Reunited (Dead Reckoning series - Part 35)

Continued from Episode 34 (Who's That Girl?)

The story so far:  Josiah's 'on the rebound' romance with the woman he thought was his old flame, Jeanette DeVille, proved to be with her twin sister, Nenette, and led to him and Archibald being left for dead in the rapidly rising waters of the cellar of Evanley Hall.  Rescued and now in recovery, they are both keen to put the past behind them but the past has an odd way of not letting go and the fleeting reappearance of Nenette's 'daughter', Precious at the local chippy has energised the police investigation as has the discovery that the 'mad cat woman' and herbalist, Jeannie is, in fact, Jeanette Mountjoy, Josiah's old flame and the heiress to the Evanley Hall estate:

“How are you feeling this morning, Josiah?”  Samantha asked as they both made their way from the car to the offices of Oakshott and Underwood.
“Well, whilst I would not say that I was invigorated,” Josiah began, thoughtfully, “I think it would be fair to say that I have considerably more energy than was the case before”
“That’s good to hear!” Samantha grinned, “The potion Jeannie sent did the trick then?”
“It would be a surprising coincidence if the potion was not the cause of my improvement” Josiah agreed, opening a door for her, “although the two facts may not, of course, be causatively linked”
“It certainly seemed to do the trick for Archibald” Samantha nodded toward the beaming bulk of Archibald Thurble, currently ambling down the corridor in their direction.
“Yes, I’m delighted that we both seem to be returning to something akin to normal health” Josiah smiled at his young colleague.
“Morning Mr. O., Ms. Knight” Archibald grinned.
“Hi Archie” Samantha responded, “anything to report?”
“There’s a note here from Mr. Strine for you” Archibald produced a piece of paper.
“Thanks Archie” Samantha grasped the paper and headed for the office, “Do you want to put the kettle on?”
“Yep! Will do!” Archie strode off to the kitchenette, whistling.
“It’s fantastic, the difference that potion of Jeannie’s has made to both of you” Samantha said, putting her bags down on Josiah’s desk.
“She’s a remarkable woman” Josiah agreed.
“Well, you should know” Samantha said, slyly.
“Ah, I fear not” Josiah shook his head, “the Jeanette that I knew, so many years ago, was a very different person from Jeannie.  It was quite a shock to find that they are one and the same person”
“Yes, it was a surprise” Samantha agreed, peering at the bit of paper Archibald had given her.
“We were most fortunate that she was on hand after that business in the cellar” Josiah observed, “I doubt that either Archibald or I would have survived had it not been for her ministrations”
“Yes, that’s true” Samantha said, frowning at the message on Mr. Strine’s note, “Josiah, do you think you might be up to taking on a small project?”
“Hmm?” Josiah said, still lost in his memories of Jeanette.
“I wondered if you were up to a little bit of work?”
“Oh, well, I suppose I might be able to manage something,” Josiah said, dubiously, “what did you have in mind?”
“Well, Mr. Strine seems to have taken on a bit of a commission,” Samantha said, waving the paper, “at least, if I’ve read this correctly”
There was a thumping on the door which preceded Archibald crashing through, bearing the tea things.
“Ah, your partner in crime!” Samantha grinned.
“I don’t think it was us what was the criminals, Ms. Knight” Archibald said in a hurt tone.
“That’s not what I meant, Archie” Samantha chuckled. “I was thinking that you and Josiah might do a little job together, today.  What do you say?”
“Oh, right!  Yeah, why not?”  Archibald looked relieved.
“What, exactly, would our ‘mission’ be?” Josiah asked.
“Well, that is something of a conundrum” Samantha frowned, “all I have on this piece of paper is an address and a note that ‘they is looking to talk about their funerals’.  Do you know anything more, Archibald?”
“Nah, sorry Ms. Knight” Archibald shook his head, “Mr. Strine just said he’d had a phone call from some woman what wanted to talk to someone about their funeral arrangements”
“And he didn’t take a name, or even a telephone number?” Samantha frowned.
“Sorry!” Archibald looked glum.
“You see, Josiah, as I’ve said before, whilst there’s no-one to beat Mr. Strine when it comes to the nuts and bolts of funerals, his administrative skills leave a lot to be desired” Samantha said, tapping the piece of paper.
“We don’t use no nuts and bolts, miss” Archibald interrupted, “it’s not like we’ve got no Frankensteins” He chuckled.
“Frankenstein’s monster” Josiah couldn’t stop himself automatically correcting.
“No, Archibald, that isn’t what I meant” Samantha sighed, “I was referring to Mr. Strine’s undoubted expertise at the actual mechanics of delivering a funeral on a day-to-day basis”
“And his shortfalls when it comes to taking a simple telephone message” Josiah added.
“Ah well, be fair” Archibald said, stoutly, “it ain’t always that easy.  They don’t always tell you everything”
“That’s why we have to make sure we get the information we need, Archie” Samantha pointed out, with a smile.
“Where are we needed, Samantha?” Josiah asked.
“It’s Wigton-under-Heathwood, so not far at all”
“A nice run out in the countryside then, Archibald” Josiah said, encouragingly.
“I’ll get the car sorted out then” Archibald said, cheerfully.

* * * *

“Anything, Stoney?”  D.I. Wood asked, hopefully, standing beside his Sergeant’s desk.
“No sir, nothing at all” D.S. Stone replied, glumly, “we’ve been trawling through hours of CCTV from here and Chester but there’s no sign of any of them”
“That Precious must be pretty smart at avoiding our cameras, that’s all I can say” D.I. Wood seethed, “the gaffer’s doing his fruit, you know?  He wants something to show the powers that be to justify all the time and money we’ve spent”
“We can’t make something happen, sir” D.S. Stone pointed out, “They’ll have to surface, sooner or later, though”
“It’s the ‘later’ bit that worries me, Seargeant”
“They’ll have to do something, they’ll need money.  I just wish we knew when and where” D.S. Stone stared blankly at the computer screen, on which a street scene flowed past in real time.
“Let me know as soon as you find anything, Stoney” D.I. Wood sighed, heading for his office, “We need a break on this”
“I just need a break” D.S. Stone muttered, yawning as he returned to his street scene.

* * * *

“This is somewhat like old times!” Josiah eased himself back in the passenger seat of the limousine and smiled.
“Yeah, innit?” Archibald grinned, “It’s been ages since I last drove one of these.  I’m a bit out of practice” He admitted.
“I had noticed” Josiah frowned, “however, I am sure that we are both a little rusty, in our respective ways”
“Must ‘ave been all that water” Archibald chuckled.
“I think that remark may be in somewhat questionable taste, Archibald” Josiah shuddered, silently.
“Well, you’ve got to laugh, haven’t you?” Archibald mused.
“I beg leave to doubt that particular premise, Archibald”
“Nice day for it though” Archibald looked at the passing countryside, approvingly.
“It is nice to have a change of scene, I must concur” Josiah thought for a moment, “It occurs to me, Archibald, that I have not properly thanked you for your efforts at Evanley Hall”
“You what?” Archibald asked.
“You saved my life, in that cellar”
“Nah, I just did what anyone would ‘ave done” Archibald shook his head, vigorously, “Any road, I don’t like remembering all that.  I ‘ave nightmares” He said, in a small voice.
“PTSD” Josiah nodded.
“Putsed?” Archibald looked at him, quizzically, “Is that like ‘drunk’ or summat?”
“Not at all, Archibald.  It is an abbreviation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition in which the mind and body continue to react to a major trauma that one has experienced, long after that trauma has passed.”
“Oh, right!” Archibald nodded, “me Nan’s got summat like that.”
“Is that so?” Josiah asked, dubiously.
“Yeah, someone nicked a bottle of Mackeson from her ‘and when she dozed off in this pub and now she flinches if you go anywhere near her when she’s sleeping”
“Ah, yes, well I think it would be somewhat disingenuous to attribute that reaction to PTSD” Josiah observed, “Whereas your nightmares, resulting from your near-death experience, are a classic symptom”
“Don’t you get ‘em, then?”
“I have had occasions when I have woken in a state of panic, I must admit” Josiah nodded, “Whether these were prefaced by bad dreams, I could not say with certainty.  I rather hope that Ms. Mountjoy’s concoction may serve to lessen my…apprehension, shall we say?”
“Oh yeah, me too.  I’ve been as jumpy as hell since all that.  Egbert jumped out from behind a coffin and shouted ‘Boo!” and I nearly had an ‘eart attack!”
“Egbert should have better things to do with his time” Josiah said, sternly, “I will speak to him on our return”
“Oh, well, he was just messing about” Archibald shrugged, “like you do, you know?”
“I do not know, Archibald, as I have never ‘messed about’ at my labours!”
“Ey up, we’re here!” Archibald announced, as they pulled into a quiet cul-de-sac, “now, what number was it?”
Josiah perused the scrappy bit of paper.
“Number 13, according to this” He announced.
Number 13 proved to be a pleasant, albeit somewhat old-fashioned, small bungalow tucked away at the very end of the cul-de-sac.  Archibald eased the limousine onto the drive.
“Well, here we go then, Archibald, once more into the breach!” Josiah said, taking a deep breath and opening the passenger door.
“Not much chance of sandcastles ‘ere, I don’t reckon” Archibald chuckled as Josiah gave him one of his ‘looks’.
Josiah marched briskly to the front door and pressed the doorbell.  There was the faint sound of chiming, beyond.  The two men fidgeted on the doorstep as the minutes ticked past, but no-one appeared.  Josiah made several more attempts with the doorbell, to no avail, and then resorted to knocking with increasing intensity.
“I do hope Mr. Strine has taken down the right address!” Josiah muttered.
“Doesn’t look like there’s anyone home” Archibald observed, looking around the property.
“This really isn’t good enough” Josiah snapped.
“These things ‘appen!” Archibald shrugged, philosophically, “Hang about, can you hear a noise?”
“No, what noise?” Josiah strained to hear, without success.
“I thought it sounded like a…car engine, but there’s no-one around” Archibald looked around the empty cul-de-sac. “I reckon…” He hesitated and listened carefully, “I reckon it’s coming from the garage”
“The garage?  You mean the garage to this property?”
“Yeah, that’s what it sounds like” Archibald nodded.
“Oh!” Josiah looked extremely troubled, “Do you know, Archibald, I have a rather bad feeling about this”

You can find a lot more from Josiah and Archibald, including the prequel novel to this series, in The Undertakers collection.

Now read Part 36