Chapter 39
“What does ven-detta mean? Ben said Zaylee and Fletch have a vendetta.”
“I’m not thinking too well. Let’s get a proper definition.”
Baxter looks it up: “When someone wants revenge against another person for something they did in the past.” He stops. “Ben thinks Porkie did something to Zaylee and Fletch and their surveillance is motivated by payback. And it’s so bad, he even thinks they manipulated the photos to blame Porkie for killing Ambrose Loxton. Wow.”
“That’s one mistake we made before we approached Ben,” I say. “You and I both wondered what’s motivating them and we didn’t know the answer.”
“And we still don’t. Does Ben have a vendetta against Zaylee and Fletch? I don’t think he likes them. But he doesn’t like you anymore, either.”
“You noticed.”
“And I’m not supposed to notice stuff like that so it must be terrible for you. He’s different since he became a detective.”
“He’s probably under a lot of pressure at work. He wants to do well in his new job.”
“I guess. So what are we going to do now, Tiggy? I’m feeling pretty nervous about telling Zaylee and Fletch the truth about my police contact. I think they expected me to at least get someone to look at their report.”
“But they didn’t give you the full story. They’re banned from the station! And they didn’t tell you why they’re following Porkie. They dropped you in it. Maybe not on purpose but the outcome’s the same.”
“And I haven’t even been on a date with Zaylee yet.”
I hope she hasn’t been using him.
“I need to tell her what’s happened,” Baxter says. “And ask her to explain. Can you be my backup buddy while I make the call?”
“Of course. You’re a loyal friend. And she needs to come clean.”
Baxter dials Zaylee’s number and puts her on speaker.
“Already!” she squeals.
“The news isn’t good, Zaylee. My contact at the police wasn’t happy to hear about your report. He knows you and Fletch and he told me you’re banned from the station. Because of your surveillance of Porkie. He said you have a vendetta against him, like payback for something.”
“And you believe that?” Her voice has gone shrill.
“No, but –”
“But you’re the one who sucks up to the police! And you call yourself a private investigator. You’re a joke, Baxter Stone. I told Fletch you’d be no good to us at all but he said we had to try. We’re tracking a murderer and what are you doing? Pretending! I resign from the camera club! It’s really dumb and I hated it anyway. And don’t ever call me again.”
Baxter has visibly shrivelled under this character assassination. Wishing I’d foreseen it and cut her off, I realise I couldn’t have intervened. Relationships are a battleground none of us can avoid. I want to give him a bear hug but he doesn’t do hugs. Instead, I move closer and put a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Thank you, Tiggy,” he whispers.
“What she said isn’t true.”
“Which part? That I suck up to the police? That I’m a joke and a pretender?”
“None of it’s true. She’s very upset and she lashed out.”
Raider has tiptoed over and put his head on Baxter’s lap.
“And the worst part?” he says. “It was Fletch’s idea to involve me, not Zaylee’s. She never liked me at all, Tiggy. And I thought she did.” His voice cracks. “How am I ever going to find a girlfriend if I’m that easy to fool?”
“Aw, Baxter. All of this is so painful. Let’s just agree first that you’re not a suck-up or a pretender or a joke. We both know that’s not true. You’ve already had paid work with a private investigator and he’s written you a glowing reference. And you have to trust what you know about yourself. Zaylee doesn’t know your true character so let’s not start believing a whole lot of nasty things she throws out while she’s looking for the nearest person to blame. What happened with Ben isn’t your fault.”
He sniffs. “OK.”
“And it’s not because you’re neurodiverse that you misunderstood her interest in you. This happens to everyone on the planet when they meet someone they’re attracted to. Remember what happened to me a few months ago? What a mess! I think those feelings we have when we first meet someone put blinkers on our eyes like a horse and we stop seeing properly.”
His giggle slips out.
“And I think she tried to make you like her,” I add.
“To get my help.”
“It sounds like it from what she said about Fletch.”
He keeps staring at the table.
“Did you tell your mum about Zaylee? Can you talk to her about this?”
“She’s pretty hopeless with men like you are, Tiggy. She married my dad. What a loser! And when she met Jack I thought he was too.”
“Looks like she picked a good one second time around. Have you ever thought Jack might be on the spectrum?”
“Yeah. I don’t think he knows and I’m scared I might tell him. Like, blurt it out.”
“Surely not.”
He looks across at me under half-lowered lids.
“Joke,” I say. “You just told me I’m hopeless with men. Me and your mum.”
“But you are. You say it yourself. All the time.”
“True. True and true. But when someone blurts it out at you, it’s hard to hear. Let’s have that cup of tea.”
I go to the kitchen and flick the switch on the kettle for a fresh pot.
When I bring it back to the table, Baxter says, “I feel a lot better after talking about this. I think I wasn’t being honest with Zaylee either.”
“You wanted a girlfriend.”
He nods.
“And she was showing interest in you,” I say. “That’s a trick we can all play on ourselves – thinking that if someone else wants us we must want them back.”
“For someone who picks the wrong guys over and over again,” he says, “you’re pretty wise. You should start taking your own advice.”
“Thank you, Baxter.”
Conversations with Baxter are always educational.
We decide that he doesn’t need to contact Fletch. Zaylee will tell him what’s happened. She’ll give him the emotional version but Baxter told her what Ben said before she tore him to shreds.
We’ll wait and see if Fletch turns up at the camera club meeting and if we can talk to him. I’m going to go along as backup buddy in case Baxter needs it. And we might get another chance to ask Fletch about their surveillance when I go to the market to pick up my framed Dunlin on Saturday.
Meanwhile Henry has said the mug isn’t valuable so Baxter can decorate and photograph it for the Get Mugged theme night. It’s the perfect way for him to recover from a morning of painful tirades.
“I’m going to use the white, yellow and red paint pens and play with a Mondrian design. Have you heard of him? And maybe some calligraphy.”
“Sounds like a plan. I might even do some writing.”
***
A couple of hours later, Baxter’s paint pattern is finished and he’s pretty much back to normal. The design plays with bright coloured squares, leaving black lines between them from the surface of the mug. Then in pride of place, there’s a square with a tiny mug in it.
“I’ll send a photo to Tom-Tom as my next letter,” he says.
He packs up ready to catch the bus home.
Before he goes he says, “Making art is good for thinking. I know Zaylee doesn’t like me – and I don’t really like her either – but why didn’t they tell me what’s going on? If they wanted the police to read their report, why did they let me go to Ben and get hammered? Zaylee still didn’t tell me when I rang. I only know what Ben said about them. Are they doing something bad or not? It must be a secret, Tiggy. A secret they can’t share.”
“That makes sense. And when Ben accused them of a vendetta, he gave us a clue. Something happened in the past that they’re trying to nail Porkie for. And while they’ve been watching him, they got the photo of him just after Ambrose was killed.”
“So it’s not about Ambrose. It’s something else Porkie did to them. But why is it a secret?”
We think about this.
“Secrets often involve important people with a reputation to keep.”
“That’s not Porkie,” he says. “He’s about my age and just a home maintenance guy.”
“But they’re using a codename for him. To hide his identity. And he has the keys to a lot of people’s houses. He’s in a position of trust.”
“He’d make a good blackmailer if he works for someone important and finds their secret.”
We can’t go any further with these thoughts until we have more information.
Raider and I farewell him at the door. Then we go back inside and I reread the message from Ben that came through while Baxter was working on his design.
I’m still getting over today’s fiasco. I hope you’re taking a good hard look at your role in it. B didn’t get involved with those two by himself. Ever since you were in that house around the time of the murder, you’ve been getting in the way of our investigation. My advice is the same as I gave B. Drop it.
And who asked me in for an interview about that murder and suggested I bring my lawyer? And ever since, I’ve been paying for not making Ben’s day.
Then he added: I’m blocking your number.