All Was Revealed by Adele Abbott Page B

have something to hide?”
    “No. Of course not.”
    “Then what possible harm can it do for us to have a chat? We are neighbours, after all.”
    Myrtle was quick to take command of the situation. I was impressed.
    “So, Justin,” she said. “How did you get on with Madge?”
    “I didn’t like her.”
    “That’s honest, at least. And why was that?”
    “She almost put me out of business.”
    “How did she do that?”
    “She reported me to Trading Standards. She said she’d found a dead fly in one of my cakes.”
    “Had she?”
    “Of course not. There are no flies or any other insects in my bakery. It’s spotless. There must have been a dead fly on the worktop when she cut the cake. The whole thing was ridiculous. She didn’t even have the courtesy to come and tell me first; she just reported it to Trading Standards. They came to see me, and carried out an inspection of the bakery. You know what those people are like. They’re vicious jobsworths. They insisted I make all kinds of unnecessary improvements. It cost me a small fortune.”
    “Are you sure that it was Madge who reported you?”
    “Of course I am. Who else would it have been? She was always tutting about the cleanliness of the shop.”
    “Did you actually ask her if she was the one?”
    “Of course. She had the audacity to come into the shop after the inspector had been. I refused to serve her. When she asked why, I said it was because she’d reported me to Trading Standards.”
    “What did she say to that?”
    “She didn’t deny it. She just turned around and walked out.”
    “What about the affair with the lottery?”
    “That’s another thing. She cheated us all out of our money.”
    “You don’t think she might have forgotten on that one occasion?”
    “Of course not. She knew the odds of us winning were so small that instead of putting the bet on, she pocketed the money. I reckon she’d been doing it for months. She must have made a small fortune off us. Then when our numbers came up, she was in a right pickle. That’s why she pretended she’d forgotten.”
    “Some of the other players believed her. I take it you didn’t?”
    “Not for one moment.”
    “Okay, thank you for being so candid, Justin.”
     

Chapter 12
    Our next appointment was with Harry Payne. When Myrtle knocked on his door, it was a woman who answered—a woman with shocking red hair.
    “Hello, Barbara,” Myrtle said. “Harry is expecting us.”
    “Not here, he isn’t.”
    “He told me ten o’ clock.”
    “That’s as maybe, but Harry doesn’t live here anymore.”
    “Since when?”
    “Since when is it any of your business?”
    Myrtle didn’t respond. Instead, she engaged her secret weapon—a kind of death-ray glare.
    “If you must know, since two weeks ago. I threw him out. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”
    “I had no idea. I bumped into him in the village, and arranged to meet him at ten. He never mentioned he’d moved out.”
    “He probably assumed you’d heard. There’s been a lot of gossip.”
    “Where’s he staying?”
    “Where do you think? His second home: The Old Trout.”
    “Look, this is none of my business, Barbara, but—”
    “That’s never stopped you before, Myrtle.”
    “I was just wondering why you threw him out?”
    “Why do you think? He’s been up to his old tricks again.”
    Myrtle nodded. It was amazing how quickly she could transform from interrogator to Agony Aunt.
    “I thought he’d grown out of it.” Barbara continued. “A few years ago, he regularly went off with some pretty, young thing, but he always came back. But then, I put my foot down and told him enough was enough. I told him straight that if he ever did it again, that would be the end for him and me.”
    “I’m really sorry.” Myrtle took Barbara’s hand in hers. “You deserve better.”
    “You’re right, I do. What did you want to see Harry about, anyway?”
    “We wanted a quick word about Madge.”
    “Of course. I should