Holly slumped onto her desk and stared at the desktop calendar. It was the 27th of December - that awkward date where you had to work between Christmas and New Year. Being the owner of her own detective agency, she could have given herself the time off, but she hadn’t wanted to. She loved her job. The only part she didn’t love was early mornings spent in the agency, waiting for the phone to ring and a case to arrive, or - like this morning - waiting for Becky to turn up, so Holly could abandon the phone and leave to solve a mystery.
A quarter of an hour later, Becky walked into the office. This morning, she wasn’t alone.
A little bundle of black and tan fur bounced into the office after her and immediately latched onto the leg of a desk and started chewing.
“What is that?” Holly asked, looking at the puppy distrustfully. It looked like an odd mix between a Rottweiler, German Shepherd, and a Collie.
“It’s a dog,” Becky said, stating the obvious. She sat down behind her desk and dumped her bag on top of the surface. Usually, she dumped it on the floor. This concerning alteration of behaviour did not escape Holly’s notice.
“I can see that. What is it doing here?” she asked.
Becky let out a sigh, like Holly’s question was totally unreasonable.
“I thought we could have an office dog. This one seemed perfect,” she said and started to turn on her computer, doing her best to look busy.
Holly wasn’t finished. “Did you buy a dog, without asking me, just so it could live in the office?” She bit her tongue to keep from shouting. Puppies were cute, but they were also a handful. She couldn’t believe Becky would do something so stupid and thoughtless!
“Actually, I found him by the side of the road in a cardboard box. He looked lonely.”
Holly immediately felt terrible. Someone had abandoned this poor puppy and now she was going to turn him away, too.
She narrowed her eyes. “Show me the box,” she said, not wanting to have the wool pulled over her eyes. Her part-time apprentice secretary looked surprised but got up and walked to the door, the makeshift lead still in her hand. She gathered the young dog up, as he wasn’t old enough to walk any distance on the lead.
Ten minutes later, they were standing on the small road that led in and out of Little Wemley. Holly inspected a cardboard box that definitely looked like it had been inhabited by a playful puppy.
“Okay, but that does not mean we are keeping him.” She paused, feeling unfair again. “You’ll take him home at the end of the day, right?”
The other girl’s pained expression gave away the truth.
“Oh… you want me to take him,” Holly said, looking at the bundle of fluff, who was eagerly jumping up and down in front of her.
She rubbed a hand through her hair, trying not to think about just what she would be committing to, and the sheer size this dog might turn out to be - given her initial estimate of its breeding.
“Fine. It can have a two week trial. We shall see how it behaves,” she said, already accepting she’d just gained a pet dog.
Becky smiled for the first time since the pair had met. “I named him Watson,” the secretary said.
Holly’s lips twitched up. Perhaps Becky did have a sense of humour after all.
The rest of the day passed without incident, if you didn’t count the number of accidents Watson had and the laptop charger he completely destroyed. At least it made an otherwise uneventful day more interesting. It was only in the afternoon that things looked up when George walked into the office.
“Hi Holly, are you busy? I was wondering if…” He stopped as Watson tore across the room and jumped up and down in front of him, before running off to hide behind the desk where Holly was. “I didn’t know you had a dog?!” He bent down and tried to persuade Watson to return to him, but the puppy was now being shy.
Holly looked down at the big brown eyes that looked back at her with such joy. She knew she didn’t stand a chance now.
“I didn’t either until this morning.” She shot a pointed look at Becky. “But he’s grown on me already,” she admitted.
George was smiling at her and she could immediately see he was a dog person. Holly had always been more into cats, but with Watson being abandoned just after Christmas, it would be heartless to get rid of him. Who knew? Perhaps he’d be a great detective dog, like Scooby Doo.
“Well in that case, you’ll need to take him on walks. I know he’s a bit young to walk very far on the lead, but maybe I could show you this great walk I know? It’s cold outside, but a lovely day.” George hesitated. “Unless you’re busy. I’ve given my whole office time off until after New Year’s Day. No one commissions graphic design work over the Christmas period.”
Holly looked down at Watson, who had collapsed on the floor in one of his brief puppy sleep moments. “I think I can spare some time. Things have been pretty quiet here, too.”
Becky had been playing some awful game on her phone all day and Holly had been reading a book after the morning’s mystery (a missing cat) had been resolved before she’d managed to leave the office. A walk with George didn’t seem too much like skiving.
Becky nodded that she’d keep an eye on Watson, and off they went. Holly only wished she’d had a chance to freshen up and had put on better makeup that morning. What if this trip was all planned and George was going to ask her to be his girlfriend?
“It’s a short drive away, but it’s one of the best walks around here. It’s on the heathland… quite near to Lizzie’s house, actually.” He pulled a face, remembering the dinner party.
Holly looked sideways at him, sensing an opportunity. “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but is there any history between you and Lizzie?”
George winced. “No, but she hasn’t stopped trying to get together with me since she joined the company a year ago. I’ve told her no, but she hasn’t got the message.” He quietly grumbled to himself for a couple of moments. “I don’t like being pushed into things, and I’d definitely never date someone like Lizzie.” Holly felt a little warm glow of hope start in her chest and wondered if she was the sort of girl George would be inclined to date. She still had a chance!
“Isn’t she with Christian?” she asked, knowing she was being nosy.
George’s lips twitched up, forgiving her curiosity. “In theory, but I think they’ve just paired off because it’s convenient. Did it look like love to you?” He threw her a knowing glance.
Holly felt her cheeks turn pink as she remembered Christian’s not so subtle contact with her. They definitely weren’t much of a couple.
Frost was still sparkling on the tall, wiry grasses when George parked up on the edge of the heathland. It was a testament to just how cold it was outside, and how cold it was going to get again that night. Holly thought about lying in her bed all alone with a hot water bottle, before remembering she wouldn’t be alone anymore. She’d have a very un-housetrained and generally naughty puppy staying with her.
“Come on,” George said, walking ahead.
Holly had worn her gloves, scarf, and hat to the office that morning. She was already feeling the benefit of their warmth when she took her first steps across the heathland. She only wished that George would have taken her hand, or given her any sign of his interest. The more she thought about it, the more he’d been giving off ‘just friends’ vibes recently.
“It’s a beautiful day,” she remarked as they walked along, talking about nothing of any consequence. George asked how the Santa Claus case had ended, and then she asked him what his plans were for New Year’s Eve. Holly got the impression he was attending a party but wasn’t about to extend an invitation. She couldn’t say she blamed him for that. The past two events they’d attended together had both ended in murder.
Their thoughts must have both turned to the most recent death.
“I forgot to say, the police confirmed it was cyanide. I turned over the blackmail file to them. Got a bit of an ear bashing for looking at the emails, but they were okay in the end. Now they’re investigating the whole office. They’ve asked anyone who was blackmailed to come forward, but - surprise surprise - no one has. Chittenden is furious. That’s why you haven’t been dragged in for questioning. They’re all but certain it’s to do with the blackmail.” He turned to face Holly. “Do you think you could work on the case?”
Holly looked up at the blue sky with its scattering of white clouds - perfect, but so cold.
“I don’t think I should. I’m sure the police will find the answer using some techno magic, if that’s how he was doing it. But, if Timothy was using good old-fashioned methods, I don’t know. Hopefully they’ll work it out. It must be whoever handed him the drink before he drank it, right? Maybe someone saw.”
They carried on walking in thoughtful silence for a bit, both wondering what kind of secrets people at the office were keeping that made them targets for blackmail. Holly had a feeling that before the case was finished, they’d know the answer.
“Hey… what’s that?” George’s voice changed and he pointed in the distance. Holly squinted and saw someone running flat-out. And they were coming closer.
The runner changed direction, probably when they saw Holly and George, and ran through the heather instead. Now the runner was closer, Holly could see his brown hair flying in the wind. He was dressed in rags and his tanned feet were bare, bloodied, and covered in freezing mud.
She drew a quick breath. “He must be in trouble!” She looked at George helplessly. What could they do to help a man who was already running away from them?
“Maybe we should call the police?” George said. They both considered it as they carried on walking up the hill. They were still deciding when they nearly collided with Lizzie, who was power-walking in the opposite direction.
“Oh! Hello,” George said, forcing a smile to his face.
“Sorry, no time to chat! Got a PB time to beat,” she announced, showing them both an equally forced smile, before striding onwards.
Holly pulled a face at George. “That’s different. I thought she’d be all over you.”
George nodded vacantly, looking after the receding figure of Lizzie. “I wonder if she has any secrets,” he said, and then shook his head. “I’m wondering that about everyone on my staff at the moment. Even Christian has been acting a little off.” He sighed. “I think he was being blackmailed, but I don’t know what it was over. What if he did it? I could lose my business partner and the company’s reputation…” He bit his tongue, realising the callousness of his final remark.
“Maybe I could look into that. Just that little part of the case,” Holly offered.
George gave her a real smile. “We’d better get back before it gets dark and we turn into icicles,” he said, and they turned around and walked back to the car.
Holly took a sip of her coffee (she was being good today) and raised an eyebrow at the email she’d just received. After George had asked her to look into Christian’s affairs, she’d headed straight for the internet and had discovered that there were people you could pay to sleuth online for you. She’d paid the very reasonable fee and had waited, wondering if Timothy Marsden had used the same strategy, or if there’d been another way he’d gathered his secrets.
She wasn’t disappointed with the results. The email she received back was a list of online casinos that Christian’s IP address had visited. They even showed that some websites were blocking him. It looked like Christian had a gambling problem… and Timothy had probably known about it.
She was disturbed from her inner thoughts by someone biting her hand. She looked down at Watson - who was a bundle of energy this morning. “Look, I know you aren’t really meant to be out too much, but you have so much energy, and learning to wear a harness would be a step in the right direction. How about we go out for a walk?” Watson yapped happily in response and didn’t mind a bit when she put on his new harness - a purchase she’d made the previous evening along with a whole bunch of doggy goodies. Watson had also been dragged off to the vets for some shots. That was another good reason not to take him out, as he wasn’t fully inoculated yet, but Holly’s garden wasn’t big enough for any kind of proper walk, and she knew the puppy needed exercise. She’d just have to make sure that they didn’t meet any other dogs.
“Oh, Watson, why is it now you decide to sleep?” she moaned as she carried the comatose dog down the High Street, drawing many curious looks.
For a puppy, he was big. She worried that other people might think there was something wrong, rather than it being a case of sleepy-puppy-itis. She glanced at the board outside the newsagents when she walked by, just as Watson started to wriggle and decided he could walk after all.
She nearly dropped him when she read the headline.
Unknown man found dead in Wimble River
Holly’s breath caught as she reread the headline and felt her brain stitching the possibilities together.
The man they’d seen running across the heathland yesterday… he’d looked like he was heading in the direction of Wimble River - the small, but fast-flowing body of water that passed just outside Little Wemley. Had the man they’d seen ended up in the river? She thought back and remembered Lizzie had been walking that way, too. A murderer is on the loose, she thought and started to wonder if…
“Morning Holly!” Sergeant Pinkington called to her.
She smiled and returned the greeting. After her recent time spent with the local police department, Sergeant Pinkington had been the only one who had always been polite and helpful.
“Did you hear? They’ve arrested someone over that Timothy Marsden business!” the police officer said in a hushed voice. Holly inwardly smiled. The other reason she had become so fond of Sergeant Pinkington was because she was a dreadful gossip.
“Who did they arrest?” she asked, wondering if the other woman could be persuaded to part with more information.
“Lana Gently,” Pinkington carried on, not needing any encouragement.
Watson sniffed at the police officer’s shoes. Holly prayed he wasn’t thinking about relieving himself.
“But why would she do it?” she asked, wondering if she’d been blackmailed.
The other woman shook her head. “An anonymous witness came forward and said they’d seen her passing him the poisoned drink, and it turned out that she had been sending him some rather suggestive text messages.”
“But she’s seeing one of the other men at the office - Liam!” Holly protested, and then shut her mouth. People would always surprise her.
“Tell me about it. Anyway, we confronted her with the witness’ statement, and she broke down and confessed to giving him the drink. She still won’t admit that she poisoned him. I think it’s obvious it was a spurned lover’s revenge.” Pinkington ran a hand through her thick, chestnut hair. “We asked her who had given her the drink, if she wasn’t the poisoner, but she wouldn’t say. She seemed almost scared. It was probably because Chittenden was in the room,” she finished, rolling her eyes.
Holly smirked. “I hope you get to the bottom of it,” she said, careful to heavily imply that she herself wasn’t getting involved. But that wasn’t true, was it? She’d already snooped enough to know that Christian had gambling debts, and if Lana was scared of something, Holly was willing to bet she had secrets of her own - perhaps a secret worth killing for. It was one way to ensure the matter was silenced.
She pulled out her phone and tried to call George but got no answer. Instead, she wrote out a lengthy text including the info about the man who’d died and Lana’s arrest. She listened for her phone on the walk home, but no new message appeared - despite George telling her he wasn’t working again until the New Year.
She’d just begun to worry when her phone buzzed a couple of hours later. A message from George popped up on the screen.
Sorry. Busy.
That was all the reply George had to her new information. Holly had no idea what she’d done wrong.