Read Scandal at Six (Lois Meade Mystery) for Free Online Page B

the troupe. I think he’s an actor, though probably not much of a one.”
    Derek nodded. “I remember him. Quite a nice chap. Josie wondered if he might be a good one for the flat, if Gran decides against it. He would be a possible, locally based in the theatre.”
    “He’s got one of those red Fiat 500s that Josie’s been on about.”
    “Not much good for a family.”
    “I don’t think she’s considering a family yet!”
    “There’s a lot of them Fiats about now. Funny, but I looked down the street last night when it was almost dark, and saw one of ’em parked just down from the shop. I wondered if it was Matthew, and the police were economising with dinky little cars for plainclothes detectives! Mind you, the twin turbo ones can go like the wind.”
    “Right. Well, Matthew has a dark-blue Toyota, nice and anonymous looking, so it wasn’t him.”
    Derek yawned. “Getting late. It’s after midnight and time for bed, Lois, me duck. As your mum frequently says, tomorrow is another day.”
    *
    Gran’s friend had gone after supper, saying how nice it must be for her to have her own quarters, where she could entertain and do exactly what she liked, when she liked. Gran had agreed enthusiastically, but later began to feel strange. Not lonely, she told herself, but oddly alone. Something missing. Of course, it was Meade House and the family that were missing.
    She shook herself, checked the locks on all the doors, put out the lights and went to bed. Sleep refused to come, and she sat up and put on the bedside lamp, then reached for her book. Maybe if she read for a while it would clear her mind.
    It was approaching midnight on her little clock when she first heard a scraping noise. A moment’s panic had hit her, and she told herself not to be stupid. It was an old building, and full of mice and, as she knew only too well, rats. She had put down traps, but so far had caught nothing.
    Now the scraping began again, and this time she heard a smothered sneeze coming from outside the door at the top of the stairs. She swallowed hard, and lifted the bedside phone. Derek could be down here in minutes, she reminded herself. But there was no dial tone, and she replaced the receiver with a shaky hand. Of course, they had forgotten about reconnecting the phone.
    The noise had stopped, but after a few seconds, another new one started up. Shuffling footsteps on the stairs, and then a thump, as if someone had dropped something heavy.
    Gran got out of bed and reached for the cricket bat underneath. She tiptoed through to the stairs door, and stationed herself beside it. Silence. The scraping had stopped, as had the shuffling steps. She put her ear to the door. No sounds at all. Then it occurred to her to look through the keyhole. She carefully slid out the key, and bent down to peer out. A dim light from the moon shone onto the stairs, and at first she could see nothing unusual. Then a shadow moved, and it looked like a man, or perhaps a boy, and it disappeared without a sound.
    She turned back and crossed the room to look out into the street, but could see nothing. Then the sound of an engine firing, and a car passed underneath the window and rapidly disappeared out of sight.
    What to do? Gran sat down heavily on a kitchen chair, and steadied herself. The phone was not working, and she had told Matthew he would not be needed. There was only one thing to do, and although it was well after midnight, she began to get dressed.
    *
    “Derek!” Lois was awakened by a loud banging on the door. “Derek! There’s someone outside knocking!”
    “Don’t be daft, gel! Not at this time of night. Eh? What? I’ll go. It’s probably kids high on drugs or drink. I’ll give them what for!”
    Derek struggled out of bed and hunted for his slippers. The knocking, meanwhile, continued, and then he heard a voice, a familiar voice, yelling his name. He reached the front door, and unlocked it. “I’m coming!” he shouted, and opened up, only