Chapter Seven

“That’s all there is?”

Lawrence turned the piece of paper over again, as if, by that simple act, more information would be forthcoming. He flipped the envelope upside down and shook it before he finally laid it down and instead picked up his cup of tea.

“You mean that’s not enough to go on, Sherlock?” Ruth teased her nephew, though her attempt at humor didn’t reach her eyes.

Likely this made the policeman bite back any retort. “Aunty, I’m here as a favor because you asked me, and because you have, please let me do my job.”

Ruth picked up the paper and read it aloud.

“Return the money you stole. You have one month to return £5000. No police or those around you will pay the price. You will receive instructions in due course.”

“I still wish you’d asked me before calling in Lawrence,” Betty stated. She was leaning against the sink, her arms folded, with a look of extreme annoyance upon her face. “They say not to involve the police.”

Ruth waved the paper in the air. “I can read, but come on.” She slapped it back down onto the table. “Letters cut out of a newspaper? It’s hardly professional!”

Betty pulled the seat opposite Ruth out and slammed it down before seating herself upon it. “Or, in case it didn’t occur to you, perhaps that’s what they want you to think.”

Ruth opened her mouth, then snapped it shut upon seeing Lawrence had raised an eyebrow at hearing Betty’s words. “You think Betty’s onto something?”

“I think,” Lawrence began, answering Ruth’s question, though his eyes were firmly focused upon Betty as he spoke, “there’s a lot more going on here than what’s in this letter.”

At these words, Betty hissed at Ruth, “And that’s why I didn’t want anyone else involved!”

“And if you want my help with this, you’re going to have to tell me, well, everything, Betty.”

“Everything?” Betty asked.

“Everything,” Lawrence stated, using the voice he normally reserved for interviewing suspects. He was a little disconcerted, let alone surprised, to see the voice had no effect upon Betty. This was more than enough to fully pique his interest.

Ever since he’d first met Ruth’s friend and neighbor Betty the previous year, various things had occurred which made him believe there was a lot more to this person than merely a pilot—not that the word merely could be truthfully applied to the job they did in the Air Transport Auxiliary, delivering planes all over the country in all weathers. Deciding upon a test, Lawrence sat back, steepled his hands together, and studied Betty from over his fingers. This was a pose he’d perfected from his first days in the police, and it had served him very well over the years. After a couple of minutes, he was most disconcerted to find he was the one with sweat trickling down his forehead, not the subject of his attention feeling the heat instead. Giving it a little more thought, something occurred to him, and he allowed a smile to creep onto his face. “It’s not the first time you’ve been before a copper, is it.”

Betty matched his smile and indeed steepled her own hands in mimicry. “No point in denying that.”

“Good! Let’s sit somewhere more comfortable, then, and you can tell me all about it.”

Though he got to his feet and made to walk toward the lounge, Betty stayed where she was. “Betty? I’d prefer to get this over before the girls get in from work.”

Betty waved a nonchalant hand in the air and told him, “Oh, they know all about me, and my sister,” but she remained seated.

“Ruth?” He arched a questioning look at his aunt. She gave him a noncommittal shrug. All Lawrence could do was shake his head in wonder before muttering, “Some bloody copper I am,” as he left the room.

Ruth quickly sat down next to her friend before Betty could follow Lawrence. “I’m sorry,” she quickly said. “Have I really dropped you in it?”

Letting out a short laugh, Betty shook her head. “I doubt it. Your nephew, despite what he just said, is a damn good copper. If Eleanor and I had run into more like him, I don’t think we’d have done so well.”

“You lot going to join me?” Lawrence unexpectedly popped his head back into the kitchen to ask, before disappearing just as quickly.

Ruth and Betty exchanged glances but waited until they could no longer see him. “How much of that do you think he heard?” Ruth asked.

“Pretty much all of it!” Lawrence shouted.

Shrugging her shoulders, Betty got up and went to the lounge, closely followed by Ruth. When they entered, Lawrence, true gentleman that he was, got up from his seat and waited while the two ladies took their seats.

“Good pair of ears you’ve got there,” Betty remarked as she hooked a leg underneath her.

Lawrence flicked one of his ears with a finger. “Best on the force.”

Betty fixed him with a glance before asking, “So what do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

****

“At least Duck didn’t attack us tonight,” Mary remarked, putting her key into the lock.

“That would just about have been our luck,” Penny agreed, not troubling to keep the weariness from her voice.

“Anyone else have some little oick of a junior engineering officer try to tell you off because he miscounted how many Spits we’d brought in?” Mary asked as she pushed the door open.

“He didn’t question me twice after I’d taken him around each new plane and made him keep a tally!” Doris replied, with a laugh, closing the door behind her and hanging her hat on a peg.

“You’re a one, and all,” Penny said with a shake of her head.

Penny had her foot on the first step of the stairs when a male raised voice from the lounge stayed her.

“Diamond Lil! You’re telling me your sister was Diamond Lil?”

“Sounds like my Lawrence!” Mary announced, hurrying toward the slightly open door and shoving it open.

What she found was indeed her boyfriend, only he was in a state of great agitation, striding back and forth, up and down the room, arms flailing around and muttering to himself. In complete contrast, the other occupants of the room, Betty and Ruth sat side by side on the sofa, their faces the picture of serenity, though Betty’s, if anything, appeared to be amused by something.

Mary gripped Lawrence by the elbow as he began to make another pass. Turning his head down to see who’d stopped him, his face broke into a grin. “Mary!” he cried, picking her up and hugging her in delight.

“Darling!” Mary said, giving him a huge kiss, seemingly unaware of the audience they had.

They were interrupted by a loud cough. “I thought we were having a serious talk here?” Betty said.

Putting Mary down, though keeping hold of one of her hands, Lawrence led her to a seat and then pulled a chair so he could sit next to her.

“About what?” Doris asked from where she was leaning against the door frame.

“What do you lot know about someone called Diamond Lil?” Lawrence asked, looking around at the girls, all of whom promptly went red to the tips of their ears. With a loud, “Hmm,” he turned his attention back to Betty and Ruth. “How long have this lot known, then?”

Betty only had to give this a little thought. “From around the second day I knew them.”

If Lawrence’s eyebrows could have disappeared under his hair, they would have. He stroked his chin in thought for a while before looking up. “I’m going to take a leap here. If Eleanor was the thief, were you her fence?”

The smile that stayed upon Betty’s face was all the confirmation Lawrence needed.

“Would someone care to tell us what’s going on?” Penny asked, coming into the room and squeezing down next to Ruth.

“Read this,” Betty said, pushing the letter into Penny’s hands as Doris crouched down beside her.

It took the two only a few moments to read it before Penny, now a little pale, pushed it back toward Betty. “There’s no signature.”

“When did it arrive?” Doris asked.

“It was waiting for me when I got back from the station…”

“Hold on,” Doris interrupted. “I thought you were supposed to be back here resting?”

Betty waved away the protest. “Never mind that.”

“It does say not to involve the police.” Doris felt she had to point that detail out, whilst glancing over at where Lawrence sat observing.

“Blame Ruth for that,” Betty declared, nudging her friend none too gently in the ribs.

“It’s Lawrence,” Ruth pointed out, with a shrug of her shoulders.

“And I promised this will go no further, unless…” he hastened to add, “unless one of you is put in harm’s way.”

Betty got to her feet and stared out the window before turning around. “I hope you’ll all forgive me for putting this out there, but do any of you think…” She paused to gulp down some air and compose herself. “Do you think Thelma could have been killed by…whoever sent that note?”

After a few minutes’ silence, Ruth finally said, “Well, you certainly know how to throw the cat amongst the pigeons, I’ll say that. What do you think, Herbert?”

Lawrence didn’t wait long before shaking his head and answering, “I think, firstly, that you’re annoyed, or else you wouldn’t call me Herbert, but I very much doubt that. From what I know, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like a lot of people in this damned war,” he added.

“Well, then, any ideas who it could be from?” Mary asked.

“Not a clue,” Lawrence admitted. “I’m still trying to get my head around our Betty’s past life here. I am right, aren’t I? About your part in your sister’s affairs?”

Betty nodded. “Yes, but that’s all long past now.”

Penny shot to her feet. “I’ve got it!”

“What? Ants in your pants?” Doris asked, earning herself a glowering look from Penny.

“I’m serious! Hear me out.”

“I’m sorry,” Doris said. “Please, go on.”

“It’s got to be someone Eleanor stole from and that you fenced the goods for, Betty,” Penny announced, turning toward Lawrence. “It’s the only thing which makes sense! Well?”

Getting to his feet, Lawrence pulled Mary into an embrace before looking around at the expectant faces of his friends. “What do I think? I think I must be crazy. Another case for the Air Transport Auxiliary Mystery Club—that’s all we need!”