Friday, September 15, 2006

When The Green Man's Away, 3: Grey Girlie will play

The body of the strangled reverend had led me straight to Wales. On the way Samantha and I caught up with a bit of correspondence: I wrote the letters, she licked the envelopes.
We arrived at Cardiff Central station a little after three in the afternoon and stepped out into blazing sunshine. I looked down at Samantha in her catbox and smiled.
"Well, Samantha, this is Cardiff. I hope this is where we'll be able to start to track down Derec Vedder Jones."
"Meow," Samantha said in reply.
It had been difficult for me to find a guest-house in Cardiff that would take Samantha and me. Most of them were quite willing to take Samantha on her own, but were less sure about me. I'm not sure why, but there you go, Samantha is so much more popular than I am.
My guesthouse was on a corner near a chapel. Since I arrived on Saturday I arranged to go to the chapel on the Sunday, hoping that we would find some important information at the chapel. Once we had settled in I put on my Girl in Grey costume and my raincoat and hat over it. Leaving Samantha to keep watch, I went out into the street.
Row upon row of terraced houses lined the street. I strolled along, trying not to be noticed. This is difficult when it's a hot day and you're wearing a raincoat. Contrary to everything I'd heard it seemed it didn't rain all the time in Wales.
I turned onto a street lined with run-down shops. On an impulse I entered a junk-shop that called itself 'Cardiff Grand Antiques' - I'd seen a beautiful Art Deco cat sculpture in the window.
There was no-one at the desk, and I was about to ring the bell when I heard voices.
"You got the clergyman?"
"Yeah. It was easy. Just wrapped the tie around his neck and throttled him."
"And the dog?"
"Dog came easy. I just gave him that steak you supplied. So, who's next?"

I had walked right into one of Derec Vedder Jones' hideouts!

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