Threats at Three Read Online Free PDF Page A

“But if there really is something in the rumour, no doubt he will be. So keep your ears open. Now, how much do I owe you?”
    Josie took the money, thanked her mother, and held the door open for her as she left with two heavy bags. If only everyone was as loyal a shopper as Mum!
    “See you Saturday, if not before!” she yelled, as Lois marched off up the road. “I’ve always wanted to go into space. . . .”

FIVE

    L OIS GOT UP EARLY ON SATURDAY MORNING, AND SEEING A cheerful blue sky and jolly clouds scudding across in the fresh wind, decided to take Jeems, her little white terrier, for a walk before breakfast. Gran would be up betimes, and with luck, would have bacon sizzling in the pan before she returned. Derek could be relied upon to be ready for the expedition well in time, as always.
    One of Jeems’s favourite walks was down the lane to the village hall, with attendant good sniffs, and round the playing field, out beyond the football pitch and through a field to the Waltonby road, then back home through the High Street. Passing the shop, there was always a chance that Josie would see them and come out with a dog treat.
    As they approached the village hall, Lois saw that she was not the only one up with the lark. Tony Dibson was there, his back bent over the grass, scratching away with a small garden fork. He straightened up when he saw her and said, “Morning, missus. Lovely morning. Best time of the day, this is. Not many people realise that these days. When I was a lad—”
    Usually Lois loved to listen to his tales of the past, but this morning she had to keep going, and interrupted him with a question. “What on earth are you doing there?” she asked.
    “Cleaning up, as usual,” he said, his voice muffled as he returned to his scratching.
    “What is there to clean up? I can’t see anything,” Lois said, frowning. Tony looked for all the world as if he was hiding something.
    He straightened up, and held out his hand, palm up. Lois peered more closely, and saw two matches, unspent. “So?” she said. “Kids smoking substances again?” The rear of the village hall was a well-known haunt for a group of youths and girls to gather. The police periodically raided the spot, but the kids were a dab hand at melting into the night. So far, no serious damage had been done, except, of course, to themselves.
    “’ere, missus, smell this,” Tony said, extending his dirt-covered hand further towards her. She blenched, but leaned forwards and sniffed. “Petrol,” she said. They stared at each other in silence. Then Tony said, “So they was right, the ones who said there was a plot to burn down the village hall.”
    “Oh, my God,” Lois said, feeling sick. “So why didn’t it work?”
    “Damp matches,” Tony said flatly. “Otherwise the whole lot would have gone up. And with that wooden fence along the back of all them houses, God knows where it would have stopped.”
    “The police, then,” Lois said. “I’ll ring them straightaway. Can you keep those matches safe?”
    Tony nodded, and said that as far as the petrol was concerned, the ground was soaked in it, so that wouldn’t go away. “You do it, missus. You can phone your inspector and get some action.”
    Lois was so used to people knowing about her association with Inspector Cowgill that she did not even notice his sly grin.
     
     
    “LOIS? TO WHAT DO I OWE THIS EARLY MORNING TREAT?” COWGILL beamed. He had woken feeling the old depression weighing him down. It had returned on and off ever since his wife died some years ago, and he knew the only remedy was to get out of bed, put on some old clothes and go for a run around the park. He had drawn back his bedroom curtains and was about to set off when his telephone rang. The moment he heard Lois’s voice he knew there would be no need for a run.
    “Early morning?” snapped Lois. “I don’t call this early morning. Now listen, Hunter. I’ve just come back from walking Jeems, and met