Bedfordshire Clanger Calamity

of words. ‘I’m something of an amateur sleuth, one might say. I’ve had some success in uncovering what the police may fail to even look for. You see, I saw your sister’s face when they arrested her. I’m convinced that she is innocent, and I would like to help you prove it. Just in case the case against her holds water.’
Victor’s expression was pained. He was trying to work out how to tell the old man to go home and stop wasting his time; he had enough on his plate without trying to solve the café owner’s murder in his spare time. The business had no owner, April was trying to forcibly take over running the place, his own job was in jeopardy, and his sister was under arrest. What good could an old man do?
‘I’m sorry,’ he started to say, but just as he began to speak, the rain picked up, doubling in volume one second to the next. Rex decided enough was enough and barged his way past Victor’s legs to get into the dry. Doing so dragged Albert along with him, the dog’s strength easily enough to pull the old man off balance.
Albert let the lead slip from his hand rather than collide with Victor, but his dog was in the café now and about to shake all the excess water from his fur. Seeing this, but unable to get to him, Albert shouted, ‘No, Rex!’
Rex heard the shout but couldn’t imagine what it was his human didn’t want him to do. He would find out once he’d lightened his coat some.
Victor watched in horror as a million droplets of muddy water showered the inside of his freshly cleaned café. Seat, tables, walls, the windows – they all got a coating as both he and Albert rushed to stop the dog.
Enjoying the blissful sensation of shaking his body, Rex was in the throes of working down to his tail when hands grabbed him. The unexpectedness made him jump, springing around to face the danger with his teeth bared.
Faced with a mouthful of giant teeth he didn’t expect, Victor’s instinctive reaction was to get away from them, but his sudden change in direction caused his feet to slip on the wet floor. He crashed to the tile, jarring his hip, but the dog wasn’t following up with an attack and the old man seemed to have him under control.
Rex eyed the new human suspiciously. ‘You’re sitting in a puddle,’ he observed.
As cold water soaked through the material of his trousers, Victor clambered back to his feet and looked about at the mess he would now have to clean up. Everyone else had gone home, even April, who argued with him about his plan to stay. She wanted him to hand over his key and claimed that someone was fiddling the books. When she said ‘Someone’ she made air quotes and made it quite clear the someone she meant was his sister Kate. Kate did the books, taking over from April at Joel’s instruction six months ago. April had been the bookkeeper as one of her duties since before Joel bought the shop more than a decade ago, but Kate was qualified as an accountant which meant he could shed an additional overhead paying an accountant to check the books before the tax assessment was submitted. To Victor, it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary and unwelcome drama in his life. He ought to be going home to his wife and two small children, but instead he would have to clean the café now on top of the other jobs to which he needed to attend.
Feeling the weight of responsibility pressing down on him, Victor let his shoulders sag. ‘Albert, I have to get this cleaned up. I still have tasks in the kitchen which I didn’t get to finish because of the palaver this afternoon, I think I have someone fiddling the books here to hide money being stolen and April wants the world to believe the thief is Kate. Furthermore, with Kate accused of murder, the café’s ownership has to be in question. How exactly is it that you think you can help me?’
Albert was sorry about the mess Rex had made; he could see it wasn’t a five-minute job to clean up again. His apology wouldn’t achieve anything though, so he said, ‘I want to investigate what did happen to Joel Clement and make sure your sister goes free. That will give this place a new owner, won’t it?’
‘Yeah,’ Victor conceded.
‘You said someone is fiddling the books? Can I take a look?’

Mushy Peas
In the rain outside, a shadow moved. Francis was watching the front of the café, waiting for the man inside to come out. The rain had given them exactly what they wanted – empty streets. Eugene was around the back in case their target – Francis liked to think of his victims as targets because it sounded cooler - left by that door instead. They hadn’t been afforded the time to study his routines to pick the perfect place to grab him. Much like Joel Clement, the earl sent them to get the person he wanted and gave them an unrealistic timeframe in which to complete the task.
However, upon arrival, they discovered the owner had died without revealing the real name of the person they should take. He said Maddie Hayes, but no such person worked at the café and never had according to the waitress they spoke with earlier. Eugene asked her who the best baker was, which was how they came to be waiting for Victor Harris now.
Despite the lack of preparation, it looked like they were in luck. They watched everyone else leave, both men finding a dark corner in which to wait and observe. The outline plan had been to follow him home because the small amount of research they