Drive (Dead Reckoning series - Part 36)

Continued from Episode 35 (Reunited)

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.  The reappearance (very briefly) of Precious, the supposed daughter of Nenette, has reenergised the police investigation, as has the discovery that the apparently mad old woman in the Estate cottage is actually the real Jeanette DeVille, heiress to Evanley Hall.  In the meantime, Samantha has decided to aid Josiah and Archibald's rehabilitation with a jaunt out to see a mysterious client who wants to discuss funeral arrangements, which seems absolutely fine until they discover that whilst there's no-one home, there is the disturbing sound of a car engine coming from the garage:

The small cul-de-sac was illuminated from all angles by the flashing blue lights of the vehicles parked all around.  Curtains were twitching spasmodically and a few of the braver residents had ventured onto their front lawns for a better view, albeit close enough to the front door to be able to scamper back, if approached.
On a low wall, at the front of the bungalow that seemed to be the centre of attention, two men sat, despondently, sporting silvery blankets around their shoulders.
“Feeling a bit nippy, are we?” D.I. Wood asked, as he strolled up to them.
“I believe the paramedics were concerned that they might be suffering from shock, sir, hence the insulating blankets” D.S. Stone whispered to his superior.
“Right?  Well, anyway, can one of you tell me exactly what’s been going on?”  D.I. Wood looked from one to the other of the two men on the wall.
“Nice to see you again, Inspector” Josiah said, without a great deal of enthusiasm.
“I wish I could say the same” D.I. Wood said, ungraciously, “So, what’s going on?”
“We did explain this to one of your colleagues” Josiah pointed out.
“Well, I’m just a bit picky in that regard” D.I. Wood said, sitting down on the wall beside Josiah, “I like to hear it for myself” He drew a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and affixed one to his lip, “Don’t mind if I smoke, do you?”
“Not at all, Inspector” Josiah smiled, thinly, “I get most of my customers that way”
D.I. Wood considered this, for a moment, and returned the cigarette to its packet.
“How do you come to be here, Mr. Oakshott?”  He asked, with a sigh.
“We were answering a call for our assistance, Inspector” Josiah explained, producing the note taken by Mr. Strine, “This note, in point of fact”
D.I. Wood scrutinised the note and then passed it to his Sergeant.
“We’ll need to keep that as evidence, Stoney” He remarked, “Not that it tells us a lot!  Just an address - this address, and ‘wants to talk about funerals’”
“The note was taken by my employee, Mr. Strine, who has, to his credit, been partly managing the business during my enforced absence.  Mr. Strine has certain erm, administrative deficiencies” Josiah began.
“He’s crap with people” Archibald commented, conversationally.
“Well, yes, indeed” Josiah shuffled, uncomfortably, “He does lack people skills, that is true.  However, he is second to none when it comes to dealing with the deceased.”
“Must be a fun guy to have around” D.I. Wood sniggered.
“He has been invaluable during this difficult period” Josiah said, stoutly.
“Anyway, you’ve got this bit of a note, why did you both come out?”
“Samantha…Ms. Knight, that is, thought it would be good for both of us to be engaged on a small project.  A form of rehabilitation, if you will” Josiah explained.
“Doesn’t seem to have worked out too well, that idea” D.I. Wood looked around at the assembled emergency services.
“No, indeed Inspector, I doubt this was her preferred outcome” Josiah nodded, gloomily.
“So, what happened when you arrived here?”
“We rang the door-bell of the bungalow in question, repeatedly, but there was no response.  I tried knocking but to no avail.  It was whilst my colleague…”
“That’s me!” Archibald added, proudly, pointing to his chest.
“Indeed…it was whilst my colleague, Archibald, was searching around the vicinity of the property for the occupants, that he noticed the sound of a car engine running”
“You hadn’t noticed that, then?” D.I. Wood asked.
“I fear not, my advancing age means that my hearing does not have the acuity it once had”
“Then what?”
“We determined, well, Archibald determined, that the sound was emanating from the garage of the property to which we had been summoned.  We, therefore, opened the garage door but were beaten back by the accumulation of fumes.  Accordingly, we telephoned for the emergency services, to whit, the ambulance and your good selves.”
“Is there an owl ‘round here?” Archibald asked, looking around the surrounding trees.
“You didn’t attempt to gain access to the car?”  D.I. Wood pressed on, ignoring him.
“I don’t like owls” Archibald frowned.
Josiah, despite his best efforts to remain focused on his conversation with the Inspector, felt compelled to respond.
“You don’t like owls?” Josiah said, with surprise, “There is nothing to NOT like about owls, Archibald”
“You wouldn’t say that if you were a mouse!” Archibald said, folding his arms.
“Do you think we might return to the matter in hand?” D.I. Wood tapped his pen on his notebook, D.S. Stone attempted to stifle a laugh in the background, “I was enquiring, if you can spare a moment, of course, from your woodland meanderings, whether you attempted to gain access to the car?”
“Regrettably not, Inspector” Josiah looked downcast, “I fear that neither of us were, either physically or mentally, prepared for such an eventuality.  You must understand, Inspector, that, following recent events, this has been a considerable shock for us both”
“I was scared sh…quite a bit” Archibald mentioned.
“Yeah, yeah, I understand” D.I. Wood nodded, “Did you recognise the car or the occupants”
“Occupants?” Josiah and Archibald said in unison.
“Yeah, more than one” D.I. Wood confirmed, “Presumably not then, how about the car?  That should have meant something to you”
“I regret that my glimpse of the vehicle was fleeting, what with the smoke and everything” Josiah admitted.
“I thought it rang a bell” Archibald mused.
“It should do” D.I. Wood agreed, “if our records are correct, we think it’s probably the vehicle that transported you, Mr. Oakshott, to your assignation at Evanley Hall a few weeks back”

* * * *

“Ah, Mr. Strine!  Thank you for popping by the office” Samantha said, far more brightly than she felt.
“Not a problem, Mrs.” Mr. Strine beamed at her, “’Ow can I ‘elp?”
“I wondered if there had been any sign of Josiah…Mr. Oakshott that is, or Archibald?”
“Nah, not that I’ve seen, Mrs.” Mr. Strine removed his ubiquitous bowler hat, scratched his head and stroked his chin, “’Ave they gone missin’ then?”
“They were responding to that message you took, about someone wanting to discuss their funeral arrangements, do you remember?”
“Oh ar, yeah, I remember” Mr. Strine grinned, “she sounded too young for all that”
“I’m sorry, who sounded too young?”
“The girl, on the phone” Mr. Strine explained.
“You took the message from a young girl?”
“Yeah, that’s right” Mr. Strine nodded, proud of a job well done, “Well, that’s what she sounded like”
“But you didn’t make a note of her name?”
“Ah, now, I see where you’re goin’ with that” Mr. Strine conceded, “But, I’ve only got one pair of ‘ands, and I’ve been run off me feet just lately as it is!”
Samantha considered the anatomical complexities of this reply and decided to ignore them.
“Any road, they got the address” Mr. Strine added, by way of compensation.
“We must thank heaven for small mercies”
“P’raps they’ve gone down the pub?” Mr. Strine mused, “I would if I were them”
“I think that is unlikely, Mr. Strine” Samantha bit her lip and wondered what to do next.
“You tried their phones?”
“Oddly enough, Mr. Strine, I have.  I can only assume that they are somewhere where there is little, or no, signal” Samantha couldn’t help wondering if that was entirely a coincidence.

* * * *

“If that was the car that took me to the Hall, then…” Josiah began, thoughtfully.
“I know what you’re going to say, Mr. Oakshott” D.I. Wood grinned, “but, until we can get some formal identification arranged, we can’t say, for sure, who the occupants are”
“But, you must know something about them?”
“We do, indeed” D.I. Wood nodded, “we found a male and a female in the vehicle.  Both had been overcome by the fumes and had clearly been there for some time”
“A male…and a female?  Then it must be…” Josiah looked shocked.
“We can’t be any more specific,,sir” D.S. Stone intervened, “but you should know that, based upon their apparent age and gender profile, we are working on the assumption that the deceased may well be Nenette DeVille and the man known as Hames”

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

Now read Part 37