gone into Eybry.”
Trust Mrs. Albright to know when not to tell people where I really was. I was quite certain Mr. Reynolds had absolutely no interest in my health. The only question was whether he’d known Mrs. Albright was lying to him and guessed where I was or had come here hoping he wouldn’t see me. “That was kind, but as I said, it was only stuffiness of the room.” I started walking again in the direction of the police station, hoping he would take the hint and go on about his business, particularly as I was moving away from Mr. Sundur’s shop.
But I had no such luck. “And what brings you to Stow-on-the-Wold?”
Saying I had been going to see Inspector Wainwright to tell him I’d just discovered Mr. Reynolds’s motive for killing Mr. Hoyt seemed like a particularly bad idea, even if it was the truth. “Since I’m in the Cotswolds, I thought I’d see as much of it as I could.”
“What a lovely idea. How did you get here?”
“Lord Hector drove me in.”
“And abandoned you, eh? Oh, you didn’t know? I saw him on the road as I came by.”
“Perhaps he was planning to come back for me. We were rather vague on the details. You know how he is.”
“Well, you must allow me to show you around. I do know the town well.”
I reminded myself that Mr. Reynolds couldn’t possibly know I’d just figured out what he’d done. He might want to keep me away from Mr. Sundur’s shop so I wouldn’t guess, and he couldn’t know I’d just been there. “It’s very kind of you, I’m sure, but I really wanted to do some shopping as I went, and Miss Hayworth gave me some ideas of where to go. Down at the other end of the high street, in fact.” There, he’d think I was planning to go in a direction away from Mr. Sundur’s and he’d be safe for another day at least. “Very nice to see you again, but I’m sure you have business in town, and I don’t want to keep you.” I started walking before he could protest.
“Nonsense. I’d be happy to show you around. Where were you heading?”
“A little shop Miss Hayworth told me about as we were going to the police station. It’s just around the corner.” If I was stuck with him, at least we could move in the direction of assistance, and perhaps he wouldn’t want to be seen too close to the station anyway.
“I don’t know what that could be.”
“Yarn. She highly recommended the yarn, and I was preparing to knit a sweater. Jumper, as you say. Fair Isle. Lots of colors to decide on.” That ought to scare him away. I started walking ever so slightly faster.
“Of course, I know just the place. And not far from where I’m going.”
I was quite sure that was a lie, but I could always say I wanted to stop in and ask Inspector Wainwright something about the crime scene in our sitting room. I ignored his offered arm but didn’t try arguing either. The last thing I wanted was to let him know I knew something.
We’d barely gone a block, with Mr. Reynolds pointing out things he thought would interest me and me making vaguely appreciative comments and trying to figure out how to get away from him when I heard my name called for the second time that hour. “Miss Pengear, what are you doing here?”
For once, I didn’t mind running into Inspector Wainwright at all. “Good morning, Inspector, Constable Edwards.”
Constable Edwards smiled at me. Inspector Wainwright snorted.
“Good morning, Inspector,” Mr. Reynolds said in the tone I assumed he used on potential customers. Really, it was a wonder the man managed to sell anything. “I was just taking Miss Pengear around to the shops, then back to Eybry as her ride seems to have abandoned her.”
I tried to communicate to Inspector Wainwright that I most definitely did not agree with the plan, but he barely looked at me. Still, he must have noticed something as he said, “Well, she needs to come with me now,” and grabbed my arm.
Mr. Reynolds looked surprised at that turn of events. “I’m sure Miss Pengear has done nothing wrong.”
“I’m not. Come along, both of you.”
“Well, I’m supposed to...”
“Bring Miss Pengear to Eybry, yes, you told me. And as she is also coming with me, you can continue on when I’ve finished. Miss Pengear.” He kept his grip on my arm and practically dragged me down the street.
As Inspector Wainwright was pulling me along, I was able to glance back and see Constable Edwards lean in and say to Mr. Reynolds in a stage whisper, “Best go along when he’s in these moods. It’ll blow over.” He smiled and all but shoved Mr. Reynolds in our direction.
I stopped resisting and allowed Inspector Wainwright to steer me towards the station. “Everyone in town is going to think you’re arresting me.”
“Hmm.” Not that I’d expected him to care.
“It’s his order book you want. Mr. Hoyt had seen it in the pub. So had Mr. Burton, but he misunderstood. He thought Mr. Reynolds was giving the shop here a better discount and was arguing to get one until Mr. Reynolds took it out of his own cut to shut him up. But there was no discount. Mr. Hoyt understood that it was embezzlement, and no doubt started to blackmail him over it.”
Inspector Wainwright didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t tell me to be quiet, which told me he was at least thinking about what I had told him. I took that as encouragement and told him everything I had just figured out while Constable Edwards kept Mr. Reynolds walking along behind us while staying far enough back that we couldn’t be overheard.