The Wanderlust Lady and the Door to Door Salesman - 38

March 10, 2013

 

Sunday I treated myself to the usual lie in – helped no doubt by the alcohol of the
night before. But I'd had a good time, and was beginning to feel like I had a proper identity – with a job that perhaps had a future for me, and a bit of extra cash coming in – through my skillful use of negotiations.

It was gone ten when I heard a knock on the front door. My first thought was Fred, so
hurriedly got up and throwing some clothes on, went to the door.

“Hello, Mr. Barber,” said the cop, PC Reilly. “I hope I haven't wakened you.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked without much charm.

“Just a few questions, if you don't mind. May I come in?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Yes, you can let me in here, or you can accompany me to the station.”

“Come in. “

“My but this house has been improved. My congratulations. Painting seems to be second nature to you. Nice job.”

“Thank you.”

He sat himself down on the couch in the living room. “I don't suppose you've got a cup
of coffee.”

“I just got up,” I said. “But I guess I can put the kettle on. I'm I need of one
myself.”

“Milk and two please.”

So I escaped to the kitchen, getting out my mug for him to drink from. Why hadn't I
thought that I might have company when I got rid of the excess kitchen stuff? I found the lid of the thermos and used that for my drink.

“Here,” I said pushing the coffee at him. “Sorry I don't have any biscuits.”

“Thanks.”

“Now are you going to tell me why you're here? I don't believe this is a social call or
a visit to mention the quality of my painting ability.”

“No, as a matter of fact, I came both to inform you of a few things, and to ask you if
you might help us with a few things that have come to our attention recently.”

“Yeah, what?”

“Well, you probably will be interested to know that following the incident when you were arrested before, and when Miss Jones was killed, we have more or less kept a weather eye on your old boss Sadie and her gang. I think I mentioned before that we gave her a warning for speeding on one occasion.”

“Yes, you said that.”

“She and her gang of door to door salesmen are in Romiley at the moment. And not to our very great surprise, there have been a string of small burglaries in Romiley – and many fewer in Marple since they left. We wondered if there was a connection, so we had her in, and found out what routes her sales people were on – and sure enough, those same routes were the ones where the burglaries took place – usually a week or so after the salesman had visited the area.”

“So did you arrest her?”

“No, not yet. Not enough evidence.”

“Have you talked to any of the other guys from her group?”

“Yes, we've had words with each of them, and not surprisingly, not a one of them
knows anything about it. But they all admitted that they religiously filled in the little notes about each house they visited.”

“I wonder who does the actual thieving?”

“I know that at one stage you thought that it might be Sadie herself. You mentioned
coming back here and because the flower pot was the right way up, you grew suspicious that she herself had been to visit.”

“That's right – although I suppose it might have been anyone who she'd passed on the
information to. I don't really see Sadie getting her hands dirty with something like this.”

“Who else might she have told?”

“Well, I suppose the driver, Walter, must have known what was going on. Usually we
gave the slips to him and he passed them on to her.”

“Did he seem to have the intellect to be the brains behind this sort of thing?”

“I never really  thought much about him. He hardly said a word. And whenever Sadie was around, it was obvious that she was in charge – not him.”

“Think back to when you were first employed. Did she interview you on her own?”

“Yes, and then I didn't see her again for a week or so.”

“Was any one of the guys any more important that the others?”

“I can remember when I asked about getting my bonus, one of them said he'd had his
sent to him at his home. That seemed odd. I didn't think much of it at the time, because I was new to the job and hadn't yet had my bonus. But he's the only one I can think of from the guys as standing out. We never talked much in the van other than about footie or where we were going that night.”

“What was his name?”

“No idea. I didn't know anybody's name except Sadie and the driver.”

“Pity that. Can you describe him to me?”

“He was older – maybe in his 30's and quite a large build. I suppose now that I think
about it, he seemed to be a bit out of place. The rest of us were about my age and some even younger. He had teeth missing, and looked a bit rough, if you know what I mean.”

“Did he talk about anything special that you remember?”

“He was pleasant enough – always talking. But at the time, I didn't really pay much
attention to to be honest.”

“Well, thank you Stan. That is all very helpful. I think maybe we will put a special
watch on that particular man – although now that we've had Sadie in again, they will probably lie low for the time being.”

“Have you found out anymore about who killed Minnie?”

“No, that case is still open, but nothing more has come to light since I last talked to
you.”

“You said you came for two reasons. What was the other one?”

“Well, it's a bit peculiar, that's all. I've had a note sent me from the police in Luton. They say that they've had an enquiry from someone who runs a “cash for gold” set up. They get information whenever the owner thinks that there might be something dodgy in the items that get sent to them – and they suspect that the items might be hot.”

“Oh yeah.”

“They had a bunch of gold coins sent to them to convert to cash – and they just
wanted to check with me to see if I knew anything about the seller – who it turns out to be you.”

I could feel my face get red.

“So. I found those sovereigns here when I was clearing up getting ready to get the house ready for sale, and Mrs. Mills, who owns this house now, she asked me to sell them for her. I can show you the letter from her.” So I got up and found the letter in question and let him read it.

“Oh, so there's silver stuff too that you're getting rid of for her – and pictures. That's interesting. And it says she gives you 20%. That's very generous. Has she ever seen the stuff you've been selling on her behalf?”

“No, but I described it to her. I've done some research on the internet, so I knew what things were worth. You never get the full value when you're selling to dealers.”

“Who did you sell the silver to?”

“The jewellery shop in Marple. He's got a sign outside - “We buy gold silver and
platinum for cash.”

“Why didn't you sell the sovereigns to him?”

“I'd already sold them to the dealer in Luton before I realised that I could have sold
them to him.”

“Now our friend in Luton told the police that these coins were very odd – in that the
dates were sequential.”

“Yes. But I think probably Minnie's parents had been given them for birthdays or
Christmas or something like that – one a year.”

“And the half sovereigns – again with sequential dates – I expect you think those were presents to Minnie herself.”

“Yes, probably. She never mentioned them when I talked to her.”

“Where did you find the gold sovereigns, Stan?”

“In the old trunk in the attic.”

“And the silver was there too.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“And where were the pictures?”

“In a dresser drawer up in the attic. I saw the initial signature so took one along to the Antique's Roadshow and found out who painted it, and then contacted the museum in the Isle of Man, and it was them that bought them. Mrs. Mills knows all about that and approved of it.”

“And you got a cut on those too, didn't you Stan?”

“You're making it sound like I did something wrong. I was just doing what Mrs. Mills
told me to do.”

“But do you know what, Stan? I think you did do something wrong. The reason the guy in Luton got sus was because you'd sent him gold sovereigns before – back in the days before Mrs Mills was in the picture. What happened to the money from those coins Stan?”

I knew he had me. I couldn't think quick enough to make up a lie for that.

“I bought a gold bracelet with it, and then when Mrs. Mills wanted me to get the house
ready for sale, I sold it back to the jewellers and bought more sovereigns to make up for the ones I'd sold before.”

“So you're admitting that you took for your own use, 42 gold coins, which you sold, and with the proceeds bought a gold bracelet, which you kept for your own use. You are admitting to theft.”

“Nobody knew the coins were there. Minnie wasn't around. My first thought was that I'd check to see what they were worth, and then when Minnie came back, I'd tell her about it – in case she wanted to sell them.”

“You always keep coming back to how you and Minnie were such good friends – and you were helping her out. Isn't the truth that you had no intention of ever giving that money to Minnie? You intended not only to steal the gold, but also the silver and the pictures.”

“I think maybe I should stop answering your question now. I've been straight with you.
I did wrong. I admitted that. I paid the price. I'm clean now. I did everything I could to make restitution. I sold my bracelet and put the gold back. It was Mrs. Mills who said I should sell it. I never stole any silver or any pictures. I admit taking the gold, but I got it back before anyone knew it was even there.”

“I daresay some of the value of the gold coins was lost along the way.”

“Gold prices go up and down, and at the moment they are high. I don't think that much
money was lost in the process.”

“What interests me is why you had a change of heart, Stan. I wonder when exactly it was that you decided to stop being a thief and start being a helpful intermediary?”

“I liked the Mills. They trusted me and let me live here and gave me a job. I never had anybody put such faith in me before. That's what changed me.”

“I wonder. Well, thanks for the coffee, Stan. I don't see any reason to rock your boat
at the moment, but don't leave the area, will you. We may be needing you to help us with our inquiries again in the next few days.”

“So will you tell the Luton police that the gold dealer should send me my money?”

“Yes, I don't see why not. I've looked into the situation, and it looks to me like you
came up with a reasonable explanation for the situation. I don't suppose you have any other scams going on here. But be sure, Stan, we are watching you just like we're watching Sadie.”

“Well, I'm clean now. Everything that I sell including those gold coins, is for Mrs.
Mills' benefit – and if she gives me a cut – that's her business.”

“No doubt you have charmed your way into her good books. But we'll be watching you. See you around.”

He left, and I sat there for awhile feeling like I'd been hit by a white van. Well at
least that explained why the money for the gold coins hadn't been forthcoming as it was on the previous occasion. How stupid I was to use the same dealer again. But I just thought they were efficient and quick the first time. He even commented to me when I called him that I'd dealt with him before. I suppose having the same exact dates on the coins on two occasions did give him reason to wonder what was going on. But at least it didn't look as if I was about to arrested again. I sure didn't like the idea that the cops are keeping an eye on me. He probably knew everything I told him before I said it. Hopefully, he won't feel the need to tell the Mills about what he found out. I've been straight with them, except for the business of the gold coins, and I made good on that. As well as I could.

One thing this has taught me, is that it is in my best interest to keep on the right side of the law in everything. Interesting too, how Sadie was still in the picture. He put me off my guard, starting out by asking my advice and getting me to think that was what he'd come for. But fair dos – he was doing his cop work well, and put me in a place where I had no choice but to come clean. And he was helping me out a bit too – keeping the stuff low key – not arresting me for selling the coins the first time around.

It just goes to show that thinking life is all rosy and working in your direction for once
is a dangerous thing to do.