‘I’m hoping Mrs Ramsden won’t notice me directly,’ said Philip. ‘But if I can put on a pair of spectacles or change my hat or tie, she might not necessarily recognise me if she sees me more than once. I could try a false beard too.’
‘But a false beard might look too strange. And there really is a risk of it falling off. Unless you loop it over your ears and then it would be obviously false. I don’t think a beard is a good idea.’
‘I’m joking about the beard, Augusta.’ He grinned, and they stepped into her flat.
Augusta opened Sparky’s cage, and he fluttered up to his favourite spot on the curtain rail.
‘Brandy?’ said Augusta.
‘Yes please.’
They sat in the living area with their drinks. ‘I can’t deny this surveillance work can be a little boring at times,’ said Philip. ‘But it’s quite straightforward work. I don’t think Mrs Ramsden looked in my direction once the entire day. And London is quite an easy place to follow someone around, there’s always a crowd to blend into. The taxi journeys were quite expensive, but I can claim my expenses back from Mr Ramsden. He’s spending an awful lot of money on this. But then I suppose he’s keen to find out if his wife is seeing another man.’
‘Judging by the day you had, she isn’t.’
‘But that was just one day. She was meeting lady friends. So we shall have to see. It will certainly be a bit more exciting if I see her meeting him. At least I’ll have something to report back to Mr Ramsden.’
Augusta gave Sparky some pieces of apple. Then she heated up some vegetable soup and placed it on the dining table with slices of fresh bread.
‘This soup smells delicious,’ said Philip. ‘It turns out I really am hungry for something else after all.’
As they ate, Augusta told him about her visit to Mrs Connolly in Finchley. Philip listened with interest.
‘Do you think Mrs Connolly was telling you the truth?’ he asked.
‘Yes, I think she was. She seemed quite genuine to me. I don’t think she could have had anything to do with Mr Miller’s disappearance. Her brother-in-law, Tom, might know more, though.’
‘Because he paid Miller a visit a week after the inquest?’
‘Yes. He clearly wanted to have a strong word with him after the inquest found Mr Connolly’s death was an accident.’
‘I can understand why the Connolly family are upset,’ said Philip. ‘But from what you’ve told me about the inquest, it seems the sorry affair really was an accident. I can’t imagine Alexander Miller would have deliberately wished to collide with Arthur Connolly. It’s not the first time a drunk has stepped out in front of a fast-moving vehicle, and it won’t be the last.’
‘Your theory that the Connolly family could have planned Mr Miller’s disappearance is still a possibility,’ said Augusta. ‘And I have another suspect in mind, too. Robert Stanton.’
She told Philip about Mr Stanton’s visit to her shop that morning.
‘He doesn’t sound particularly pleasant,’ he said.
‘He was trying to warn me away, I think.’
‘It certainly sounds like it. Do you think Mr Stanton knows something about his brother-in-law’s disappearance?’
‘I don’t know much about him. But from what I saw of him today, I think it’s possible. He showed a remarkable lack of concern for Alexander. He didn’t seem upset by his disappearance.’
‘It was ten years ago. Would he still show upset after all that time?’
‘Perhaps not. But there was no sadness or regret, either. Even when someone has died many years previously, people can still talk about them with some sadness or fondness. Just some emotion! But instead, I think Mr Stanton was trying hard to make me like him.’
Philip laughed. ‘That ploy clearly didn’t work.’
‘No it didn’t.’ Augusta dipped a chunk of bread into her soup.
‘It would be good to know a little more about Mr Stanton,’ said Philip. ‘Perhaps we could discover a motive for him harming his brother-in-law.’
‘I think it’s interesting that Mr and Mrs Stanton live in his flat. I called at the house they lived in before and it was quite inferior to the Baker Street flat. It’s spacious and in a nice location. It’s probably worth quite a bit of money.’
‘So you could argue that Alexander Miller’s sister and husband benefitted from a nice property after he disappeared.’
‘Yes. Jane Stanton inherited everything which Alexander left. He wasn’t a wealthy man by any means, and she had to apply to a court to have him declared dead.’
‘Which is a wait of seven years, isn’t it? If the Stantons murdered him for that flat, then it wasn’t exactly a quick process to go through.’
‘I can’t say I warm to Jane Stanton, but I can’t imagine her murdering her brother so she could live in his flat.’
‘It’s rather cold-hearted. But you can’t rule it out.’
Chapter 20
Louisa Bradshaw called at the bookshop the following day.
‘A canary!’ she said when she saw Sparky in his cage on the counter. ‘I used to have a canary. What’s its name?’
‘He’s called Sparky,’ said Augusta.
‘I think he’s adorable. Does he sing?’
‘When he’s in the mood.’
